Held on Friday, 11 to Sunday, 13 December over 2,000 people contested at the Christmas Regatta, which is run over three days - two days of heats and one day of finals.
A strong westerly breeze prevailed for the entire Regatta, creating challenging racing conditions. However, months of training in similar conditions on the Tamaki River prepared our rowers well for the situation.
The King’s Rowing Club performed exceptionally well. Seventeen crews attained representation in eleven A Finals while nine crews made a B Final.
Unfortunately, a number of our rowers were struck down by a mystery illness on finals day, causing a few crew scratchings and a number of crew reshuffles. Nevertheless, we achieved a very pleasing set of results.
Highlights include:
- 1st, 2nd and 4th place in the A Final of the Boys' U15 Double Sculls (Tom Hall/JP Scarlett, Harrison Elliott/Max Smith, Sam Brewer/Tom Ludbrook)
- 1st place in the A Final of the Boys' U18 Single Scull (Ollie Maclean)
- 1st and 2nd place in the A Final of the Boys' U16 Double Sculls (James Hall/Sam Cummins and Hunter Gaze/Grayson Gaze)
- 1st place in the A Final of the Boys' U18 Double Sculls (Ollie Maclean/Sam Cummins)
- 2nd place in the A Final of the Boys' U17 Quadruple Sculls (Hunter Coldham/Sam Cummins (standing in for a sick James Hall)/Daniel Williamson/Grayson Gaze/Lachie Cook)
- 3rd place in the A Final of the Boys' U15 Quadruple Sculls (Max Brady/Tom Hall/JP Scarlett/Sam Brewer/Tom Ludbrook)
- 3rd place in the A Final of the Boys' U15 Octuple Sculls (Max Brady/Tom Hall/JP Scarlett/Sam Brewer/Tom Ludbrook/Harrison Elliott/Max Smith/ Sam Reesby/Charles Cave)
- 4th place in the A Final of the Boys' U16 Quadruple Sculls (Max Brady/Harrison Elliott/Tyler Doherty/Matt Caro/Theo Clifford)
- 5th place in the A Final of the Boys' U17 Eight (Hunter Coldham/James Hall/Daniel Williamson/Sam Cummins/Sam Lowe/Sam Ludbrook/Grayson Gaze/Hunter Gaze/Lachie Cook)
- 1st and 2nd place in the B Final of the Boys' U17 Single Scull, in times that would have attained 3rd and 4th place in the A Final (Daniel Williamson, James Hall)
- 1st place in the B Final of the Boys' U17 Double Sculls (Lachie Dixon/Hunter Gaze)
- 1st place in the B Final of the Boys' U15 Quadruple Sculls (Chester Duffett/Harrison Elliott/Sam Reesby/Charles Cave)
- 1st place in the B Final of the Boys' U17 Quadruple Sculls (Alex Sutcliffe/Max Caddie/Tyler Doherty/Nick Johnson/Matt Caro)
This was a very gratifying end to the first chapter of the 2015-2016 season.
All rowers will reconvene in January for the traditional rowing camp, which includes two regattas: The Blue Lakes Regatta at Rotorua and The Cambridge Town Regatta at Lake Karapiro.
