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TOWN'S REGATTA BECOMING NORTH'S ANSWER TO HENLEY
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By Lindsay King
A record 210 crews took part in the CSH annual Hexham Regatta in glorious sunshine on the Tyne at the weekend.
Entries for the event, in the 125th birthday year of Hexham Rowing Club, were 40 per cent up on last year.
While there was strong representation for the local area with Hexham and QEHS rowing clubs, others travelled from as far afield as Glasgow and South Yorkshire to try their luck on Tyne Green.
Many spectators turned out in force to enjoy the racing, with the open views from Tyne Green providing a great vista and the atmosphere provided by Hexham's answer to Henley.
Whilst regattas, like Henley, are known for being very formal, Hexham RC prides itself on providing a more informal, yet equally exciting affair, where the focus is on providing great racing and a good atmosphere for spectators to enjoy, with the added ingredient of great food and drink!
The regatta is known as the friendliest in the North among clubs who take part and this appears to have rubbed off as record numbers attended on the day.
There was also an increase in spectating day visitors, alongside supporters who travelled with participants. This is a development the club had tried to promote, and their efforts to provide a quality sporting spectacle to attract visitors to Hexham have paid off.
The increase in numbers has turned this into one of the largest Northern regattas of the year, with many university clubs choosing to make this the last event of the academic year.
The attendance of Newcastle and Northumbria University crews and good numbers from each of the Durham College clubs really provided a highly competitive spectacle for the day.
Rowing is becoming an increasingly popular sport for participants and spectators alike, and this was evident from the numbers competing in rowing and sculling events at junior, senior and veteran levels.
The racing took place on an 800m course from the golf course end of Tyne Green to the finish just before the bridge.
Highlights of the day included numerous Senior 8s races with extremely fit and technically able crews powering down the river at considerable speed, stopping just short of the bridge in some cases!
There were some incredibly close races with competitors edging in front to win on the line and even a couple of dead heats which involved crews racing again, exciting for those watching, but rather more arduous for those who had to turn around and row again!
Hexham RC went into the regatta hoping for some good results after some excellent wins at Durham Regatta the week before.
The consistently good women's veteran crew secured wins in several events. Hexham's captain John Mullholland also won although for his race he deserted the club having hand picked a crew of young rowers from several other clubs to give him the best chance of winning and compensating for his own older years, despite his contribution of wisdom and experience or so he said!
Hexham's neighbour club QEHS put on a show of their finest talent, using their skill, hard work and local knowledge of the racing course to secure them several wins and also the overall prize of best club in the CSH Victor Ludorum.
In the competition for best overall club performance their score of 18 points gave them a narrow margin of one point over the runners up from the other end of the A69, Talkin Tarn RC.
There were notable performances from Ellie Swain, Sara Mulholland, Holly Thacker, Anneliese Dixon, Jess Bentley, Julie Turner, Lucy Winter, Rachel Hall and Frances Wrigley who provided wins for the girls.
Chris Jacklin also made sure that the boys did not come away empty handed. The racing was an opportunity for QEHS to show that they have a number of up and coming rowers, who can build on good performances in the recent national championships.
Aside from QEHS there was also a notable performance from Rosie Upstill-Goddard and Laura Furniss, juniors from Hexham RC who raced against boys in the Junior U13 sculls!
The girls found themselves without any female opposition in their category so rather than have no race took on a boys' double from Chester le Street and were only narrowly beaten.
Member of the event organising committee Lindsay King said that the event was a considerable success, with a vast increase in entries, providing a wonderful day for participants and spectators, with the added bonus of sunshine and good racing conditions.
She said that the the club wished to thank the support of numerous sponsors including CSH Property Consultants, the main event sponsor, and the generous assistance of others including Tynedale Council, Lloyds TSB Private Banking, and Thompson's of Prudhoe Charitable Fund without whom such a highly successful event would not be possible.
Hexham will now start to plan for next year's event. Anybody interested should remember that spectators have all year to take a preview of racing as the two Hexham clubs are always training at weekends.
Why not go down to Tyne Green to take a look yourself or even have a go!
Previously published by Hexham Courant
13 Jun 2003
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