Cambridge Autumn Regatta - 2013

An inauspicious start… half the club entries rejected, draw not published until the Wednesday morning, towing plans thrown into confusion, last minute withdrawals, towing vehicle falling apart, alarm clocks not working, a spot of cold overnight camping…

However, all that aside, the WJ14/15 squad plus Alex Marlow and Will Purnell ventured forth to a misty field in Fen Ditton. The girls had been cajoled into trying singles and doubles racing in new combinations, new steerers etc.

Singles:

Falling foul of the draw, Ella and Charlotte had to race singles at 0-eight-hundred (0 standing for Oh my gosh it’s early and hence the overnight camping)… the other girls at 08:30.

Charlotte, Katie, EllaM and Louise showed great spirit in their first ever singles races arriving at the finish line dry and displaying good steering but each in second place.

EllaK made light work of her first opponent from Putney High School to set up a rematch with the City of Cambridge sculler she beat at Oxford, Ella vs Ellen, very confusing… the same result again, half a length to Ella. Ella then drew an Amazonian Globe sculler in the semi-final. Ella was drawing back level at the ¾ mark but pulled a back muscle with the effort so went out fighting. (post race research revealed that the Globe sculler won NJIRC back in March breaking the British record for their age group!)

Meanwhile, Will was being frustrated with opponents scratching and when he got to race found the pace a bit too hot but was pleased to be improving from his past races. Alex was playing it cool in IM3 1x winning by a foot in one race but then dominating his other races to win.

Doubles:

WJ14 doubles saw Alice and Grace taking to the water. Although losing, their steering on the tricky course was exemplary and they were moving well together… bit of tidying up of the catch and finish and some more oomph and they’ll be in front next year.

WJ15 doubles saw EllaM and Ceilidh partnering up with EllaM taking steering duties. Again, MIRC showed how to row a corner well but the more experienced combination from Cantabrigians led them over the line.

Coxed Quads:

The B Quad was first up against last year’s opponents from Putney High School. Initially MIRC had the better bladework but PHS had the more lasting power… but a very gutsy performance from MIRC nonetheless especially from Katie at stroke.

The A Quad then had the chance for revenge. Ella having retired injured in the singles meant that Katie was subbed into the stroke seat for a second go at PHS. A faltering start saw MIRC behind but several big pushes meant MIRC pulled away for our first heat win in WJ14 coxed quads and a spot in the final.

The final saw MIRC matched up against Cantabrigians who were confident after knocking out PHS’s other crew. Cantabrigians had a quicker start and settled in slightly in front of MIRC. The MIRC crew kept up the work rate and then went for a big push at 350m. MIRC worked together and started moving through Cantabs causing them to panic with crabs being caught. MIRC romped home to record the win and collect the pots!

So five girls and Alex got to take a glass tankard home but everyone (coach included) got good experiences to utilise for the new season.

City of Oxford Regatta - 2013

James and Ella Knight made the trip to Oxford in an attempt to add an Oxford pot to James's collection...

Instead, Ella beat a City of Cambridge girl by 1/2 length in first round, rowing through her in the last 100m and then beat a City of Oxford girl by 5 lengths in the final after losing her on the start and coping well with the bend off the start. Her first victory in a singles event.

James meanwhile didn't get through his first round ;).

So not quite to plan but Ella now has two pots... One from Oxford and one from Cambridge! Is there a complete Russell Group set to be had?

Gloucester/Ross Veterans - 2013

MIRC Chairman Harry Salmon, and his wife and mixed double sculls partner Anne travelled west over the Bank Holiday weekend to race at Gloucester Masters and Junior regatta on Saturday, and then Ross Masters and Junior Regatta on Sunday. 

The trip was more than eventful and started on the Friday with Anne breaking down in the car en route to collect Harry from work. The car had both the boat and blades on the roof! Having called out the AA and established that the car was not going anywhere except to a garage for repair.  Without a long enough vehicle to take the boat and blades, hasty calls were made to try and establish whether the host clubs would lend a boat and blades. Gloucester came up trumps very quickly so the decision was taken to proceed in their somewhat smaller mini! The M25 was by now a ‘car park’ and 7 hours after Anne leaving home they finally arrived in Ross on Wye. 

Here is their report on the races:

On the Saturday morning, Gloucester were very obliging and allowed us to take the boat , a black Janoussek, down the canal for a practice outing. It had the new adjustable shoes in it so we were able to try them out too. We rowed down to the docks, put in a few starts and rowed back. 

