The Medway Championship Head 2011 Draw | |||
| | | | |
| Start Order | Event | Club Name | Crew Name |
| 1 | IM2.8+ | Maidstone Invicta (MAV) | Birrel |
| 2 | IM3.8+ | Maidstone Invicta (MAV) | Maunsell |
| 3 | IM3.8+ | Globe (GLB) | Godfrey |
| 4 | IM3.8+ | Medway Towns RC (MED) | |
| 5 | MasD.8+ | Maidstone Invicta (MAV) | Hodgkinson |
| 5 | MasD.8+ | Bewl Bridge (BEB) | Gill |
| 7 | MasD.8+ | Maidstone Invicta (MAV) | Vet Novice |
| 8 | W.NOV.8+ | Kings school Canterbury/UKC | O’Shaunessy |
| 9 | IM3.4x- | Maidstone Invicta (MAV) | Knight |
| 10 | MasC.4x- | Medway Towns RC (MED) | Martin |
| 11 | W.NOV.4x- | Medway Towns RC (MED) | Davies |
| 12 | IM3.4- | Globe (GLB) | Blake |
| 13 | IM3.4- | Poplar | |
| 14 | IM3.4+ | Medway Towns RC (MED) | Powell |
| 15 | NOV.4+ | Medway Towns RC (MED) | Brown |
| 16 | MasC.4+ | Medway Towns RC (MED) | Spear |
| 17 | W.IM3.4+ | Gravesend RC (GRV) | Gilhooly |
| 18 | Mx.4+ | Gravesend RC (GRV) | |
| 19 | C.NOV.4+ | Hern Bay | Wareham |
| 20 | C.W.SENIOR.4+ | Hern Bay | Macey |
| 21 | C.W.SENIOR.4+ | Deal | |
| 22 | C.W.JUNIOR.4+ | Hern Bay | Thayre |
| 23 | Coastal | Hern Bay | |
| 24 | W.J18.4- | Globe (GLB) | |
| 25 | MX.J15.4x | Globe (GLB) | |
| 26 | W.J15.4x+ | Globe (GLB)/Ardingly | |
Medway Head Draw
Spring Small Boats Head 2011 - Report
Competing crews at this year's Spring Small Boats Head saw cold but benign conditions: a very slight upstream current and a supportive light tailwind both contributing to fast times all round. Most crews managed to beat their Autumn Head times by a good 30 seconds.
The quality of this year's river rowing events was significantly strengthened by strong contingents from Lea, Thames Rowing Club and the University of Kent who took a significant share of the medal haul (7, 4 and 4 wins respectively), which reduced MIRC's tally to just 5, when we usually achieve 10 to 15.
That said, we produced some strong and encouraging performances.
Our Men's senior performance crew of Hampshire, Nicholls, Hynes and Mollison - coxed by Laura McGrillen destroyed all comers winning the fastest boat pennant and beating the closest opposition by 43 seconds in a time of 8.24.
The Mens IM4+ blasting their way down the course 43 seconds faster than everyone else.
Chris and Matt from of our IM1 4+ Crew pick up the pennant for Fastest Boat
Iddendon and Marlow just managed to hold off a strong Novice 2x field with a time of 9.53.
The Masters C4+ of Hodgkinson, Barton, Evans and Bennett - coxed by Danielle James in her first ever competition won an all MIRC Masters C/D/E competition in 9.56.
3 of the winning Masters C 4+ Crew
Huggins and Abraham rowing at Masters D2x won the D/E/F competition in 9.57.
Our Novice four of Blamey, Hermann, Arschott and Slade - coxed by Lois Birrell were in an unusually large field of 10 crews, and were just pipped into 2nd place by one of University of Kent's 4 Novice crews. They came 8th fastest overall with a strong time of 9.29.
Included in that field were 2 Mens Masters Novice crews, with average ages of 2.5 times their opposition. The much improved lightweight crew beat their nemeses in the heavyweight novice boat for the first time by 6 seconds.
The Lightweight Novice Masters. Darren and Jez need to square earlier!
