NE Rowing Sculling Series - Tyne stage - Saturday 31st October 2009

An unusually warm and sunny day greeted Berwick rowers who made their way to the Tyne at Newburn for the latest  round of the Long Distance sculling series.  Rowing the 5000 metre course from Scotswood to Newburn the first boat up the Tyne for Berwick was ladies senior double Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns.  The ladies were quite determined to make up for their narrow defeat on the Tees.  Alison and Hilary pressured their Durham opponents right from the start sculling confidently and strongly.  By half way the Berwick ladies passed their Durham opponents.  Alison and Hilary sculled on strongly to win in 18 mins 18 sec 30 seconds ahead of the next ladies double scull.  Sam Seaton teamed up with Ian Smith in a mixed Vet double.  The pair put in a creditable performance in their first race together.  Harry Black made an impressive return to form in Vet D single sculls.  Using his experience and knowledge of the Tyne course Harry took the win by 18 seconds over scullers from Talkin Tarn, Tees and club mate Robin Morrison.  Alan Robertson competing in his first single sculling race for 20 years showed that he still has what it takes to win the Vet G single category.  Rob Harvey and Jamie Martin also competed in single sculls and posted good times for their first experience over the Tyne course.  Newly formed Club Tyne United ran a Small Boat Head of the river over the same 5000 metre course but with scullers this time having to row against the strength of the out going tide.  All the Berwick members were taking part in their second race of the day and found their fitness was tested.  Berwick ladies Alison Inglis, Sam Seaton and Hilary Cairns teamed up with Cambois sculler Sarah Wright in quad sculls.  The ladies were delighted to take the win as fastest female boat by 2.5 seconds.  Ian Smith and Harry Black and David Cairns and Rob Harvey contested Vet D and B double sculls with both crews being pleased with their race.  Young Jamie Martin rose to the challenge of racing a single scull twice in one day, a feat which no other Berwick sculler was prepared to take on.  Jamie sculled well in the difficult fast moving tide to complete the course for a second time.  Berwick scullers would like to thank Lloyd Ltd for the use of a vehicle to pull the boat trailer.  The final round of the sculling series takes place on Saturday 7^th November at Wansbeck.

NE Rowing Sculling Series - Tees stage - Saturday 24th October 2009

With two of the six long distance sculling series events being cancelled, Berwick’s rowers were ready for Saturday’s event at Stockton on Tees.  This year’s event had attracted a massive 160 entries from clubs all over the north east and clubs as far afield as Aberdeen and Nottingham, with quad sculls, double sculls and single sculls.  The course is well-known for its many horseshoe bends making it a very difficult course to manoeuvre.  Weather conditions were surprisingly good for the two Berwick ladies crews taking part in the 5000 metre timed event.  Fastest boat of the morning was a Men’s Intermediate 1 coxless quad from York City, with a very impressive time of 16:28.9.  Women’s senior double scull, Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns were first of the Berwick boats off, chasing their opponents from Durham ARC down the Tees.  The Berwick ladies sculled well, steered an excellent course and managed to make up some time on the well drilled Durham crew, but alas it wasn’t quite enough, with the Berwick crew losing out by just 6 hundredths of a second, finishing in a time of 20:15.6.  They finished 2^nd women’s double scull and 42^nd overall out of 145 boats.  It was first time steering the course for Sam Seaton, doubling up with Estelle Dodd in Women’s Intermediate 2 double scull.  Although they had no direct competition, they steered and sculled the course very well in a respectable finishing time of 24:26.3.  The series moves to the River Tyne next week where seven Berwick crews will be competing over the 5500 metre course.  The Berwick ladies would like to thank Sam Seaton and Nixon Hire for the use of their vehicle to transport the boats.

NE Rowing Sculling Series - Berwick stage - Saturday 17th October 2009

Cancelled due to lack of numbers.

NE Rowing Sculling Series - South Hylton stage - Saturday 11th October 2009

Cancelled due to weather conditions.

End of season dinner - Saturday 17th October 2009

The club are holding an informal end of season dinner after the Berwick Long Distance Sculls on Saturday 17th October.  It is being held in The Cobbled Yard, 7.00 - 7.30 pm.  All welcome, if interested please contact a committee member.

Gym night - Thursday's

The Berwick High School gym is now available for club members to use from Thursday 15th October 6.00 pm.  All welcome.