When the time came for the race against a younger Mixed Masters C crew from City of Bristol, we stormed off the start, taking full advantage of the four second head start. (Had we been racing earlier in the day it would have been 5 seconds as the umpire was miscalling the handicaps!). City of Bristol then set off and began to slowly eat into the advantage until about half way down the course when they seemed to run out of steam. After being warned for steering, whilst making an adjustment, Anne jammed her blades together and nearly brought the boat to a grinding halt. We just about managed to get back together and scramble over the finish line before the Bristol crew could catch up. Pot number 1 secured (just!) by a length and a half.

After an evening out in Ross on Wye with ex members Di Binley (of Rock the Boat fame) and Mike Howe we arrived at Ross Regatta not entirely sure that we had a boat to row in. After locating the club captain he said that it should be ok but depended on the outcome of his junior boys crews racing at lunchtime. 

It was a long and chilly wait on the river bank. After spending time exploring Ross, watching the umpires aligning at the staggered start, and establishing how the stagger at the finish worked we eventually secured a boat. Unfortunately there was no time for us to take it out for a practice. Our opposition from Evesham came over and we explained what had happened. He replied’ that’s a big boat!’, obviously trying to psyche us out. 

After later exchanging a bit of banter with them in the control commission area we eventually waded into the chilly River Wye to boat. On the way to the start a stray women’s double in a previous race tried their best to take us out by veering off course but we made it there intact apart from noticing too late that one of Harry’s gates had a large spacer washer missing! After having to back down off the start because our opposition struggled to align in the correct lane we came under starters orders. We were in the lane on the outside of the bend so were up by half a length.  

Our opposition also needed to be about a length up at the finish so we knew if we could keep ahead we would win. As we were both Masters D crews we started together this time. We put in our storming start and almost immediately pulled away. The steering was much better today and we took the bend well. Harry had to be reminded that we were far enough ahead that he could afford to relax the rate a little! He was enjoying the experience of being in the lead once again. We clipped one of the centre buoys and it shattered. They had been doing this all day and were gradually diminishing in number. After ensuring we kept well out from the beach area where periodically cows had been wading in for a drink (an interesting obstacle on the course!) we took it home for the finish for victory number 2, this time the verdict was ‘easily’.

It was a lovely weekend at two lovely regattas. Maybe the club could make the trip en masse next year?

Anne Salmon

Sudbury Regatta - 2013

Chaos prevailed in the run up to Sudbury.  Key crew members were on holiday, crews were entered way past our official deadlines.  Our administrators were entering crews while they were on holiday (thank you Charlotte and Anne); trailer towers were not identified until very late in the day, and there was no boat/loading plan.  Toys were thrown out of prams... and then thrown back in again.

Only through dint of persistence on behalf of the few, did the many manage to get to the regatta; race and win...

10 times!!!!

Sudbury, as usual, delivered fair skies, a relaxed ambience, entertaining visits to the notorious banks by novice and experienced alike; and frankly admirable handling of the divisions by the organisers, with enormous levels of flexibility and humour.

There were far too many crews and far too many races to catalogue them all.  So here are the winners.

Peter McLarney and Alex Marlow won the IM3 2- beating St Neots, Broadland and the Lea.

Ben Finch beat Oundle Town and St. Neots in the IM3 1x

Jake Harris beat Kann Belton in an all MIRC straight final in the J18 1x.

Keith Jones beat St Neots in the Masters G/H 1x

Huggy won the Masters D 1x beating Isle of Ely, Peterborough and his doubles partner, Geraint in the final.

Pluto and Dan Hawke won a straight final in the IM2 2x

Ross Porter and Jake Harris beat the Lea in a straight final of the J18 2x.

Mark Tompkins and Sean Bennett beat St Neots in the Masters A Novice 2x - thus losing their novice cherries!

Sue and Roger Mobbs beat Sudbury and Peterborough in the Masters D/G Mixed 2x

Sue having a bad hair day!

Susannah and Kate Povall thrashed Erith in the Womens Masters A/B 2x in a MIRC/ Csepel Evezos Klub composite, thus firmly staking Sudbury regatta as a truly international venue ;) 

Finally, Maidstone Grammar School for Boys came for their first serious regatta under the stewardship of headmaster and MIRC rower, Mark Tompkins, and coxed by Lois Birrell. They fielded 6 crews and won the Mixed IM3 2x and the Novice 2x.  Well done.

A fantastic day's racing everyone.  Well done.

