Henley Regatta Day 5: Semi-Finals in the sunshine

Semi finals day saw no less than 12 local interest boats still in action in what turned into a competitive scorcher in more ways than one. The one remaining crew for Shiplake College made it through to their final with Leander club through to no less than 6 finals out of the 10 races entered so far – and with 2 races still to go at time of publishing, can they make it an 8/10?

Daily round up:

It was Leander who were out on the water first in just the second race of the day. This time the early racing start time was no problem as the women’s quad beat Thames Rowing Club ‘A in The Danesfield Challenge Cup by a comfortable 2 1/2 lengths.

Leander Club ‘B’ also made it through to the final in The Visitors’ Challenge Cup (Intermediate M4) beating Nautilus Rowing Club ‘C’ by a convincing 3 lengths.

Race 12, saw Leander Club in action again in the The Prince of Wales Challenge Cup against Oxford Brookes University. The students led for the first two markers all the way to ‘Fawley’ however, it was the local crew that went on to win by just 1 length in an impressive time of 6:37 minutes.

In The Wargrave Challenge Cup for women’s 8s, it was not to be for the Leander crew as Thames Rowing Club ‘A’ rowed to the win, beating the Leander women by 1 1/2 lengths at the finish.

The pink oars were back in action a little later when Tom Digby from Leander, rowing with J Wincomb of Marlow RC got through to the final of the The Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup (M2-) beating P.H.R. Martin & S. Achterfeld from Germany by 1 3/4 length. Having crafted a good lead, the commentators said, “They will be tough to beat in the final if they are rowing like this.”

The Stonor Challenge Trophy saw disappointment for Upper Thames as the pairing of H.M. Lucani & F.C. Gammond were beaten by a comfortable 3 3/4 lengths by H.A.G. Marshall & N.B.M. Phillips, University of St. Andrews. And there was disappointment to for Leander 2 races later, when Thames Rowing Club’s 8 saw off the local 8 by 1 3/4 lengths in The Thames Challenge Cup.

After the luncheon break, The Fawley Challenge Cup resumed with Leander taking on the Sir William Borlase’s G.S. crew who had knocked out a strong Windsor Boys School crew in a nail-biter yesterday. The gutsy school crew pushed hard, but the experience and maturity of the Leander crew proved just too much as they rowed to a 3/4 length win.

Just before the interval for tea, Shiplake College’s W8 crew were back in action. In a strong performance, roared on by the crowds as they entered the stewards and grandstand area, the girls rowed home with a 1 1/2 length lead against Chicago Rowing Foundation, U.S.A to make it through to tomorrow’s final. After their ‘three cheers’, it was back to business as “we need to stay focused, it’s all about the recovery for tomorrow now…” could be heard from one of the crew mates – although they did allow themselves some celebratory hugs with parents and friends back on the bank.

The following race saw Leander back in action with the men’s 8s racing in The Ladies’ Challenge Plate. In a tight race against a strong Nautilus Rowing Club team (also with some Leander athletes in), it was the Leander crew that made it over the finish with a 1/2 boat win.

Tomorrow is set to see some spectacular finals with lots of local interest for the spectators.