2009 Regattas

SOUTH COAST VETERAN CHAMPIONS

Last weekend the South Coast Rowing Championships were held at our Home club for the second time in 8 years. It was good to represented in the the Veteran Championships by our own crew of Simon Appleby, Mathew Keller, Tim Capell, Steve Tupper and Coxswain Natha Belcher Wilson. Having lost the previous year to BTC from Southampton the crew were determined to regain the crown. The sea was rough although there were no sinkings during th racing. The hardest part was launching and landing in the surf! The Folkestone crew were in the first championship event. The previous year at Plymouth the crew from BTC had got away from the field with Folkestone getting a slow start and having to try and row down the opposition. This was not to be the case this time as Folkestone and BTC got away together. As the race progressed the pair rowed away from the othr crews with Folkestone leading the way. At the finish the crew won by a good distance to regain thei crown for the third time in four years.

This is the fifth time that Folkestone have been South Coast Veteran Champions in the seven years that it has been held as a championship event. Simon Appleby and Matt Keller have been in all five wins. Well done to all of them in their victory. It should be noted that the crew qualified with the assistance of three other oarsmen from the club. Stuart Harries, Simon Bever and Andy West helping the crew to there seven wins in the CARA Championship.

There were other notable performances from the Folkestone Rowers; The Senior Ladies crew of Vanessa Ware, Maria Dixon, Sally Watkins, Isobel Smith and Coxswain Emily Watkins finished in third in the Senior Ladies Open. The Junior Men's crew of Nathan Belcher-Wilson, Alex Ruffhead, Jamie Leppard, Mark Edgar and Coxswain Vanessa Ware were second in the Junior Men's Open having lead for most of the race. The Junior 18 Ladies crew of Maddie Whybrow, Zoe Buckland, Emily Watkins, Morgan Campbell and Coxswain Sally Watkins came second on the J18 Ladies fours event.

There was a massive effort from club members to make the day a successfull event. The championship committee would like to thank all those who played their part in assisting on and before the day. They would also like to thank the local residents for their co-operation.

CARA VETERAN CHAMPIONS 2009

Folkestone Veterans crew secured the CARA Veterans Championship recording their fith and sixth wins at Dover and Deal Regatta at the weekend. This is the third successive year that the club has held the title.

Southsea Regatta

    Not many Folkestone rowers travelled to Southsea at the weekend. They were greeted by a choppy sea with a forecast for increasing conditions. As the wind increased in intensity the got rougher causing problems for a lot of crews. Many crews filled up and had to go ashore and the officials of the day were busy re-organising the events so that the more in-experianced scullers and rowers would be at the end of the day when conditions were expected to improve. The Veterans took part in the Senior fours as well as there own event. The were just outside the qualifing crews in the Senior fours so didnt make the final. In the Veteran fours they were on th very outside of th draw. They turned with Lymington and were just in front on the way to the finish only to be pipped at the post them in the last few strokes of the race. Still it was a good row and gives them the Coastal Point making it 4 wins to 1. Club Captain Marc Alderman went in the Junior sculls and rowed a very fine race to gain a second place to Deal.
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Folkestone Regatta

    It was Folkestone Regatta on Sunday 5th July, Slightly earlier than on previous years to give us a bit of room prior to the South Coast Championships being held in the town on the 5th September. The club was out in force to make the regatta run as smoothly as possible. The forcast all week was not looking good but after the weather not arriving as predicted on Saturday the other clubs and the association had urged us to hold the event if at all possible. Looking at the met office forcast at 05:00 showed that a light wind would start in the North West, swing to the South West and increase in force. The regatta was called on and the competing clubs had been informed to arrive early to try an beat the weather as it was feared that it could get very rough as the day went on.

The club committee would like to thank all club memebers for their fantastic support on the day. Great effort!! Thanks should also go to the other clubs for getting there earlier and allowing the regatta start time to be brought forward.


