Frostbite Fun At Alnmouth
A mix of newer competitors and experienced Eskmuthe hands ventured to Northumberland for a day of fun and hard racing at Alnmouth Coastal Rowing’s “frostbite” regatta.
The annual event includes a range of very different races, from 500m sprints to a 3k endurance race, with a few twists and turns.
Eskmuthe retained their 3k time trial gold medal after a powerful and composed row against a strong field.
The victory came against tough competition - Alnmouth, Newhaven, North Berwick and Queensferry – as Eskmuthe set a controlled pace early on and finished more than 30 seconds ahead of the second-placed crew.
The gold-medal crew blended proven experience with emerging talent. Rhona, part of the youth crew that claimed silver at SkiffieWorlds, stepped confidently into adult racing and delivered a superb, strong and even performance at stroke.
Kim, in her first season of competitive rowing, also impressed with an excellent row over one of the longest courses in coastal rowing racing. Old hands Simon and David made up the winning crew, with Gaynor in the cox’s seat.
Logan, another of our silver-winning worlds youth squad - now ‘over age’ at 19 - also won a gold medal as part of a mix-up crew in the collaboration sprint. Logan and his open men crew mates Adam W, Mike, and Damian were just pipped to second place in the men’s open.
The ‘beer sprint’ crew of George, Pete, Sennaya and Jennifer were beaten by a single second to the line by the home club. Each cox had to hold the rudder in one hand, and a pint of beer in the other, and the winning club was decided on the basis of race position and lack of beer spilt. The course was rowed in near-darkness, adding an extra layer of challenge!
There were several club firsts on the day. Sennaya made his regatta debut for Eskmuthe, while Jen took on the stroke seat for the first time in racing conditions, keeping an excellent pace in a race where the top 4 were separated by just 8 seconds.
Alex also rowed stroke for the first time in a regatta, and did excellently in the women’s open.
After racing, Alnmouth welcomed visiting clubs into their boatshed with warm hospitality, serving soup, cake and the traditional dram of whisky, rounding off a friendly and memorable day of winter rowing.
Eskmuthe now head into the winter buoyed by more success, strong performances across the squad and promising debuts that point toward an exciting 2026.
