Whakatāne Rowing Club held a successful rowing festival recently, attracting a good crowd of members and spectators.

Designed as a fun day for members and to raise the profile of the club, the annual festival sees all members race in novelty races over a 1-kilometre course.  

Club captain Gary McAdams oversaw the races from his trusty coach boat.

There were nerves aplenty as boats went up the course with untried combinations and different levels of experience among the rowers.

The family feel of the club continues to grow, with existing masters rowing with their children, and novice masters joining after their children began to row.

The first event of the day was the family quad races – the Rowe, Mahy, Iremonger and Knapton family quads came down the course with pace, with the Mahy family (with addition of Shaun Snow) taking line honours.

Throughout the morning, quads and doubles went up and down the river, with senior rowers partnering with novices to show the way.

Even coaches took on different roles: senior boys’ coach Graham Watt tookthe coxes seat and masters’ coach Lena Cassidy-Clarke took the stroke seat in her quad.

Former rowers and ex-club members Ryan Calder, Shaun Snow, Zak Boonen and Luke Berquist also jumped in a boat.

Novice boys’ coach Leighton Hale jumped in with his squad to race against the big boats of a coxed octuple and eight, the final events of the morning.

Club membership has grown this year and the club actively encourages anyone to come and “give it a go”.  

Fast approaching is the club’s major fundraising event, the Blue Lake Dewar Shield Regatta in January.  

Club members will be reaching out to the community and businesses seeking sponsorship for races. Anyone keen to sponsor a race can contact the club through its Facebook page or website.