The Juniors picked up one win: Fish and McConchie in the WJ162x with an impressive 11.04.
Thanks to Richard "Thor" Baldwin, Darren Prentice and Geraint Evans for the photos. Please feel free to send me any more pics of winning crews etc. and I will post them.
The quality of this year's river rowing events was significantly strengthened by strong contingents from Lea, Thames Rowing Club and the University of Kent who took a significant share of the medal haul (7, 4 and 4 wins respectively), which reduced MIRC's tally to just 5, when we usually achieve 10 to 15.
That said, we produced some strong and encouraging performances.
Our Men's senior performance crew of Hampshire, Nicholls, Hynes and Mollison - coxed by Laura McGrillen destroyed all comers winning the fastest boat pennant and beating the closest opposition by 43 seconds in a time of 8.24.
Iddendon and Marlow just managed to hold off a strong Novice 2x field with a time of 9.53.
The Masters C4+ of Hodgkinson, Barton, Evans and Bennett - coxed by Danielle James in her first ever competition won an all MIRC Masters C/D/E competition in 9.56.
Huggins and Abraham rowing at Masters D2x won the D/E/F competition in 9.57.
Our Novice four of Blamey, Hermann, Arschott and Slade - coxed by Lois Birrell were in an unusually large field of 10 crews, and were just pipped into 2nd place by one of University of Kent's 4 Novice crews. They came 8th fastest overall with a strong time of 9.29.
Included in that field were 2 Mens Masters Novice crews, with average ages of 2.5 times their opposition. The much improved lightweight crew beat their nemeses in the heavyweight novice boat for the first time by 6 seconds.
The Juniors picked up one win: Fish and McConchie in the WJ162x with an impressive 11.04.
A couple of neat Junior doubles.
Fish and McConchie winning the WJ162x event
The event went very smoothly: no one fell in (to my knowledge), organisation was efficient, and fun was had by all. Well done to all rowers, the Race Committee and the many helpers and supporters. The BBQ worked non stop and made a very healthy £845 profit.
Maidstone Invicta Small Boats Head Sunday 6th March 2011 - Draw
DIVISION 1- 9.30am
1 S Hampshire/M Nicholls/L Haynes/C Mollinson/cox L McGrillien Maidstone Invicta RC IM14+
2 F Moncrieff/G Huyghues-Despointes/I Jones/T Bone/cox C Morton Medway Towns RC IM34+
3 S Webb/N Paterson/M Frayling-Cork/S Cumming/cox C Joyce Kent University RC IM34+
4 A Cahill/T Hollick/J Pellet/K Cahill/cox A Pepper Bexhill RC CoastalS4+
5 H Brown/P Spencer/C Hanna/A Dhindsa/cox R Kemlo Medway Towns RC N4+
6 J Haigh/D Forder/D Humphries/T Bryant/cox J Bore Lea RC N4+
127 H Blamey/B Hermmenn/O Arscott/R Wood/cox L Burrell Maidstone Invicta RC N4+
7 G Anderson/D Renner/S Tomlinson/A Pepper/cox R Garland Bexhill RC CoastalN4+
8 G Hodgkinson/O Barton/G Evans/S Bennett/cox D James Maidstone Invicta RC MC4+
9 L Johnson/L Taylor/C Hogg/E Fidler/cox K Poval Maidstone Invicta RC WIM34+
10 D Hills/N Smith/S Povey/S Bareham/cox M Lewandowski Shoreham RC CoastalWS4+
11 S Bromley/I Partridge/A O'Leary/J Young/cox E Diment Worthing RC CoastalWJ4+
