Sudbury ‘International’ Regatta

The regatta itself was so well organised, the atmosphere was wonderful, from the band to the food and drink stalls. Special mention for the detailed and often highly amusing commentary!

Just a line to say thank you very much for all your organising, including arranging the weather. It was a lovely day.

Thanks for a great day yesterday. As always Sudbury International lived up to expectations with thrills and spills and some excellent racing.

I can also report from the fireside some extremely happy Lea rowers and many complimentary comments. Also I think as a group we seemed to have bought quite a few T-shirts. Poppy Bradley in particular seemed very smiley (despite losing her final) and I think I heard her say this is the best regatta she has ever been to.

Our athletes are on a massive high following this weekend! We really enjoyed the environment, the racing, everything!

At lunch today my wife suddenly said: “What a lovely day! Another Sudbury Regatta would make it complete!” This is praise indeed coming from one not normally enthusiastic about sporting events or hot weather! Her comments, which I heartily endorse, roused me from my torpor and reminded me that I had not thanked anyone for their efforts in organising a truly memorable occasion. As rowing men I’m sure your idea of any heaven that may exist involves something to do with oars and water, and for this reason you may not be too astounded when I say that my own idea of paradise is Sudbury Regatta. Sheer unadulterated happiness! Thank you both for the obvious part you played in the event - the commentating was worthy of an award (the John Snagge/Bob Newhart Trophy perhaps) and the shanty serenading was executed with professional panache over an extensive repertoire. Less obvious of course is the work you do behind the scenes and for this too, on behalf of Isle of Ely RC, I would like to thank you along with your co-workers. “The Best Little Regatta in the World” is no exaggeration! Please pass on my thanks to all.

Thank you so much for enabling us to row on Saturday. I suspect we were the only people to hit the wrong bank… If you’ll have us back next year, I promise to steer better, though I suspect I might be turfed out of the bow seat. I’ll also try to persuade my club to enter an eight: that looks fun.

Once again thank you very much for a lovely day at Sudbury and for lending us the boat. You must have laughed Andrew when, yet again, there was a calamity in the reeds…. Indeed, if my steer (Paul Mew) who is from the county of Suffolk and had done the course a previous year in a single, had bothered to look behind him - we would have been a pot winner (against Broxborne G). But you can’t win them all - or in my case, any of them 🤣! The spectators were so lovely - clapping and encouraging us when we eventually emerged, some while later. I did feel bad for the poor singles’ who had to stop their race - but they were very good about it.

I just wanted to congratulate on you on such an amazing and fun regatta. It was my first race in 39 years and a great way to break the ice. Unsurprisingly I did not win but I managed not to hit the reeds, banks or opposition so came away delighted. The atmosphere was superb – wish there were more regattas like this…

Just a few lines to thank you and all at Sudbury RC for, as ever, running such an enjoyable regatta, and in particular for allowing Jane Denyer and myself to use one of your doubles for our race. We liked the boat, Robert Mole, very much and everyone involved was tremendously helpful. Please do pass on our thanks to all. I'm not sure that I can add much to what's been said many times about the regatta - it really ticks all the boxes, with excellent racing and organisation, food and beer, music, mayor, and of course yourself providing the commentary. Great stuff.

The Bewl Bridge crews had a great day out. Many thanks to Sudbury RC and all those who clearly put in a ton of effort to produce a well organised event. Feedback to our Club Captain includes: ‘Successful outing to Sudbury. Would thoroughly recommend for a club / jnr outing. Really lovely feel to the place, it was their 140th year of running the event. Excellent viewing of the narrow, two lane 650 meter sprint course. Tight course dealt some lessons out to a couple of crews who had not raced on such a tight course before. Lesson of the day, sometimes slowing down could be a winning tactic. Trailer back in one piece. For the record getting the [9m long] trailer In and out of [Friars Meadow] field is tight but do-able. Fully loaded versions of our trailer came in and out OK.’

Thanks to you and all your team for a fantastic day at Sudbury International Regatta today. So well organised and great fun.

As always, lovely little regatta. Thanks for organising. Next time hope we can get more than one entry ?

Great regatta not only because I won a pot! I liked the shuttle system and no wash from umpire launches hence very flat water. Also very friendly and relaxed. I even enjoyed the jokes and the commentary.

You run a marvellous event. Well done and long may it continue and flourish.

On behalf of West Norfolk Rowing Club I would like to express our thanks for a great day at Sudbury Regatta. Thank you! It was a most enjoyable day (if a little long), and all those running it were in good humour, making for a fine atmosphere. We had a trailer-full of entries, an achievement in itself for a small new club, and were thrilled our chaps came away with silverware from our last race of the day! It is such a beautiful setting, and clearly lots of preparation work had gone into setting up the course and the regatta field. Many thanks.

