MIRC Spring Small Boats Head - 2013

Once again, Maidstone was graced with beautiful weather as our Spring Head heralded the start of Spring after a pretty grim winter in terms of cold, wind, rain and lost outings due to fast stream warnings.

This was another full event with the usual strong contingents from the likes of Poplar, Globe, Medway, Gravesend, Erith, Ardingly, Kings School Canterbury, Kent College and Kent University.  We even had representation from the West of London from Tideway Scuillers and Kingston Grammar.

With no wind and a slow stream, we had an even playing field across the 3 divisions.

MIRC picked up 4 wins:

The Masters D quad of Ollie Barton, Geraint Evans, Ray Phillips and Richard Huggins, coxed by Liz Ridgway, were the fastest MIRC crew and won this event for the 3rd time in a row. They came 3rd overall in 9.07.

Messers Huggins and Evans went on to win the Masters D 2x event in 9.44, despite a costly tangle with the bushes (and on home turf too, the shame of it!)

K Belton won the J17 singles sculls in an impressive time of 10.17.

Nick Bird won his comeback home Head in the Masters D/E singles with 10.42.

Again, another excellently organised and run event, so a big thanks to Rob Kenway for coordinating the support.  Only 2 dips in the water (what is the MIRC SBH without at least a few?).  Results coming out faster (thanks Anne).  No angry owners of damaged river boats, and only a few peed off fishermen.

See you in the Autumn.

See other excellent pics provided by Alistair Hill and Andrea Barker below...

 

MIRC Spring Head Results Now Up!

http://maidstonehead.weebly.com/results.html

MIRC Spring Small Boats Head 2013 Draw NOW OUT

http://maidstonehead.weebly.com/draw.html

No - We Haven't Shut Down!

Sorry about the lack of posts - but the weather has played havoc withour racing calendar - both Peterborough and Molesey Head of the Rivers have been cancelled this month.

Next race is our home Spring Head on the 3rd March.  Lets pray for low rainfall!

Anyway just to show we are still alive and kicking, here are some piccies from the Annual Dinner in December - these are the ones that are OK for public consumption that is...

Piccies stolen from Andi and Annabel's facebooks.

Latest Club Constitution and Rules

Are posted in the organisation tab.

http://maidstoneinvicta.blogspot.co.uk/p/organisation.html

Gerraint and Ollie should take special note ;)

Fours Head and Vet Fours Head of the River

The Fours Head weekend brought with it calm and serene conditions, a reasonable stream and some fast times.

The men in the Fours Head on Saturday put in two crews: the new combination of Alex Marlow, Tom Suanders, Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls (arguably our 2 best men's doubles); and the Juniors in an unusual combination of Jack Grace, Pierre Flasse, Andrew Collins and Ross Porter (Andrew had to sub in for Jake which resulted in a crew swap around).

The senior quad sculled at IM1, and despite coming 104th with a solid time of 19.53, came in the 2nd half of their category - such is the competitiveness of the Fours Head.  Tom did mention that it was a bit of a slog, as it was a melding of 2 different styles - so some work to be done there.

The seniors can be seen here at about 1.20 into the video.

The juniors came 150th in 20.11.  Pretty good for a scratch crew and when you compare it to the seniors, but at the same time, the Junior category at the Fours Head was very competitive and our boys came roughly midfield.

They can be seen here at about 0.39 into the video:

On Sunday, 3 Men's Vets crews competed.  The superb mixed Medway/MIRC Vet B quad with Lewin Hynes, James Knight and Shaun and Michael from Medway, came 3rd overall in a field of just over 200, and 2nd out of their category of 6 with a very fast time of 19.21.  A fantastic result, though they were a little disappointed at not winning a pennant.

The ex Novice Vet C 4x of Darren Prentice, Bob Barber, Jez Massey and Ali Machin completed the course in a very reasonable 22.02, and should be proud of the achievement.  Despite the reality of promotion to Open status from Novice and then competing at one of the top events of the year, they all seemed very motivated from the experience.

Finally, the experimental Vet D 4x of Ray Phillips, Ollie Barton, Gerraint Evans and Richard Huggins had a strong row and came in mid-field with a time of 20.46.  They are definitely progressing in the right direction: beating Vesta, who just pipped them in the first heat at Henley Vets in the summer, and slowly closing the gap with Ardingly.

A big thanks to the loyal trailer towers, wellie monitors, and general support who came along over the weekend.

