Piha”NRC champions
1st Champion Boatie Club – Piha Boaties1st Open Men’s – Piha A Crew
1st Under 23’s Colts – Piha Pistols
1st Under 21’s Fillies (Girls ) -Piha Coladas
1st Under 19’s Juniors “Piha Chargers
Semi’s Open Men’s division “Piha Boomers
4th U21 Women’s division -Piha Coladas
Semi’s Open Women’s division -Piha Ladies
Report from the club
The huge surf at The Mount on Saturday tested all during the first round, As the waves got even bigger the postponement of the Carnival into Sunday didn’t faze the Piha Crews ( who went out into the big surf for a row anyway !! ) The Sunday racing whilst in smaller surf was always going to be tough now rowing both competitions on the same day ( Short course & Long Course ) 9 races for the big crews all in one day, now we were going to see just who had put in the work and who hadn’t !
OPEN MEN’s : 1st : The Piha A Crew had plenty on the line after wanting to revenge their result in Whangamata after getting smacked on the way out. With big rivals Mount Maunganui ( boosting of their result in front of Piha in early Jan) handy and also having home beach advantage the Piha A Crew had allot to prove. Working their way through the 9 race program the boys only dropped on result to a second during the heat racing, Untouched in the semis and come final time the A Crew lined up with plenty to prove. The result in both finals was a big winning margin that really left the boys untouched out on front as they lead the two finals start to finish. Knoxy, Bruce, Big Matt & Ben worked hard all day maintaining the winning margins and making things look easy at stages. Horse was very pleased with the crew and bagging the two golds leaves the Piha A Crew with 3 consecutive years of winning at NRCs .
Piha Boomers : Semis : The Boomers had work to do after regaining many of the crew who had been away on extended holidays (3 overseas ) so a little rusty but flying into it none the less the guys got stuck into the conditions and worked through the heats to gain important semi final spots, The guys worked hard into the semis but on both occasions they finished one spot outside the progression into the final, So Bingo, Hayden, Hugh & Myles (with some help from Nick ) have a new plan to get them back up to scratch in the next few weeks.
OPEN WOMEN’s : The Piha Ladies crew had an interesting weekend as some races didn’t go their way at times but the ladies did row themselves into semi final contention and a chance to push for a place in the final amongst some very tough crews. Katrina, Aimee , Annelies, Mor & Alice at the helm who did a great job during the heavy surf when the racing was running on the Saturday did their best but missed the final spot unfortunately. Plenty of time has been put in by the Ladies and with a little bit of tweaking they will get even closer, a good result to semi in such tough competition.
U23 MEN’s : The Piha Pistols had a big week ahead of them planned, there were two titles up for grabs and greedy Pistols wanted them both. With the racing being a 3 race series for both titles there was no room to cruise and lift for the final only, every race was on the line as the valuable points were up for grabs. After pulling off a spectacular late take off in the big surf the Pistols lined up for 5 hard out races Sunday, they took 5 wins from 5 to never put the result in doubt. Jean Paul, Ludo, Cedric & Albi were happy with the results from their hard work and Horse was pleased bagging 2 more titles to make it 4 so far for the weekend with more racing to come .
U23 MEN’s : The Piha Pirates stood down from racing in preparation for the coming Test series ( being run this entire week )
U21 WOMEN’s : The Piha Coladas had some nerves to settle with their one and only race Saturday in the big surf. With racing being pushed into Sunday and the surf size down the girls pulled finger and stood up to be counted. They raced very smart through the heats to gain a valuable spot in the final. With the final being their 7th race of the day they had to dig deep to come up with a result. Sweep Phil lined the girls up for the gun and got them into their work at the crack of the starter’s pistol. Heading for home the battle was two ways between the 2 big rival west coast clubs (Piha & Muriwai) the Muriwai Sweep couldn’t handle the jandel when Phil brought his girls home almost to sweep them through the flag line. A great joyous win for the girls who have been improving all the way. Nice work Gracie, Babo, Alice & Claudia, Phil sweeping managed even to make the back page of the Bay of Plenty times in spectacular fashion ! ( see attachment )
U19 MEN’s : The Piha Chargers were lining up for this big comp and with the disappointment of not getting a run Saturday in the surf the coming 6 races for the two U19 titles were up for grabs . The Chargers had plenty of hard work in front of them as they also had two 3 race series of points to grab with every crack of the gun. Hamish, Alex, Ricky & Charlie worked brilliantly in the conditions all day to not let a result go as they were head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Top racing from the Piha Chargers and now the boys are already setting their sights on the North Island champs this coming weekend . Horse picked up 2 more medals to cap of the weekend with 6 1st Placings from his crews.