Meanwhile the rowing committee have a few organisational things to sort out...

Other pics...

 Alistair's harem chilling before their first ever race!

Valiant effort by the harem - lost by 2 lengths

   Geraint giving the bank the "evils"

St Neots Regatta - 2013

St Neots was hugely over-subscribed this year, which resulted in a massive hit on entries across the board.  MIRC lost many entries, and a few more quit as those who were left with just one race on one day were put off from traveling up.

So a much smaller than planned contingent went up to do battle, featuring the usual eclectic mix of the hardcore (Lewin and four Juniors), the determined (the Vet D Quad, and Tony Marshall) and the "all this rowing is getting in the way of the beer" types (the BBQ Vets).

The BBQ Masters D 4+ - Thor giving the "evils"

There was a good return on the investment with 4 wins overall for the hardcore and the determined sections and losses ranging from surprisingly close to the unsurprisingly distant for the BBQs.

On Saturday, Our sole senior, Lewin, fought and won in a field comprising solely of Nottingham BC scullers in the Senior 1x category.

The Masters D4x- (Ollie, Geraint, Ray and Huggy) came away undefeated after 5 heats to win on both the Saturday and the sprint Sunday.  Defeated opposition included a Tyne, Milton Keynes and Ancholme (which we learned is in north Lincolnshire).

On Sunday, Tony Marshall shrugged off opposition from Isle of Ely in his heat to beat his old friend and adversary (Boyd) from Tyne in the final of the Masters G1x.

The Juniors had a number of very close heats in various small boat combinations, ultimately resulting in defeat.

The most gutting loss was that of the juniors in the J18 2x (Porter and Harris), who fought their way to the final on Saturday to lose by a bow ball.  Actually it was 1/2 a length to the current Junior National Champions (St Neots).  Really hard lines.  Note: at St Neots, anything under 1 length is referenced by the commentator as "bow ball to bow ball".

The BBQs came closest in the Masters E4+ on Sunday, where they led most of the way, only to be pipped by Oundle Town at the end and lost by 1 length.  Not so close were the two races in the BBQ E8+ against a competent Star crew.

The party on Saturday night did not have quite the sparkle as that of 2011 (due in part to the lower turnout): as before we tried and failed to pick up a hen party (memories of 2009); as before Thor befriended everyone on the dance floor with a giant bear hug (whether they wanted to or not); as before the juniors were embarrassed by the "dance moves" of the veterans; and as before the seniors were nowhere in sight.

Henley Masters - 2013

A small but focused contingent of our Veteran oarsman attended a swelteringly hot Henley Masters this year with temperatures soaring into the low 30s.

Competition was more intense than ever before, and it is becoming clear that this is a tougher regatta to win at than the Masters National Championships.

All 4 crews got through their early rounds on Friday to return on Saturday.

The B double of James Knight and Lewin Hynes lost their final against Peterborough, who dazed all on the bank with a cruising rating of 38-40.  The slower, but more powerful strokes of the MIRC double kept them ahead until the last 100 metres where the Peterborough crew found another gear to row through and win.  Hard lines.

Our lads paired up with Medway to race Peterborough again in the final of the B 4x.  The race was almost exactly the same format as the double's race, with the MIRC/Medway quad being rowed down at the last gasp.  Really hard lines.

The D Quad (Ollie Barton, Geraint Evans, Ray Phillips and Richard Huggins), having taken revenge on a Vesta crew who narrowly beat them last year in the first round, met the favourites, Broxbourne, in the semis, only to crash out against the posts at the end of their start.  A result of faulty steering, a bad crosswind and a tendency of the crew to skew off to bowside on the start.  It was very disappointing.  Broxbourne went on to win the event.

The biggest surprise for MIRC was the success of the D double (Huggins and Evans), who beat a strong Ardingly crew in the first heat; and a competent Bath/Chester composite in the semis, but were seen off in their final by a scarily strong crew from Kingston in the final.






So, three finals and no wins for MIRC, but after some very hard racing there was really no disgrace.

Juniors' Website

The Junior's website has rewoken and revamped, and can now be found in a link in the top menu.

Peterborough Regatta - 2013

A small but effective group of Masters and Seniors went to Peterborough this year and came back with 4 wins.

The senior men had made a strategic call to train during the Spring in small boats (singles and doubles/pairs), so that the smaller squad could still make an impact in terms of numbers of entries. The ploy has worked admirably, with an excellent return of 3 wins:

Alex Marlow and Tom Saunders won the IM2 pair in 3.52 with a handsome victory margin over Peterborough and Lincoln/RAF.

