WYE rowers travelled to Stourport to compete on the Severn in the winter small boats head over 4km and came back with nine wins.

Monmouth RC’s mix of senior and veteran rowers took four titles, while Monmouth Comprehensive’s youngsters raced to five wins.

In warm and sunny conditions, Monmouth RC’s open 4+ of Evan Whittall-Williams, Tom Cookman, Sam Bainbridge, Sam Morgan and cox Ben Jennery went off first and completed the course in a time of 12.13 to win the category and set the fastest time of the morning division.

The Masters F over-60 four of Colin Lewis, Nick Hooton, Jonathan Ferris and James Allison beat two younger Warwick and Loughborough crews to win in 12.58.

And Louise Allison, Melanie Brown, Kate Hooton and Liz Lewis won the women’s D over 50 fours, by 23 seconds from Bewdley in 13.56, with clubmates Dawn Brace, Bonita Birkett, Gail Adams and Sue Smith third.

Club coach and Athens Olympian Tim Male won the open singles by 11 seconds from a Greenbank Falmouth sculler, despite racing the last 1km without a fin, coming home in 13.09.

Rachel Westerlund and Julia Cowton raced their first race in a double scull finishing third in class, while Toby Harding and Scott Hazledine were second in their age-group.

In Division Two, Henley Royal Regatta medallist Oli Partridge, in his first race since 2019, joined Whittall-Williams, Cookman and former British quad sculls champion Al Butler in a four, where they were beaten by just three seconds by a crew from Worcester RC, crossing in 12.06.

Lewis, Hooton, Ferris and Allison teamed up with cox Jennery and were pipped by five seconds by Bridgnorth in over-60s coxed fours, finishing in 13.10.

Hazledine raced his first head race in over-55 singles finishing third, while in over-42 women’s quad sculls Westerlund, Liz Newman, Helen Tilley and Cowton were fourth in class and Mary Miller, Allison, Birkett and Brown fifth.

Brace and Smith had their first head race together in a pair and finished second behind an experienced crew from Worcester, while over-65 sculler Theresa McCarthy placed third.

The Comprehensive’s Elliot Lynch-Warden and Tom Coates took the U18 doubles in 12.45 by 18 seconds from Shrewsbury School, while the U16 boys’ quad scull of Lewis Jones, Freddy Potts, Hector Futcher and Isaac Thomson stormed home in 13.05 over a minute ahead of Bewdley to land their class.

Kate Rodgers, Harriet Morgan, Hannah Rogers and Ella Miles were clear winners from Shrewsbury in U18 girls’ quads in 13.37.

And Seren Van der Horst took the girls’ U18 singles in 14.46 by 17 seconds from her nearest Ross RC rival, while the girls’ U16 double of Nanci Edwards and Florence McGarry pipped Shrewsbury to gold by four seconds, finishing in 14.40.