Beccles Rowing Club travelled to compete on the Great Ouse in the St Neots Regatta and Sprint. This is one of the most popular regattas in the country with crews attending from as far afield as London and Newcastle.

Beccles Rowing Club travelled to compete on the Great Ouse in the St Neots Regatta and Sprint.

This is one of the most popular regattas in the country with crews attending from as far afield as London and Newcastle.

Saturday's races were rowed over 1000 metres on a perfect British summer day.

Beccles sculler John Cowan teamed up with Lowestoft's Rick Warne in the opening heat of the IM2 double sculls.

After being challenged hard for the first half of the race the experienced Beccles/Lowestoft team used their extra stamina to pull away from a young Broxbourne crew to win by a length.

Through a quirk of the draw the semi-final was scheduled almost immediately afterwards and Rick and John were well beaten by an accomplished and much fitter crew from the Isle of Ely, who went on to win the final.

Rick later teamed up with Nigel Lyman to win the Masters B doubles sculls for Lowestoft RC, while John was beaten in the first round of the IM3 single sculls.

After a good result reaching the semi-final at Bedford Regatta, Beccles sculler Tom Mee hoped to improve in the IM3 single sculls.

He cruised through the heat, quarters and semis before being pushed all the way in the final by a strong opponent from Lincoln.

Entering the last 200 metres half a length down, Mee produced an unstoppable surge that brought him triumph by a canvas.

Sunday's races were rowed over 500 metres where the slightest mistake can lead to defeat.

Tom Mee, perhaps wearied by his heroics from Saturday, was beaten in the first round of the IM3 single sculls by a strong opponent from Trent Rowing Club.

James Gilbert sailed through his heat in the same event, only to be narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals. James fared better in the Novice Sculls.

He easily beat his opposition from Thames Tradesmen in the first round before falling to the eventual winner from Erith Rowing Club (based on the Thames near Dartford) by a length in the semi-finals.

Mee regained the winning habit in the IM2 single sculls. He won through to the final beating scullers from Trent and Lincoln on the way. But after a hard weekend of racing, and despite his trademark surge for the line, he did not have the power in his legs to get past a sculler from Doncaster and lost the final by half a length.

The club always welcomes new members, with or without experience, and would be pleased to hear from anyone who is aged 13 or over and interested in having a taster session.

Use the website becclesrowingclub.co.uk or leave a message on 01502 711258.