Fast And Furious At Boatie Blest
Eskmuthe rowers put on a fabulous show at the Boatie Blest regatta - the Fast and Furious version of coastal rowing.
The 45+ Men came home with a Gold medal at the regatta, while the Decades Mix took silver - in sprints lasting between 2 & a half and 3 minutes.
Crews race in a loop around the harbour, with two sharp turns - against one other boat doing the same course in the opposite direction. This makes for seriously exciting racing and some very close finishes.
With 8 clubs competing, there were 4 heats in each category - with the 2 fastest boats across all 4 heats racing off in the final.
The day started with a strong showing by the Open Mixed crew of Adam W, Stewart, Kari-Ann & Charly, who were just squeezed out of the final by only 2 seconds. Cox Fox manoeuvred skilfully around a very tight buoy turn, which was changed for later races after an incident.
The Mixed Decades crew of Leo, Alex, Damian and George - aged between 19 and 61 - had never rowed before but performed brilliantly (coxed by David) to take second place. It was Alex’s first-ever competition!
The next race was the high-point of the day, as the 45+ men - Simon, Pete, David and Mike, coxed expertly by George - took gold, winning both their heat and the final fairly comfortably.
The 45+ women - Fox, Carol, Katie & Pauline, coxed by Charly - put in another top performance, but were again squeezed into 3rd place by just 2 seconds.
Next up was the 240+ mix crew of Gaynor, David W, Gavin & Sarah C, coxed by Simon. David W & Gavin were taking part in their first-ever regatta and the crew pulled off a creditable 5th place finish.
The Men’s Open crew of Adam W, Josh, Logan & Bobby (coxed by Pauline) looked like they would make the final but were squeezed out by a very fast final heat involving North Berwick and St Ayles (Anstruther).
The Women’s Open crew (Diane, Rebecca, Wendy & Kari-Ann, coxed by Stewart) were also squeezed out by some powerful rowing, with St Ayles beating Boat Blest in a tight finish in a fast final.
Overall, a brilliant day with some terrific performances.
