Postponement offers chance for more training
GUERNSEY rowers will have to wait another two weeks at least for their big annual showdown against the sister isle.
The Sark to Jersey was due to take place tomorrow but these plans have been scuppered by an adverse weather forecast, leading to organisers announcing yesterday afternoon that they have postponed it to 15 July.
Jersey Rowing Club captain Stuart Richford, who leads the event’s organisation, made the announcement on social media and called it a ‘difficult decision’.
The postponement came as a disappointing blow for Guernsey Rowing Club captain Ben Vaudin.
‘We were looking forward to getting started, and it’s a bit of a shame to have the cancellation,’ he said.
But Vaudin sees a silver lining in that the Guernsey rowers will have more time to prepare for the gruelling 27km race, having been particularly impacted by the persistent north-easterly winds that ran from May into the middle of this month.
‘It will play into our hands,’ he said.
‘The geography of Jersey means that in the poor weather we had, they were able to continue training.
‘With the direction of our coastline, we were quite exposed to the north-easterlies and a lot of crews had to go back to training on Concept2 [rowing machines].
‘The one thing the cancellation does is gives us the opportunity for crews to get in a couple extra weeks’ training.
‘I would hope that this would strengthen the crews that take part, rather than hinder them.’
It also means that Swoffers, currently Guernsey’s top doubles crew, are free to race after being unavailable this weekend.
They would join a strong Sarnian fleet headed by last year’s overall winners, the TPA men’s quad.
TPA showed their influence in domestic waters last weekend by dominating the traditional build-up race, the 16.4km Clameur Challenge.
They posted 74min. 38sec. on a day characterised by flat seas but surprisingly tricky tidal conditions.
Swoffers were next quickest in 79-50, while the Swim Smooth Channel Islands mixed double and women’s quad Nigellas also put in noteworthy class-winning performances.
The strength across the fleet bodes well for Guernsey’s bid to win back the combined-class Le Poidevin Trophy, but Vaudin is not getting ahead of himself.
‘Ultimately, we will see what happens when we get to Bonne Nuit on the day,’ he added.