Jonathan Voss and Pluto Nicolls (in his comeback race after 2 years fixing his worthless VW Polo) won the IM3 2x in two heats beating Deben, Champion of the Thames, Birmingham, Derby and Peterborough.

Tom then went on to win the IM3 singles in a field including Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Nottingham, Warwick, Broxbourne, Sheffield, Derby and our very own Marlow and Finch! What was impressive with this win was that some of the toughest competition came from his fellow MIRC scullers, which bodes well for the seniors’ small boats strategy in the future!

The Masters also picked up an excellent win with the Masters B Novice 4+ (Dave Purchase, Richard Reynolds, Mark Pflaumer and Graham Hill, coxed by Dani) taking time out from their weight training schedule to actually row, and losing their rowing cherries in a tight competition against St. Neots and Peterborough. Hurrah.

Edit: view of the race from the coxes seat;

 "from the crews perspective the race was perfectly timed. They had a good start with a healthy lead, took the pressure off in the middle and put a perfectly timed push in at the end with energy to spare ....... the reality however is yes they did get a really good start but weren't ever able to take the pressure off as at the 500m mark the crew in Lane 3 (? peterborough) started to gain and put pressure on so they had to keep their heads together and work hard, no let up!  at the 250 mark they were coming ever closer and at about 200m I called "keep your eyes in the boat, above my head and listen only to me!" as I thought they may panic if they saw how close it was followed by "it's yours if you want it but you've got to give it all you've got now to the finish" and thankfully they held them off. There was certainly no energy left at the end so 3 cheers was quite difficult

The plus point is that we have retained the Rod Glover Trophy and are the only club to have their name on it twice .... just need to find a male novice crew for next year now :-)"

Other MIRC representation included the BBQ Masters D4+, Messers Jones and Marshall in a Vet Z double and Katy Povall in a Ladies B/C 1x.

Will Purnell lead the next man by several lengths of clear water to comfortably qualify for the semi-final of the novice sculls. Unfortunately the competition for a spot in the final proved a little too tough, but nonetheless a fantastic showing by Will in his first solo outing at a regatta. Next stop, Reading Town!

Well done all, and thanks for Darren and Thor for the pics.

Masters National Championships - 2013

SHOCK! HORROR!

It was warm and dry at the Masters National Championship in Nottingham all day.  It was a pleasure to sit on the banks and actually watch some racing instead of hiding away from the usual rain and cold in cars and the main clubhouse waiting for your event to come along.

We only put in 5 crews this year, with the 'Weight Training' squad and the 'BBQs/Sunday' squad sitting this one out.

With Ridgway out doing a triathlon, we moved up into Vet E for the eight, bringing in Keith Jones and all of his 71 years.  This year there was a huge tail off from Vet D to E.  12 boats in the Vet D Open event v just 3 in the Vet E combined IM3/Open event.  Unfortunately, the dominant Quintin boat were one of the 3, so we focused our energies on beating the Broxbourne 8.  It was a good race - an excellent one really.  We started slowly, and had to row through Broxbourne to come second to Quintin by only a length in 3.23.

The Open Vet D quad were in a tougher competition with the first 3 (Ardingly, Tees and Broxbourne - three really excellent crews) repeating their battle from last year .  It was a predictable race of two halves with those three at the front, and our quad facing off against against Durham and Bradford.  Durham didn't really show, but we were neck and neck with Bradford all the way until they tailed off at the end.  We hit our target time of 3.25, and came off with mixed feelings of not getting a medal, but knowing there is plenty of improvement to come.



The mixed MIRC/Medway Vet B quad (including James and Lewin) had a disappointing race by their standards. It looked pedestrian from the bank, and James described it as splashy.  They came 4th in 3.19.

James and Lewin then went in the Vet B 2x, and immediately redressed the balance by coming second to Peterborough in a 6 horse race in a very impressive and fast 3.21.  SILVER - HURRAH.



Finally, Mr Jones bravely hauled his single down the course in a joint Vet H, I and J race (are there such letters?), which means a race for really old lunatics.  Coming 3rd of 4 in 5.07.  Bravo.

A big thanks to Liz Ridgway for coming up and coxing (in her state), forcing us to follow her day long eating cravings for junk food, and making us smile.

