Winter rowing action popular

The popularity of the Wanganui Rowing Winter Series is growing as much as the morning weather is getting chilly, based on Sunday's turnout.

There were 28 entries for the second race of the series, more than what was already considered a good roll call of 25 for the May 12 race.

Becoming a more regional event, these included not only the Wanganui schools and club members but also visitors from Porirua and Horowhenua.

As there are many different classes and age groups of both rowers and, for the first time, waka competitors, the best overall on the day were decided by "prognostic time".

This involves taking the distance each class will race, then calculating the time they would be expected to reach if racing at international level.

Therefore, Porirua pair Gabriella Giacon and Lucy Rutten were the best on the day, having reached 91.86 per cent of their target in their GU18 LWT 2X boat.

AWRC's Trevor Rush and Richard Brock (90.08 per cent) were second while Collegiate's Anton Possegger (89.49 per cent) finished third.

Also noteworthy was the fifth-placed finish of Bruce Butters, one of the best in a waka in NZ.

Weather conditions were good for racing on what was a fast flowing river.

The third race in the Winter Series will be held on Sunday, July 14.