Dover Rowing Club were in action at their home and Folkestone Regattas at the weekend. There was an outstanding performance from club veterans and occasional racers Chrissy Purvis and Jen Jordan in the Woman’s Junior Pair. As a late entry they were on the outside of the course. A strong start saw Purvis and Jordan battling for the lead despite being disrupted by an opponent’s wayward steering. Second to Herne Bay at the turn, Dover’s pair moved through them and were neck and neck with eventual winners Southsea, coming home second.

The Men’s Novice Sculls saw a battling performance from Cameron Mackintosh. From the start Mackintosh was in a straight battle with Folkestone down the course as they chased Shoreham. Second out of the turn, the Dover sculler solidified his place but ran out of water as he tried to catch the first placed sculler. Mackintosh was fifth at Folkestone regatta.

The J14 Quad Sculls crew of Oliver White, Ella Cook, Sonny Hart, Artie Everington-Nee coxed by Maria West-Burrows had a good start. Alternating positions each stroke with Shoreham, Dover took second place at the line. At Folkestone, Henry Cox, White, Sara Scrivens, A Everington-Nee coxed by West-Burrows came home third. Cook would also finish third with Shoreham’s J16 Ladies Quad Sculls.

In the J16 Quad Sculls Dover had 2 crews. Josh Grassby, Ben Fagg, Bo Corby, Beau Everington-Nee coxed by Matt Barnett competed against Hart, Tom Gold, White, A Everington-Nee coxed by West-Burrows. Barnett’s crew found themselves in a tight fight with Herne Bay. The neck and neck battle was decided by half a canvas, with Dover in Second. Dover;s second crew came home fifth. At Folkestone Grassby, Fagg, Corby, Everington-Nee were third and Henry Cox, White, Gold, A Everington-Nee came home sixth.
The Junior Senior Men’s Four had Mackintosh, Will Coleman, James Hale, Jasper Mallet coxed by Freya Emmerson in a tight three way race on the outward leg. Southsea led at the turn with Dover and Herne Bay behind. The charge home saw Dover trying to take the lead whilst fending off Herne Bay, finally taking second place. At Folkestone Dover finished fourth.

The Open Masters Fours 40+ featuring Matt Barnett, Zara White, Mark Weight, Janice Bradford coxed by Jo Johnston struggled to compete with the leading two boats as they come home in third place. At Folkestone Janice Bradford, Nikki Leggatt, West-Burrows, Barnett coxed by Hale were fourth. Nick Bailey was third in a composite.
The Men’s Junior Four Mike Simmons, Barnett, Kevin Ulyatt, Brendon Ulyatt coxed by Jo Johnson finished fourth. Ladies Junior Four of Marie Cockerell, Emmerline McArdle, West-Burrows, Saffron Walmsley-Preece coxed by Tony Burrows also finished fourth. At Folkestone Emmerson, Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Coleman were fourth.
Men’s Senior Fours had Mackintosh, Coleman, Hale, Mallet coxed by Emmerson came home fourth.
Novice Men’s Four Simmons, Weight, K Ulyatt, B Ulyatt coxed by Burrows worked hard to get fifth in a large field with Laine Napier, Damon Napier, Chris Wong, Duncan Taylor coxed by Emmerson coming home seventh. Simmons, Weight, K Ulyatt, B Ulyatt coxed by Burrows finished eighth at Folkestone.
Jasper Mallet came fifth in the Men’s Junior Sculls and would improve to fourth in the same event at Folkestone.

Novice Ladies, White, Kaz Morrison, Amanda Punton and Cannelle Ulyatt coxed by Burrows finished fifth. Lee-Anne Finnis finished third in a Worthing crew and Izzy Baldwin took second with Eastbourne. At Folkestone White, Bradford C Ulyatt, Lily Stafford-Edwards also finished fifth.
Masters 50 + Leggatt, Morrison, West-Burrows, Taylor coxed by Johnston came home fifth, whilst Nick Bailey finished fourth in a composite.
Men’s Senior Pairs Hale and Mallet were seventh with Mackintosh and Colemen eighth at Dover but both improved at Folkestone finishing fourth and sixth respectively. The crews would shuffle seats in the Men’s Double Sculls race, Coleman and Mallet were fifth and Mackintosh and Hale sixth.
In the Open Mixed Four Dover had 3 crews Mackintosh, Leggatt, Lee-Ann Finnis, Mallet coxed by Hale were sixth, Emmerson, Harvey, Bailey, Colman, coxed Hannington were eighth and K Ulyatt, B Ulyatt, West-Burrows, Barnett cox Johnston were ninth.

