ERBC J18 girls impress at Lough Rynn Regatta

The Lough Rinn Regatta in Mohill, Co Leitrim took place in fine but blustery conditions on Saturday last.

Enniskillen Royal Boat Club had several crews entered and it was the J18 girls who demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with as the business end of the season approaches.

Stroked by the dynamo that is Zara Welsh they led from start to finish and had 15 seconds to spare over the second-placed crew from Dublin Commercial followed by St. Michael's, Limerick and Neptune.

This is more or less a settled unit of Eva Johnston, Rheas Cartin -McCloskey, Ruby Hamill, Kate Huddlestone, Naomi Robinson, Acorn Cassidy, Isabella Wright, Zara Welsh and cox Abbey Wilson and they now have accumulated an impressive number of wins this year.

The boys' J18 crew had an eventful race in that they led for 400 metres and then suffered a steering mechanism failure - an unusual issue to emerge in a new boat but the cox and crew miraculously were able to keep on a reasonably straight course using oar pressure to correct any variation.

They finished the 2,000 metres without crossing into other lanes and were only one length behind St. Joseph's, Galway, half a length behind Methodist College, Belfast and ahead of Blackrock College, Dublin.

This crew of Harry Coalter, William Boles, Hugo Mc Chesney, Owen Kelly, Austin Cassidy, George Kernoghan, Ryan Topping , Luke Bailey, cox Katleyn Fee needs a run of good fortune to encourage self-belief so the next few weeks will be crucial.