ROWERS from across the country will be heading to the River Wye this weekend for Hereford Regatta and Sprint.

Taking place across Saturday and Sunday there will be races for all age groups ranging from junior crews to masters for men and women.

Racing will take place between 8.30am and 5pm on both days.

Regatta Secretary Paul Lewis said that 111 boats are entered for Saturday's events and 119 on Sunday.

Categories of racing will be from one to eight seater boats across the age ranges with an open, women's and junior category in each event.

Crews are due to travel from across the Midlands along with boats from Bristol, Southampton and Chester.

The number of boats entered has been affected slightly by a national regatta on the same weekend at Dorney Lake in Buckinghamshire which is a qualifying event for the renowned Henley Royal Regatta.

Despite this Lewis hopes that Hereford residents will attend and enjoy the racing.

He said: "We hope everybody turns up as we are a really friendly club and we're lucky as we have a big grass bank for people to sit and watch the racing and the ice cream van is not too far away.

"There are quite a few clubs locally including Evesham, Worcester, Shrewsbury who all hold their own regattas and then there is the national races too."

Alongside the boat racing there will be an all day barbecue, music and entertainment at Hereford Rowing Club.