The Start Line: British Coastal Championships Head North and Sudbury host a showdown
Join us at The Start Line and look ahead to an outstanding weekend of domestic racing
Tynemouth RC set to host British Coastal Rowing Championships
Tynemouth will play host to the 2025 edition of the British Coastal Rowing Championships. Set against the golden sands of King Edward’s Bay and Longsands, the north east is set to welcome coastal rowers from across the U.K to come and compete. Hal Flowerdew, who placed fifth in the Men’s Quadruple Scull at the World Coastal Championships last year is delighted to welcome the coastal community to his neck of the woods as Chairperson of Tynemouth RC.
“I look forward to welcoming all of you to Tynemouth in August for what we hope to be one of the biggest and best offshore championships held in Britain, full of plenty of tight racing from people across the UK and internationally! I’ll see you on the beaches of the northeast very soon,” he said with excitement.
The event will once again be support by Swift Racing, who continue their commitment to the growth of coastal rowing in the UK.
“Swift Racing are delighted to continue our support of the Coastal Clubs and we are really excited about our ongoing relationship with British Rowing. It is great to see the continuing growth in popularity of coastal rowing in the UK and be a part of its success,” said Swift.
We would encourage all clubs and rowers alike to engage with the event to grow the participation to be one of the biggest Coastal events in Europe, something we can all be proud of. We would like to wish everybody a very enjoyable and successful Championships!
Coastal rowing’s unique format means that up to 20 boats are allowed on the start line for any given race. This means that both Saturday and Sunday will have Senior, Masters, and Junior heats across Quadruple Sculls, Double Sculls, Single Sculls, and Mixed events. Racing kicks off at 08:00 on both days and while organisers aren’t expecting waves more than 1.5m tall, the North Sea can always throw in some unexpected curveballs.
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Follow all of the action from the British Coastal Rowing Championships here.
Hundreds set for a showdown at Sudbury
Photo: Christopher Anton
Described by a 2019 competitor as “the best little regatta in the world,” Sudbury ‘International Regatta is back for 2025. taking place on the first Saturday of every year, The 650m Rowing course is raced upstream from a stake boat start along a course characterised by some challenging bends. One of the highlights of the regatta is the sprint eights event, racing for hip-flasks along the last and straighter 350m. For both distances, competitors will race between the Essex and Suffolk banks of the River Thames, with both racing distances running alongside Friars Meadow.
Speaking ahead of the event, Andrew Blit was looking forward to another great regatta.
“Sudbury Regatta is the archetypical market town Regatta, with racing from dawn til dusk in all shapes and sizes of boats,” he explained.
“We have racing from the smallest juniors to the most grizzled veterans and Henley competitors in between . I am particularly looking forward to the Parent and Child events and the Mixed Sprint 8s this year. All of this is accompanied by home made cake, locally brewed beer and the jazz band. The International continues to thrive in its 143rd iteration and yes, we do have a competitor from New Zealand to join us..”
With 168 races timetabled from 08:30 until 18:30, Sudbury Regatta will play host to 400 athletes across 240 crews with many doubling up or even trebling up across the day.
All information about Sudbury Regatta can be found here.
What else is on this weekend?
- Henley Town & Visitors – more information
- Tyne Regatta – more information
‘The lenses we are using would be used on Formula 1’: Behind the scenes of Champs Live
Fergus Mainland sat down with Broadcast Coordinator Tom Howe and Drone Pilot Anthony Channer to learn all about the BTS of Champs Live
Social Spotlight: Are you ready for Beach Sprints?
Less than 20 days until entries close for the British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships – we can’t wait to be back on the beach!
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That’s all from The Start Line this week!
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