TPA smash the Sark to Jersey
THE sun shone brightly on Guernsey’s top men’s quad with a dominant winning performance in the Sark to Jersey rowing race.
TPA’s Simon Johns, Joe Paul, James Coquelin, Tom de Kooker and cox Lloyd Le Page conquered Saturday’s edition of the 27km inter-island rowing spectacle in a brisk 1hr 54min. 36sec.
They controlled the race throughout to accomplish their mission of taking Guernsey’s first line honours since 2018 – the defending champions, Jersey men’s quad Jaws, finished an adrift second in 1-59-08.
But after all 25 finishers had arrived at Bonne Nuit, with intense heat and a tricky sea state counteracting a moderate tailwind, it transpired that Jersey had won the combined-class Le Poidevin Trophy.
Guernsey having to settle for third in the men’s doubles and women’s quads proved a deciding factor.
Two family pairings, the Nevitts and the Le Leres, headed Guernsey’s Le Mont Saint (Pete Beausire and Shaun Kelling) in the doubles. That was quite tight, with 2min. covering the trio.
A Jersey boat comprising several recent British champions – and named Gary Burgess to commemorate the popular broadcaster – unsurprisingly won the women’s quads.
Jersey’s Sir James Knott boat took second after a fairly close battle with Guernsey’s LMS Ladies, who subbed on Lydia Mullins for an unavailable Lisa de Kooker.
Meanwhile, Guernsey’s strong performances from the Skipton International mixed double (Marc Isabelle and Dani Barnett) and Winifred men’s single (Paul Pearce) went unrewarded due to having no Caesarean starters.
‘The classes were close, apart from TPA – they absolutely smashed it,’ Guernsey Rowing Club captain Ben Vaudin said.
‘Jaws were certainly no pushovers and they’ve been competing at the British Championships.
‘It shows how impressive those guys are as athletes and as a crew.’
