By Andy Cox
Perranporth beach on Cornwall’s north coast hosted round four of the UK Surfboat Rowers League on 19 August. As viewers of BBC 1’s Seaside Rescue will know, Perranporth can be a treacherous place, particularly for the unwary tourist. The waves crashing on to the golden sands were to prove just as inhospitable to the experienced crews who gathered to race, giving a dash of spice to preparations for the League finals next Saturday.
Conditions were far from ideal with an unruly three to four foot swell almost blown out by a stiff onshore breeze. Race one saw the season’s form boats continue their winning ways. In the opening heat of the men’s event, the Tigers and Sharks - enjoying the benefit of home advantage - took first and second place. The Penetrators from Porthtowan won the second heat with St Agnes Bad Lads worthy runners-up. By a quirk of fate the Tigers and Penetrators continued to be drawn apart in each of the three races. Both teams went on to win all of their heats, keeping them neck and neck in the struggle for the overall league title.
In the women’s contest, Perranporth’s Swans took the honours in the first race but, continuing the form they showed at the recent Open Championships, Bude Reds chased them hard to the finishing flags. It was the second round, however, that provided the main talking point of the evening. Having completed the course, the stroke of the Porthtowan Predators’ boat, Philippa Plester, had to be assisted from the water’s edge and escorted to the lifeguard station in obvious distress. She was taken to the local hospital by ambulance where an x-ray revealed a fracture of her right wrist.
“It was just bad luck,” Plester explained, sporting a gaudy pink plaster cast from wrist to elbow. “We had caught a wave in and skied oars,” (where the crew stop rowing but hold their oars out ready to resume on the sweep’s command.) “The wave rolled over the blade and pushed my hand up, hyper-extending my wrist.” Plester, lapsing momentarily into football parlance, admitted that she was “gutted” to miss the season’s finale. But despite a minimum six-week recovery period, she exudes the hardiness that distinguishes boaties from certain others to be found on the beach.“I can’t wait to start again,” she says.
The Swans won both the second and third races to establish an almost unassailable lead in the women’s league with just the final event at Portreath on 9 September to go. But in the men’s contest, with four teams locked in battle for the first three places, there is still all to play for. The Tigers and Penetrators both have 112.5 points, and the winner at Portreath will take the title. The Portreath Rangers and the St Agnes Bad Lads are level on 93 points and vying for bronze. Broken bones or bust: the title showdown looms.
For further information see www.uksrl.co.uk
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