Johns calm on Sark to Jersey victory hopes
THE big Sark to Jersey returns on Saturday and Guernsey’s top quad and fastest boat do not know quite what they will be up against.
TPA have dominated Guernsey Rowing Club fixtures since their formation this season, but can they cross the line first in the 27km inter-island showdown?
Crew member Simon Johns definitely hopes so, but uncertainty abounds around the strength of the Jersey opposition, especially given the near-complete drought of inter-island tests during the Covid pandemic.
‘We aim to be competitive, that’s for sure,’ he said.
‘The local races have gone fine, but you never know where you are, as the competition’s coming from Jersey.’
Landing restrictions rocked last year’s ‘S2J’ and Guernsey’s last-minute quad entry lost out narrowly, but Johns’ coalition with Tom de Kooker, James Coquelin, Joe Paul and cox Lloyd Le Page is a much more ambitious project.
‘TPA have been great to get behind this project and it was put together with Sark to Jersey in mind, not necessarily for this year but for the next two-three years. We want to finish first, but that does not mean we will.
‘I hope that we can challenge them, but I hope that they can have their best team out there and that it’s a really good race.’