Bedford Head - 2013

Following the BBC’s alleged example, James and his band of mavericks organised a lightning raid on Bedford Small Boats Head using his WJ14 squad as smoke screen…. Travelling light with one coxed quad and one coxless quad aboard the lightweight trailer the raiding party arrived at Bedford sneaking un-noticed into the last parking space on the embankment with just enough time to unload, rig up and boat in Division 2.

The poster had said no under J15s but the organisers had left a back door open with WJ14 events listed on BROE. MIRC HQ had quickly filed the entries before the mistake was spotted but not before 9 other crews had also entered. The girls were there to gain some valuable racing experience and despite their tender ages (most are actually WJ13s) most were set to race the 2,000m course twice each in three different combinations, thankfully aided and abetted by a strong tailwind and good stream. Time to show their coach some mettle…

The first crew of Ella K, Ella M, Maddie and Charlotte were led out on a path finding mission by Louise. The course at Bedford is littered with tricky obstacles such as very low bridges (Duck! Where?), Goose Island (bird variety not the unpleasant surprise… more later) and even a bridge hiding behind a headland plus the danger of quick doubles overtaking. The girls put down a marker for their compatriots of 9:13 but had craftily mapped the course on the way.

The next crew of Charlotte, Molly, Katie, Louise with Ella K steering (all WJ13) set off with a hunger to match the previous time. They shot the Town Bridge with panache coming past Bedford RC with a quicker stroke rate audibly spurred on by their cox and were seemingly on target but once out of sight a boat-stopping crab ended their chances.

The last crew of Molly, Ella M, Maddie and Katie with Louise having seen the results of the other crews  in the event on the rolling result screens and via twitter knew that they had to go hard or go home. Rating low but rowing neatly together they succeeded in the best MIRC time of the day of 9:06 valiantly holding off a double intent on ramming them!

The final times against the other crews showed a way to go yet to catch the frankly scary and large WJ14 girls from St Neots (7.38) who beat the winning crews in the following categories WIM2 2x, WIM3 2x, WNov 2x, WJ16 2x and WNov 4x+! So the girls now face a year of protein shakes, 1hour ergs, and constant squat jumps……

Meanwhile, cannily hiding in the wind shadows the composite of Medway/Maidstone/Monmothians (aka Emineminem) slunk their way past the unsuspecting crews to the start. Positioned as third boat off in Division 2, two keen J18 quads between them and the finish line, the Mas BCD 4x kept their guns wrapped up warm until the last possible moment. Using the shadow of the twin bridges the quad upped the rating and pressure and shot over the start line at a rate of knots. Now the rules if you read them state that Thou Shalt Not Pass Another Crew Before The First Bridge and if you have read them you’d think how likely is that…. so after the MMM quad stopped for a breather and let the youngsters pass through the bridge under fettered, they set to and promptly goosed them as they passed the island and Star RC and despite the spray pressed on and overtook the other quad right in front of the main Bedford clubhouses for good effect before sprinting for the finish line. The cat was out of the bag. The time went up, 6:15, fastest of the day so far easily securing the pots for Mas BCD 4x. OED were now in the process of releasing the new verb “to be codgered” (definition: to be ruthlessly and humiliating overtaken by a bunch of veteran rowers)

Time for a refreshing cup of tea and some figgy biscuits… that’s how Master rowers roll… meanwhile the war machine at Star RC had started rumbling, the conscription papers quickly dispatched to their Henley medallists…..

Last up for the MMM quad was a cheekily foray into IM1 4x territory… again the canny Masters rowers keeping their weapons warm while their younger Maidenhead opposition put on a full gun-show to display their shiny Hudson to full effect (must remember that rack of lamb for the BBQ next weekend). This time the MMM quad were leading off the Division so no worries about full access to the first bridges. Knowing that a St Neots J18 4x had tried to save the collective junior blushes by squeaking out a 6:14 time, and seeing Star’s Sen 4x race earlier but no confirmed time yet, and after seeing Mr Dewhurst’s finest wares behind them, the MMM quad simply went for it. The Maidenhead quad tried a blitzkrieg move but left their supply lines too far behind and died off after 1k gone. The MMM quad roared home in 6:08….. second pot of the day.

Elsewhere as the ink dried on the Bedford-Star Alliance Pact, the times for the Star Sen 4x and IM1 4- (Mulkerrins – sure I’ve seen that name somewhere before?) were released…. 5:44 and 6:00… “fair play, they rowed hard, we will let those pesky outsiders have third place”.

Report by James inspired by the mad ramblings of Lewin

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