The alternative to ‘On the Beach’

After a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, it was great to be able to run an unrestricted NER again.  Sadly, the University of St Andrews (with subsequently-apologised-for backing from SR) organised a novel Beach Sprints event on the same weekend.  This bled from the Sunday into Saturday and provided direct competition for our entries.  One regular-attender at previous NERs said they had planned to come to Aberdeen but decided to go beach racing instead. 

This may have resulted in one single sculler from Hollowell Scullers being the only non-Aberdeen entrant. We were, nevertheless, happy to see a good entry from all local clubs and some well-contested events with 8-10 entrants.  With 94 races over a full day at four-minute intervals we enjoyed some clear results and others that tested the eyesight of our finishing teams, as well as the sprinting muscles of the competitors. 

The knockout heats of our Masters single sculling event ended with the interesting final of a Masters A sculler racing against a Masters I, who enjoyed a 32 second ‘handicap’ advantage at the finish (and won!)

Weather was lovely with no wind initially and a gentle breeze later and dry and sunny throughout.
We again used our system of coloured marker buoys hanging from the Suspension and QE Bridges and this seemed to work well. 

Despite the huge ASRA entry in various events, ABC also had a successful day and the points total for the Championship of the Dee award was a closer battle than many had expected with results below;
ASRA                                    103
ABC                                       90
URA (AUBC/RGUBC)            52
Hollowell Scullers                  2

                                                                                                                            Ron Wallace  May 2022