Rowing club lets ‘newbies’ have a go
A CHANCE to have a go at rowing was taken up by about a dozen people recently, when the Guernsey Rowing Club held one of its regular ‘have a row’ events.
Two ‘quad’ boats were used, with each having an experienced rower and three guests, who were able to row into Havelet Bay for the try-out.
While there were several newcomers, others had been before, said Guernsey Rowing Club novice liaison officer Charley Pattimore.
‘It’s a nice test for everyone,’ she said.
One of the ‘newbies’ was Charlotte Le Maitre.
‘I just love being out on the sea,’ she said.
‘I’ve sailed before – my family is a group of sailors – and I have friends who are in the rowing club. They said to come down and have a go and it’s been great. To be honest, I’m not much of a sailor but I love being on the water.’
The day of the try-out was cold and damp and Miss Le Maitre said she was looking forward to rowing in the summer when she hoped to see some dolphins.
The rowing club tried to offer these ‘have a row’ days monthly, but captain Ben Vaudin said February’s was the first one this year.
‘We ran them through the summer last year for the first time and we’re now building to the start of the season. A lot of the people who have done today have been before and we’re starting to put crews together for next year.’
The club currently has about 100 members, he said, and many of the boats it uses were built locally.
