ONLY the novice eight rowers were supposed to have a 30-second head start over their New Zealand counterparts.
Someone forgot to tell the Hawke's Bay crew that.
"We don't mind if they cheat as long as we beat them over the line," national rower Adam Tripp said from the the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club-hosted 2012 Picnic Regatta along Clive River yesterday.
Trying to qualify for a London Olympics berth this year, Tripp and his fellow eight rowers beat the Bay by a boat length-and-a-half to lug their vessel off to the shed with a swagger.
"The bloody Hawke's Bay guys took off with the novices so we won't let that happen again tomorrow," the 22-year-old former Lindisfarne College student said with a laugh.
Still smarting from not making the podium to the World Championship at Lake Karapiro in 2010, Tripp said everything was at their disposal but all the crew had to do was put it together.
"We had a few issues at the worlds so the eight were the first to feel the wrath of changes and we didn't row as well as we should have and missed out," the bachelor of science graduate revealed, alluding to a rash of injuries to a few rowers that year which left them with a few new faces trying to find a rapport at a short notice.
Former Napier Boys' High School student is the other Bay rower among the eight who have only one rower, Sean O'Neill, who has Olympic experience after representing Ireland at Beijing in 2008.
"We now pretty much have the eight who turned heads at Karapiro back together. Richard Harrison is the only change."
Coming to the Bay, Tripp said was a small sacrifice to make to have the opportunity to bring back home a gold medal from the London games.
Former Clive man Dave Thomson coaches the eight and the lightweight four, featuring Bay's Duncan Grant.
Thomson yesterday invited a crop of age-group rowing talent to observe their national heroes engage in clinics at the oldest regatta in the country.
The Bay club, founded in 1874, is riding a wave of success culminating after it was named New Zealand Club of the Year in 2009.
The club also unveiled a new coxed four boat, naming it after club member Steve Cushing, of Clive, who has been a stalwart for about three decades and also assuming the mantle of regatta organiser.
"It's quite an honour to have a boat named after you and Steve is just a great club man," a club spokesman, Duncan Barr, said. Barr said Bay novice boys' pair of Max Williams and Russell Dodd exceeded expectations.
The race of the day went to Lesley Thomas who beat Billie van der Peet "by a bow ball" in the 1500m Masters women's race.
Bay mixed double pair of Jackie Coutier and Gavin Foulsham gave spectators a demonstration of adaptive rowing.
"They are trying to qualify for the London Paralympics," Barr explained of the games that will run in conjunction with the Olympics for disabled athletes.
Today kayakers were also competing.