Awards were presented by Gary Smith-Weston MD of Samphire Cargo and Shaun Roche MD of Roche Electricals.

DRC would like to thank our 2023 Sponsors: Hellmann Beverage Logistics (Dover), Samphire Cargo Ltd (Dover), A&S Self Storage, Julie Wright & Friends of DRC, The Ratzkins, Apple Oaks Carpentry and Plastering, Arriba Pets Ltd, Baileys Opticians, Black & White Financial Planning, Blake’s of Dover, Cats Painting and Decorating Services, Chloe-Jo Charters, Complete Cleaning Services Kent, Mr N.J. Cooke, Dover Express, Dover Harbour Board, Dover Water Sports Centre, Dover Sports Therapy and Fitness Centre – Simon Dugdale, The Duchess, Steve Duncan, East Kent Mercury, Gardeners Cottage, K. R. Gavin Removals, Good i Buys Emporium & Salvage, Mr K.C. Goodwin, Mick Hale, Mrs J Hall, Health & Safety South East Ltd, High Pressure Services, The Hoptimist Taproom & Bar, Lavender& Rosebuds Preloved & Handmade, Juicy Media, Kent Stonemason, The Lord of Kincavel, Mr R. Kirk, Kraken Grappling Academy, Mariner III – Malcolm, Mr D Newman, No Pain No Gain Customs Tattoos, Roche Electrical, N.T. Rix, Salty Sea Yoga, Sharp & Enright Ships Chandlers, Smith Woolley Chartered Surveyors, Jack & Trudy Snape, The Staggered Inn, Steve Woods, Steve’s Removals, Mrs M. Squibb, Kevin & Canelle Ulyatt.

Tough conditions met a smaller Dover squad at Shoreham regatta, leading to damage to one sculling boat.

In the Men’s Junior / Senior race Cameron Mackintosh, Will Coleman, Jasper Mallet, Sebastian Steele coxed by Freya Emmerson took on the conditions. A strong start saw the crew gain the advantage from the line. Working well together, the crew executed a good turn coming out a couple of lengths ahead of their pursuers. At the line Dover took the win with 3 lengths.

In the Veteran 40 race Kevin Ulyatt, Jon Cook, Maria West-Burrows, Nikki Leggatt were coxed by Felicity Ulyatt. The race quickly turned into a two horse race with Eastbourne leading out of the turn. Despite pushing on the return leg Dover came home in second.

The Senior Men’s 4 had Jon Cook, Coleman, Mackintosh, Mallet coxed by Emmerson take on the top flight men’s crews. With a Deal crew fastest off the line Dover were fighting with the second Deal crew. The two crews duelled it out over the outward leg and through the turns. Despite pushing hard Dover’s crew came home in 3rd.

The J14 race featured Henry Cox, Henry Fraser (Worthing RC), Ella Cook, Sara Scrivens coxed by Maria West-Burrows. The young crew, which had Ella Cook in her first race, did well off the line and were racing hard down the 1km course in a tight race. They were holding 3rd in the last 250m before a problem at the line dropped them to 4th.

In the Junior Ladies 4 Dover had Emmerson, Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Coleman competing. The crew found the conditions tough going and, by the turn they were fighting for points. As the finish line approached, they fell back to 6th.

Novice Ladies 4 were represented by T Cornell (Eastbourne) , Lee-Ann Finnis, Izzy Balwin, Cannelle Ulyatt coxed by Tony Burrows. The composite crew took a few moments to get into their groove. Coming through the turn they were in 6th place, a position they held through to the finish line.

