BRUDENELL, P.E.I. – The Red Island Regatta made a triumphant return to the Brudenell River on Saturday and rowers from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia say they can’t wait to come back in 2019.
The Red Island Regatta featured 1,000-metre sprint races in the morning in front of the Rodd Brudenell resort. In the afternoon, the rowers switched to coastal boats to compete on a 2.3-kilometre course, starting in the water near Brudenell Island.
More than 60 competitors took part from St. FX, Fredericton Rowing Club, North Star Rowing Club and Rowing P.E.I.
Shannon MacAulay of Mount Herbert got her first chance to compete on P.E.I. in front of family and friends.
She was recruited into rowing through the RBC Training Ground program and has been training hard with the North Star Rowing Club in Dartmouth, N.S., since May.
MacAulay won both of her events: the women’s coastal single and the coastal mixed double, along with Will Bryden from North Star.
Regatta organizers had support from two crews from HMCS Queen Charlotte, as well as the Montague Waterfront Development Corporation, HMCS Queen Charlotte and Tranquility Cove Adventures, P.E.I. Parks, local volunteers and the governments of P.E.I. and Canada.
Premiere sponsor, East Coast Docks, installed a low-profile dock designed for rowing at the Brudenell Marina.
Rowing P.E.I. operates from May until October from its home base at the Charlottetown Yacht Club. For more information, visit www.rowingpei.ca.
