More than 130 boats were launched as West Norfolk Rowing Club hosted the start of the annual Great Ouse Marathon.
Crews came from across the country and abroad to compete in a wide range of boat and age categories on the 22km course from Denver Sluice to Ely.
Rowing clubs from Bradford to Southampton, Kent to Gloucester, arrived early in the morning at Denver Sluice with boats on trailers and cars.
Visiting crew members from Germany and China were able to borrow boats from WNRC for the event.
A huge team of WNRC club members and volunteers took on roles as marshals for the trailer park, car parks and launching, plus catering, preparation and coordinating.
The club came home with three wins and other worthy achievements.
The WNRC Mixed Senior quad crew of Thomas Williamson, Poppy Holden, Milly Ogden and Ben Watson completed the course in 1 hour 56 minutes, beating their opposition from X-Press Rowing Club in Cambridge by more than eight minutes.
The Women’s Masters C coxless quad crew of Claire Murphy, Liz Palmer, and Nicola Charlton from WNRC, plus a visiting German crew member, crossed the line in 1 hour 47 minutes, finishing first in their category, and beating the second-placed crew from St Ives by more than eight minutes.
WNRC member Helen Pryer stepped in to cox a visiting Masters E men’s crew from Ruderverein Eltville 1919 rowing club on the Rhine in Germany.
They meant business and won their category in a time of 1 hour 41 minutes, over 20 minutes ahead of their Isle of Ely RC competition.
Mother-and-son WNRC members, Cameron Tasker and Jennifer Garioch, were both competing in the event; Tasker in a Band 1 Open single and Garioch in a W.MasE double with Kate Davies. Cameron finished second in 1 hour 53 minutes.
The W.MasE.2x finished fourth in their category.
Another solid race against the headwind was from the WNRC Mixed Masters G coxless quad crew of Alistair Mackie, Catherine Coppinger, Angela Holford and Terry Mansfield.
They achieved the satisfaction of finishing in under two hours, crossing the line in 1 hour 59 minutes.
Matty Parle came third in his MasC single in 1 hour 58 mins, representing the RAF.
Also celebrating completing the GOM was Jack McAllister, racing in the event for the first time, with good training and preparation. His WNRC club members were all pleased for him, finishing second in his MasA.1x with a time of 2 hours 39 minutes.
Isle of Ely Rowing Club organises the racing and boats finish at their club, requiring all trailers and transport to relocate during the day.
All the work to host the start of the event is worth it when visiting crews appreciate the West Norfolk welcome and the fine rowing waters of the River Great Ouse.
