The Erne Fours Head of the river took place on Saturday in exceptional weather that contrasted with the wintry conditions in the rest of the country.

In all, 61 men’s crews and 51 women’s crews completed the course from the top of the Killyhevlin Straight to the boathouse.

The low, strong sun actually created issues for the coxes but no mishaps occurred and both the men’s and women’s races produced good results for the Enniskillen Royal Boat Club crews.

The boys’ J18 quad of Luke Bailey, Oliver Khew, Austin Cassidy and George Kernaghan had four seconds to spare over Methodist college and six other crews. The J18 B crew had a storming row and only lost to Neptune by four seconds.

The J16 four won handsomely against Neptune – Andrew Cuthbertson, Evan Donaghy, Christian Timoney, Ryan Topping and cox Jessica Thompson were on board.

The J15 quad with Cillian Donaghy at stroke lost to Methodist College by the extremely small margin of just over a second which should encourage them to reverse the decision at the earliest opportunity while the boys J14 quad of Cameron Bell, Ollie Powell, Mathew Montgomery, Oliver McNeary and cox Errie Powell beat Commercial of Dublin and Coleraine with plenty to spare and set themselves up for a good season.

The girls’ crews had a fine afternoon’s rowing and the J18 quad was the fastest crew of the day beating the senior women’s crews to win the Amanda McManus Trophy – this trophy was presented to honour the memory of a much-loved teacher in ERGS.

The crew was Kate Huddlestone, Isabella Wright, Acorn Cassidy and Zara Welsh - with Kate steering this young crew for the first time they beat Methodist College in a very close race.

The J16 four of Eva Johnston, Rhea Cartin McCloskey, Naomi Robinson and Annabelle Kingston and cox Jessica Thompson gave Galway and St Michael’s plenty to think about with their win.

Hannah Armstrong, Zara Lindsay, Milena Remedios, Sienna Howe and cox Katelyn Fee beat Galway and St Michael’s in the tightest race of the day with only five seconds separating the three quad sculls – a courageous performance.

In the J14 quad, ERBC beat Bann decisively- the crew was Emily Black, Abbey McCarthy Magwood, Darcy Balfour, Tori Davis and cox Abbey Wilson. This group had form from earlier in the season and did not disappoint.

It is also worth mentioning that a J14 octuple scull of very young athletes were allowed to row in the benign conditions just to give them a taste of a big event.

Oliver Krawczyk, Lewis Coalter, Prany Pacha, Lucas Boyle, Aiden Chen, Caelan Moore, Jackson Elliott, Flavia Remedios and Cox Joel Crean came down the course in style and set their stall out for future years.

The event was an unqualified success and the army of volunteers, local businesses, the PSNI, the RNLI and many parents were indispensable.