BOAT trailers from across Victoria flocked to the shores of Lake Wendouree last weekend for the annual JG King Wendouree-Ballarat Regatta.<\/p>\n
Held over two days, the racing action featured open-age and junios, with about 2000 scullers and sweep-oar athletes competing over one or two kilometres of the rowing course.<\/p>\n
Organiser John King is WBRC\u2019s president, a coach at Ballarat Clarendon College, and the operator of sponsor, JG King Homes.<\/p>\n
He said the two days of racing were some of the biggest the Lake\u2019s seen in the last decade; an unexpected success after a 2020 mostly free of rowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a real surprise. Liaising with Rowing Victoria, we thought we\u2019d get within 10 or 20 per cent of the previous year\u2019s entry figures, but when they closed, we realised it was going to be a big regatta,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoat trailers were all the way down to St Pat\u2019s Point, all the races have had good numbers in them, and we had a great crowd here supporting all the rowers. We had about 3000 spectators on the Saturday, and 2000 spectators on the Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been involved in this for seven or eight years and it\u2019s one of the biggest years I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Approaching the 2021 Head of the Lake, competition events like WBRC\u2019s are key in the crew selection process for Ballarat\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n
As rowing returns later in the year after the winter break, Mr King said one of Ballarat\u2019s brand-new but popular racing events will come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lap-of-the-lake has a number of short-style sprints around. That\u2019s in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few western district clubs came in last year, and I think it will grow over the years. It\u2019s something that a lot of people showed interest in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BOAT trailers from across Victoria flocked to the shores of Lake Wendouree last weekend for the annual JG King Wendouree-Ballarat Regatta. Held over two days, the racing action featured open-age and junios, with about 2000 scullers and sweep-oar athletes competing over one or two kilometres of the rowing course. Organiser John King is WBRC\u2019s president, […]<\/p>\n