CPGA Supervets Championships 2026 – Swanage
Write up by Simon Walker
It’s definitely not the best start to a Saturday as far as gig rowing is concerned. It’s foggier than expected and it’s raining as well.
We turn up in Swanage pretty much hoping proceedings won’t be delayed for too long.
And they aren’t really, maybe by half an hour or so.
First thing is to get the boat on the beach and ready to race and we have loads of time to burn and to get things sorted as the women’s heats are on before us and we already know we are in heat three berth six, the worst birth to start in as it makes the first leg of the race longer and harder for us.
Fast forward to just before we are due to race, we’ve done all the training Hayden our Captain has put us all through it over the last few months, all the gym work, technique work and very importantly conditioning work, it’s been paying off this season, but will it be enough today. We are on a level playing field here, six over fifty men racing amongst their peers and one of us, Tony, is actually just over seventy. We’ve been sat around or milling around all morning chatting and passing the time and I’ve come to the conclusion that I think, we think, we are ready for this-maybe!
Eventually the women’s heats are done and it’s time for us to go out and do it. We somewhat quietly roll Pulpit Rock into the sea. We’ve given ourselves enough time to get on the water and warm up properly for our first heat. Heading out into Swanage bay it’s quiet, but we are all together, the boat is gliding nicely, its easy and it feels pretty good today, I’m sat in three and I’m feeling relaxed now, you can tell within the first three strokes of leaving the beach how the boat is going to feel when its race time. Hayden our Captain only wants the cox and one other voice in the boat when we race, today it’s me and Max our cox. Max does the steering and calls the turns, which makes a lot of sense as he’s the only one who can see where we are going. I’m calling the stroke, power and what we do between the turns, sitting in three can you feel and see pretty much everything that’s going on, between us we’ve got it all covered.
Don’t forget we are in birth six for this one which is definitely not ideal for our first race of the day even though the see conditions are pretty flat and great for racing. We also have a boat from every Dorset club in this heat, bar one and that’s Bridport’s A boat.
So here we go, our cox is bringing us up to the start line slow and steady, he’s talking to us, nice and calm, nice and easy. We can hear the starter struggling to keep the start line straight before he lets us race. Max isn’t quiet anymore, he’s got serious, so we all switch on and get into our catch positions ready to nail it off the line.
We are off, racing start and the last of our three long strokes is locked in and feels powerful, into the short ten and we are building boat speed quickly but steadily, we’ve got away well and we are up with all the other boats. I’m calling to keep the pressure on the stroke and to not let it drop as we settle into our rhythm with the longer strokes. It’s a long way to the first turn and we are doing well, I can see all the other boats out on our bow side, it looks like we are fourth at worse as we get closer to the first turn so I call to hold the pressure and keep working as we are, its going well so far. Max has to get us across to the first turn and we cannot afford to lose any water to Swanage, Lyme Regis or Roseland, Weymouth are the next boat behind us, and they aren’t going to get anywhere near us now, so the race is on with the three in front. Our cox wants us to squeeze more out of our stroke before we hit the turn, so I call for more pressure and to keep the boat gliding as we drive forward.
When we get into the turn I can hear Roseland there, right over my left shoulder, we’ve closed on them, Max rowed us into the turn at full press, all six rowers not easing off. We come out of the turn on the outside of Lyme and Roseland we’re still in it and I can see both boats now, but I can’t see Swanage so we’ve made up water off the first turn. We close up even closer to Roseland for the second turn, but we have to give Roseland water, so we stay outside them and Max gets us around cleanly. Now we’re out of the turn it’s a call to build the stroke, keep it tidy and not to rush. We do exactly that and now we are racing to the last turn. Swanage and Lyme are clear, I can’t see them now, but I can still hear them, we are not done yet and the race is still on to get ahead of Roseland and hunt down the other two boats ahead.
Roseland get the water on us again, but we drive around the turn well and now it’s a sprint to the finish line, there’s not much in this. The call is to start driving the boat on through the stroke and build more speed. We’re pushing hard now and we are catching them with every stroke, we are up on them not long after the turn and we are starting to row through them, we’ve done it but we are still in third, we’re racing for time now so the call is to keep pushing on until we cross the line. We’ve done all we can do to try and get into the final and we nearly caught Lyme Regis, it’s looking positive for our final race, but which final will we be in. Were we quick enough.
The first boat in the four heat races automatically goes into the A final, then it’s the fastest boats by time for the final four and then the next fastest eight for the Shield final and then the Plate final.
