A grey day at Hexham on Saturday, June 6th proved to be an outstanding success as Durham ARC topped the ratings at Hexham Regatta with 12 wins from 22 events entered.
With a record 272 races and 68 events scheduled there was an early start at 8am.
Division 1
The J14 boys set the ball rolling with two entries in the J14 2x band 1. Both won their first round races against Lambton and went into the semi-finals against Queen Elizabeth High School (QEHS), with the second double going out in the semi-final while the first went on to overcome more QEHS opposition in the final to record DARC’s first success of the day.
Next it was the turn of the J15 boys to take on QEHS, winning their first round race easily and following it up with victories by 3 lengths against Tyne United in the semi-final and QEHS in the final.
WJ18 2x
The WJ18 4x- had a good win against Tyne United in their semi before losing to Hexham in the final.
The Open pair came through two rounds before losing to QEHS in the final.
The Women’s coxed four were in one of the most heavily subscribed events, which with 31 entries was split into 4 bands with the DARC crew starting in band 2. After holding off University College in the first round they were unfortunate to be eliminated by half a canvas in the semi-final against QEHS.
Women’s 2x
The Women’s Masters entered two doubles in division 1, in B and D age categories, the B crew having a bye into the final in which they lost by 3 lengths to the D crew of Deirdre Bruce and Aisling Dutton who had prevailed against Tees in the semi.
Jenny Conroy raced in the Women’s 1x, going out by half a length to Tyne ARC in the semi-final.
The Open Masters quads had two entries in division 1, the MasF 4x- going out to Tyne ARC E in the semi-final, and the MasH 4x- losing against Tees H in the final.
WJ15 4x+
Division 2
The J15 girls entered two coxed quads in division 2, both earning their places in the final after battling through two rounds against St Leonard’s, Tyne United and QEHS. Victory went to Eve Hollowbread’s quad in the final by a length and a half.
After strong outings at J14 level in early season Daniel McConway rowed up a year in the J15 1x, losing out to Lambton in the final after a titanic tussle with Tyne United in the semi-final resulted in him getting the verdict by a bow ball.
J15 1x
The two J14 boys doubles combined to secure another win in a close contest against QEHS, taking victory by a canvas in the final of the J14 coxed quad band 1.
The WJ18 2x secured victory by overcoming St Leonard’s and Hexham opposition.
Izzy Maddison lost against Tyne United in the semi-final of the WJ17 1x before going on to achieve a first success in the pair in division 3.
The Women’s Masters entered two doubles in the Women’s 2x, the first losing to Northumbria University in the semi-final. After winning against Hexham in their semi there was a second success for Deirdre Bruce and Aisling Dutton who beat the same Northumbria double in the final.
Women’s 2x
The Women’s Masters F coxless quad won their semi-final against Tyne ARC E by virtue of a disqualification, only to find themselves up against another Tyne E crew in the final with honours on this occasion going to Tyne.
With 21 Women’s eights competing the DARC Senior Women started in band 1, putting in a strong performance in the semi-final but going out by a length to the eventual winners from Collingwood College.
WJ17 1x
Division 3
Division 3 provided further success for the J15s, with the J15 boys entering two doubles in band 1 of the J15 2x, both of whom raced Tyne United opposition, one going out in the semi-final while the other won by a canvas in a straight final.
The J15 girls overcame Dame Allan’s to progress to the final of the WJ15 2x in which they beat QEHS by a length.
Women’s 8+ band 1
Matthew Wheeler won the J16 1x band 2 final against Cambois.
The Women’s 2- had a convincing win by overcoming Hexham in the semi and QEHS in the final.
Aisling Dutton in WMasD 1x lost to Gill Houston of Talkin Tarn while Deirdre Bruce in WMasE 1x secured the last victory of the day by winning the final of the WMasDEF 1x handicap against the same opposition after overcoming Tyne United F in the semi-final.
WMasF 4x-
Results
Results in race order are available on Easyregatta, with results for Durham ARC entries here.
Durham ARC was the most successful club of the day with 12 wins, ahead of QEHS in second place with 9 and Hexham in third with 6. DARC achieved the best win ratio, winning 12 of the 22 events entered (54%).
List of event wins –
- J14 2x band 1 Garland
- J14 4x+ band 1 Garland
- J15 2x band 1 Fortis
- WJ15 2x Liu-Hill
- J15 4x+ Pinter
- WJ15 4x+ Hollowbread
- J16 1x band 2 Wheeler
- WJ18 2x Williams
- Women’s 2- Maddison
- Women’s 2x Bruce
- WMasD 2x Bruce
- WMasE 1x Bruce
The 339 entries taking part was an 8% increase on the 314 in 2025, and included 116 from Durham Colleges. The most popular events were the eights and coxed fours. Nine trailers travelled from Durham.
Photographs are available from SI Events here and from Sodia Creative here.
Congratulations to all and many thanks to Hexham for hosting a great event and to all the officials and volunteers without whose dedication the event could not have taken place, and to all those involved with getting trailers laden with boats there and back and ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for competitors and spectators.
We look forward to Durham Regatta next weekend.