Pair wins and Twigg stars

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray continued where they left off with a win against the British at the World Cup Regatta in Bled.

It may have been only half a length, but the the two boats were well clear of a class field and the British offered too little too late to genuinely trouble the Kiwi pair. In the pack in the first 250 metres, Bond and Murray quickly established a base pace that none of the other crews could match and they were able to maintain it, and a high rate, all the way through to the end. On the back of an uninterrupted intensive training programme, Eric and Hamish showed they are still the crew to beat.

Emma Twigg finished a superb second to legend Ekaterina Karsten, but could be excused for being a tiny bit disappointed after leading her and the field for most of the race in what was the Hawkes Bay sculler's best international elite performance so far.

She quickly emerged from the pack to take the lead, and look convincing in it, but Karsten was always present and at a lower stroke rate. Even so, every time her rival attacked, Twigg responded with an equal effort but she could do nothing about Karsten's sprint to the line. Second though, was a great reward after a very exciting performance.