Mike Simmons, Brendon Ulyatt, Kevin Ulyatt, Duncan Taylor coxed by Tony Burrows raced in the Novice Men’s 4. In one of the biggest fields of the day the crew found themselves fighting for points. In contention at the turn the Novices were unable to close down the crews in front coming home in 7th.

Neither Mallet or Mackintosh where able to compete in their sculls races to damaged to their boat.

Dover Rowing Club had a winning start to the CARA season at Bexhill’s Regatta. In the Under 16 Quad race Josh Grassby, Bo Corby, Ben Fagg, Beau Everington-Nee coxed by Sara Scrivens got a great start in the straight one kilometre race, pulling out a length lead by 500m. Heading into the last 200m the young crew came under pressure from Bexhill’s crew but, with Scrivens driving them on, the crew held their lead to the finish.
Scrivens worked hard during the Regatta supporting Dover and several non-Dover crews with coxing.
Scrivens rowed with Henry Cox, Artie Everington-Nee and Worthing’s Henry Fraser coxed by Maria West-Burrows where the young crew took second in J14. There was a third place for Scrivens in a composite crew in the J16 Ladies race.

Jasper Mallet started powerfully in the Novice Men’s Sculls. Leading the whole race Mallet calmly handled a late charge from a Shoreham Sculler, and secured progression to Junior level with this his second Novice win. Cameron Mackintosh came home in fifth.

Mackintosh and Mallet raced were joined in the Junior Senior 4’s by James Hale, Will Coleman coxed by Freya Emmerson. Dover’s crew got a good start and were initially vying for the lead. By the turns they were second with two crews within two lengths. The pursuing crews closed down Dover in the last quarter of the race before Dover dug in and lengthened their lead to take second. The same crew raced in the Men’s Senior 4 coming home in fourth.

In the Junior Ladies 4’s Emmerson, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Jason Cunningham raced in a very competitive division. Dover’s crew got a strong start and found themselves fighting for second running to the turn. Coming out of the turn in third they tried to claw back the second placed boat but ran out of water at the line.

In the Master 50+ Amanda Punton, Kaz Morrison, Maria West-Burrows, Duncan Taylor coxed by Emmerson got a little caught at the start and found themselves chasing the field. Through the turn they gradually closed moved up to take fourth at the line.

In the Novice Ladies Four saw two Dover crews, Punton, Morrison, Izzy Balwin, Lee-Anne Finnis coxed by Emmerson raced Lily Stafford-Edwards, Leggatt, Hannington, Harvey coxed by Cunningham. The better start was made by the Cunningham coxed crew with Emmerson’s catvhing a little in the chaotic start in the large field. Cunningham guided his crew to fifth with Emmerson working up from twelfth up to eighth place.

In the open mixed fours Emmerson, Cunningham, Balwin, Coleman coxed by Mallet raced Stafford-Edwards, Brendon Ulyatt, West-Burrows, Mackintosh coxed by Hale. Hale’s crew had the better race coming home sixth with Mallet’s coming home in ninth.

Outside lanes impacted the Senior Men’s Pairs and Men’s Double Sculls with Hale and Mallet taking seventh in both races. Coleman and Mackintosh finished eighth and tenth.

Fresh from completing the fastest combined time for the virtual round the world race ahead of Folkestone and Worthing, Dover were back on the water at the Viking Shield at Herne Bay.
It was a winning start for Jasper Mallet who comfortably won the Novice Sculls race where he led the field from the start.

The Masters 40+ race saw a composite crew with Nick Bailey and Jon Cook and Jason Cunningham coxing racing Amanda Punton, Canelle Ulyatt, Maria West Burrows, Matt Burnett coxed by Sara Scrivens. The composite crew lead out of the turn by a length and were able to hold off a spirited effort from the Scrivens’ coxed crew to secure the win, with the other Dover crew second. West-Burrows had gutted out the race after taking a hard hit to the face during the turn from a rival crew’s blade (oar).