12 L Leach/E Joyce/E Everson/S Hughes/cox E Rees Worthing RC CoastalWJ4+
13 A Cooper/S Johnson/S Beecham/P Mester/cox B Webster Gravesend RC WMD4+
14 F Stangel/F Ting/E Cross/C Lawless/cox C Marshall Kent University RC WN4+
15 A Farrell/H Robinson/L Woods/C Page/cox R Flynn Kent University RC WN4+
16 L OCallaghan/B Fish/S McConchie/L Gilchrist/cox C Gilchrist Maidstone Invicta RC WJ164x+
17 R Seakins/H Gilliland/M Warren/E Sands/coxL Gilliland Bewl Bridge RC WJ164x+
18 J Willers Moore/T Coido/H Peacock/E Johnson/cox K Jessop Lea RC WJ154x+
19 E Smith/B Prentice/E Bishop/C Doran/cox D Huttons Bewl Bridge RC WJ144x+
20 M Russell/S Martin Medway Towns RC MB2x
21 J Knight/M Tompkins Maidstone Invicta RC MB2x
22 G Mitchel-Hill/G Semark Medway Towns RC N2x
23 L Iddenden/S Marlow Maidstone Invicta RC N2x
24 A Uddin/T Bolton Lea RC J182x
25 H Reynolds/M Watson Bewl Bridge RC J172x
26 A Collins/J Grace Maidstone Invicta RC J152x
27 D McAteer/D Keigher Lea RC J142x
28 H Gabrial/C Mould Maidstone Invicta RC IM32-
29 A Roberts/J Blackledge Kent University RC Nov2-
30 A Page/T Faith Shoreham RC Coastal2-
31 K Mulligan/N Linyard Lea RC WJ182x
32 A Paterson/R Stuart Ardingly RC WJ152x
33 T McConchie/A Terry Maidstone Invicta RC WJ142x
34 A Purvis/A de Relke Ardingly RC WJ142x
35 P McCorry Bexhill RC CoastalJ1x
36 N McCorry Bexhill RC CoastalJ1x
37 P Smith Worthing RC CoastalN1x
38 F Dampety Lea RC J181x
39 L Downes Lea RC J181x
40 A Boudiaf Lea RC J161x
41 N Connell Lea RC J161x
42 J Harris Maidstone Invicta RC J151x
43 R Porter Maidstone Invicta RC J151x
44 J Baxter Lea RC WMD1x
45 C Ellis Kings School Canterbury BC WIM31x
46 K Dampster Lea RC WJ181x
47 E Craig Bewl Bridge RC WJ181x
48 S Ruffell Lea RC WJ171x
49 S Perkins Kings School Canterbury BC WJ171x
50 M Rolph Kings School Canterbury BC WJ161x
51 M Tucker Ardingly RC WJ141x
DIVISION 2- 11.30am
60 B Egan/N Johnson/JP Adkins/R Allen/cox C Horton Medway Towns RC IM34+
61 I Jones/D Kergall/M Johnson/T Powell/Z Szotyori Medway Towns RC IM34+
62 B Slater/G Anderson/D Renner/A Cahill/cox J Cropper Bexhill RC CoastalS4+
63 D Jones/G Payne/C Doswell/A Bickers/cox J Campbell Bexhill RC CoastalM4+
64 M Lewandowski/D Yates/M Green/J Tilley/cox N Smith Shoreham RC CoastalN4+
65 J Scholz/M Rees/P Spells/T Keatley/cox L Leach Worthing RC CoastalN4+
66 B Kleine Deters/G Snape/P Kingsley/W Butler/cox T Simmonds Maidstone Invicta RC MD4+
67 C King/G Thomas/N Lane/A Dent/cox J Fisher Kent University RC N4+
68 D Purchase/S Norman/T Mason/J Massey/cox T ThaIn Maidstone Invicta RC MN4+
69 D Hepburn/A Kendall-White/B Redding/M Norman/cox R Dennehey Kent University RC N4+
70 N Mather/A Tanwar/B Brierly/O Christian/cox J Bore Lea RC N4+
71 L Emanuel/C Soan/D Westwood/M Halahan/cox C Marshall Kent University RC N4+
72 J Hingley/M Rudd/G Carvalho/L Bird/cox B Slingsby Thames RC J154x+
73 W Game/S Haider/J Britton/A DeNeiff/cox H Higgins Bewl Bridge RC J154x+
74 L Slingsby/O Bird/O Lovell-White/A Turbul/cox J Lee Thames RC J144x+
75 E Diment/E Day/G Stoner/E Rees/cox E Joyce Worthing RC CoastalWS4+