Annual Dinner

Three weeks to go until this years Annual Dinner at Dance, Saturday 24th November.   

Mercure Maidstone (Great Danes), Ashford Road, Hollingbourne, ME17 1RE.

Three course dinner:  (vegetarian option available please advise) 
Starter - Freshly made carrot and coriander soup, crunchy croutons
Main - Roasted breast of chicken, smoked bacon, mushroom, sun-blushed tomato, red wine sauce served with potatoes and seasonal vegetablesDessert - Glazed lemon tart, raspberry salsa  
Entertainment: DJ  

Dress code: Black Tie

Everyone is welcome so please feel free to invite family and friends along.  Tickets in advance only £35 each, please make cheques payable to MIRC, or transfer to sort code 403106, 71230964.
Please let me know if you would like a ticket to this event on lauramcgrillen@hotmail.co.uk or 07783 954371 and let me know in advance of any special dietary requirements.

Upper Thames Fours & Small Boats Head - 2012

A small MIRC contingent made its way to Henley to compete at the Upper Thames Head.  We put 6 Junior crews and 1 Masters crew into a competitive field for the 2 mile race.  Compared to the Medway, steering at Henley with the white posts taken away is a relative breeze, with only a gentle long bend to contend with.  However, the strong headwind and upstream conditions meant that it would be very expensive if you found yourself carried out into the stream.

For the Juniors, Jake and Pierre came 3rd with a time of 12.38 in the J18 2x beaten only by two very strong crews from Star / Leander.  

Ross and Jack also came 3rd in the pair beaten by two crews from Kingston again J18s with a time of 13.12.

Andrew and Dylan raced twice in the J18 2x and IM3 2x but improving from race to race (14.40 and 14.13).

The boys J17 quad racing at J18 came 3rd again beaten only by the Star/Leander and Henley J18s with a time of 11.47. They did beat the Bewl crew that took bronze at Nat Schools by 48 secs, however.

 

Sally and Tamsin rowed a composite with Bewl and were competitive against stiff opposition on the day

Overall the Juniors have raised the bar with their performances.

As expected, the experimental Masters Vet D4x were beaten by both Ardingly quads.  The time: 12.07 v 11.53 for their Vet D crew and 11.56 for their Vet E crew.  That said, Ardingly have one of the most competitive veteran sculling squads in the country, coming 3rd and 1st respectively at last year's Open events at the Vet Nat Champs, so this was not too shabby.  We will get a better picture of where we fit at the Vets Fours Head in November.

Tour from Medway to Maidstone on 28/10/12.

On 28^th October our recreational section organised a short tour for the 11.5 miles from Medway Towns RC at Rochester (on the tidal Medway) back to Maidstone via Allington Lock.  The Recreational Squad was joined by boats from other squads and 6 crews and 39 members took part. It started as a cold wintery Sunday with temperatures as low as 4 degrees but luckily despite forecast rain it stayed dry, other than from some members who got damp from washes from passing boats.

As the cars turned into the Medway slipway one member commented “it’s a bit rougher then we are used to at Maidstone!”  This was part of the reason for the row so we could allow members to have the opportunity to row on more lively tidal water than we are used to.   We had invited Medway Towns to join us but they were in the middle of a big recruitment drive and their members were very busy taking out new members so they were unable to join us.  They considered it to be a relatively calm day, with a following tide and a following wind.

The boats taking part were:-

• Recreational coxed quad (Captained by Alan Leeson).
• Recreational coxed quad (Captained by Tom Fuller).
• Masters B coxed quad (Coxed by Ella Knight).
• Masters Intermediate 3 coxless quad (steered by Ally Machin).
• Junior eight (MGS coxed/coached by Lois Birrell and stroked by Mark Tomkins).
• Masters D eight (coxed by Andrea Barker).
• Club Safety Boat (manned by Chris Long and Dani James).

The first boats got afloat about 9:30am with the last boating at Rochester about 10am

 Masters 8

 Recreationals

 MGS boys with Sean and Mark

The 6 crews all had different reasons for the row with the recreational boats out for a long leisurely row while taking some members for their first long row.  The junior eight were also out for their first long distance row, and the two Masters quads and the Masters eight using the row as tidal water training to get ready for the Veterans Heads in November.

Frozen Lois!

All the crews were well wrapped up against the cold day and plenty of water and snacks were also taken together with balers and other safety equipment.

