21st Mar: Head of River Race

According to the Local Notice to Mariners during the Head of the River Race there was going to be around 130 rowing skiffs racing from Riverside Park to the Itchen Bridge.  I must admit that when the day came I had forgotten about it,  however I had gone out to check something on the new jetty, now nearing completion, and saw some of the competitors paddling up river.  It seemed an opportunity to watch an event so I got my camera and took a few photos while they  came racing down river twice over.

After the first set of races the work-boat Spartina came past having salvaged a motor cruiser from the shore near the railway bridge.  According to Facbook it had been coming up river at night, hit a “navigation mark” and ended on the bank with the helmsman injured.  Seeing that it had a 75hp Suzuki outboard on the bank one wonders what speed it had been going at.  It also explains why it was worth the cost of salvage.