76 R Stuart/D Hills/S Povey/S Bareham/cox J Tilley Shoreham RC CoastalWJ4+
77 L Simpson/R Ward-Jackson/R Holbrook/L Matthews/cox K Crous Lea RC WN4+
78 T Mc Conchie/A Terry/S Raggett/L Gilliland/cox Maidstone/Bewl WJ144x+
79 A Abadjieva/V Leigh/E Plunkett/S Young/cox S Rogers Kings School Canterbury BC WJ134x+
80 C Mollison/M Nicholls Maidstone Invicta RC IM22-
81 F Dampety/L Downes Lea RC J182x
82 A Brown/G Pughe Kings School Canterbury BC J182x
83 R Porter/J Harris Maidstone Invicta RC J152x
84 N Hastings/L Ewart Kings School Canterbury BC J152x
85 G Semark/M Penney Medway Towns RC ME2x
86 R Chapman/A Marshall Maidstone Invicta RC MF2x
87 T Shepard/J Stokes Kent University RC N2-
88 B Heaton/A Richter Medway Towns RC WN2x
89 Spare
90 L May/G Nightingale Bewl Bridge RC WJ162x
91 L Maunsell/L Gilchrist Maidstone Invicta RC WJ152x
92 A Delderfield/S Judd Maidstone Invicta RC WJ162-
93 M Carter-Edwards/C Chiarin Thames RC WJ142x
94 C Allen/C Grussing Thames RC WJ142x
95 P McCorry Bexhill RC CoastalJ1x
96 M Holden Worthing RC CoastalMC1x
97 M Maunsell Bewl Bridge RC MC1x
98 K Phillips Bewl Bridge RC ME1x
99 A Collins Maidstone Invicta RC J151x
100 A Davison Thames RC J181x
101 D Ogonyoye Thames RC J181x
102 N Thomas Kings School Canterbury BC J151x
103 T Johnson Lea RC J151x
104 J Grace Maidstone Invicta RC J151x
105 A Salmon Ardingly RC J151x
106 J Cirenza Lea RC J151x
107 J Cole-Hossain Thames RC WJ181x
108 H O'Riordon Thames RC WJ161x
109 A Botterill Lea RC MI1x
110 E Booth Lea RC WJ141x
111 E Simonds-Gooding Thames RC WJ141x
DIVISION 3- 1.30pm
120 S Webb/N Paterson/M Frayling-Cork/S Cumming/cox G Casson Kent University RC IM24+
121 A Welling/T Hollick/J Pellet/K Cahill/cox A Pepper Bexhill RC CoastalS4+
122 Z Lees/A Page/M Green/T Faith/cox D Hills Shoreham RC CoastalJ/S4+
123 P Spells/J Crockett/A Crockett/P Smith/cox E Diment Worthing RC CoastalJ/S4+
124 D Jones/G Payne/C Doswell/A Bickers/cox J Campbell Bexhill RC CoastalM4+
125 C Long/T Fuller/A Leeson/A Rickwood/cox A Barker Maidstone Invicta RC ME4+
126 T Shepard/J Stokes/A Roberts/J Blackledge/cox J Fisher Kent University RC N4+
128 A Machin/R Baldwin/ P Tenters/D Prentice/cox T Simmonds Maidstone Invicta RC MN4+
129 R Porter/A Collins/J Harris/J Grace/cox C Gilchrist Maidstone Invicta RC J154x+
130 P Rose/D Huttons/J Grey/V Game/cox L May Bewl Bridge RC J134x+
131 A Cooper/S Johnson/S Beecham/P Mester/cox B Webster Gravesend RC WIM34+
132 S Moseley/E Robinson/S Corbett/J Stoddart/cox R Flynn Kent University RC WIM34+
133 S Motture/J Issitt/M Clarke/K Crous/E Vernall/cox L Matthews Lea RC WN4+
134 D King/L Guest/E Joyce/A Knutley/cox E Rees Worthing RC CoastalWN4+
135 A Mexted/J Voss/H Reynolds/M Watson/cox H Higgins Bewl Bridge RC WJ184x+
136 A Purvis/A Paterson/M Tucker/R Stuart/D Fowler Ardingly RC WJ154x+
137 C Grussing/E Simonds-Gooding/C Allen/M Carter-Edwards/cox C Chirin Thames RC WJ144x+
138 G Evans/O Barton Maidstone Invicta RC MC2x
139 H Abraham/R Huggins Maidstone Invicta RC MD2x
140 T Powell/D Kergall Medway Towns RC N2x
141 F Moncrieff/T Bore Medway Towns RC N2x
142 A Uddin/T Bolton Lea RC J172x
