Itchen Junior Regatta 8th October
Light winds, patchy rain, crowds of wide-eyed first-time competitors and one or two old-hands provided the ingredients for a good day’s racing – and the odd drama – downstream of the 800m long toll-bridge on the lower reaches of the River Itchen.
First-up for CRC was Izzy Langridge contesting the girls’ junior 15 single sculls ‘A’ division. In effect rowing up a year up as Itchen allows a continuation of last season’s age category. A quick start and confident performance secured the first win of the day by an impressive margin against a strong opponent from the home club.
Next to line up were Franc Canelas and Sol Hewitt in the junior 15/16 double sculls. This blend of experience and raw enthusiasm produced an impressive turn of speed, too much for first Newport in their heat and then Shanklin in the final. A creditable performance from this pairing.
The youngsters next in the junior 13 double sculls. A bit of a grudge-match in reality with Will Tate and Tristan Carter taking on a crew from Bournemouth Collegiate School, both previously having rowed for BCS. Unfortunately, this time, CRC did not come out on top but a good contest none-the-less.
A more up-beat and cheerful crew you couldn’t hope to find. Emma Radford, Josie Cutler, Anna Turner and Fleur Horowitz coxed by Louie Callaghan tried their hand at sculling in the Junior 15 coxed quad division. This time losing out to a more experienced Poole crew but picking up valuable race experience along the way. A twist in the tale here though in the form of Izzy Langridge helping out in the Poole crew by subbing for a missing crew member, therefore representing Christchurch in another winning boat and picking up a well deserved second pot.
The next race and Sol Hewitt back for another crack, this time at junior 14 single sculls. Same result; a very tidy and determined performance getting the better of a good Ryde sculler on this occasion. Two pots for Sol on the day and he should be very proud of himself.
Junior 14 single sculls B division next and quite a daunting prospect for Louie Callaghan taking to the water in a single scull for a first race with only a few months experience behind him. But for the odd ‘crab’ at inopportune moments Louie would probably have walked away with a win here, in the end losing by only about half a length. Well done Louie.
And now to the blue-riband event, junior 16 single sculls. Five heats here so a lot of work to do to make the final. CRC ably represented by Franc Canelas. Two hard races and Franc found himself in the final but now perhaps what was to prove the fatal error. The format at Itchen is that on winning a race you immediately make your way back to the start for the next round. Franc was in the second semi-final and on coming through a hard-fought contest felt obliged to race back to the start where his relatively rested opponent was waiting on the line. The start official showed no compassion and set the finalists off without delay. Franc looked a little fatigued in the last round but fought very hard, losing out by about 2 lengths in the end. To take nothing away from the Westover sculler who took a deserved win though.
The J13 boys back again next for the single sculls event. Will Tate and Tristan Carter drawn in separate heats. Not quite the boys’ day though but again both made a good contest of it and will have taken away good experience from this.
Not quite the finale but perhaps one of the most exciting contests of the day, Connor Marshall and Morgan Durward taking up the challenge of the junior 14 double sculls. A couple of minutes on the bank debating who should take bow and who should take stroke probably giving away the level of experience here but the determination to have a good go in their first race could not be faulted.
Morgan and Connor – on the left – Leading out the Junior 14 Double Sculls
With about half the race down the boys found themselves leading the pack, between two Ryde crews but, as inevitably happens in such situations, the temptation to try just a little too hard resulted in a couple of ‘crabs’ allowing one of the Ryde boats to edge past. A spot of wayward steering from Ryde and a resurgence from CRC brought about a collision 150 metres from the line. An act of ‘kindness’ that should have won Morgan and Connor the ‘Most Courteous Crew of the Day’ award – allowing their opponents a generous couple of lengths re-start before setting of in pursuit – creating a gap that was just too much to close up. And so a second place by a small margin but well clear of third. Well done to this pair on a great effort but please, not quite so much consideration towards the competition next time!
And so to the final event, the girls’ J15 coxed fours with Emma Radford, Josie Cutler, Anna Turner and Fleur Horowitz (Libby Perry of Westover as coxswain) in their favoured ‘sweep’ event. By now the wind was beginning to pick-up providing more challenging conditions. Sadly it was not to be for the girls this time but no lack of enthusiasm and effort to finish strongly with a performance to be proud of.
Well done to all competitors and many thanks to family and friends for providing invaluable support and assistance on the day. Thanks also to Morgan Durward for sending in his report for inclusion.
