On Sunday, June 18, Tenby's ladies' and men's longboat rowing crews travelled north to Aberystwyth to compete in the fourth joint north and south rowing league of the season. Again, there was a fantastic turnout of boats, turning the harbour in Aberystwyth into a colourful array of longboats waiting for the start of each race. The day consisted of a full afternoon of rowing, including races for ladies', men, mixed, novice and youth. Aberystwyth Rowing Club provided an excellent venue for the crews from where refreshments before the race, briefings, presentations of cups, shields and certificates were made, followed by a well-attended BBQ and the all-important liquid refreshment during the race debrief. A total of 42 teams turned up to compete in the afternoon's events. The course was out of Aberystwyth Harbour, rowing south approximately half-a-mile off-shore to a marker buoy just west of Borth beach, then a small westerly leg and finally, turning north to face the full strength of the fresh wind. The final leg of the race became increasingly difficult as the strength of the wind increased. During the last leg of the race, it was visible to see the boats bows being lifted a good three-four-feet out of the water and then crashing back down into the following trough. It was very testing conditions for the rowers and hard-work for the cox to keep the boats on a steady course. Aberystwyth's Atlantic 75 lifeboat Enid Mary, along with a number of local boats followed the race providing safety cover and also a vantage point for Aberystwyth Rowing Club to video the races. The first race of the day was the ladies' race, which was approximately five miles long. Unfortunately, two of Tenby's ladies' rowers, Rachel and Emily, were unavailable to row due to study commitments, but Tenby's ladies' team was kept afloat by two rowers from Borth Ladies' Rowing Club, Gabrielle Adamson and Helena Rodknight. Tenby's ladies' team of Pam Quinn, Glenda Hughes and cox Tim Deere-Jones along with the two borrowed rowers dealt with the conditions extremely well and rowed a very good race, managing to pass a number of boats on the southerly leg and hold their position well on the hard return leg. Many thanks to the two girls from Borth Rowing Club who stepped in to row at such short notice. Gabrielle rowed at no three, her first time rowing at sea! and Helena rowed as stroke on the opposite side to normal for her - well done both. Tenby ladies' team were positioned sixth out of 12 boats, the winning crew being Aberystwyth ladies. Teams were cheered enthusiastically across the finish line by a large crowd of race followers that lined the entrance to the harbour. Tenby's men's race was approximately six-seven miles long. The men's team, Chris Terry, Nick Tebbutt, Martin McDonald, Gary James and cox Tim Deere-Jones, rowed very hard in the first leg of the race, passing three boats on the southerly leg, a fourth on the western buoy turn, gradually catching a fifth boat on the final leg, but were unable to pass it. Their final position was 12th out of 22 boats, only a small margin of about 500-yards separated the winning crew of Aberdovey from Tenby who crossed the line in 12th position. This Sunday, June 25, Tenby Rowing Club will be hosting Tenby's Caldey Island race, which will be starting from the South Beach, opposite the Fountains Cafe at 2 pm. All categories of boat and crews will be rowing in one race. It is expected to be a spectacular event, please come along and support your local rowing teams.
