Hexham Masters Rowers travelled down to Henley to take on the iconic boomed course.
On Friday, the weather was incredibly hot, and so was the racing. The first Hexham crew down the 1km course, starting below Temple Island and finishing outside Upper Thames RC was the WC.4x- against Endeavour Rowing Alliance, USA in the quarter finals. The USA crew were a late entry into the event after two crews scratched and were unknown to the Hexham crew. Hexham had a good row and finished 2.5 lengths ahead.
The next Hexham member was in a composite E.2x with Durham ARC, who came across very fast opponents in Exeter RC and bouncy water on the Buckinghamshire station.
The third Hexham boat at the regatta, Gillian raced late on Friday evening as a W Mas I sculler. The temperature was 32 degrees at 6pm when she raced. She would have been the oldest woman unless there was someone older hiding in a younger crew. She gave it her best effort, even with a boat full of water (from the wash off the powered boats on the way up to the start). There was lots of support and a big cheer at the end.
It was an early morning on Saturday for the semi final of the WC.4x- but the cooler weather was welcomed, this time against Bristol Ariel who had a bye to this round. The Hexham crew were half a length down until the 600m mark where they dug deep to claw back their opposition and clinch a win by 3/4 length.
Happy and exhausted there was six hours to keep cool before the final v Walton RC, reining British champions. In the heat of the afternoon sun, the final took place and the Hexham crew gave their best shot but the Walton crew were too fast who clinched the victory by 1, 3/4 lengths.
Sunday saw a new event for the 2025 regatta which welcomed mixed crews in quads or eights. Three Hexham members joined forces with a Tyne Sculler in the MxdD.4x- against a Rob Roy – City of Cambridge Composite who had had a successful regatta so far with a win in the E.2x the day before. Even at 9.05am, the weather was warm and the racing was very hot too. The Hexham composite had a solid row, coming second to a strong crew.
