Portora Boat Club had an excellent outing in Belfast at the weekend winning six events at the Belfast Sprint Regatta held near Stranmillis.

The multi-lane 500m course saw a number of different races with Portora winning the Women’s eights as they saw off Coleraine team Bann Rowing Club and Saturday’s hosts Belfast Rowing Club.

That set of eight would go on to split up and compete into two quadruple sculls with Portora A meeting Portora B in semi-final action.

Siobhan O’Hare steered the A team to a win as they then went on to beat Newry Boat Club by 10 seconds in the final.

Helen Flanagan teamed up with Marcella O’Reilly to win the over 50s double sculls to defeat Newry as Flanagan raced nine times on the day coming out on top in eight heats, semi-finals and finals.

A large handicap to begin the men’s coxed four meant they were unable to claw back the deficit as they fell to a defeat against Belfast, however, the men’s eight, stroked by Chris Allen, bounced back and reversed their significant disadvantage and won by two feet in a thrilling race.

There was success for Gerry Murphy and his partner from the City of Derry as they won the Masters double sculls before going head-to-head against each other in the Masters single sculls with the Portora man winning by two feet in the end.

After a triumphant day, captains Chrissey Lunny and Shane McGovern were delighted with the club's performance.

McGovern said: “After the near miss in the four we were determined to win in the eight. Chris Allen learned to row on this stretch of water and he used every inch of that experience to stroke us to victory.”

Lunny was also in good form, saying: “Helen (Flanagan) racing nine times shows just how determined she is. In the eight, we greatly benefited from Tom Blakes’ expertise and motivation in the Cox’s seat, overall a fantastic day.”

The weekend’s crews will now be aiming for selection from their coaches for the British Masters Rowing Championships in Nottingham when it kicks off in mid-June.