ON SUNDAY, July 12, the second day of the annual Llandaff regatta, Penarth Rowing Club took a number of crews to compete in this year’s sprint events, on a course just over 500m in length.

It was a very successful day for the men’s novice coxed four, comprising Jack Davies, Adam Tucker, Gabe Ackerman, Rhys Savory and cox Helen Iliff, as the crew prevailed in their opening regatta of the season to lose their novice status and move up to the IM3 racing category, despite having only been able to train together for just over a week.

Despite profuse rain during their races, the boys, aged 18 to 20, progressed through the quarter and semifinals of a fiercely competitive 8-team category against Gloucester RC and Bristol Ariel respectively, emphatically beating both opposition boats by two boat-lengths, before edging the closest race of the day to beat the home Llandaff four by just two feet in the division final.

The crew were delighted to have achieved this first regatta victory, after a successful winter head season in which the scarlet Cecil Thomas vessel saw two victories in Cardiff and a close second place at Monmouth.

There were further promising performances from Penarth in Llandaff, with Annika Bugert being only marginally pipped in the women’s single sculls event in another close race, with commendable performances from the mother-daughter double scull boat of Annika and Liz Bugert, A debut double endeavour from Helen Iliff and Maddy Scott, and another single sculls entry from Liz B, all of which provided a glimpse of the future of Penarth RC’s women’s rowing, which has taken off in recent months, with more than 20 female members having joined this calendar year.

The club now looks forward to a summer regatta season in which the club are hoping to build on these successes and strengthen the club’s competitive rowing reputation further.