Seven Exeter crews were entered in the Christ Church Novice Regatta this year: three Men’s crews, and Four Women’s. Although the Regatta was cancelled after just two days, because of poor river conditions, Exeter crews still managed to do themselves proud. The biggest success story was the Women’s A crew, who beat Linacre A’s in their first race. The Men’s A crew lost their first race, but by a very small margin, and came back in their repêchage race to win by half a course!
Both the Women’s and Men’s B crews won their repêchage races. The Women’s C’s raced dressed as pirates for their first race, and then had to ‘scratch,’ as almost half of the crew couldn’t make it to the repêchage race. The Men’s Cs got themselves disqualified, barely 50 m from the start line, by crashing into a boat in the transit lane, causing a klaxon! The Women’s Ds lost both their races, but if prizes were being given to the best dresses, they would have won hands down: they raced their first race with each person in the boat wearing a different colour of the rainbow — right down to the hair, and one rather distinctive luminous pink wig; and their second race dressed as white swans, complete with beaks! It was a great shame that the Regatta was brought to an early finish, but the determination of our crews offered a glimpse at a promising future for Exeter.