143 T Johnson/J Cirenza Lea RC J152x
144 B Slingsby/J Lee Thames RC J142x
145 L Slingsby/A Turbul/ Thames RC J142x
146 S Harvey/K Tatchell Kent University RC WIM12x
147 A Mason/C Ellis University of Kent/Kings School Canterbury WIM32x
148 B Fish/S McConchie Maidstone Invicta RC WJ162x
149 L Richards/M Rolph Bewl Bridge RC WJ162x
150 T Coido/H Peacock Lea RC WJ152x
151 J Schlicter/J Willers Moore Lea RC WJ142x
152 H O'Riordon/J Cole-Hossain Thames RC WJ182-
153 M Johnson Medway Towns RC IM11x
154 G Anderson Bexhill RC CoastalN1x
155 B Slater Bexhill RC CoastalN1x
156 P Flassen Maidstone Invicta RC J161x
157 J Hingley Thames RC J151x
158 M Rudd Thames RC J151x
159 H Skinner Lea RC J141x
160 D Fowler Shoreham RC J141x
161 O Lovell-White Thames RC J141x
162 D McAteer Lea RC J141x
163 O Bird Thames RC J141x
164 D Keigher Lea RC J141x
165 E Craig Bewl Bridge RC WIM21x
166 L McGrillien Maidstone Invicta RC WIM31x
167 B Heaton Medway Towns RC WN1x
168 A Davison/D Ogonyoye Thames RC WJ181x
169 A De Reike Bewl Bridge RC WJ141x
Please note that each crew will need to have empacher slot number as well as vest number and there is a returnable deposit of £5.00. Boats without numbers will not be allowed to race.
In each Division, crews will be called in groups in REVERSE order so as to ease congestion at the start. Please only boat when your number has been called.
Molesey Veterans Head - 2011
Despite the small field of 60 boats, Molesey Veterans Head is an important step in our run up to the Vesta Veterans Head on April 3rd. For the first time over the winter season, we can finally match up against some of opposition that we will meet in the summer, and see where we are in the big picture.
Veteran rowing can be unpredictable. You can never really tell who will turn up. So on this squally, ugly day in London, our Vet D Eight ran up against some of the tougher crews in that category: including Crabtree (Cambridge University Allumni), Tideway Scullers, Molesey and Quintin in a field of 9. Some may remember that we put up 2 scratch crews for a giggle at the Vet Nat Champs last year, and were shown the door by these crews finishing 4 or 5 lengths down.
On the other hand the two Vet Novice crews (again) found no opposition, were promoted to rowing Open Vet C and Vet D. Strangely there was still no opposition, and so played out a private match betweeen themselves.
The Vet E 4+ were lone in coming across 2 other crews of relatively known quantity, particularly Walbrook who had beaten them at Weybridge last month.
Molesey is a great Venue and we should go again next year. The 3k course on a fast stream is nice and short, the river is picturesque; and afterwards, you can wallow in the history of the club in it's superb clubhouse facilities.
The Heavyweight Novices rowing Vet C won the private match in a very decent time of 10.51. Comparisons are few, but when you consider bonafide Open vet C coxless boats were only 20-30 seconds faster, the crew are demonstrating that they can play reasonably well at Open level. If only we can find them some Novice competition.
Heavies getting ready.
