A STRONG tailwind cut short proceedings on Wednesday at the World Championships in Eton. The wind would have put the lower-numbered lanes at a disadvantage and, while there were some comments of an overreaction by Fisa, the world governing body, David Tanner, the Great Britain team manager, considered the decision “very professional”.

"In the past, Fisa have let things run, but this was a really good call, with the big boats still to come,” he said. The decision did cause the postponement of the men’s and women’s eights repecharges until Thursday morning and the next race would have included the Britain women’s eight in lane one.

Two other Britain crews, the women's lightweight double and the men’s lightweight four, rose to the occasion in their repechages before the racing was stopped and qualified for their semi-finals on Friday. The men’s coxless four, who failed to reach the final in the Lucerne World Cup last month, produced a scintillating spurt at halfway, taking them past Egypt and Greece and ahead of the Netherlands, all three with Lucerne final appearances behind them. Matt Beechey, the Britain bowman whose international career dates back to 1997, said: “It was a rerun of the Lucerne semi and we always do better when our backs are against the wall. That race was such a relief.”

Mark Banks, the coach, stayed focused. “The semi-final will be even tougher,” he said.

Jane Hall and Helen Casey, arguably the most experienced duo in the Britain team, with international careers dating back to 1993 and 2000 respectively, finished second in their repechage to qualify, a bare length behind Canada, the Lucerne gold medal-winners. Hall, who has had medical problems since her most recent significant international appearance, in 2001, has lost none of her enthusiasm. “We have come through some tough times and blood, sweat and tears," she said. "It will be a real bun fight in the semi-final.”

Rob Dauncey, their coach, thought that they had sculled better in their heat than in Wednesdayday’s repechage but agreed that they had made a massive improvement since Lucerne. “They have the power phase much more together,” he said.

Tension mounts on Thursday with the semi-finals of the A group events. Seven Britain crews are involved, including the 2005 world champion coxless four, the 2006 World Cup champions of Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington in the women’s doubles and Alan Campbell in the men’s singles.

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