Lake Macquarie & Endeavour Regattas – 1&2 february 2020

A record number of entries for Saturday’s regatta and significant entries for Sunday resulted in first round draws of 123 races and 81 races finishing at 6.15pm on Saturday and 4.00pm on Sunday. With the temperature predicted to be over 40 degrees on both days, Redlands school pulled their 176 crews out on Thursday resulting in second round re-draws with finish times of 3.00pm and 2.00pm. On Friday, Newcastle Grammar, Scone Grammar and Hunter Valley Grammar pulled out, necessitating a third round of draws that gave 36 races on Saturday and 34 races on Sunday with both days scheduled to finish at 12.00 noon. Maybe both programs could be completed before the temperature climbed too high – maybe!


Saturday’s Lake Macquarie regatta started in good conditions, warm but not hot, with perfectly flat water. However, the temperature climbed rapidly, reaching 38º before the lunchbreak at 9.45am. A meeting of all clubs during the break resulted in the decision to cancel the rest of the regatta due to heat. 18 races had been completed. 


The first race of Sunday’s Endeavour regatta started in 34º heat which steadily climbed to 37º by 9.30am. After mill pond conditions on Saturday, the wind kicked in on Sunday reaching 20 kph after half an hour. The wind was relatively consistent for an hour then picked up with 37 kph recorded just before a big gust took out the judges’ tent. With the tent in disarray and the computer and timing system removed for preservation, the regatta was cancelled after 17 races due to wind – the temperature hadn’t reached the cut-off point of 38º.


16 Endeavour crews started for 2 wins, 3 seconds and 5 thirds. 17 crews missed races due to regatta cancellations. The all-Endeavour Masters Four event saw the more experienced H crew (average age 70 years) make the most of their 25 second handicap for a comfortable win. Sean Donza’s composite CDRA crew had a strong win in the Seeded Quad, looking good in their campaign for NSW selection to the Australian Masters Championships.


Winning crews:
Mens Masters Four: Al Atkins, Roger Young, Les Geczy, Reg Vaughan, coxn Jill Carlstrom.
Mens Seeded 1000m Quad Sculls: Sean Donza + composite.