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by Rachel Matheson This Saturday August 4th was the 150th Anniversary of Chertsey Town Regatta. So much effort goes into setting up this Regatta, which is organised independently of the Clubs, and it is great to see these efforts well-rewarded - this very popular Regatta was by far the busiest of the season so far, with over 100 skiffing and punting races taking place in the course of the day. The highlights of the skiffing were the Gentlemen's Senior Events. The Gentlemen's Singles was a very close race as Kevin Dargue and Simon Mepham, both of Thames Valley Skiff Club, clashed coming into the enclosure; this was decreed to be in neutral water so the race was restarted from halfway - after Simon had replaced one of his blades which had broken in the encounter! Simon Mepham took the victory by the narrowest of margins, 2ft. The Gentlemen's Doubles was again a closely contested all-Valley final between Richard Knowles and Andrew Birch, coxed by Sarah Clarke, and Bart Hudson and Kevin Dargue again, coxed by Sandra Knowles. Richard Knowles and Andrew Birch led off the start but Bart Hudson and Kevin Dargue fought back strongly from halfway - Kevin Dargue was not to be denied this time as he and Bart Hudson came through to win by just one-third of a length. In the Novice events, once again Wargrave Boating Club demonstrated the calibre of its younger members with all Wargrave finals in the Invitation Mixed Doubles (for Under 18s) and the Ladies Novice Doubles events. The winners in the Under 18 event were N Mullins and A Pennock, coxed by K Pennock, who beat A Mealing and J Johnstone, coxed by E Jordan, and in the Ladies Novice Doubles, S Maloney and L Castle, coxed by E Snell, beat N Mullins and A Mealing by over 2 lengths. In addition Mr J Johnstone of Wargrave took the Novice Gentlemen's Singles title beating Tim Saunders of TVSC by just half a length. The Ladies Novice Singles title however was again awarded to Kate Neal of Thames Valley, who beat Rowena Stern of Dittons by 1 1/4 lengths. In the Punting, the Ladies Handicap and Junior Best and Best titles both went to Caroline Faretta of Thames Valley who beat Sarah Poole and Helen Ryan respectively, both of Dittons Skiff & Punting Club. The Gentlemen's events were very popular with several rounds in both 2ft and Best and Best boats - the winners in Gentlemen's Handicap Doubles were Keith Workman and Bruce Maidment of Thames Valley who beat Peter Laverick and Mark Neal, also of Valley by 3 lengths. Keith Workman also took the Gentlemen's Handicap Best and Best title. In the Punting Medley, a unique event to Chertsey Regatta, teams from Thames Valley, Dittons, Wargrave and Wraysbury raced off against each other; there are three legs to the Medley - first goes the 2ft Gentlemen's Singles, followed by the Mixed Doubles and finally the Gentlemen's Best and Best. Thames Valley 'A' were beaten by Dittons in round one, but Thames Valley 'B' beat Wraysbury. In the second round, Dittons also beat Wargrave so stayed in their boats for the final against Valley B - the Valley B team, composed of Keith Workman in the 2ft Single, Bruce and Sandra for the Mixed Double and Bart Hudson in the Best and Best, won by a considerable margin over the Dittons team of John Douglas, Sarah Poole, Mike Hart and Mr P Sellacort. Next weekend is pretty hectic - Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta is on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th, the Skiff Club Regatta takes place on Saturday 11th and The Punting Championships are at Maidenhead on Sunday 12th.