Sudbury Regatta 2024
The third of August was a rowing day to remember. The GB men’s eight won gold in Paris and Spitfire competed at the Sudbury “International” Regatta, this year celebrating Sudbury Rowing Club’s 150th anniversary. SBC assembled a squad of five rowers (Manny Marques, Ben Askin, Ed Thomas, Alex Holden and Michèle Thomas) supplemented by three of our University of Kent student members (Charlie Forster, Aaron Bird and Matt Willis) and SBC alumna Lucy Abbott who now rows at Maidstone Invicta but kindly joined us in a composite crew.
Sudbury regatta always has something of the air of a fête champêtre. It didn’t disappoint. There was a refreshment tent, a jazz band, a hog roast, a Suffolk Police stall handing out stickers and pens, beer, Pimm’s, a sea shanty group, straw bales, a large crowd bankside listening to the extraordinary commentary and, yes, some rowing.
Quads
Hot Toddy made two trips up the 650 m course – first up were the Open 4x, stroked by Ben with Ed, Alex and Manny (confidently steering – he’s done this before, you know). They looked good but ultimately were beaten by a Huntingdon crew by three lengths. Notably this was Alex’s first ever race and he acquitted himself superbly. The mixed 4x, expertly stroked by Lucy (with Michèle, Alex and Ed steering) made it up the course some way behind a strong crew from Newark (the eventual winners) but got back to the landing stage in one piece, which is always a plus.
Doubles and Pairs
Mixed Fortunes: Aaron raced a composite Open 2x with a Huntingdon member, had a great-looking easy win in their first race but lost in their semi-final while Ed & Michèle had their first row in the CJ in the Mixed 2x cruising to an easy defeat in the semis.
Charlie & Matt meanwhile entered the Open 2- (Challenger) competition. The boat and the race were both a challenge and they unluckily lost in a straight final to a strong Cantabrigian crew. (Not the last thing Cantabrigian did to upset us as later they tried to abscond with some of our blades.)
Was this a good idea? Manny and Ben took to the water in the UKE kindly-loaned rudderless 2- for a straight final in the Open Masters’ B category. They were pitted against a strong London Otters crew and with the finish in sight at the deceptive final bend the lure of riverbank natural history proved too great, but how the spectators loved it.
Singles
Aaron took part in the Open 1x (Novice) event, did not have to race his scheduled first opponent but sadly lost to his London Otters opponent in the final.
Paving the way: Charlie, entered into the Open 1x (Challenger) event, had a good close win (1 length) over a Bedford sculler in his semi-final and then a great 2½ length win in the final over his Maidstone Invicta rival to claim both pot and shield.
Saving the best for last: Manny & Ben were both entered in the Aspirational Open 1x event. (Aspirational is a word that applies to Spitfire in so many senses.) They didn’t disappoint. Ben won “easily” in a semi-final against a rower from Yare while Manny had a good 3 length victory over a Gravesend single sculler.
This meant that the final would be the ultimate duel: Captain v Vice Captain, Bricey’s back-from-the-dead wonder boat, Voltage II, v the elegant Carl Douglas. A volunteer asked “Who usually wins?” and looked perplexed to hear they had never raced each other before. It was a real tussle. Both steering a great line up the course, Ben was a canvas ahead as they rounded the final bend. But a super human push for the line from Manny saw him take the win – the official verdict “2 ft” – one of the closest races of the day.
Pots for the winners, commiserations for the losers, a lot of practice steering the winding sprint course and many plans for our future return to Sudbury “International”. Whether you drove the night before and camped in luxury on the field or set off from East Kent on the 5 am drive it’s a long way to Sudbury and there’s always the question “Is it worth it?”. After a keen day’s racing and so much laughter the answer is a resounding “Yes!”.
Huge thank-yous are due particularly to Manny and Ben for towing and roof-topping, respectively, to get all the boats and equipment to and from Sudbury. Many thanks also to the Sudbury Rowing Club, organiser (and commentator) Andrew Blit, his committee and the huge number of volunteers for an altogether excellent regatta.