The moment of the day came when, ignoring the polite and orderly collection of Shields at the awards ceremony, our boys mobbed the poor 82 old prize-giver from Molesey to uproarous cheers from their fellow out-of-town yokels in the corner... Will we be invited back again?!
Roger Mobbs: "I must be dreaming!".
Despite dragging David "The Bishop" Usher from retirement, the very scratch lightweight novices rowing Vet D came in at 11.53. Moves are afoot to rejuvenate the crew.
The Vet E 4+ came 3rd out of 3 with a time of 11.13, again Walbrook won their category. Timewise, they are in the right ballpark, and are not being blown away by the opposition, but have lost a bit of power while Mark "loved-up" Diessner is on his sabbatical from rowing. Chris Long is manfully trying to redress this with a lot of technical training for the crew.
The Vet D Eight did well. The Mobbs' are providing some excellent coaching/coxing support, and have used old-fashioned, tried and trusted methods like sticking straws 3" above the gunnel to help control hand heights.
The crew captain (who shall not be named), confidently predicted them cruising through Kingston and Bewl, but being hunted down by Molesey, Quintin and Tideway Scullers, and there was discussion about what to do with the inevitable logjam halfway down the course. Of course almost the reverse happened. While Bewl kept ahead, the Eight did cruise past Kingston Grammar School Vets; but more satisfactorily, Molesey and Tideway Scullers made no impression and Quintin seemed to be going backwards.
Vet D Eight
It was a good row, and we know there is more to come as the squad continue to refine itself technically. We came 4th out of 9 in a time of 9.43: 8 seconds behind Tideway Scullers and 1 second behind Weybridge, but beating Molesey by 4 seconds, and the rest of the field by a decent margin. As expected Crabtree beat everybody by a good 30 seconds.
A great day and another win for the Vets was rounded off by watching us beat the French in the rugby. Thanks as ever to the long suffering coxes: Roger and Sue Mobbs, Tim Simmons and Andrea Barker.
Veteran rowing can be unpredictable. You can never really tell who will turn up. So on this squally, ugly day in London, our Vet D Eight ran up against some of the tougher crews in that category: including Crabtree (Cambridge University Allumni), Tideway Scullers, Molesey and Quintin in a field of 9. Some may remember that we put up 2 scratch crews for a giggle at the Vet Nat Champs last year, and were shown the door by these crews finishing 4 or 5 lengths down.
On the other hand the two Vet Novice crews (again) found no opposition, were promoted to rowing Open Vet C and Vet D. Strangely there was still no opposition, and so played out a private match betweeen themselves.
The Vet E 4+ were lone in coming across 2 other crews of relatively known quantity, particularly Walbrook who had beaten them at Weybridge last month.
Molesey is a great Venue and we should go again next year. The 3k course on a fast stream is nice and short, the river is picturesque; and afterwards, you can wallow in the history of the club in it's superb clubhouse facilities.
The Heavyweight Novices rowing Vet C won the private match in a very decent time of 10.51. Comparisons are few, but when you consider bonafide Open vet C coxless boats were only 20-30 seconds faster, the crew are demonstrating that they can play reasonably well at Open level. If only we can find them some Novice competition.
Heavies getting ready.The moment of the day came when, ignoring the polite and orderly collection of Shields at the awards ceremony, our boys mobbed the poor 82 old prize-giver from Molesey to uproarous cheers from their fellow out-of-town yokels in the corner... Will we be invited back again?!
Roger Mobbs: "I must be dreaming!".Despite dragging David "The Bishop" Usher from retirement, the very scratch lightweight novices rowing Vet D came in at 11.53. Moves are afoot to rejuvenate the crew.
The Vet E 4+ came 3rd out of 3 with a time of 11.13, again Walbrook won their category. Timewise, they are in the right ballpark, and are not being blown away by the opposition, but have lost a bit of power while Mark "loved-up" Diessner is on his sabbatical from rowing. Chris Long is manfully trying to redress this with a lot of technical training for the crew.
