1998 - 2008 Langstone Cutters Rowing Club
10th Anniversary Round Hayling Race

In 2008 the Langstone Cutters Rowing Club will be 10 years old. In that 10 years the club has grown from a small number of enthusiasts and one boat to a club of over 100 members, four boats and a great deal of success - with over 10 trophies in various classes in the Great River Race.

To celebrate our tenth anniversary we had planned to race Round Hayling Island Race on Saturday July 5th 2008. However, as seems to be common in 2008 the WEATHER got the better of us. So with force 5 - 6 winds blowing it was safer to row inside Chichester Harbour. This was no easy option due to the direction of the wind. A stiff south to south westerly meant the wind was blowing directly up the harbour making conditions difficult and exciting to say the least. 

The Langstone Cutters Rowing Club were able to welcome 3 visiting teams; rowing the Thames Waterman Cutters called “Arthur Alcock”, “George Williams” and “Trinity Tide”. From the Langstone Cutters we were able to launch our CLaytons, “Gladys” and “Mabel” and the London2Paris rowing team hired Thames Waterman Cutter the “Paul Satow” to row. So we had four TWCs and two Claytons. A grand site they were in the harbour. To ensure safe keeping of the boats & crews we were joined by motor launch “Patience” piloted by Nigel Roper (Thanks Nigel). 

The bad weather necessitated the devising of a new course for the Claytons was to row South along the Hayling Island foreshore, turn about the NW Pilsey buoy and race for home. In the conditions this would be a full two hour hard row.  For the Thames Waterman Cutters the course was a bit longer. Down to NW Pilsey buoy, across to Thorney Island up the Thorney channel and back. Another challenging row especially for the teams who are not familiar with sea conditions.

The Claytons set of first at around 12:30 into fairly easy conditions to start with. The shelter offered by North Hayling was deceptive and after rounding the eastern corner we were hit with the full force of the south westerly wind. Even when pulling hard the cox had to keep the rudder hard over to maintain course. The racing was close and then Gladys, slowly but steadily began to open up a lead. While we rowed the Claytons hard we could see the sleek shapes of the Thames Waterman Cutters chasing after us and steadily closing the gap. With a rousing cheer they passed the Claytons and rowed off into the sun to follow their course. The crew of Mabel rowed on, never giving up. We turned at NW Pilsey buoy and enjoyed, what was now a following wind. Conditions improved slightly, the sun came out and the crew of Mabel chased after Gladys. Rounding the North Easterly point of Hayling it was now a mad dash for the finish line. Crossing the finish line Gladys was just over 2 minutes head of Mabel, which after handicapping was taken into consideration was reduced to 1 minute. Really close considering the conditions. 

A write up of the TWC race will be provided soon....

To round off the day Sally and Richard, very generously allowed us to hold a BBQ in their garden overlooking Langstone Harbour. Burgers & Sausages were expertly grilled and enjoyed along with the other foods provided by the club. All in all a very good day was enjoyed by all and a very fitting way to celebrate 10 years of the Langstone Cutters Rowing Club

To view the photo gallery of the day click here