Lymington Rowing Club's Relay Around the Island

**POST-EVENT REPORT - LYMINGTON AMATEUR ROWING CLUB JUNIORS CLOCK UP 100KM DURING IoW ROW**

On 27th August 2024, nine of LARC’s younger members rowed in relay, from Lymington Starting Platform over to The Needles and across to Bembridge RNLI Lifeboat Station at the easternmost point of island before retracing their route to Hurst Castle and returning to Lymington. By the end of the day they covered more 100km over 10 hours.

The team were hoping to circumnavigate the island however the sea state on the south side wasn’t favourable that day. As it was the only chance this season for the team to come together they decided to track the island’s norther shores and, in the end, they rowed further than they would have done had they gone all around.

A massive thank you to everyone who helped to plan the event and provided cover on the water and to all the sponsors who spurred them on by giving so generously. Donations are still being accepted and all the money raised is going into The 1881 Fund, which funds the purchase and maintenance of club boats with the priority being to refresh the club’s H&DARA fleet.

Thank you to all our supporters again, and enjoy this little video showing the highlights from the day!

On Tuesday 27th August, nine of Lymington Amateur Rowing Club’s (LARC’s) younger members are targeting a 58 mile row from Lymington around the Isle of Wight.

In a test of teamwork the young athletes, aged 14 to 17, will be rowing the newest addition to the club’s fleet, its coxed Coastal Offshore Quad (CO4x+), for over 9 hours to test themselves, set a benchmark for this new, annual challenge and raise funds for the club.

At around 8am they’ll set out towards the Needles from the Lymington Starting Platform before completing the most challenging stretch around the south of the island. After continuing around the most easterly point at Bembridge, they’ll head on to Cowes before cutting back to complete the circuit where they started.

The event celebrates the end of a successful coastal rowing season with the club achieving multiple wins across both the Adult and Junior squads, resulting in top 2 placements in 5 of the 6 Hants and Dorset Rowing Association (H&DARA) Championship categories including the regional championship win for the Senior Ladies Pair and Senior Men's Four – a fantastic result which demonstrates the depth of talent amongst the race squad and means the club will be sending 10 crews to the South Coast Championships on 14th September at the Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley. On top of this it has had crews competing for Wessex in the Junior Interregional Championships and seen Sol Chamberlain crowned English Beach Sprint Champion and selected for the Under 19 World Championship team and, more recently, Zara Gray (as a J16) crowned British Beach Sprint Champion for the U19 Girls

As a volunteer run, amateur sports club, LARC relies on membership, grants and donations and all sponsorship raised from this event will go towards The 1881 Fund, which funds the purchase and maintenance of club boats, equipment and facilities. The priority now is to refresh the H&DARA fleet so the club can build on this year’s successes and continue to do Lymington proud next season.

During the build up to the event we'll be posting updates with profiles of the team members where you can learn more about their passion for rowing. Anything you can give to help them on their way around the Island would be hugely appreciated, support our athletes to achieve their goals and help to secure Lymington’s future as a competitive coastal rowing club.

Thank you from the team, and everyone at LARC!