Bexhill in eleventh heaven

Bexhill Rowing Club's vet 50+ crew which was victorious at Shoreham and Hove

Another fine performance from the successful club increased Bexhill’s lead at the head of the Coast Amateur Rowing Association (CARA) league table at the halfway stage of the season.

The sea conditions were perfect over both days which favoured those oarsmen and women with the best techniques.

At Shoreham on Saturday, the men’s senior four of Mark Mitchell, Doug Holdaway, Matt Hellier and Kieran Cahill took Bexhill’s first win of the weekend in another close contest and kept up their fierce championship battle with Deal.

Mitchell teamed up with his usual crewmate Cahill to take the second win in the men’s senior pairs, and Mitchell made it a hat-trick for himself and the club by clinching the men’s senior sculls in style.

Win number four came in the men’s junior senior fours. Most of the crew which won the junior championship last year were back together for the first time this year, and Jack Page, Josh Green, Dave Williams and Phil McCorry raced with confidence.

The ladies were successful too with Abbie Little and Laura Quinn winning the double sculls. The final win of the day saw the vet 50+ crew of Williams, Mark Cowling, Clive Bingham and Andy Wilson win quite comfortably.

Sunday’s racing was held at Hove which had not seen a regatta for four years, but thanks to some dedicated CARA members and the generosity of Hove Angling Club, the event was able to go ahead.

Once again Bexhill’s men’s senior pair claimed victory, however this time Holdaway joined Mitchell in Cahill’s absence. Mitchell made it a fabulous five wins over the weekend by taking the senior sculls again.

Rachel Holdaway and Emma Young made it three wins on the day for Bexhill in the ladies’ senior pairs. Following on from their victory on Saturday, the vet 50+ crew took another win by finishing five lengths in front of their nearest rivals and stepping up their bid for champion status.

The final win of the weekend saw Remuna Picard, Andy Strevans, Chris Doswell and Warren M-Harvey claim their first victory in this category.

Bexhill captain Nick McCorry said he was delighted with the weekend, and thought that the vet 40 and 50+ crews, and all the novice fours rowed especially well. Next on the rowing calendar is Folkestone this Sunday.

See tomorrow’s Bexhill Observer for the full article and more pictures.