It was the first time I have raced at Sudbury – I had a brilliant day, it was really well run, you have a great team and you created a fantastic event. Please pass on our thanks to all from Broadland Boat Club. Congratulations on the 150 years.

Just passing on a big thank you from the small but very happy Norwich Rowing Club contingent to you and everyone involved in Saturday’s event. It was the first time we had raced at Sudbury and we (and the other NRC members) couldn’t be more impressed by the regatta, from the excellent location, food, live music and helpful volunteers. But most of all we were impressed by your seemingly endless (and often hilarious) enthusiasm with the microphone which had us smiling throughout the day. Thank you!

Many thanks for the wonderful regatta.

I just wanted to pass on my thanks and appreciation to the Committee, the Rowing Committee and of course Nicola and Andrew for a fantastic and fun Regatta. Brilliant to see so many Sudbury wins as well. Well done all.

Thank you all very much for a brilliant day out. Those of us from Broadland had a great time – whether we won or ended up in the reeds!

Thanks again for your warm welcome to your regatta and the boat loan, we appreciate it a lot. Looking forward to the next one!

On behalf of Yare Boat Club I would like to thank the organisers and volunteers who have made Sudbury Regatta such a resounding success. Every detail was thought of and the whole day worked seamlessly, with the glorious weather even ordered to perfection. A fantastic day of racing enjoyed by all.

Thank you very much for organising such a lovely regatta, from all of us at Chesterton!

Excellent regatta and so much fun as always, I am just sorry I couldn’t stay for the whole day, next year… Thanks again for great organisation (and commentary).

Oh dear, how do we begin? Firstly thank you Sudbury RC for lending us the 2-, and the welcome and help we received from you lovely Suffolk Folk !! Secondly, for letting us share your truly named ‘International’ Regatta. It personally took me back to the 1960’s when a fete type atmosphere existed at regattas, where the whole town came to experience the regatta scene by the river on a beautiful summers day. An absolutely glorious setting on the meadow, your people had worked tremendously hard to prepare the reeds to show off the magnificence of the river, and what a river !! I was so proud of my course around the big bend in my single, lost concentration momentarily and the pill box reeds got me, so I took a little bit of Suffolk foliage away with me. Then in the coxless pair my mate steered a superb course around the big bend, only to falter in his steering 3 times to enable my stroke side blade to chip away at the Essex bank ! It took me around 40 years of rowing and thinking about going to Sudbury, I only wish I’d done it sooner, a brilliant event which we will have no hesitation in recommending to anyone in our region who will listen!!!

I really enjoyed Saturday, it was a lovely regatta with a great atmosphere!

Everything about the day was fantastic. From the organisation to the friendliness of other crews – in both helping our (much less experienced crew) out with boats / advice and help. We (Curlew) will definitely be back next year with more crews

I take my hat off to Andrew Blit and his team. You inherit a less than ideal stretch of water and you put your tongue in your cheek, erect a progress board, you have a Sprint 8’s event that I am sure I read was on a 350m ‘straight’ ! You call it Sudbury International Regatta, you do an enthusiastic commentary. You time races and encourage participants to beat records, have a jazz band, get prime farmers beef burgers and be friendly. Marvellous, brilliant and fantastic.

Every cox and sculler should have Sudbury Regatta on their bucket list. Every umpire should have the ‘bend’ position on their bucket list too!

Our crews had an excellent time, so thanks for another wonderful regatta!

A fantastic regatta as always – you have set yourself a high standard that others would love to get near.

Another super Sudbury International Regatta. Super event, super people, super food, everything a good old fashion town regatta should be.

Fab regatta again, thank you Sudbury!

Every photo I see convinces me that this must be one of the most beautiful events in the rowing world.

Thanks team Sudbury, cracking day, very enjoyable as always. Could have done with someone turning the temperature down a little but otherwise perfect!

Thanks go to you and your team – what a fantastic event! We all had a great time, and it was a really worthwhile and positive race experience for both of the guys. Your members also made us feel most welcome at the clubhouse, and we appreciated the assistance with boating/de-boating too. It was also my pleasure to get on the Mic and say a few words about adaptive rowing… no other event has ever asked me to and it was great – thank you.

Thank you to all the members of Sudbury RC who make your regatta the best regatta of the year.

Thank you very much for your and your clubmates’ efforts organising and running yet another great day’s racing and ancillary entertainment. You all do a terrific job making everyone welcome and having an event which runs smoothly despite very challenging boat and rower logistics.

Another excellent event. As always we had great fun with a good haul of wins too. We love supporting this event and it remains one of the highlights of our rowing calendar.

Well done Sudbury RC. Really great day in a Suffolk meadow by the Stour. Great racing with all the thrills and spills of a river regatta.

Another wonderful Sudbury Regatta, thanks for putting up with us.

What a lovely day it was! Thanks to Sudbury Rowing Club and all the team.

