CHRISTCHURCH junior crews won both the men and women’s novice races in a double swoop at the Itchen Rowing Regatta.

The men’s quartet of Maarten van de Heijden, Marlowe Tamlin, Tom Mahy and Richard Quinn dominated the action at the Southampton venue.

Led by cox Alex Ratcliffe, Christchurch cruised to a final victory over host club Itchen Imperial RC.

Christchurch had seen off the threat posed by Westover and Coalporters crews in the semi- final.

A turn error by the Itchen A crew in their semi-final saw them disqualified, leaving the way clear for Christchurch to dominate in the final against Itchen C.

A major factor in the crew’s success over a short course of 900 metres were some well-executed turns.

Ratcliffe was the coxswain of the day – a first for Christchurch Rowing Club.

Fourteen crews from Hampshire and Dorset entered the hotly-contested event on the River Itchen.

The ladies’ novice fours boiled down to an all-Christchurch final between the A, B and D crews.

It was the B crew – Rachel Stone, Sophie Heath, Christy Cole, Dani Elmy-Liddiard and cox Grace Tebbett – who clinched a two-length win over D crew. The A team claimed third place.

Tebbett replaced Stone in the B crew for the J16 final with cox Katya Cherskova steering them to victory the club’s A crew.

The ladies junior sculls event produced another win for Christchurch’s unbeaten Jasmine Hunt who is on course for the championship title.

With just five regattas remaining, 17 of the championship events remain in the balance.

Hampshire and Dorset clubs return to the Isle of Wight this weekend for a two-day regatta on the Medina hosted by Newport RC.