Gibraltar crew reach Final B in World Coastal Rowing Championships in Portugal

Gibraltar rowing team of Colin Tester and Mathew Viñales finished tenth in Round 2 heats of the men’s double sculls at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Oerias, Portugal qualifying for the B Final.
The competition which was due to start today saw an additional round added after the men’s solo saw 68 entries and the and men’s double saw 63 entries. Forcing organisers to add the extra day of racing.
Crews ranked 1-4 in these boat classes by their National Federation automatically proceeded direct to Round 2, with the rest of the crews fighting it out for the remaining places.
The Gibraltar team competed against some top class rowers in what was very difficult conditions. Rowing in open seas with tides, currents, swells and even a shore landing at the finish provided for some challenging moments with swells described as one metre in height at times.
Among those competing were Norway’s Olympic crew who were to finish first followed by Finland. Crews from Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Ukraine, Monaco, Tunisia and Germany were also among those in the field.
Gibraltar’s tenth placed finish was see them edge ahead of crews from France and Ukraine, and only just missing out on the two top times behind the top six who qualified for the Final A.
Portugal, Tunisia and Monoca, whom the Gibraltar crew had been battling against head to head until the had to give way at the third buoy, edging ahead of them to take seventh, eighth and ninth slots.
The race was to see at least one vessel capsized after crews were forced to alter their paths as they reached the first buoy.
Congestion at the buoy left many vessels stuck and tightened the margins between crews. As the crews headed for the second buoy the field broke with the top six opening a comfortable gap against the rest of the field.
A constant battle against choppy seas, swells and tide made for an uncomfortable ride where the Norwegian crew were to come away with a comfortable victory to go into the main final. Portugal 2 was to progress to the main final as one of the top seven finishers from across the heats.
In another heat The Italian Olympians were to finish top in their heat.

Coastal men’s double sculls round 2 heat (top twelve only in Gibraltar’s heat)

1 - Norway 18.46
2 - Finland
3 - Spain 2
4 - GBR 3
5 - Germany 2
6 - Spain 8
7 - Portugal 2
8 - Monaco 1
9 - Tunisia
10 - Gibraltar
11 - France 4
12 - Ukraine 2