The birds were singing. The sun was shining. This is not the weather we're used to for the Winter Series but with the river behaving itself it was back on the water for the final race of the year. Because three races were cancelled due to conditions this years HWS is based on 3 races.

Amathus, last year's BDA champs, were back and this time they had to take on the defending HWS champs Masters International. After winning the last race could the Rafters pull out another victory?

It was an exciting finish to the race as Kingston, Henley and Amathus came down the final stretch together. Henley was able to hold the inside part of the river as Kingston tried to get past before the final turn. Kingston was forced out wide and Henley pulled ahead again after the final turn. Kingston pulled ahead while managing to dodge a rower in front of the Henley Rowing Club. Amathus came up in the middle of the two boats and managed to catch Henley by the finish line with only one horn to finish both boats.

However with the staggered start it is not the position finished but the time. After the results were tallied and the bonus for women and junior paddlers were subtracted the adjusted final finishing times for each crew were as follows:

Position Crew Time 1  Amathus  30:20 1  Masters International 30:20 3  Kingston Royals 31:09 4  Rafters DBC 32:05 5  Henley Dragons 32:12 6  BA Hurricanes 32:29 7  Wraysbury Dragons 35:32

The Rafters with two solid races and one victory were declared the overall winners. Kingston retained the trophy for the best club crew and BA were awarded the most improved crew. Once again thanks to Allie, Elspeth and Isobel for doing all the hard work in the background, the kitchen crew and everyone who came out and raced. See you all next year. For the final results click on the home page.