A big thank you to Sarah Welburn for capturing the highlights of a memorable day at the Roadford Races!
It was an early start for members of Bude Pilot Gig Club on Saturday, 19th October, arriving at Roadford Lake to set up for the first regatta in the 2024/25 Roadford Races winter series . The brilliant sunshine and still waters made the early hour bearable, and club members were ready to greet the visiting clubs with big smiles and bacon butties by 8am.
It was great to see familiar faces from Appledore, Ilfracombe, Barnstaple, Tamar and Tavy, Torridge, and Boscastle & Crackington. There were also some new faces to mix things up a bit, with Midland Cornish and Cotehele Quay making their debut appearances.
There were 10 boats in total after a couple of last-minute cancellations.
Racing started promptly at 9:15am. to fit in the 10 planned races, from Masters through to Juniors. A Novice race was included this time (which did not count towards the final score) and ran alongside the Juniors race.
Despite the holiday atmosphere, thanks to the conditions (and the ice-cream van!), the racing was fierce. The course is a straight line, approximately 2 km long. Even though the crews have to row almost the length of the course to reach the start line, so they know how far it is, the race still feels like a slog with no corners to break it up.
The women from Appledore took the first win of the day in the Masters race, with Torridge taking the Open. Boscastle and Barnstaple took the Women’s and Open Supervets, respectively. Ilfracombe dominated in the B races, with newcomers Cotehele Quay taking a win in the Women’s Vets and Appledore taking the Open. Boscastle took the glory for the Juniors. The A crew races were the last of the day, with the wins going to Cotehele Quay in the Women’s and Appledore in the Open once again.
Congratulations to the overall winners of the day, Boscastle & Crackington.
A special mention to those who were racing for the first time in the Novice race—let’s hope you’ve been bitten by the bug now, like the rest of us!
Cotehele Quay Chairperson, Sheila Snellgrove thanked Bude for the invitation to the regatta, saying that some of their members thought it was the best day of the year so far! High praise indeed!
The next regatta in the series will be hosted by Boscastle and Crackington Gig Club and will take place on Saturday, 16th November. Fingers crossed for favourable weather conditions.
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