IT was a case of boats and blazers as hundreds of rowers and specatators flocked to the Wye for the annual Ross Regatta weekend.

Rowers from as far away as Nottingham, Exeter, Bournemouth and Cheshire took to the river to make a giant splash, with an afternoon of dragon boat racing followed by two full days of head-to-head rowing racing.

Townspeople turned out in glorious weather to cheer on the local boats, while the annual Bank Holiday event also included a Henley Royal Regatta-style enclosure, complete with a presidents’ bar festooned in lifesize caricatures of long-serving club members, created by the club’s resident artist Jerry Whitehouse.

Ross Rowing Club chairman Tim Davies said: “We’re one of the biggest regattas in the country, with more than 500 rowing boats over the two days.

“We started off with the dragon boat racing, which attracted 12 teams, before the masters and juniors regatta on the Sunday and the open regatta on the Monday. The weather was great, with hundreds attending from clubs all over the country and the local community.

“We’ve got a lot of boats to deal with, but we pride ourselves on being a well run event, able to hold a race every two and a half minutes.

“And it was was great to see so many townspeople turning out to support us, and thanks to the good weather, our revenue from the camping was up by a huge amount, which was fantastic.

“Rowing’s a sport for all, with membership only costing a few pounds a week, so if anyone’s been inspired to have a go, why not pop down to the club on a Saturday or Sunday morning and find out what it’s all about.”

There were also several wins for local boats over the 550m and 750m course.

Ross veterans Ian Hale and Dave Sykes won the over 50s pairs by just a canvas from their Pengwern (Shrewsbury) opponents, while over 42 four Steve Randall, Phil Davies, Graham Watling, Dave Sykes and cox Lucy Burden beat Thames outfit Kingston by 4L.

Women’s over 42 quad scull Sheron Dean-Lucas, Pam Ball, Elizabeth Angier and Nikki Wolfenden saw off local rivals Monmouth RC by 1L, while Emily Hermon and Ellie Humphryes took the U15 girls’ doubles by the same margin from Notts and Union.

Monmouth RC also enjoyed success, with Hamish Lawson and Rui De Sousa Stayton dead-heating in their open pairs final with Cardiff City before winning the re-row by just 3ft.

The junior duo also joined Al Butler, Ben Rodford, Louis Poyelle, Ben Morgan, Mattias Webb, Angus Whitehead and cox Jack Tottem to take the open eights final by 1.5L from Bewdley, while Tom Penny won the open singles comfortably from his Notts County opponent.

The club’s veteran women also acquitted themselves well, losing out by just feet to a much younger City of Bristol crew in women’s eights.

Full results at easyregatta.co.ukPhotos by Oarstruck Photography.