Well done to everybody for putting such a fab day on yesterday. My sister and her fella came along too and absolutely loved it.

Once again thank you to all of Sudbury Rowing Club and their other halves/quarters etc, and hope your clearing up went well.

Thank you to your team for a great ‘old fashioned ‘ regatta. I am ashamed to say it was the first time I have been to Sudbury but I thoroughly enjoyed my day, as did my little band of very novice rowers.

We all absolutely loved it. What a fantastic day! I would say it was a shame it rained but it really added to the atmosphere, wonderfully British.

A pleasure and a privilege as ever.

I thought, given the challenges, the regatta was tremendously well run (and I’ve been rowing 40 years, so I’ve seen a few!).

Very many thanks and congratulations on another great Sudbury International Regatta! I know how much effort goes in to organising a day like that, and for it to run so well, despite the best efforts of the weather, is a real testament to the hard work put in by your team. The day was, as always, well organised, friendly and above all, great fun. I know our Leicester contingent really enjoyed it. Carl in particular got a real buzz from it all. I’m sure the experience will have spurred him on to race more. Thanks for your efforts and help getting him out on the water and making it happen. It was a great race to watch, shame one of them had to lose, but hopefully Luke isn’t downhearted, he certainly gave Carl a great race.

It was our first time at the Regatta and we enjoyed it enormously, despite being one of the crews caught on the river when the thunderstorm broke!

On behalf of Beccles RC thank you very much for organising such a successful day. What with steering adventures and weather it was challenging at times but we came away having had a very enjoyable time. Please pass on our thanks to all those who helped with the planning and arrangements, everything seemed to be spot on as usual!

If you could turn the sprinkler system down a little that would be good – just drying out now…another great day in Suffolk.

Thank you very much for staging yet another impressive Regatta of the Season yesterday. We had a wonderful time and especially enjoyed the thunder and lightning in the interval. Thanks again to the Sudbury International Team.

I think athletes’ unwavering enthusiasm (only apart perhaps from MAV keenness to hand their semi final victory back to Broadland to avoid final !) is a tribute to you and Sudbury RC. Massive collective effort well-rewarded. Thank you – it was a pleasure to join in. Frau Hogsbjerg’s VIP tent and lunch were much appreciated.

Thank you for a wonderful regatta. As one club member said “It’s Midsummer Murders” or another description could be bucolic England at its full-blown summer best and with a blue moon. Who could want more out of life?

Hi, Please could you let me know the date for next year’s regatta as we need to book accommodation for Lea masters.

A big thank you to you and your hard working team in organising another incredibly well run regatta. Anybody who has experienced organising a regatta will appreciate the time effort and hard work needed to run such an event. As usual your team achieve this with the utmost precision and timing which all comes together seamlessly. I’m sure there are many ‘hairy moments’ through the course of the day but as usual everything comes together for the competitors to enjoy their racing. Please thank all your team for once again producing a brilliant day out for all of us at Broxbourne.

Thanks to you all for another wonderful regatta!

Many, many thanks for another superb regatta. We did actually have blood, sweat and tears as well as plenty of smiles, improvement in confidence and experience. Please pass on our thanks to your team who did an excellent job.

We had a great day out and are looking forward to next year’s already! Please pass on our thanks to everyone involved in running the regatta – you did a splendid job in making sure it ran smoothly and keeping everyone entertained.

It was a super day and I can imagine that pretty well every single competitor will have gone home happy if tired!

A thoroughly enjoyable day as usual. Very much looking forward to next year.

Thank you for yet another great regatta

Thank you for such a marvellous regatta yesterday. We will certainly be coming to next year’s regatta with an even larger entry.

Thanks for another great regatta at Sudbury. The course is a joy whether you’re racing or spectating and the umpires, marshals and race control are all really helpful. The excellent barbeque, cake stalls and beer tent will keep you fuelled to the finish and the commentary is very entertaining.

Thank you for yet another superb regatta. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, once again!

We really enjoyed it and will be back!

Once again the best regatta of the year.

As usual Maidstone Invicta had a great day. We brought along a lot of young novice juniors for a taste of racing, Many thanks for the usual friendly well run regatta.

Thank you very much for yet another fantastic regatta. It was, as ever, brilliantly organised and great for both competitors and spectators (and in particular our juniors for whom it was their first proper race experience). We look forward to coming back again next year.

We had a wonderful day at Sudbury. Next time we will have to practice to go fast and steering… Thank you for making us very welcome.

Thank you and your team for a great day. All of us from Norwich (NRC, Yare BC, and Broadland BC) enjoyed it and want to come again.

I would really like to say a massive thank you for yesterday’s amazing regatta! It was run so well and we all loved the whole day. Thank you also for allowing us to camp! You have such a beautiful little town and club.

May I thank you and your team for a fabulous day. Those of us from Oundle who came thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to be annual supporters!