    The Veteran A crew were back to full strength and were joined in the race by two other Folkestone Veteran Crews. The wind was round to the south west fairly early on whipping the sea into a frothy frenzy. The race started with both Folkestone A & B crews at the front. The C crew was not far behind with the pack of other clubs crews racing to the turns. The Vet A crew turned on the style and rowed away from the rest. They were round the turn cleanly and back to the finish with no one near them. The B crew had a battle on their hands with Eastbourne, Dover and Bexhill with the Folkestone C crew not far away. The B crew ended up 5th and the C crew 7th.

    The Men's junior fours proved to be close to ending the regatta. Backwards and forwards trying to jump the start they went. It all came to a head when Deal B Sank as they went to start for the 5th time. The race went on with the Folkestone crew doing really well close to Deal. Herne Bay sank close to the midway point with Eastbourne filling up not long after the turn. The Folkestone crew had a rudder problem but still ended up a credible third.
    The Ladies novies had a change of personnel again. The Sea at this time was close to the limit. The Ladies Novice crew rowed a fantastic race. They left the start and rowed cleanly on a rough sea and recorded there first win of the season. Well Done to the Ladies. A Senior Ladies crew took to the Water welcoming back Maria to the Boat. I think they took the field by surprise and went away from the start with the leaders and maintained this to the turn. Eastbourne were a few lengths up at this point followed by Bexhill and the Folkestone crew. The field ended this way with a third place for the club. Maria also teamed up with Sally in the Ladies Pairs and rowed a very good race to come third. We were second in the Ladies Aggregate by two points!

    For the full results and updates on the days racing please see the CARA Website at ROWINGUK.COM
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Herne Bay Regatta

    Another lovely sunny day with a light westerly breeze made for a good day on the beech at Herne Bay Regatta on the 4th July. The sea was relativly calm for the days racing with crews from Folkestone taking part. Early on was the veteran fours. The A crew were a man down so imported the CARA President - Andy West into th 2 seat. Martin filling his place in the B crew. The club wants to make sure that we are competing in the South Coast Veterans Championship race so it is important to get as many points as possible. The A crew, Eastbourne, Dover and Herne Bay were close all the way to the turn. The Folkestone crew just making it ahead of the others to setup a race back to the finish. Folkestone up by a length of clear water as the passed the halfway mark but Eastbourne were not done yet. They pressed Folkestone and clossed to a length but the move was seen by Simon in the Stroke of the A crew and upped the stroke rate to 37 strokes per minute. Folkestone Held on for a fine win putting them 2 points to 1 up in the race for the championship.

    The junior men seem to be improving each time the go out. They had a good start and were leading after a few hundred meters. Deal are a pretty good crew and passed our lads but the Folkestone crew kept going to the finish and claimed a well deserved second place.


    The Novice Ladies Rowed well again with a third place for the second regatta in a row. Sally had a swap of partners again in the senior Ladies pairs, this time rowing with Isobel. They had a reasonable row and came home in 4th place.

    For the full results and updates on the days racing please see the CARA Website at ROWINGUK.COM
Regatta Photos ->    AndyWestPhotography.com - Click Here

Eastbourne Regatta

    Another lovely sunny day with a South Westerly wind made for a good day on the beech at Eastbourne Regatta on the 27th June.


    The Vets joined in the action. The Vet A crew recorded there first win of the season in a tough race with Herne Bay and home club Eastbourne. The "B" crew started their campaign with a fith place. The Vet A crew also went in the Men's Senior Fours and recorded a fith place against some very tough competition.

Steve Tupper also sculling his way to a fifth place in the Men's Senior sculls making him the top points earner for the club on the day with 10 points. Last regattas top points winner Craig Hoveman gaining 8 points again with some good performances in the Men's Senior and Junior Sculls.
    The Ladies novies had a change of personnel and record a credible fourth place. All in all the club picked up its first win putting them joint 5th in the Grand Aggregate and increased their points earned by 50% from last regatta raising us two places into 5th in the League.