Boston Marathon - Sunday 20th September 2009

Another small piece of history was written in the books of Berwick Amateur Rowing Club on Sunday 20^th September when the first all ladies crew from the club completed the Boston Rowing Marathon.  Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns took on the gruelling 31 mile 50 kilometre race from Lincoln to Boston.  Starting in glorious sunshine in Lincoln the ladies set off on their journey first on a canal for 13.5 kilometres then having to get out of the boat and carry it a short distance to the river Witham.  Once back in the boat and with the race clock continually running the ladies set off again.  Having reached the half way point in reasonably good shape all that was left to do was the same distance again!  The sun continued to shine making a very pleasant day for spectators.  For those on the river the heat was just about becoming unbearable.  However once the ladies were at the 45 kilometre mark they picked up again as they are more than used to racing the 5km distance to the finish  Just not after having already covered 9 times that distance.  After 4 Hours 14 minutes and 54 seconds with a few blisters and aches Alison and Hilary arrived in Boston giving them an overall finish position of 64^th out of 190 starters in all boat classes. 

Berwick Regatta - Saturday 20th June 2009

BERWICK rowers took to their home water on Saturday at West Ord for the club's 140th anniversary McCreath Simpson & Prentice Ltd Regatta.  First rowers on the water for Berwick, in a semi final of Women's Vet B/C/D double sculls, were Alison Inglis/Hilary Cairns against George Watson's. Due to the veteran handicap system, the Berwick ladies had to give their opponents a 10 second start. They quickly made up the time going on to win by four lengths, and to meet another crew from George Watson's in the final. After another handicap start, Inglis/Cairns sculled confidently down the course seeing off their opponents to give them their first win of the day.  Inglis/Cairns double sculled again in the Women's Senior event against Talkin Tarn. After a hard fought first half Berwick edged their bows in front and moved on to win by clear water.  Harry Black and Robin Morrison were up against one another in the semi-final of Vet B/D single sculls. Both men sculled extremely well on their home water but Morrison piled on the pressure and took the win over Black, putting him in the final against Cambois.  The handicap was to Morrison's advantage but the Cambois sculler was not going to give up without a fight. Morrison managed to stay ahead to win by a length.  One of the exciting wins of the day was from Novice double scullers, Phil Craze/Rob Harvey. After a very hard and close fought race against their opponents from Cambois, Berwick took the win and very happily lost their novice status. The duo went their separate ways and took to the Novice single sculls event. Harvey was up against Cambois in the semi-final, after a nervous start he was two lengths down but relaxed and sculled very well to the finish, with the win going to the more practised Cambois sculler. It was Craze's turn to compete against the sculler from Cambois in the final. After a good start from Craze, Cambois took the lead and went on to win by a length.  Estelle Dodd/Sam Seaton were up next in the Women's IM2 double sculls event against Talkin Tarn. This proved to be a tough start for the Berwick double with Tarn taking the lead, Berwick kept their cool, made up lost ground, with both boats level towards the finish Berwick lifted their rating and victory was theirs by two feet.  The Senior single sculls event and much sought after title of "King of the Tweed" saw Christopher Eke get a bye through to the final but unfortunately it was not to be the Berwick's scullers day with Holmes from George Watson's taking the title. Eke then teamed up with Morrison in IM2 double sculls against a very well drilled crew from Talkin Tarn. Tarn took the lead and managed to stay ahead of the Berwick crew by a length.  Rowena Park took to a single scull in Women's IM3 single sculls semi final against George Watson's. It was a closely fought race but Park managed to keep the pressure on to the finish and win by ¾ of a length. Park was up against Talkin Tarn in the final. Tarn took the lead off the start but Park powered through her opponent winning by a length and a half.  Next into a single scull was Alison Inglis in Women's IM2 single sculls. Inglis was down off the start but sculled strongly to gradually take the lead and power through to the finish to gain her a 3rd win of the day.  Ian Smith and Alan Robertson had their hardest race of the season against George Watson's in Veteran F/G doubles losing out on a win by just two feet after a very close race.  Regatta controller David Cairns and Harry Black teamed up in Veteran B/C double sculls. The more practised crew from Cambois took the lead from the start and Berwick were unable to make up the distance. Also in this event were Harvey/Craze who had a bye through to the final, this put them up against the more experienced crew from Cambois. They rowed their best and cleanest race of the day, but were well beaten by 2 lengths.  Berwick ladies, Alison Inglis, Estelle Dodd, Sam Seaton and Hilary Cairns joined forces in the Women's IM2 Coxless Quad sculls. They were up against a much younger crew from Talkin Tarn. After an excellent start, the ladies settled in to a strong but comfortable pace, over hauling their opposition to give them a slot in the final against George Watsons. In the final the ladies were able to replicate their previous race, finishing even stronger to give them a final victory of the day.  Berwick would like to thank their sponsors as without their generous support it would not be possible to stage their home regatta. Special thanks also go to the Lang Family enabling the club to hold the regatta at West Ord