GUTSY young rowers made their debut performance of the 2011 season and revelled in tough sea conditions that left them ‘buzzing with excitement’.

An all-girls crew of under-16s was among the Weymouth Rowing Club contingent which headed to Looe for the first Tribute Event of the season last Saturday.

More than 30 clubs made their way to Millendreath Beach to row in south westerly force four to five winds with squally showers adding to the mix, but once out to sea the waves became cleaner to row through.

The first two races were in heats of two with the Men’s A Crew in the first heat coming seventh and the Mens B Crew placing fourth in their heat.

The under-16s Junior Crew race followed straight after the men’s events.

Lynn Reynolds, rowing club spokesman and junior crew coxswain, said: “These young ladies showed some gutsy rowing for their first race together, the conditions were the same as when the men were out, however for juniors the course is always shorter. “We were up against Cornish junior crews who have such a dedication to this sport and the race was a mixture of all boys and mixed crews. In fact, Weymouth was the only crew of girls out of the 10 crews.

“The race included three turns and on the third, with the wind behind us, the crew put themselves into the finishing zone and stepped up a gear – the power on their blades was phenomenal for such young ladies but they were desperate to give all they had to get us round.”

Kathy Maybery, junior section coach, added: “When the girls got out of the boat they were buzzing with excitement and so pleased, as I am, with what they had just achieved with tough conditions they rarely row in. However, when we do get them out to sea we always have ‘Davy Jones’ our safety boat close by.”

The Ladies A team finished 13th after a challenging row against Salcombe, quickly followed by the Ladies B crew who finished seventh in their heat.

The rowing Gig used for this event by all crews was ‘Tristan’ The club’s next event is Swanage Regatta on Saturday, June 4, followed by the next Tribute Points Event Mevagissey on June 18. Weymouth will be holding there Tribute Points Event on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the Nothe Fort, Newtons Cove Area.

The club is always welcoming new rowers, including juniors. To find out more visit weymouthrowingclub.co.uk