WEYMOUTH Rowing Club crews returned very credible times from the London River Marathon The Great River Race 2015 saw 330 competitors from all over the world race the 21.6 miles from London’s Docklands to finish at Ham, Surrey.

After a very hectic launch and mustering process the diverse range of rowing craft were started according to a predetermined handicap with the slowest boats starting even before the gigs were on the water.

Being classified as one of the fastest boats the gigs, along with dragon boats, Waterman cutters and Celtic longboats, were kept back to start an hour after the first boats.

Unfortunately, the river conditions were judged too rough for the dragon boats so reducing the fleet to 302 boats.

Due to the diverse range of boats and their differing speeds t The cox had to thread their boat through a very congested course where overtaking was very restricted within the vicinity of the 28 bridges, this required skill and total concentration for the duration of the race with every competitor vying for position in the restricted space of the river course.

Weymouth Rowing Club's (WRC) two crews were separated by a mass of boats at the start and the ladies' crew steamed ahead, flying down the course to finish in 2hrs 50minutes in front of 199 boats – a result all the more commendable as the rudder broke halfway through the race and had to be operated without the yoke.

The mixed crew followed up overcoming the initial handicap of extensive traffic, gradually passing through the field to produce a very good time of 3hrs 6mins having overtaken 121 boats.

A club spokesperson said: “We would like to thank those who made generous donations to the club and especially the Woodward family for their fantastic logistical support and Quayside Emporium and Coffee Shop for their very generous donations.”

For more information on rowing in Weymouth go to weymouthrowingclub.co.uk