Members of Hastings Rowing Club prepare for launch.
Young rowers wanted!
An opportunity to try out rowing at sea is on offer from Hastings Rowing Club, which is also preparing a crew to row halfway across the English Channel to raise funds for charity. Nick Terdre reports.
With funding support from Castle Ward Community First Panel, Hastings Rowing Club is offering taster sessions to young people aged 14 to 18 who are resident in the ward.
The sessions will be held on Wednesday evenings in September from 6.30 to 8pm, coach Paula Hubens tells HOT. And if you catch the rowing bug and want to sign up, you’ll get a 50% discount on a year’s membership. The club is based on the sea-front under the promenade opposite Debenhams.
Castle Ward Community First Panel also helped the club buy a rowing machine which has just been delivered. Those coming to the taster sessions will get a chance to try their rowing technique on the machine before taking on the sea, Paula says.
Coastal rowing is more subject to weather interruption than river rowing, as strong winds whip up the waves. For this reason coastal boats are wider and sturdier than river boats. But it’s brilliant all-round exercise and great fun rowing at sea, Paula emphasises.
Meanwhile a five-strong mixed crew – four rowers and a cox – are preparing to row halfway across the English Channel and back, a distance of 36 kilometres. This is a sponsored row, aimed at raising funds for the British Heart Foundation and British Lung Foundation.
The crew will depart from Dover, accompanied by a safety boat. Depending on conditions, the round trip will take three to four hours. In the past the club has done cross-Channel rows, but these have now been banned, for unknown reasons, by the French authorities.
The date has yet to be set, as it will depend on weather conditions nearer the time. But they are hoping to make the trip sometime between 9 and 22 September, Paula says.
To apply for the taster sessions, visit the club website:
To sponsor the channel row, visit:
If you’re enjoying HOT and would like us to continue providing fair and balanced reporting on local matters please consider making a donation. Click here to open our PayPal donation link. Thank you for your continued support!
Also in: Sport
« Boyley JamA Game of Two Halves »
