The afternoon race had to be abandoned after only two crews had started due to debris on the river.

The morning race was a triumph for Craig Morgan, formerly from Hollingworth Lake, now of Agecroft, with his fifth win in successive years to equal the record of Roger Croome (Royal Chester) 1968-72.

In the afternoon heavy rain in North Wales raised the river level which had been low for some weeks and released a lot of debris from the banks into midstream.

After the first two crews had started and met the debris, the chief marshall sighted an enormous uprooted tree drifting rapidly towards the crews assembling for the start.

He promptly abandoned the race for the safety of competitors and their equipment, while the first two starters were already sorting out their own difficulties with the debris they had encountered.

The King's School and Grosvenor both scored double success in single sculls in the morning, and Queens Park High School beat Royal Chester by 14 seconds in the Women's under 16 quadruple sculls.

Only a few weeks after first stepping into a boat, seven crews of novice rowers took part in Grosvenor's corporate rowing challenge, held recently over a sprint course from the Bandstand to Grosvenor Rowing Club.

Coached and coxed by Grosvenor Rowing Club members, the crews had a few weeks to go from raw recruits to a day of hard fought racing in fours on regatta day.

As well as the prize for the fastest crew, other awards were also given for best-supported crew and best-dressed crew, with fierce ompetition for all the prizes.

The overall winners on the water were 'Brief Encounter', representing the 1 Stanley Place Law Chambers. Winners of best-dressed crew were 'Rafa's Rowers', from Liverpool FC TV, whose costume improvisation skills were widely praised.

Crews from the Liverpool FC stores Blades of Glory and You'll Never Row Alone took the trophy for best-supported crew.

The prizes were awarded by Liverpool FC assistant manager and ex-England international Sammy Lee.

Also in action last weekend were Grosvenor's scullers racing in Chester Long Distance Sculls.

In testing conditions with a fast stream leading to quick times, club oarsmen put in solid performances, with Harvey Worden taking the Senior 2 class in the single scull and Phil Hill also notching up a victory in the Vet C event.

The afternoon division, where further victories were expected, unfortunately had to be cancelled due to dangerous river conditions.