Waterside B. Following the cancellation of A this was the first of this years Waterside races, for some the best race in the series and for the rest the worst – a real Marmite race! This is in-part for the format of an out and back race of 17.5 miles and 19 portages between Newbury and Aldermaston, but the real killer is the first half is with the Wind and flow and then you have to turn and slog you way back up where you have just come from, many crew have come unstuck in the past working too hard on the way down to find no gas left in the tank when the race toughens up.
This year Southampton fielded 5 crews with another 3 from our friends at Hamble Sea Scouts, Sharon Cruse and Fred Taylor in the Mixed K2 Class swooped round the course in a time of 3 hours 56 mins with Sharon re-acclimatising to the cool (read cold) British weather. Nigel Jefferson and Richie Morris in Vet male K2 trotted around in 3:11 with Richie even having time to lend his hat to a Poole Harbour Paddler in need who had bumped his head on one of the low bridges. The other Three Southampton boats all in the vet male class came in within ten minutes of each other Damon Grimsey and Russell Meyer in 2:38 having struggled with a leaning boat, Richard Elliott and Guy Holmes in 2:36 to take Third place, to earn the first part of their dimmer set leaving Richard Kent and James Hinves to come in in 2:28 their 5th WS B Class victory. For the Hamble Scouts, Southampton member Toby Evans took the honours in Junior Single in a time of 2:36 that bodes well for the rest of the season, another Southampton member Alistair Brown and his partner Mike Preston just missed out on a mug coming 4th in Junior Doubles, with Lexie Brown and Lennie Cann following them in in fifth.
It was a great day out finishing under a big blue sky, with some fantastic performances. Next week Thameside Two should provide some exciting challenges as the crews race from Reading to Marlow, with the only mass start of the season, there should be plenty of crashes, Washes and splashes to enjoy!
Provisional results are available here http://www.watersideseries.org.uk/results/2020resb.pdf