The Vet D Eight did well. The Mobbs' are providing some excellent coaching/coxing support, and have used old-fashioned, tried and trusted methods like sticking straws 3" above the gunnel to help control hand heights.
The crew captain (who shall not be named), confidently predicted them cruising through Kingston and Bewl, but being hunted down by Molesey, Quintin and Tideway Scullers, and there was discussion about what to do with the inevitable logjam halfway down the course. Of course almost the reverse happened. While Bewl kept ahead, the Eight did cruise past Kingston Grammar School Vets; but more satisfactorily, Molesey and Tideway Scullers made no impression and Quintin seemed to be going backwards.
Vet D EightIt was a good row, and we know there is more to come as the squad continue to refine itself technically. We came 4th out of 9 in a time of 9.43: 8 seconds behind Tideway Scullers and 1 second behind Weybridge, but beating Molesey by 4 seconds, and the rest of the field by a decent margin. As expected Crabtree beat everybody by a good 30 seconds.
A great day and another win for the Vets was rounded off by watching us beat the French in the rugby. Thanks as ever to the long suffering coxes: Roger and Sue Mobbs, Tim Simmons and Andrea Barker.
Molesey Veterans Head - Start Order
Please find links to the Head and the Start Order.
The Vet D 8+ are in a field of 9. I recognise most of the clubs at last year's Masters Championships, so this will be an interesting indicator.
The Novices have no opposition (again) and will be in a field of 2 of their own at Vet C4+ and Vet D4+. I think the handicap will make for an interesting little race of our own.
The Vet E 4x are in a field of 4.
Good luck to all crews.
The Vet D 8+ are in a field of 9. I recognise most of the clubs at last year's Masters Championships, so this will be an interesting indicator.
The Novices have no opposition (again) and will be in a field of 2 of their own at Vet C4+ and Vet D4+. I think the handicap will make for an interesting little race of our own.
The Vet E 4x are in a field of 4.
Good luck to all crews.
Maidstone Spring Head Marshalls Briefing - Sunday 20th Feb
Please read the attached notice re a Marshalls briefing. All senior squad members are expected to attend. It would also be lovely to see any junior parents/helpers who would be willing to help out at our head races.
Thank you
Anne Salmon
Marshals Briefing Notice (1)
Thank you
Anne Salmon
Marshals Briefing Notice (1)
Is it Safe?
Pluto was dreaming his favourite dream. He was stroking the coxless four in the final of the Wyfolds. Hampshire, Mollison and Nicholls are pulling him along and they are a length behind with 200 to go. "Push," shouts Pluto and they storm through and win. As they cruise to the landing stage, very rich ladies in posh frocks and big hats race each other to the boat, ignore the other three and smother him with kisses...
Whispering slowly invades his subconscious.
Pluto starts to awaken,
A scuffling noise. A louder bang. Rough, urgent hands haul him from his bed.
"What the hell...." shouts Pluto, but a hand covers his mouth with an evil smelling rag. His head goes dizzy, and thankfully the nightmare closes in on him and he passes back into his subconscious heaven.
*****
He awakens in a cold, damp, dank, disused room. He is tied to a chair: hands to its arms, legs to its feet. He can't move. He has a godawful headache. He is in his favourite Noddy jim-jams and is feeling very cold.
A tall man and a little one enter the room. The tall one puts a case on a table, goes to a washbasin and washes his hands. The short one stands, ominously behind him.
"Is it safe?" says the tall one gently.
"You talking to me?" says Pluto.
The tall one wipes his hands on a cloth.
"Is it safe?"
"Is what safe?" says Pluto, more than a little disturbed.
"Is it safe?" says the tall one, in a more exasperated tone. On hearing no answer, he reaches into the case, and pulls out a dentists drill, plugs it into the mains, fires it up and says:
"Is it safe?"
Getting the picture, Pluto sputters out, "yes, it's very safe, it's as safe as houses, it's safer than safer than safe..."
The tall one walks up to Pluto and positions the drill inches from his face. This time he asks him, as if for confirmation:
"Is it safe?"
