Michele Thomas

Glorious weather saw four Spitfire rowers (Manuel Marques, Ben Askin, Jon Gater & Michèle Thomas plus two junior Gater supporters and five University of Kent Rowing Club members (Aaron Bird, Charlie Forster, Kieran Waterhouse, Matt Willis and Theo Ashley-Hacker) travel to Bexley for this 500m sprint event, hosted by Erith and Gravesend rowing clubs.

Open 4+
In the fourth race of the day Ben, Manny, Jon (back to rowing after a long lay-off) and Nick Druiff from Maidenhead RC, ably steered by Kieran (making his debut as cox), had a good run down the course in the David Ravens. The crew lost to the eventual winners from Poplar, Blackwall & District. (Huge thanks to Nick who, rumour has it, thought he was subbing into an established crew…)
In the same category a University of Kent crew of Charlie, Matt, Aaron and Theo, once more coxed by Kieran, were unlucky to lose to a strong Maidstone Invicta crew.

Open 2-
Another crew on the water before 10 a.m., the UK crew of Charlie and Matt had an excellent win in the rudderless pair beating a Maidstone Invicta crew. This propelled them into the final which they narrowly lost, again to a MIRC crew. (NB restore rudder before next event.)

Mx Masters E/F 2x
Michèle teamed up with a Gravesend rower in the CJ – the less said about that the better, but the Ardingly crew did not have to row too hard to win.

Open 2x (band B)
Aaron and Theo took to the water for this and despite looking good once again UK lost to Maidstone Invicta.

Open Masters B 2x
Manny and Ben had a close race in the CJ, against a double from Fairlop RC, overhauling them after their fast start but eventually losing out.

The Dashes were characterised by great organisation, friendly volunteers and peerless commentary from Andrew Blit, who even gave a mention of our illustrious captain’s academic career – thanks to all involved.
We may not have come home with any trophies but the spoils from the local Turkish Food Centre may have been some compensation.

Many thanks, once again, are due to Manny and the Puntonator for towing and Ben for shifting much of the equipment (and a reluctant rower). 

Full race results available here: https://easyregatta.co.uk/er_raceorderlive.php?rID=1926&er

Some photos of the event (courtesy of Clive Harlow from MIRC):

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 150^th 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.