The Star Regatta is always a home water highlight for the Boat Club’s boys, and this year it was our J16 Colts who won the hearts of the spectators as, not only did they win everything they entered, but they made everyone hugely proud when they demonstrated a superb display of sportsmanship.
It was the turn of the J16 quad to race in the final against Hampton School when, soon after the start, Hampton veered into Bedford’s water and crashed into them, resulting in a disqualification. However, the Bedford quad were unhappy about Hampton travelling all the way to Bedford for just one race just to be disqualified, so they requested a restart, which was granted by the umpires. Second time around, both crews successfully navigated the course with Bedford winning by three lengths.
For all boys competing, the regatta provided a busy day’s racing with 11 event wins across all the squads and some good performances against opposition that they last raced at the National Schools Regatta. Overall, of the 46 races contested by the school, the boys won 32 and lost 14.
Whilst the 1st 8 were training at Earith and therefore not competing, the 2nd 8 lost by a canvas to Eton in an excellent race – the closest they have come to this crew this season. They also raced and won in the top-tier coxed 4s and the J18 quads, beating the Bedford Modern School’s 1st quad in the final.
The 3rd 8 also lost to Eton. Despite racing the higher-ranked crew, they put in a strong performance. Half the crew then raced and won the 2nd-tier coxed 4s.
The Colts, including the J16 singles, doubles, pairs, quad and 8 won all their races. It was a great achievement for the 8, who beat Eton by just a foot in what was a particularly close race.
The J15 A crew won the J15 8 event, but not without a scare against the J15 B crew in the heat before beating Shiplake in the final. Half of that crew also lost the final in the J15 coxed 4s event.
The J14 A crew won the J14 octuples event. Similar to the J15s, they had to overcome the J14 B crew along the way, a race that was much closer than expected. In the final, they turned over King’s Ely, who had previously beaten them in the B final at the National Schools Regatta.The J14 B crew, as well as giving the A crew a fright, also raced in two quads. The Adedeji quad made it to the semi-final, but a broken blade halfway through the race saw them lose to Bedford Modern School by half a length. The Thomas quad won the event, beating Bedford Modern School by some margin in the final.
