Rallying round to show rowing is growing at Itchenor

They rowed from Eastney, Langstone, Emsworth, Bosham and Westlands and drove from the Hamble and Portsmouth to assemble a flotilla of different styles of rowing boat.

The aim of the day was to get as many people rowing in as many different types of boats as possible.

By midday Itchenor Sailing Club had a wide array of boats including a St Ayles Skiff, a Cornish Pilot Gig, Solent Galleys, a Celtic Longboat, Burseldon Gigs, a Claydon, an Epona, a moving seat quad scull, a moving seat coxed four, a single scull and a Langstone 4.

More than 80 visitors turned up to try out all the boats in the Itchenor Reach, creating quite a spectacle.

Particularly popular were the Celtic Longboat, Solent Galleys, Bursledon Gigs and the quad sculling boat, which had queues all afternoon.

The day was followed by an evening talk in the clubhouse by Steve Woods of Langstone Cutters on how to win the annual Great River Race on the Thames.

The rally was scheduled to continue through Sunday but activities were cancelled because of Storm Freya.

To find out more about rowing at Itchenor Sailing Club please visit www.itchenorsc.co.uk

It's sunny in the harbour - Snowflake memories drift

Inspiring next generation of sailors

DELL QUAY

The highly popular Dell Quay SC Frostbite series concluded after ten successful races spanning nearly four months.

The races were sailed in varying conditions from a gentle force two to three to a force six to seven.

There were 38 entrants over the series, attracting sailors from four other sailing clubs. There were 14 different classes which participated and the competitive Solo class made up 12 of the entries and secured five of the top ten final places.

Over the ten races in the series, the ten first places were taken by eight different helms, which demonstrates how competitive the racing was. Stephen and Sarah Cockrell from Stokes Bay SC, sailing their RS 400, took two first places; Liam Vass from Felpham SC sailing an RS Aero7 did the same.

Aaron Evans, sailing a Laser, secured a first place; Andrew Morley, sailing a Laser Pico, also took a first place and the remaining four races were won by four different Solo sailors – Roger Puttock, Stephen Holcroft, Mark Harper and Simon Verrall.

This again shows how competitive the Solo feet is at DQSC.

A number of competitors could have won the series, which went down to the wire on the final day. Harper, in his brand-new Solo, won the first race of the day and Verrall won the second.

However two second places proved just enough for Roger Puttock to secure an overall first place for the Frostbite, with second place going to Verrall and third Holcroft.