HEBDEN rower Andrew Hodge continued his unbeaten run in 2005 when he was part of the British coxless four team that won the first series of the World Cup Regatta last Saturday.

Hodge stroked the boat which won comfortably on the Dorney Lake, near Eton. The British crew, also featuring Alex Partridge, Olympic champion Steve Williams and Peter Reed, were over two lengths clear after 1,500m of the 2,000m course.

The team of four - earmarked to be Britain's top boat in the World Championships in Japan in August and September - will compete in the next Regatta series in Munich in two weeks before the final race in Lucerne.

Though some of the strong teams likely to feature in Japan were not present last Saturday, such as those from America, Canada and New Zealand, Hodge said he was delighted to win his first World Cup gold medal, having previously claimed a bronze.

His win is the latest in a string of successes which has led him to be tipped as a potential gold medalist in Bejing in the next Olympics.

He was strokeman for the winning Oxford team in the boat race back in March and also won the British pairs trial with Peter Reed.