We’ve waited a while, but it was worth it, we have made it into the B final, The Shield race, and we are in birth one, bring it on. Our highest finish was winning the C, Plate final two years ago. It’s the best Portland have ever done, and we are in with a chance here.
Our biggest rivals, Lyme Regis, they are out in birth six for this one, a complete reversal of the heat race and we were not very far behind them.
There are eight boats in the final and at least two of them are from other heats, but we were faster than all of them in our heat bar one because Swanage went straight to the final as they won our heat race.
Whilst we wait for the women’s Sheild and Plate finals to take place we’re back to waiting again. Chatting and having some lunch. I think, we think, we might be able to do this-maybe!
Fast forward a bit and we are ready to go, our cox is keeping it calm and quiet again as we warm up and cruise up to the start line. I’m thinking about a game plan here as we need to get to the first turn in good shape and before Lyme Regis, doing enough but not too much, we cannot blow it all before we get to that turn. If we can’t get there first we need to row our own race and see what we can do. We’ve worked on the conditioning for this sort of race, we can row as well when we are tired as we do when we are fresh, we have that and we will need to use it here, probably sooner than we’d like.
The start for this race has to be nailed on, it has to be right, it has to be the best start we’ve ever had. I can’t sit quietly as we get to the line, we ‘ve had to back up and line up again as all the boats floated past the line and were called back to do it all again. I’m talking through the start and how we need to make sure our first three strokes are on point and the third one has to be the best connected and most powerful one to lead us into a short ten that builds the boat speed but doesn’t feel rushed. We’re still calm and ready for it.
So we’re away, it feels like our start is beeter than the one for our last race, as we transition from the end of the start into the longer strokes we are moving well and we are once again all together driving forward, driving hard but in control, we aren’t in the red.
Our cox is keeping us calm and its already looking like a three boat race, it’s us against Roseland and Lyme again. Our cox is telling us we are halfway to the first turn and we are already in front of Roseland, they can’t stay with us and there’s only one other boat in this. Lyme Regis are motoring in from lane six to try and get to the turn before us. I call for us to hold, stay as we are and keep working, let the boat glide, maintain our speed.
Max is telling us the first turn is coming up, he’s on it but Lyme have water over us but we can hear them, we are right on top of them and we are turning tight and lifting on bow side. We drive as hard as we can out of the first turn to try and get in front of Lyme for turn two but we don’t quite make it, but Max is still able to keep us on the inside for the turn, he calls it and we are out, I call to build the stroke, get the boat up to speed and chase them down to the final turn. Our cox is on us now, he’s doing his best to get everything out of us and he wants more. We are close but not quite close enough to get water over Lyme at the turn so we need to push, I call for more, we need to find a bit more, we need to drive it hard, and let it glide on the return as we don’t want all the work we’ve done to be wasted shunting us back by pushing too quickly back up to the catch. And its working we have quickly lifted our boat speed just what max wanted, we are coming up on the back end of Lyme’s boat, and we need to get the bow up level with their five rower if we are going to get water so we keep on pushing. Max tells us we have water over Lyme for the last turn and he’s taking us up the inside, the shortest route.
There’s a little bit of contact round the last turn and an exchange between the coxes but we are still on it, we are into a sprint to the finish now, Max is pushing us hard, he’s screaming at us to give it all we have, I call for us to focus, we have to find it one last time, the conditioning, this is where it counts, we pull up on Lyme and hold them for a bit, they push again, we respond and match them, we are next to them and I can see they are tiring quicker than we are. The call is for everything we have left, we have to take this from them because they will not be giving it up. Squeeze now, squeeze hard, make it feel heavy and let her glide. It’s level pegging for a little bit and then we are slowly but surely moving up on them, we are going past them, we need to keep working, keep the pressure on, we are turning ourselves inside out here, its hard but we are half a boat up on them and there can’t be far to go, all we can do is keep driving the boat on. And then all of a sudden, we are done, we did it, we beat them, we won the B final. What a race. I’ve just watched and listened to all our crew, including the cox, dig deeper than any of us thought we could and still row well, and we can’t really believe we managed to do it.
We try to lift our oars which is a traditional salute for winning but it’s so hard to do it, there’s nothing left. We get them up in the end and head back to the beach. Job done.
That in a rather large nutshell, is how Portland men’s CPGA Supervets competition 2026 races unfolded for the rower sat in seat number three.
You could always watch our races on Youtube if you don’t really believe what happened, I guarantee you’ll be glad you did!
Cox: Max Gordon
Six: Rob Lennis
Five: Chris Webb
Four: Darren Trent
Three: Simon Walker
Two: Darren Howard
One: Tony Boyle (he’s the one who’s over 70)
Thanks for reading.
