Itchen Imperial were in great spirits from the start of Saturday's Newport Regatta, their second string junior four stepping into the limelight to win the club's third junior fours point of the season.

The Itchen A crew had to move up a status after winning the junior/senior race at Woolston, so BTC must have felt confident of adding to their two points and go ahead in the race for the junior championship.

But Itchen's John Riceman, Mark Wardell, Paul Joyce, Luke Williams (stroke) and Kerry Wardell (cox) had other ideas, wearing BTC down after a slow start to win by two lengths, with Shanklin third.

Itchen followed up with a good win for Steve Taylor and Matt Joyce in the senior pairs (they now lead the championship with four points) and a win for ladies' novices Ama Miles, Holly Robertson, Kerry Wardell, Emma Bull (stroke) and Tom Foad (cox).

They finished with the inside end of the stroke's oar jammed inside the boat, still comfortably ahead of Coalporters.

Mike Kelly also won, after a hard race against BTC'S Simon Edwards, and their newly-promoted junior/senior four were left with just a moral victory after missing the turn when leading by one-and-a-half lengths.

The senior fours was yet another epic struggle between BTC and Ryde, with BTC grabbing another point with half a dozen tremendous strokes at the end of the race to come from half a length down to throw themselves over the line to win by half a canvas.

Ryde should have sewn up the race at the turn, coming away with a clear-water lead over the BTC four, but BTC had the better boat for a sprint finish.

Southampton's Jake Frith gained his first junior sculls' point in a hide-and-seek race with Mark Wardell and Robert Benham as they got caught up in a huge swell from a passing container ship.

Lisa McGregor Ritchie got back to winning ways in the ladies' senior sculls, while Sarah Andrew of Coalporters added to the club's ladies' senior fours win with her first ladies' novice sculls point.

Christchurch made it a double, with Kate Loyker, Emma Lack, Jules Loyns, Zeena Bond (stroke) and Matt Bailey (cox) winning the ladies' junior fours to take a two-point lead in the championship over Southsea and the men's novice four of G Rabbits, J Pitcher, C Eveleigh, L Honey (stroke) and Matt Bailey (cox) four lengths clear of Ryde. Results: Men Senior Fours: 1 BTC A, 2 Ryde A, 3 Itchen Imperial A.

Junior/Senior Fours: 1 Southsea A, 2 Ryde A.

Junior Fours: 1 Itchen Imperial A, 2 BTC A, 3 Shanklin A.

Novice Fours: 1 Christchurch A, 2 Ryde A, 3 Southsea A.

Senior Pairs: 1 Itchen Imperial A, 2 Lymington A, 3 Southampton A.

Senior Sculls: 1 Ryde A (Pike), 2 Ryde B (Jenner), 3 BTC A (Hume).

Junior Sculls: 1 Southampton A (Frith), 2 Itchen Imperial A (Wardell), 3 Itchen Imperial B (Benham) Novice Sculls: 1 Itchen Imperial (Kelly), 2 BTC (Edwards), 3 Itchen Imperial (Leelodharry) Ladies Senior Fours: 1 Coalporters A, 2 Southsea A.

Junior Fours: 1 Christchurch A, 2 Southsea A, 3 Ryde A.

Novice Fours: 1 Itchen Imperial, 2 Coalporters, Senior Sculls: 1 Southampton (McGregor-Ritchie), 2 Coalporters B (Heyes), 3 Coalporters A (Radband) Novice Sculls: 1 Coalporters (Andrews), 2 Itchen Imperial (Wardell).