Ryde Rowing Club, sponsored by Wightlink, I.W. Ferries, competed at Southsea Regatta - the largest one day Regatta in the country on Saturday (12th July) with their Novice Ladies Crew producing the Clubs best performance of the day. Southsea Regatta is the only event before the South Coast Championships in September where the Hants & Dorset ARA Clubs also compete against the Coast ARA Clubs and is therefore a good indicator of  form for the Championship Regatta.

The Novice Ladies crew of Vici Christopher, Steph Goodey, Chloe Attrill and Kirsty Sedewick with Tom Clark coxing have been threatening a win for the last few Regattas and on Saturday every thing fell in to place as they surged through the field in the second half of the race to win by two lengths. They will now be looking for a second win to secure their Junior status at Swanage Regatta on the 26th July.

In the Men’s Senior Fours Final the A Crew of Ben Ade, Ian Hayden, Matt Allsopp, Nick Pike with  Clare Salter coxing qualified for the final with ease where in addition to the strong Hants & Dorset opposition they also faced some powerful crews from  the Coast ARA Clubs.  In a closely fought race BTC, Ryde's main opposition for the Senior Association title emerged the winners with a powerful performance, Herne Bay from the Coast ARA finished 2nd with Ryde close behind in 3rd beating their other main Hants & Dorset  rivals from Itchen. The Senior B Crew of Steve Titmus, Chris Jenkins, Steve Cook and Mark Young with Tom Clark coxing  finished 6th in their heat just missing out on a place in the final.

In the Junior Senior Fours event the Ryde Crew of Chris Walker, Matt Bull, Mike Palin and Lee Bennett with Jamie Lawson coxing finished a disappointing 6th after an incident at the turn lost them several lengths which would probably have seen them finish in third place. In a dropping tide the two inside buoys were in very shallow water and a number of swimmers were in the water close to the Ryde who were drawn in the number one position. The young Ryde coxswain, in his first season with the Club, had to manoeuvre around the swimmers in the water - and received a rarely given commendation from the Umpires for avoiding a potentially serious incident - although ordering a re-row would have been more helpful to the Ryde Crew!

In the Men’s Junior Fours an improving A Crew of Ben Churchill, Nick Christopher, Ollie Bottrell, Stu Johnson with Kim Salter coxing finished 6th in the final after an easy qualification in the heat. The B crew, in an untried format of Tom Fairy, Matt Evans, Sam Billington and Rob Arnold with Tom Clark coxing finished 6th in their heat - just missing a place in the final. This was a first race at Junior status for Sam Billington and Rob Arnold following their promotion from Novice status the previous week.

The Junior Ladies crew of Chole Attrill, Becky York, Jodie Cocker and Clare Salter with Tom Clark coxing finished 5th in their final. Ryde had two crews racing the Men's Junior Pairs event - the A Crew of Matt Evans and Ben Churchill just missed out on a place in the final finishing 6th in their heat. The B Crew of Stu Johnson and Nick Christopher finished 2nd in their heat to qualifying for the final comfortably, but a clash just after the start in the final cost them dear and they finished in 5th place, loosing ground on their rivals for the Championship from Christchurch.

Both Ryde Junior scullers qualified for their final with ease with Ash Maitland turning the table on his great Club rival Mike Jenner to finish 2nd behind a Bexhill sculler, and take his first Hants & Dorset Championship point to close the gap on Mike Jenner, who finished 7th but who still leads the race for the Championship with four points secured.

Ryde's representatives in the Novice Sculls - Steve Salter and Pete Nevill finished 4th and 6th respectively in their heat, Salter qualifying for the final, but he will be disappointed with his 6th place in this race.