By Isle of Wight Observer
Newport welcomed more than 400 competitors last weekend to their annual Small Boats Regatta, which forms part of the Hants & Dorset annual series.
Shanklin & Sandown continued their successful season with five wins on the 1,000m Newport course, including Alex Robertson and Ethan Walters in the Men’s Senior Pair, cox of the day Esme Walters steering the Junior Men’s Four of Arlo Adds, Carter Horrix, Louis Sheasby and Fred Giemza-Pipe to victory, with Fred Giemza-Pipe also securing the Men’s Junior Championship with his fifth win of the season.
Ryde Girls J-16 Quad of Mai Read, Alexis Owen, Lottie Pettitt and with Emily Kellerman with Ruby Read coxing finished first in their final with a fine performance.
The only home crew to keep hold of some silverware were the Newport Women’s Masters crew, led by Julie Clarke who easily saw off challenges from Shanklin and Poole to win their final by a commanding margin.
More close racing followed on Sunday, with a ‘dead heat’ in the semi-final of the Men’s Junior Pair between Ryde, Southampton and Folkestone. This led to a re-row, which Ryde won, but they were beaten by Itchen Imperial in the final.
Newport welcomed Graham Biss, IW High Sheriff, to present trophies on Saturday, and showed him the improvements that had been made to the clubhouse following the successful crowd-funding campaign last year.