The 132nd annual RMB Buffalo Regatta came to its exhilarating conclusion on the Buffalo River late on Saturday afternoon after three days, including the Selborne Sprints on Friday, of superb rowing action, enjoyed by over 1000 oarsmen and women.
The overall honours on the day went to Victoria Lake Rowing club on the club side, Tuks men and UCT women on the varsity front and St Benedicts for the boys and St Andrew’s Girls for the schools as they all topped the points table in their respective divisions.
“It went off perfectly. Everything was on time, the weather was very good to us and it ended on a good note,” said East London Boating Association chairman, Philip King.
“The standard is always high. These are the best schools, clubs and universities from around the country who all come here and compete against each other at the highest level, so it is always a top class event.”
In the two main events, the Grand Challenge (for Senior A Coxless Fours) and the Silver Sculls (for Senior A Single Sculls) it was the Tuks rowers who took top honours again.
In the Grand Challenge it was set to be a battle between two Tuks heavyweight crews and so it proved to be, with the crew of Jake Green, John Smith, Kyle Schoonbee and Bradley Betts powering away for a surprisingly comfortable win of over six seconds ahead of the second Tuks crew led by Olympic silver medalist Lawrence Brittain.
“It wasn’t a surprise as we had raced each other in training this week and we showed good speed and managed to beat them,” said winning crew mwmbwr Smith.
“So we knew if we could execute a good race we could get the job done like that, so it went according to plan.”
Smith is no stranger to winning the Grand Challenge.
“When the tail wind blows like it did today I am always a fan. I am really good in the tail, so when I saw it blowing I was really chuffed. I knew the crew was hitting the tail and things were starting to go our way. It was great to see and we handled the conditions well as it changed towards the middle of it, but we handled it and came out on top.
“It is a big race. We come down especially for this one. This is number five for me and it feels great.”
In the Silver Sculls race it was another dominant performance that saw Thabelo Masutha claim his first Silver Sculls triumph, finishing over four seconds ahead of the hard-charging Luc Daffarn.
Masutha led from the start and claimed a comfortable and well-deserved win.
“I think it was a really big win, one I have always wanted since my first time at Buffalo. So it is good to finally have it,” said Masutha.
“I just trusted my process. When I managed to take the lead, that was the moment I thought I can win this.
“I wasn’t too surprised with how far ahead I was. In the race it felt a lot closer, so I was surprised when I saw the time difference after.
“I think last year I just missed out. Similar situation except I was on the bad end, so being in the same situation today I knew not to make the same mistakes, and I made my move a lot earlier instead of waiting until the last 250 metres.”
There were a number of other big results, including the senior women A eight won by Tuks’ Bardenhorst and the junior women’s first four won by St Mary’s Mckay, just pipping Clarendon’s Strydom into second, while the day finished with an exciting junior men A eight final that saw St Benedicts edge out Bishops.
It was a fantastic weekend for all, and more can be expected from next year’s edition, which will come during an Olympic year...