Blustery weather on inner Quartermaster Harbor provided a challenging course for the rowers who participated in Vashon Island Rowing Club’s Fifth Annual Masters-Juniors Scrimmage on Saturday.

The choppy, white-capped conditions caused VIRC coach Richard Parr to shorten the course from 1,500 to 900 meters.

The signature event was the final head-to-head race for the “One Guinea Pig Cup” — the name loosely and whimsically inspired by the history behind the creation of America’s Cup.

At last year’s scrimmage, the cup was claimed by the masters team, but this time a juniors’ mixed 8, stroked by Avalon Koenig and coxswained by Sarah Warner, reclaimed the cup with a convincing seven-second victory over the masters mixed 8.

“It was really great to see Vashon all together and in action today,” said Parr. “Hopefully we can do this kind of thing more often.”

The friendly contest between the masters and juniors gives the teams an opportunity to ready themselves for competing in the upcoming spring sprint season, where boats line up in lanes and sprint to the finish line over courses of 1,000 and 2,000 meters.

The first six races of the day featured quads, eights and doubles. Most were won by rowers from Vashon Island Junior Crew. The one exception was a women’s masters quad, which edged out the juniors in the closest race of the day.

Four boats also competed in a “Ham ’n Egger” event, where a masters man and woman team up with a junior boy and girl. The winning boat featured the junior brother-sister team of Ella and Liam McConnell, who teamed with two longtime master rowers.

— Marianne Metz Lipe is on the publicity committee for the Vashon Island Rowing Club.