Cambridge Autumn Regatta, 13th Sept, 2009

Tim, Chris, Em, Hannah, John, Terry

Hannah Shire reports:

On the 13th of September 8 members of Deben Rowing Club competed in the Cambridge Autumn Regatta. The weather was pretty cold and fairly dull which didn’t put the scullers in the best mood at the beginning of the day.

Tim Earnshaw was up first in Novice 1x, soon followed by Vet C 1x where he was up against an ex-international sculler and unfortunately missed out on winning.

Chris Lawrence had his J17 1x race and did really well keeping up a good pace throughout, especially as he was up against a very speedy rower from the hosts, Cambridge 99, but unfortunately Chris came second. He also entered J17 2x with Mark Anscombe. After a long wait on the river (over an hour), they raced a crew from Durham. Still no luck with that, however it was a great experience especially as it was Mark’s first ever sculling race.

Chris & Mark

John Churcher entered the Vet E 1x, but he didn’t have such a great start and this gave him a disadvantage and he didn’t manage to catch up with his competitor again.

Chezzi Keig and Kate Carson entered J18 2x and did exceptionally well. They won their first race putting them through to the finals. In the final they were up against two very ‘strong’ looking girls, however they only lost by 2 lengths which is great considering their opposition. Chezzi was only 15, but had to be entered for J18 because of Kate so they did so well due to the age difference too!

Girls double

Hannah Shire and Em Chittock raced in Novice 2x in the morning, but didn’t do too well, especially as neither were warmed up or ready. Later in the day they raced J17 2x against a crew from Cantabrigian Rowing Club. The start was good, but so were the opposition (they certainly seemed confident at the beginning of the race). It was neck and neck for about three quarters of the course and then Hannah and Em finally managed to pull through giving them a straight win of J17 2x. A fabulous end to the day. Overall everyone did so well and a good time was had by all despite the gloomy weather. Well done to everyone!


Many thanks to John Churcher for the photos and to Hannah Shire for the article. Well done to everyone who took part!