Stourport Win 5 at Ironbridge ... 1979

Ironbridge two-day regatta again proved to be a successful hunting ground for Stourport Boat Club, when they lifted 5 trophies from the ten events they entered. These wins bring the season’s total to 26 regatta and head wins, well on the way to the record 36 set last year. The Junior Under 14 crew won their 7th trophy of the year by winning their division in fine style on Saturday. Coached by Fred Caswill, the captain, they have consistently shown a clean pair of heels to their opponents, though some poor steering by both coxes lost them the semi-final of their division on Sunday, losing to the eventual winners from Horseferry by 1/4 length.
Tom Edwards found his winning form with a vengeance on both days with resounding victories against Worcester on Saturday, and Jim Giltrap of Derwent on Sunday. Veteran sculling has virtually been dominated by Tom for two seasons at domestic level, but a small family of three and commitments in the garden have made training harder to accomplish. Henry Evans and Steve Downes were not fancied in double sculls on the Saturday owing to the presence of two Liverpool doubles, plus one from Pengwern. With a row-over to the final things looked a little better and after twenty strokes of the final the Stourport double looked like winning comfortably which they did. The boat itself, donated to the club by Gerry Maiden some ten years ago has proved to be the most successful club craft, winning at every outing for the last three years.
Richard Lloyd beat a Trafford sculler by 1/2 length in his quarter-final of Senior B sculls on Sunday, only to find his Worcester semi-final opponent had scratched. This gave him a row-over to the final against Stratford, who had also reached the final of Senior A Sculls, beating the same Trafford sculler by 2 feet just before the alloted time for the Senior B final. However the Statford sculler chose to flaunt the rules and got off the water instead of returning straight to the start. Some fifteen minutes later Richard was told to row-over for the pot as the Stratford sculler had been disqualified.
Maurice Hayes reached the final of Senior C Sculls on Saturday with some powerful sculling but poor steering lost him the race against Star Boat Club. He had also entered Senior B Sculls but met with a similar fate in his first round. A Senior C Four competed on both days with one crew change overnight and won two rounds in fine style on Sunday after looking uncomfortable on Saturday. Although they lost in the semi-final, they have made good progress since winning their novices at Bewdley Sprint Regatta earlier in the year. A Senior A Four also represented the club on Sunday, losing a close race to Star in their first round.
Winning J14 crew: Chris Payne, Colin Hastry, Ian Clarke, Tim Dorrell, Paula Caswill (cox).
Stourport will be represented at Henley Royal Regatta this week in Wyfold Fours where they have been drawn against Belmont U.S.A., and preparations are going ahead for the annual regatta to be held on Saturday and Sunday August 11th and 12th.
R. Lloyd Report June 1979