The Junior Ladies 4 saw Freya Emmerson, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Cunningham compete against Emmeline McArdle, Saffron Walmsley-Preece, West-Burrows, Ella Day coxed by Tony Burrows. Entering the turns Dover were one two when the Burrows boat rudder cable snapped, leaving Burrows draped over the stern and moving the rudder by hand for the rest of the race. Shoreham took the opportunity to row through, leaving Burrows and Cunningham crews to battle for second. Burrows crew held on to second at the line with the second Dover crew only a few metres behind. Burrows would be awarded coxswain of the day for his efforts.
In the Junior events the Men’s U16 Quad Sculls saw Josh Grassby, Ben Fagg, Bo Corby, Beau Everington-Nee coxed by Matt Barnett racing the younger crew of Henry Cox, Sonny Hart, Tom Gold, Artie Everington-Nee coxed by West-Burrows. The Barnett coxed crew led over the first 750 metres but an issue with one of the young rowers allowed Shoreham to creep past at the line leaving Barnett’s crew second and West-Burrows crew in fifth.

Oliver White, Hart, A Everington-Nee, Scrivens coxed by West-Burrows finished third in the U14 Quad Sculls. Scrivens finished third in a Bexhill crew in the U16 Ladies race.
Senior Men’s 4 had Cameron Mackintosh, Mallet, Cook, Will Coleman coxed by Emmerson head to head with Herne Bay on the outward leg. Herne Bay eased out to a lead with Dover coming home second. There was a similar outcome for the Men’s Junior Senior 4 of Mackintosh, Mallet, James Hale, Coleman coxed by Emmerson who came in second in a tight finish with Herne Bay. Coleman also competed in the Junior Sculls finishing 3rd.

In the Senior Pairs race Hale and Mallet had a good race in their first Senior outing. Turning third the pair were unable to close down the leading two boats.
The Ladies Novice 4 of Punton, Kaz Morrison, Zara White, Ulyatt coxed by Burrows put in a solid performance coming out of the turn in fourth and maintaining that position to the line. Lily Stafford-Edwards rowing with Folkestone, came over the line in sixth.
The Men’s Novice 4 of Mike Simmons, Brendon Ulyatt, Kevin Ulyatt, Duncan Taylor coxed by Emmerson had a good start and were battling for second at the turn. On the return leg they drifted down the field coming home in fifth.

Dover Rowing Club completed the penultimate leg of the round the world virtual race against Folkestone and the ‘Super Club’ combination of Bexhill, Eastbourne and Worthing. The St Helena to Cape Verde leg consisted of 4087 km that could be rowed, run, cycled or walked.

The race started with all three teams vying for the lead with the Super Club being driven on by the outstanding performance of Jim Dillon pushing ahead just after the mid point where only 11 km split the three teams. Dover’s lead scorers Maria West-Burrows, Chris Hall, Kevin Ulyatt and Tony Burrows, all of whom featured in the top 10 overall perforners at race end, helped push Dover out in front by 30 km.
Hall and Tom Stothart contributed large rowing scores finishing 3rd and 4th in that category. Strong running performances by Max Jerden, Maisie Ludwig and Nick Bailey saw all three finish in the top 10 for running distances.
As the race entered the last 1000 km Dover were still holding off Folkestone with big overall contributions from Brendon and Cannelle Ulyatt, Chrissy Purvis, David Newman, Nikki Leggatt, Marie Cockerell, Jo Johnston and top Junior Bo Corby who had racked up an outstanding 187 km. As the teams dashed for the line, Dover had competing priorities with the end of season’s Presentaion Dinner opening the door for Folkestone to take the win whilst Dover partied. Dover would finish the next morning.
In other news Tony Burrows has won the British Rowing Awards regional volunteer of the year and progresses to the shortlist for the National award.

Dover Rowing Club held their end of season Presentation Dinner at the weekend. Dover RC had a fantastic season securing 3 Coast Amateur Rowing Association titles and narrowly missing out on a fourth. The Junior division also took the overall Junior Aggregate and top point scorers awards, with two crews qualifying for the South Coast Championship at Paignton, Devon. Club members also competed in the Welsh, British and qualified for the World Offshore competitions.

