Hexham crews shine at Durham LDS and SBH, with 25 crews racing, six wins, and a strong club showing on a beautiful autumn day in Durham.
Hexham Rowing Club enjoyed a fantastic day of racing at the Durham Long Distance Sculls (LDS) and Autumn Small Boats Head (ASBH) on Saturday 8th November. The weather treated us to a beautiful, mild autumn day — calm waters, golden leaves, and the stunning setting of the River Wear made for perfect racing conditions, including a spot of sunbathing!
Across the three divisions, 25 Hexham crews took to the water, representing the club brilliantly across junior, senior and masters categories. It was great to see such a strong turnout, with crews showing great spirit and warmth throughout the day. The racing was fast and competitive — and we’re pleased to report no bridge incidents (as far as we’re aware!), always a bonus at Durham.
One of the Women’s Masters Quads heading to the start:
W4+ band 1 in action:
Masters Open Quad looking focused:
One of the Women’s Masters Quads in action:
There were six wins for Hexham over the course of the day, (WJ17.4x, OpJ18.1x, W. MasCDEF.4x and WJ18.2x) including two from composite masters quads (Op MasDE 4x and Op MasEFH 4x) featuring Kev and Stuart, demonstrating both experience and strength across the squad.
Our junior rowers impressed, continuing to build confidence and skill as they gain valuable head racing experience.
Report for ASBH div 2: Hexham had 8 crews racing in Division 2. The Open J18 quad with Seth, Leo, Jude and Dan opened the course for Div 2 and set the fastest time of all the Hexham boats with an impressive 6:23.
Congratulations to WJ18 Junior double of Olive and Sadie who came through the finish in 7:53 winning the WJ18 2x. Our strong juniors continued with George in the the Open J18 single and Izzy and Flora in another the WJ18 double.
So dear reader, how did the Masters do? Our crack Women’s Masters Crew of Catherine, Suzanne, Shor and Elizabeth went incognito in a different boat, craftily parking in the bushes at the start and wearing lots of warm clothing to hide the Hexham onesies whilst having canapés but soon showed their mettle on the course with a time of 7:17 (raw time) to win their age category.
Two Women’s doubles showing the Hexham strength in depth were out competing against each other in W Mas DFG with Alison and Gillian in one boat and Sue and Gill in another having raced together in a quad in earlier divisions. Congratulation to them.
The Mens quad of Angus, Tim and Ant learning from the Sunday League recruited gun for hire Andrew to steer them. After enjoying the row to the start featuring guided tour from Tim and a game of Desert Island with a Durham University boat we set off enthusiastically with three objectives: Go faster than 8 minutes, don’t get caught by the crack ladies masters crew and show we were in the right boat. All objectives achieved with a bonus of overtaking another boat and not getting passed with a time of 7:28 (raw time). Result was a very happy crew. Huge thanks to Andrew for leading us through Elvet Bridge #1 arch successfully and thanks to the Hexham and QEHS crews cheering us on as we started.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who made it possible for the club to attend — from managing entries and payments, to loading and towing the trailers, and to all those who cheer is on from the bank throughout the day. These efforts, often behind the scenes, make racing possible.
Special recognition goes to our Club Captain, who rowed three times during the day to ensure everyone could race and learn from our more experienced members — a massive thank you. It’s brilliant when those with more experience support newer or less experienced club mates – we really appreciate it.
Thank you to Catherine and George for towing the trailers. All in all, it was a wonderful day of racing in a gorgeous setting, with excellent results and plenty of smiles. Full results can be found here: LDS Results and ASBH results
Congratulations to everyone who took part — onwards to the next event which will be York Small Boats Head on Sunday 23rd November!
