The performance of Cairndhu Rowing Club, sponsored by PandO Irish Sea, at the AIB All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships far surpassed expectations when they collected three gold and five silver medals at the awards ceremony after hosting this prestigious event.
The weather on Saturday was mixed but it didn’t dampen the Cairndhu spirits as the club collected both gold and silver medals in the Open Traditional Wooden boat race. The senior ladies R. Wilson, F. Hamilton, C. Shaw, J. Gardiner, and N. Black retai
ned the Gold winning in The Dawn. Cairndhu junior ladies H. Hamilton, J. Mc Neill, D. Hanna, L. Cameron and C. Perry deserved second place and silver, rowing the St. Brendan for the first time.
In the Open Men’s race Cairndhu again took silver. The crew of T. Gardiner, R. Mc Neill, T. Christie, J. Brownlee and N. Black, rowed a fantastic race, with special credit to Ryan Mc Neill who just returned from work in foreign lands. The same crew, coxed by J. Stewart, earned a creditable sixth place in the senior men’s race next day.
Three other crews, Under 14 and Under 16 boys, M. Linton, L Brownlee, G. Fekkes, S. Mc Whirter, J. Mills and Under 16 ladies B. Duff, K. Hamilton, R. Stinson, and A. Penny coxed by N. Black were delighted to reach next day’s finals.
One of the most exciting races of the day was the senior mixed, when the Cairndhu crew of S. Maguire, A. Christie, T. Christie, L. Cameron and C. Perry lost the gold by only half a boat length but were still delighted with their silver.
Pre-vet ladies, R. Wilson, M. Keating, C. Shaw, J. Gardiner and N. Black, narrowly missed out on catching gold medallist’s Myross and fellow ex-club member C. Hunter.
Surprise crew of the day was the Under 12 crew of M. Devine, G. Fekkes, R. MacRae, E. Brownlee and N. Black. A newly formed crew which on the day, with lots of vocal support, raised their game and were only metres away from collecting their first medal finishing a commendable fourth.
The locals’ interest was in the Antrim Gig Race. This was the first time in a number of years that nine Co Antrim gigs would take to the starting line. Names such as Twilight; St. Brendan; Laurel; Dawn; Drough Maid; Cairndhu; Drains Maid; and Carnfunnock, brought back many glorious memories. This event was won by the Dawn crew of H. Hamilton, F. Hamilton, T. Christie, J. Brownlee, and C. Perry. The Cairndhu rowed by V. Stirling, C. Bell, A. McDonald, S. Leitch and N. Black came a close second and the Carnlough crew in the Twilight third.
The next race was the Under 18 boys for which Cairndhu had high hopes. The crew of T. Christie, J. Brownlee, M. Knox, A. Christie and N. Black rowed superbly turning the buoy in second place but with some crew members rowing in the previous race they finished fourth only a hurricane deck from a medal. Still time is on their side and the future looks good for them.
The Under 18 ladies crew of V. Stirling, J. Mc Quitty, P. Dorman, R. Crawford coxed by C. Perry were unfortunate to be drawn in one of the outer lanes and faced the worst of the weather. However, they crossed the line in fourth place, another excellent result considering the limited training time they had together due to heavy work commitments.
The full article contains 590 words and appears in Larne Times newspaper.
