The last southern region Hasler race of the season saw an overall win on the day for Banbury, with a whitewash in both Div 7 and Div 5 K2. The latter saw some bitter family rivalry between father and daughter, with Jessie U, paddling with Rosa D, taking the top spot on the podium, relegating her father, Neil U with Will H to 3rd place with Keith L and the other Will H splitting them in 2nd.

Div 7 was also the scene of reasonably “friendly” rivalry, with a shoal of Banbury boats together throughout the race with Chris H and Lee getting the better of Paul and Colette, and Rachel TF and Felicity in 3rd.

In K1, Rob J and Robin F dominated Div 3, leading pretty much throughout the race, and taking 1st and 2nd, whilst Cian was the only one to go against team orders and avoid promotion, and 2nd place in Div 8 saw him (rightly) promoted to Div 7. Lizzie H, flew the flag for Banbury Lightnings again, with 2nd in the U12 girls.

Making the most of a rare Saturday race, we had a surprise farewell party for coach Alice on Sunday, before she disappears off to Nottingham for a new job – she will be greatly missed.

The club has finished a comfortable 2nd in the Southern region, and will be looking for a strong performance at the Hasler Finals in Norwich at the end of September.

In the meantime, there is the last national regatta of the year this weekend; a new Hasler season starting the following one, as well as the junior team off to Belgium to race at the Sobeka regatta – a great opportunity for them to gain international experience and learn independence.