    For the full results and updates on the days racing please see the CARA Website at ROWINGUK.COM
Regatta Photos ->    AndyWestPhotography.com - Click Here

Worthing Regatta

    The first regatta has been and gone and Folkestone Rowers were in action on the day. No wins but some good performances by some of the team. Craig Hoveman gained a second in the Mens Junior Sculls. Sally and Sophie Watkins gaining a second place in the Ladies Senior Pairs. Craig was the top points earner of the day with 8. 5 for the Junior Sculls, 2 for the Senior Sculls and 1 for the Senior Pairs. It was a busy day for Craig and Captain Marc Alderman as besides doing both the scullls races and combining for the pairs they also went afloat in the senior fours with junior Jamie Leppard and CARA President Andy West.
    Jamie also rowed in the Men's Junior fours with Nathan, Alex and Mark who rowed well to a credible fifth. Andy also rowed in the Novice Sculls comming in fifth place. It was a day for fifth places, Marc in the Junior sculls and Nikki, Leslie, Maddie and Aggie in the Junior Ladies fours.

    For the full results and updates on the days racing please see the CARA Website at ROWINGUK.COM
Regatta Photos ->    AndyWestPhotography.com - Click Here

Viking Shield Regatta

    On Saturday the 9th May the rowers were at Herne Bay for the annual Viking Shield Regatta. The regatta is mainly for the Kent clubs but costs have meant that the regatta has been opened to the wider audience of all the CARA including those from Sussex. The competition was strong in most races with Worthing and Deal having increased there numbers not only in size but quality.
    The Ladies races particulary were strongly contested. The Folkestone Senior Ladies Crew of Vanessa, Sally, Nikki, Isobel and Cox Emily were in the thick of the action. All the crews arrived at the turns within a few lengths of each other. Hastings who were drawn eight arrived first but had pushed across the course onto turn four where they drifted wide. unfortunatley the Folkestone crew drawn seven were lined up on the same turn and tried to nip round the inside. The two crews ended up tangled together while the rest went round cleanly. The umpires decision was that both crews were off station and as per the rules they mustabide by their accidents. The race continued with all crews racing back to the finish. The Worthing junior ladies won the event two lengths from the pack. Hastings managed to get back to third while Folkestone were sixth. The Ladies Novice four of Della, Maddie, Emily and Zoe did well in thier first race as a crew. Della and Zoe haven't been rowing long and the crew came home a credible fifth.
    Unfortunatley the successful Veterans and Senior Men's fours were not able to make the regatta so we were not in the running for those events. The Seniors was won by an impressive display by the home club Herne Bay. They were four lengths up at the turn and doubled this by the finish. Two of the Herne Bay crew also won the Viking Shield albeit behind the winning Bexhill Pair. The pipped their club mates who had won the event the previous ten times. The Junior Men's fours was a very tight race. The Folkestone crew of Nathan, Mark, Alex, Jamie and cox Marc were in the thick of the action till the turns were they faded towards the finish. The races was won by Deal by 1/2 a length from Herne Bay B crew. The Men's Novice four of Ken, Brian, Nigel, Mike and cox Emily had their first taste of a coastal race. They had an encouraging row but were not as seasoned as some of the crews so were not in contention for the prizes.
    The sculls races were very populated, the current CARA champion Mark Mitchell was again dominant in the senior sculls with his pairing partner Kiren second. Club Captain Marc doubled up in the sculls and came home in sixth place. Marc and Sam were in action in the junior sculls. Ben Smissen, once of U18 National squad won the sculls event with Sam third and Marc fourth. The best result of the day was from the Folkestone Quad scull in the junior race. Maddie, Emily Jamie and Mark came in second behind a good Dover crew.
    In all the season looks like a very competitive affair, Our crews will need to put in some solid practice of the next three weeks prior to the first regatta at Brighton and Hove if they want to in the mix for the points and prizes.


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