Allington Lock is only opened 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide so those using it have to plan this row with the tides.  We also had to allow for the fact that at low tide much of the up reaches around Aylesford don’t have enough water in them for any boats to row.  Luckily, we planned the tides just right and our boats came up fast at the top of an incoming tide with high tide at the lock at 12:15. 

About 11:45am our first crews reached Allington Lock, and the lock keepers opened up the full lock to enable all the boats to get into the lock together. By 12:30 all the crews were back at the club for tea and cakes.

Thanks go to Chris Long and John Clayton for organising the towing and Chris and Dani for manning the safety boat, and braving the cold.

Dani gets some heat in her.

The pictures show the Clubs boats at Allington lock.

It was generally agreed it had been good row and great fun and that the Club should organise more events and rows similar to this one.

 Logjam

We are grateful to both Medway Towns RC and the lock keepers for their help. 

John Clayton

Pairs Head - 2012

MIRC put in 3.5 crews at this year's Pairs Head.

Matt Nicholls and Chris Mollison were our fastest crew, coming 78th overall and 4th out of 7 in the Senior 2- in 12.21.9.  Not too shabby when the fastest 2-, an elite pair from Molesey, did it in 11.48.3.

Alex Marlow and Tom Saunders continued their fine run of form coming 97th and an excellent 3rd out of 28 runners in the IM2 2- in 12.29.1.  Just 7 seconds difference between them and Matt and Chris!!

Keith Jones (today choosing to row in the fetching green of Bewl Bridge) and Ray Phillips came 340th and 5th out of 8 in the Masters F2x in 13.40.6.

Finally, the newish paring of Laura Birrell and Sarah Kendall came 354th and 7th out of 8 in the lightweight women's IM3 2- in 13.47.6.

Maidstone Autumn Small Boats Head - 2012

The weather Gods were kind to us this year after weeks of rain, there was neither flooding nor a particularly strong stream.  Instead we were treated to a glorious autumn day, albeit with a headwind during the 2nd and 3rd divisions impacting times a little.

The clubs visiting us bore a close resemblance to those who came to the Spring Head, with strong contingents from the Lea, Medway Towns, Globe, and Kings School Canterbury in particular.  So, as we are beginning to discover, the days when MIRC dominated the event are long gone, and a thoroughly competitive day was to be had.

MIRC did reel in a good clutch of wins, however,

Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls were our fastest boat in the pair coming 3rd overall in 9.06, though were without opposition.

Another special note goes to Saunders and Marlow in their IM2 pair who came 6th in 9.15.  Their terrifyingly high rating making up for some unique steering and timing choices, is now putting them in spitting distance of Mollison and Nicholls.  "Game on" says Tom.

The Masters D4x+ of Richard Huggins, Ollie Barton, Gerraint Evans and Ray Philips (coxed by Andrea Barker) came 9th and won the D/Cx category in 9.18 without having to resort to their handicap.

The Masters G4x+ of Tony Marshall, Alan Leeson, Keith Jones, and Robin Chapman (again coxed by Andrea Barker) won their G/Fx category in a very useful time of 9.47.  For the uninitiated - G represents a minimum average age of 65.

Jake Harris continued his strong season by winning the J17 singles in 9.56.

Lucy Maunsell and Andrew Collins won the mixed J182x in 10.38.

Of the other Juniors, a special note goes to the WJ13 4x+ of Louise Holt, Charlotte Burrows, Molly Bishop, Ella Knight and cox Katie Le Lion experienced their first head race and coped admirably with the chaos of pre and post race marshalling. They did well to complete the course despite being smashed into from behind by an aggressive coxless pair wearing orange and thus learning a few new words in the process! Great work to build upon with a benchmark set to beat in Spring. 

And finally, Tony Marshall won the Masters E/F 1x category in 11,45, beating his friend and frequent opponent from Tyne RC, Ian Boyd, by just 3 seconds.

Another fun day out on the Medway was had by all, with only 3 swimmers.  Just need to get those final results out a bit quicker.. hint.

Small Boats Head Results

are now up...

http://maidstonehead.weebly.com/results.html

Cambridge Autumn - 2012

MIRC won 8 races at Cambridge Autumn this year.

The wins were:

Mens Junior 18 2x
Mixed Junior 18 2x
Mixed Junior 17 2x
Senior Women Nov 2x
Senior IM3 1x
Masters A Nov 1x
Masters B 1x
Masters B 2x

Lewin and James celebrating their Masters B 2x win