The bad weather may have seen the traditional Sure "Herm Rocks" Rowing Regatta cancelled this year but that didn’t stop the Guernsey Rowing Club and event sponsor Sure celebrating the annual weekend of racing all the same.
Events were due to take place in Herm across the weekend of 19-21 August 2016 including a race from Guernsey to Herm and a round-island race and evening entertainment for the 37 crews signed up to take part.
Sure, the headline sponsor of the annual event for the seventh consecutive year, reacted quickly once the decision was taken that the race couldn’t go ahead on the Friday evening.
Sure’s PR and marketing manager, Jess Mauger, said: “As soon as we heard that the weather conditions were too poor to race we got in touch with the Guernsey Rowing Club to see what we could do so that the crews could still get together.
“Rowing is an inclusive sport and the social element really brings people together. We put on an event at the Guernsey Yacht Club and gave out the Sure goody bags and famous ‘Sure Herm Rocks’ t-shirts and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.”
The weather eventually improved so the rowing club could host an alternative race around Havelet on Sunday.
Captain of the Guernsey Rowing Club, Tom Martel, said: “It’s a shame that the Regatta couldn’t go ahead as planned this year but safety of the crews is always our priority so we had to take the decision to cancel it.
“The Herm races are the most technically challenging ones on the calendar even in perfect conditions so we couldn’t have held them in the high winds of last weekend.
“Members of the club always enjoy getting together and socialising and Sure worked with us to ensure that we could still put on a good evening of entertainment. It was great to round off the weekend on the water for a race around Havelet.”