The second Erne Head of the River for fours took place last Saturday – this is in addition to the well-established Erne Head for eights in March.

During the week leading up to the event there were a number of anxious moments as the organisers watched to see if the water levels fell and the wind abated.

On the day, the flow was strong but safe, the water had dropped and the expected wind didn’t materialise.

More than 100 crews took part in two separate men’s and women’s races in the morning and afternoon.

Competitors from all four provinces were treated to one of the best organised races ever on the Erne.

Many entries

Enniskillen Royal Boat Club (ERBC) had many entries and in the Women’s race the Junior 18 quad scull raced well with a late substitute on board – Eva Johnston – and did very well to take second place to a Casleconnell crew.

The Women’s Junior 18 coxed four crew won handsomely from St.Michael’s Limerick; on board were Clodagh O’Donnell, Aimee Elliott, Katie O’Hare and Kate Huddleston with cox Grace Ralph.

In the Junior 18 B quad event, there were Enniskillen crews in first and second places – Evie McGarry, Hannah Armstrong, Erin Carty and Daisy O’Hare were the winners beating Dublin and Carrick crews on the way.

In second place were Annabelle Kingston, Abbie Magwood, Jessica Thompson and Annie Fowler. The Junior 14 quad were second in a very close race with St Michael’s – only six seconds separating the two crews over four miles.

Jessica Kingston, Isabella Wright, Reaha Cartin McCloskey, Natalie Turner, with Abby Wilson as cox, can take satisfaction from this performance.

The Men’s race was brought forward half an hour to avoid any wind and went like clockwork. The ERBC Junior 16 coxed 4 was in very convincing form and won well from perennial rivals St. Joseph’s Galway.

On board were Jacob Halliday,Oliver Khew,Oran Harty, George Kernaghan and cox Katelyn Fee.

A bit of a mystery

The Junior 15 and Junior 14 quads and to a lesser extent the Junior 16 quad were all in third place. These results are a bit of a mystery, considering the very strong showing they had on the Shannon in Limerick a few weeks ago, but the coaches will get together with the rowers and solve the conundrum before the next outing at Carrick on Shannon.

The Junior 18 quad were hoping to impress but had to give way to an impressive St. Joseph’s crew.

Other crews who didn’t win can take heart from their performances and be assured the coaches were closely watching their races.

Three crews from Portora Boat Club also took part in the event, bringing home two category wins.

Conditions were ideal for the morning women’s competition with flat water and a strong stream.The Portora category C crew raced to victory in 21 minutes and 45 seconds. Despite being forced to change their boat at the last minute, the category D crew also performed well and finished close behind.

Over lunchtime a strong tailwind developed, producing some of the fastest conditions possible. The Portora men’s category D crew took advantage and beat rivals from Dublin and Belfast in an exceptionally fast time of 19 minutes and 7 seconds.

Women’s Captain, Siobhan O’Hare-Smith was delighted. “It was great to see our men and women competing on home water and winning.

“The stand-out rower in the women’s race was Carmel Dane. Carmel steered the 40-foot boat with a rudder the size of a hand attached to her foot, all while going backwards.”

The next event for the local rowing clubs is in Carrick on Shannon in early December.

The Erne Head of the River Fours was a strong community effort which included the Parents Support group, Waterways Ireland, the RNLI, the PSNI, many generous local businesses, school staff, coaches and an army of volunteers.