Shannon Cox, PBH Trophy Winner for Women's Fastest Single, Emma Bagrie, Mahe Drysdale Junior Trophy Winner for Fastest Prognostice Time Under 19 Girl or Boy, Ben Mason, Billy Webb Challenge Winner, Men's Fastest Time.
Shannon Cox, PBH Trophy Winner for Women's Fastest Single, Emma Bagrie, Mahe Drysdale Junior Trophy Winner for Fastest Prognostice Time Under 19 Girl or Boy, Ben Mason, Billy Webb Challenge Winner, Men's Fastest Time.
Whanganui Rowing Association and event manager Philippa Baker-Hogan says the Heritage Festival Rigtec Engineering Billy Webb Challenge held on Sunday, October 27, was a great success and attracted some of the best young rowers in the country.
Held riverside of Union Boat Club, Billy Webb’s form club, the overall quality was high. However, the 45 crews entered were down on 60 entries at Wellington Anniversary weekend earlier this year and there was real disappointment that one local school and club failed to enter any crews.
In particular, it was great to get a few of Rowing New Zealand’s Summer Squad, as well as the very strong Waikato Rowing Club, coached by former Whanganui Collegiate rower, Nick Barton and, flying up from Christchurch, Paris Olympic finalist In the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull, Shannon Cox, from Canterbury Rowing Club.
The event itself was a good combination of allowing rowers and the public to witness races between groups of single scullers, particularly the first line across the river of male single scullers, followed one minute later by female single scullers.
It was special to see some local young stars test their skills and speed against NZ champion rowers and Olympians.
In the men’s race for the Billy Webb Challenge Waka Trophy and $500 training grant, local Whanganui High School (WHS) and Aramoho-Whanganui Rowing Club (AWRC) rowers, Eli Kuehne and Jake Newton, as well as UK import Herbie Austin-Baker, tested themselves against Paris Olympic reserves and 2022 NZ Championship Single Sculls Champion Ben Mason.
Ultimately, the experience of 22-year-old Mason won the 6km out-and-back race in 23 minutes and 42 seconds with Herbie Austin-Baker just 10 seconds back and Newton about 90 seconds behind the winner.
Austin-Baker, a senior-ranked rower took out the top prognostic of 87.95%, a calculation that enables all rowers to get a comparison percentage time based on their gender, age and grade, against every other boat in the race.
The women’s single, which included local WHS/AWRC school rowers Robyn Van Dijk and Bea Douglas, as well as NZ Junior and Under 21 rowers, was dominated by 2022 NZ Women’s Single Scull Champion and Paris Olympic finalist Shannon Cox, in a time of 25 minutes and 46 seconds.
Cox won the Philippa Baker-Hogan Trophy and a $500.00 training grant with Wellington’s Star Boat Club, NZ Junior and Maadi Cup Under-18 champion Emma Bagrie second fastest in 26 minutes and 57 seconds but winning the coveted Mahe Drysdale Junior Trophy, for her Top Prognostic of 87.34%, since Austin-Baker had claimed a prize.
The race catered for all boat types, except Coxed Eights and Octaples, with the very fastest time of 22 minutes and 58 seconds going to NZ representatives Callum Tutbery and Jack Cooper of Waikato Rowing Club, who started last and stormed their way through the field.
It was great to see local rowers, Bruce Tate (Union Boat Club) 4 with 86.32%, and all AWRC crews including Nicky Maxim 5 with 85.94%, Jake Newton 7 with 85.71%, Achilles Paikea 9 with 84.90% and Girls Under-17 Coxed Quad of Ruby Armishaw, Te Atakura Potaka-Osborne-Milner-Skudder, Addison Jenkins, Ava McDonough and Morgan Wood (cox), 10 with 84.88%.
AWRC G17 Quad team.
We are looking to commit to this event over Labour Weekend going forward and are so very grateful to the naming sponsor, Rigtec Engineering, new major sponsor, Blake Construction, Blinkhorne & Carroll Forestry, Four Regions Trust and Display Associates.
The next event on the local rowing calendar is the Whanganui Bridge 2 Bridge (B2B) 10km Big Boat race on Saturday, November 23, starting 8am from the Upukongaro Cycle Bridge and racing downriver to the Whanganui City Bridge.
This is followed by the Johns Trophy in Waitara on November 30 and the Blake Construction Jury Cup Regatta on Saturday, December 7, on the Whanganui 2000m Aramoho course.
