Not only that, but they passed the weekend challenge with flying colours.

Their reserve men’s crew headed home late on Sunday afternoon as the best crew from the Queensland border to Sydney.

Not to be outdone, their A-grade and women’s under-19s also finished rounds four and five in the top three.

Boat captain Wayne Dickson said all three of their crews were “on the money”.

“The reserve grade result was a pleasing one because they know they’re on pace with those guys [down south],” Dickson said.

“It’s the first time they’ve really been pushed this year.

“Everyone performed a lot better than I thought, or maybe I’m just not giving them enough credit.”

The weekend was run with two separate events with Bonnies performing better on day two which Dickson believed was largely due to “knowing what they were in for.”

“Sunday overall was a better result for us as a club because the girls won one of their races and finished third,” he said.

“They raced in their own division which was the under-19s which they haven’t had the opportunity to do here.

“A-grade finished second and reserve grade were first overall.”

But it wasn’t a weekend without challenges for the men’s crews in particular.

“You normally have four rowers per team, but by Sunday we had six across our two teams so they pretty much had to turn the boat around and go again,” Dickson said.

“Normally you have an hour or an hour and a half break.”

Dickson said club stalwart Tony Kee stepped up and helped out the men’s A-grade crew on Sunday due to their shortage of numbers.

He enjoyed the return to the top grade.

“Tony filled in on the Sunday and said it was great to be back in that division,” Dickson said.

“You just have to wait for the other teams to crack and no-one did; they know it’s a game of inches.”

Dickson was impressed with the A-grade crew’s improvement in the hotly-contested division.

“I still need to remind myself that the oldest rower in that A-grade crew is still only 21,” he said.

“The worst job would have been the finishing line judge across the weekend because it was that close.”

As expected, conditions were a challenge which sorted the good crews from the rest.

“There was a strong shore dump that had six inches of water and then it dropped off real quick,” Dickson said.

“Quite a few crews came unstuck because you needed to be on your game to start and finish clean.”

Clubs now have a break for Christmas before racing returns early in January.

“We saw that tournament as the end of our beginning to the season,” Dickson said.

“We are where we need to be heading in to Port Macquarie on January 6.”