Glory season at the rowing club

Town Mayor Cllr Stuart Earl was guest of honour at Bexhill Rowing Social Club on Saturday evening. The glittering prizes of 2004 packed a snooker table from pocket to pocket as the town's civic leader congratulated the club on its outstanding success and wished it well for the coming season which will climax with the club hosting the prestigious Coast Amateur Rowing Association championships on September 3.

Reviewing the 2004 season, club president Gerald Matthews said highlights included the CARA Grand Aggregate with 32 points to their nearest rivals' 21, the CARA League with 490 points to 405, the Senior Aggregate with 17 points to four, and the Junior Aggregate with 13 points to eight.

"A stunning year resulting in this glittering array of trophies, I am sure you would want to join me in congratulating all the rowers for a remarkable achievement."

The 2005 season opened on June 5. "The importance of this season cannot be too strongly stressed. On September 3, right at the end of the season, Bexhill Rowing Club on behalf of CARA, will host the 2005 championships here in Bexhill. The club has been training hard through the winter and now the better weather is upon us will start in earnest.

"We have designs on being fully represented in those championships and open races and intend to do well."

He congratulated club captain Steve Doswell on being elected president of CARA.

Steve he was doubly proud. It was only the second time in the club's history that it had been chosen to host the CARA championships. The opportunity for a local man to be CARA president occurred only once in 10 years.

That afternoon the club had launched its new coxed four. With its blades, the lightweight carbon fibre craft had cost 6,500. It had been named Phoenix in tribute to the Rowing Social Club which had transformed an operating debt into invaluable support for the rowers.

Thanks to support from Old Town Preservation Society, the club had bought rowing training machines for the club and for schools to ensure a succession of young talent into the sport.

The captain said: "We are not here just to help ourselves. We are here to help the town and to help other people" the club captain said, recalling how members had rowed the 6 miles out to the Royal Sovereign light tower in a sponsored event which had provided a fishing boat for a tsunami-hit Thai village.

r FOR the first time, Bexhill Rowing Club now has a presidential honours board listing the members over the years who have attained the presidency of the Coast Amateur Rowing Association.

In rowing tradition, the names are painted on an old blade (oar).

The board has been created to mark current club captain Steve Doswell's election as CARA president.