Calm waters for round four rowing series

PROGNOSTIC PROWESS: Wellington single sculler Tristan Gregory-Hunt won round four of the Whanganui Winter Series on Sunday. PHOTO/Karen Earle

Wellington visitor and New Zealand Universities single sculler Tristan Gregory-Hunt was a clear winner of round four of the Whanganui Rowing Winter Series.

Raced over 8km on the Whanganui River, the series includes a variety of craft racing to achieve the highest percentage of world record times for each class of boat. The result is based on the prognostic time of each entry.

Gregory-Hunt was representing the Star Boating Club from Wellington and his 83.99 percent prognostic score was enough to get him over the line in first ahead of mixed masters canoeists Brian Scott and Annie Simpson from the Whanganui Kayak Club with an 83.24 percent prognostic time.

Third was former world champion and Olympic rower Phillippa Baker-Hogan preparing for the World Masters Games at Lake Karapiri in April. The Union Boat Club sculler's prognostic score was 82.60 percent.

Organiser and competitor Jacs Rush said Gregory-Hunt won this year's New Zealand Universities 2000m single scull and was a member of the Kiwi team to compete in a trans-Tasman regatta in Australia.

"The water conditions at the weekend were really good, the best we've had lately," Rush said yesterday.

"Second on Sunday was Brian Scott and Annie Simpson fro the kayak club. Brian usally competes with his wife Robin, but she was sick so Annie stepped in. She told me later that she was just going to jump in the back of the boat and go along for the ride, but it didn't quite happen that way - Brian wouldn't let her.

"And you could probably excuse paddlers from the Aramoho Wanganu Rowing Club and Union. They were probably a bit blurry eyed from staying up to watch Rebecca Scown and Kerri Gowler row at the Olympics."