Bristol Avon, May 11th
31st May, 2024
Women’s J15 coxed quad
Sophia, Alice, Anoushka and Anabel, coxed by Ellie.
This crew won their semi final in style (around six boat lengths) ahead of Monkton but, sadly, lost the final against a very experienced City of Bristol crew. Minerva put in a strong, gusty effort showing great technique and stamina. It was their first time rowing together as a crew and Alice’s first ever race. A Minerva crew to look out for in the future!
Minerva Women’s Masters’ D 4x-
Heidi Richards, Emma Puzey, Katrina Hayes and Lorna McIsaac.
After some lengthy canal boat passing delays, the final racing batch of the day got underway. Competing in a straight final, our Women’s Masters’ D crew lined up against a C crew from Avon County. Our first race in Valeria started with a nine second advantage, in near perfect conditions. Avon County had a positive start, but we had already positioned ourselves towards the edge of the middle of the river and were able to push away from their boat, maintaining our advantage and finishing two and a half lengths ahead.
Minerva Women’s Masters’ E 4x-
Jules Taylor, Sharon Manhi, Jacqui Lindsley and Nicole Etheridge.
Waiting 40 minutes in the heat wasn’t the start this crew had anticipated – a first in a coxless quad regatta race for each of the rowers in the boat, but especially for bow, steering the course. After several reminders to the competition, Exeter, to keep to their side of the river, the crews set off with Minerva producing a powerful start, edging away from the competitors and – despite a clashing of blades at around the 250m mark – retaining the half a boat length lead. That was until around 750m when the heat sapped the power from our legs and Exeter pipped Minerva to the post a few seconds’ ahead.
Minerva Men’s Masters 4+ F
Dave Searby, Brodie McAllister, Andy Stewart and Chris Born. Cox: Lorna McIsaac.
A beautiful day on the river where we certainly needed our caps and sun lotion. As with all races it seems that there’s a lot of hanging about, but it was great to be able to boat direct from Minerva. We had a good start and a solid 1000m row, helped by our 14 second advantage over our younger Masters D crew from Avon County. No need to bust a gut in the last 250m, we were ahead all the way.
A quick tea and cake before we slowly worked our way up river again. This time, only seven seconds separated the starts with Minerva’s Ian Burdis’s front- loaded crew, Masters E, looking strong and fresh! We were pleased with our start and in our last 250m, we zinged along to get within touching distance of our competition. It was a good day out for Minerva and its Master Class.
We hope to see more Minerva crews next time and now feel up to more races!