CARA Championship Winning Crews:
Junior Men’s Four: Sebastian Steele, Finn Cockerell, James Hale and Jasper Mallet with substitute Max Arkell coxed by Freya Emmerson
Junior Men’s Pairs: James Hale and Jasper Mallet
Novice Men’s Four: Sebastian Steele, Finn Cockerell, James Hale and Jasper Mallet coxed Freya Emmerson with Oli Scrivener, Jacob Scrivener, Harley Scrivener, Sam Pile coxed by Paul Scrivener.

The club created a new award for the Improved Junior Rower which is awarded to the most improved J14 or J16 rower. This went to Beau Everington-Nee who was part of Dover’s successful J14 squad.

Most Improved Male Rower went to Jasper Mallet was part of all three CARA title wins moving from Men’s Novice to Junior Four’s and also securing the Men’s Junior Pairs title. Jasper has also captured his first win in a sculling event edging him beyond his teammates for this award.

Most Improved Female Rower was awarded to Nikki Leggatt. Nikki has been competing in Novice, Junior and Veteran racing classes and has impressed the club with her improvement in her first full season.

The Coxswain of the year saw Felicity Ulyatt and Freya Emmerson head to head. The club went with the Ulyatt for her improvement over this year as the club recognises the need for continous development of coxes as well as rowers. Emmerson had previously secured the CARA Cox of the Year title.

Rowers Rower award went to inspirational club member Jon Cook whose constant improvement and dedication has allowed him to overcome his disability and move up two divisions to qualify as a Senior rower. Jon qualified through to the South Coast Championship in Dover’s Junior Senior crew as well as completing the Monster the Loch endurance race.

The Committee voted for Tony Burrows to be Club Person of the Year following his work supporting new and existing members through training and competition.

Captains Award went to Maria West-Burrows for her work running the beach on race days and supporting club development.

The club would like to thank Emmerson and Laine Napier for arranging and organising the event, Nick Bailey for paying for the disco and all the club sponsors in 2022.

After a successful season for Dover Rowing Club, the club has moved from regatta racing to winter training mode. With reduced water sessions and a focus on winter fitness the desire for competition has seen Dover return to the virtual racing against Bexhill, Eastbourne, Folkestone and Worthing. With the teams in virtual Cape Town the clubs are looking to complete the final legs of the round the world starting with a charge to St Helena, a distance of 3135 km. With rowing, cycling, running, walking and workouts all counting.

From the start it was a race between Dover and Folkestone with the lead flip flopping repeatly. As the race progressed Bexhill, Eastbourne and Worthing joined forces into a ‘Super Team’ which saw Dover drop briefly to third. A strong push from the club members saw Tom Stothart (263 km) and Chris Hall (233 km) placing 2nd and 3rd in the individual erg / rowing lists. Stothart and Hall (253 km) also featured in the top ten overall performers where they Kevin Ulyatt (254 km), Tony Burrows (233 km) and Nikki Leggatt (200 km). Maria West-Burrows (190 km), Cannelle Ulyatt (162 km) and Marie Cockerell (141 km) were also strong overall contributors. Bo Corby (79 km) was the leading junior member.

At the finish Folkestone and Dover crossed the line the same day, with Folkestone taking the honours, in one of the closest races of the virtual round the world race so far. Next leg St Helena to Cape Verde.

Dover Rowing Club are always keen to welcome new members, check the website for contact details.

Dover Rowing Club had 3 competitors at the World Rowing Coastal Championships held in Saundersfoot in Wales. Great British crews were competing against 22 other nations in the event racing in FISA sculls boats.
Jo Johnston and Maria West-Burrows competed in the Ladies Doubles Sculls event semi-final on day 2. Conditions were calm, with light winds handing the advantage to physically stronger crews as boat handling skills would be less of a factor. Johnston and West-Burrows were in heat 2 and found the race to the first turn challenging. They turned towards the back of the field, falling to 14th at the second turn, but were unable to improve through the 3rd turn and the slalom section to the finishing line. Johnston and West-Burrows finished the 4 km course in a time of 23 mins 30.2 seconds, qualifying for the B Final.

