Bideford Reds wrap up premier title at Torbay Regatta

The Bideford Reds men's Senior A crew wrapped up the premier title at Torbay Regatta on Saturday with a hard fought win over Wimbleball Rowing Club and brought the title back to the club for the first time in 21 years.

The crew on the day was Louis Wilkins, Alex Rowland, Ross Bennett and Charlie Colwill along with cox Grace Farrell who have secured the title with two races still remaining at Dartmouth and Bideford.

The Reds finished the day with five wins, five second places and one third.

The club's ladies led from the start to secure an impressive win in the women's Senior C event through the efforts of Grace Farrell, Hannah Ward, Chloe Pennington, Vashti Davies and Kayden Batten as cox.

In the junior section there were victories for the Junior 16 double of Rosalie Fowler and Hannah Mills with Fowler also securing top spot in the Junior 16 sculls race.

The clubs Junior 15 boys finished in first and second places in the double sculls where Kayden Batten and Sam Peart took first place with Reuben Peart and Sam Robinson coming home in second place.

There were second places in the girls Junior 16 quad with Brooke Copp, Ailis Temple-Thurston, Hannah Mills, Emily Wilcox and cox Chloe Pennington and also in the mixed Senior C four of Chloe Pennington, Vashti Davies, Ross Bennett, Ricky Syvret and Jess Pritchard cox.

There were also second places in the men's Masters and Senior B fours whilst the men's Senior C fours suffered a mechanical failure in their boat but still managed to limp over the line in third place to gain valuable points in the championship.

The next regatta will be at Dartmouth on Thursday, August 25, with the final event at Bideford on September 3rd.