Two out of four for Cakeland quad
Explore co-ordinator Jayne Gissing reports on the latest event in the North West and Yorkshire series, hosted by Runcorn RC
Crew: Peri Collins, Ian Stanistreet, Jo Hedley, Jayne Gissing and Erin Boyles
The Weaver navigation offered a new setting for the latest iteration of the Cakeland Explore crew.
Being in the first two races of the day, no sooner had we arrived at host club Runcorn, than we were briefed and called down to the boats – but not, obviously, before we made the obligatory assessment of the excellent-looking cake table.
Not having rowed together before, the crew – cox Erin Boyles, Peri Collins at stroke, Ian Stanistreet in the three seat, myself at two and newbie Jo Hedley at bow – practised starts on the way to the start line, just beyond the M56 motorway bridge.
Despite the real thing being a little clunky in our first race, we gained good ground on Runcorn’s Weaver Warriors, although not quite enough over the short distance to beat them. Jo, who was fresh off our most recent learn-to-row course, was a bit shell-shocked but held her own well.
Finding our rhythm
We spun round and headed straight back to the start for race two. With muscles warmed up, this one felt good. We found our rhythm and managed to win comfortably against Trafford Rowing Club’s Peas in a Quad.
We then had an extended break to enjoy the sunny, party vibe with tunes playing, friendly chit-chat with other crews, lots of races to watch and the superb spread to enjoy – the biggest red velvet muffins you've ever seen proved extremely popular.
Back in the boat, we had a well-controlled start for race three and just pipped the crew from Trentham Boat Club at the finish, though not before our oars managed to overlap.
By race four, the weather had turned and we had a hail shower on the way to the start. We were up against City of Sheffield’s Damtastic with Remi – our sub from the last Explore event – at stroke, which made us feel slightly disloyal for trying to beat them. In the end, they won, but Remi said it was their closest race so far.
A massive shout out to all the crew and to everyone from Runcorn RC who made it such a brilliant day. I’m so impressed by – and proud of – our two wins, and really grateful to be able to represent the club and have a presence at the Explore series.
Quality cake: Ian shows off one of the giant red velvet muffins