The rough and windy conditions of the B Final were more to their liking as a chaotic start for all boats saw Dover’s crew find their line and head to the first turn. With winds gusting to 40mph hitting the boat at 45 degrees towards turn one, Johnston and West-Burrows turned in 4th whilst being hit by large waves and strong winds at their side. On the race to turn two, Dover pushed past GBR05 to take 3rd place and close on FRA03 in 2nd . Johnston and West-Burrows, were unable to close the gap sufficiently and finished 3rd in a time of 35 mins 48.08 secs, ranked 20th in the world.

Club Captain, Tony Burrows, rowed with Jon Osborn from Eastbourne RC in the men’s event. Torrential rain impacted their heat as the crew missed the starting buzzer leaving them last off the beach. Carnage at the turn with a number of boats crashing, removed any chance of an A Final qualification for Burrows. Passing two GBR and one Peruvian crew the Burrows boat moved up to 10th finishing in a time of 22 mins 54.65 secs.

Burrows B Final in the calm of day two was a faster race which saw them chasing the Irish and Japanese crews directly ahead of them, with a Greek crew on their stern. Tight finishes saw Burrows come home 13th in a time of 21 mins 40.81 secs, ranking them 30th in the world, and the highest place GB crew in their event.
Congratulations to UL Tyrian Club whose Toyko Olympian crew were GB’s only winners in the Coxed Quad Sculls.

Dover Rowing Club captured six trophies at the Coast Amateur Rowing Association Presentation Dinner. Leading the way were the members and cox of the Men’s Junior Four championship winning crew, Sebastian Steele, Finn Cockerell, James Hale, Jasper Mallet and Freya Emmerson and single race substitute Max Arkell . The crew took home the championship trophy with Emmerson also securing the Coxswain of the year.

In addition, Hale and Mallet received the Men’s Junior Pairs championship trophy along with jointly winning the award for most points collected by a Junior Man.
The Junior Fours Crew, who started the season as Novices, had two early season wins before promotion which, combined with a Dover Regatta win from Oli Scrivener, Jacob Scrivener, Harley Scrivener, Sam Pile coxed by Paul Scrivener, led to Dover securing the Men’s Novice Fours title.

The largest trophy of the night was the Junior Aggregate; a points competition which Dover dominated this year. The Men’s Junior Fours squad of Steele, Cockerell, Hale, Mallet and Arkell contributed the lion share of the points, with contributions from Tom Stothart with two sculls wins, Chris Hall, Sam Pile, Matt Barnett, Eddie Briggs, Marie Cockerell, Jon Cook, Emmerson, Emily Harvey, Brendon Ulyatt, Kevin Ulyatt, Felicity Ulyatt (cox) and Maria West-Burrows.

The last Coast Amateur Rowing Association race of the season saw Dover’s Junior Senior squad race off for the title against Shoreham. Dover’s crew of Ben Gomm, Jon Cook, Chris Hall, Tom Stothart were coxed by Nick Bailey as their regular cox, Freya Emmerson. was unavailable. They had complied the most wins and points in the season and qualified for the South Coast Championships. The CARA Championship is decided on overall club results and Shoreham crews ended the season level with Dover.

There was apprehension within the Dover crew as three of the squad were still heavy legged after rowing 21 miles on Loch Ness last week. The race started well with the boats neck and neck until Shoreham pulled ahead at around 600m. Through the turn Shoreham had a three lengths lead. Although the return leg had been the Dover crew’s strength during the season, the fatigue showed as they were not able to perform their normal charge to the line leaving Shoreham to take the title.

Dover’s run this season started at Dover Regatta where Jon Cook had joined his younger club mates to make a run at the Junior Senior competition. With diaries not matching during the season, other club veterans switched into the crew, with Paul Scrivener and Matt Barnett helping to take wins at Deal and Folkestone respectively. Steve Woods helped them gain points at Herne Bay. The strong club spirit was able to drive the crew to the edge of a championship but it wasn’t enough on the day.