"No, it's not safe, it's really unsafe, it very, very dangerously unsafe, I think some people should do something about it," says Pluto in utter desperation.
Too late. The drill enters his mouth and his screams echo through the deserted warehouse.
*****
"Finally got the cut down fin," said a strangely cheery Henry in the tea hut as they were about to join Robin and Tony in the Springfield Sculls.
"What?" said Huggy, amazed, "Pluto has finally cut it down? He's had that fin for 3 months. Oh well, never mind, maybe the boat will turn now. Can't wait to try it out."
"How about now? It will only take a minute to change them," said Henry.
An hour later, Tony finally managed to replace the old Titanic fin for the new slimline shark fin on the Empacher.
"I hope its safe and we don't tip in," Huggy said as they placed the boat into the water.
"Oh, I'm fairly sure it is," said Henry, darkly.
*****
And at long last, the boat turned. Not quite as eagerly as the 'Roger Mobbs', but sufficient to get round the Medway's bends around Maidstone. In a piece from the Malta to Chavsda, we easily cruised round the Marina bend, and only required 5 really hard pulls round the Sewage Works bend instead of the 20 we used to endure before. Henry almost oversteered us into the inside bank at the Blue Bridge bend.
The boat was perhaps marginally less stable than before (not that we really noticed) so all in all, an excellent trade off.
As we washed down the boat, two cars entered the rowing club compound. A black Oldsmobile and a clapped out Polo. The short man got out of the Polo, walked to the Oldsmobile, waved to Henry (who was studiously avoiding them), and drove off with the tall man without saying a word.
Robin went up to the Polo, reached in and pulled out a tin of sardines.
"What the hell does this mean?" wondered a very puzzled Robin.
"Its an old Maidstone gangland message," said the all knowing Tony, "it says Pluto Nichols sleeps with the fishes."
Whispering slowly invades his subconscious.
Pluto starts to awaken,
A scuffling noise. A louder bang. Rough, urgent hands haul him from his bed.
"What the hell...." shouts Pluto, but a hand covers his mouth with an evil smelling rag. His head goes dizzy, and thankfully the nightmare closes in on him and he passes back into his subconscious heaven.
*****
He awakens in a cold, damp, dank, disused room. He is tied to a chair: hands to its arms, legs to its feet. He can't move. He has a godawful headache. He is in his favourite Noddy jim-jams and is feeling very cold.
A tall man and a little one enter the room. The tall one puts a case on a table, goes to a washbasin and washes his hands. The short one stands, ominously behind him.
"Is it safe?" says the tall one gently.
"You talking to me?" says Pluto.
The tall one wipes his hands on a cloth.
"Is it safe?"
"Is what safe?" says Pluto, more than a little disturbed.
"Is it safe?" says the tall one, in a more exasperated tone. On hearing no answer, he reaches into the case, and pulls out a dentists drill, plugs it into the mains, fires it up and says:
"Is it safe?"
Getting the picture, Pluto sputters out, "yes, it's very safe, it's as safe as houses, it's safer than safer than safe..."
The tall one walks up to Pluto and positions the drill inches from his face. This time he asks him, as if for confirmation:
"Is it safe?"
"No, it's not safe, it's really unsafe, it very, very dangerously unsafe, I think some people should do something about it," says Pluto in utter desperation.
Too late. The drill enters his mouth and his screams echo through the deserted warehouse.
*****
"Finally got the cut down fin," said a strangely cheery Henry in the tea hut as they were about to join Robin and Tony in the Springfield Sculls.
"What?" said Huggy, amazed, "Pluto has finally cut it down? He's had that fin for 3 months. Oh well, never mind, maybe the boat will turn now. Can't wait to try it out."
"How about now? It will only take a minute to change them," said Henry.
An hour later, Tony finally managed to replace the old Titanic fin for the new slimline shark fin on the Empacher.
"I hope its safe and we don't tip in," Huggy said as they placed the boat into the water.
"Oh, I'm fairly sure it is," said Henry, darkly.
*****
And at long last, the boat turned. Not quite as eagerly as the 'Roger Mobbs', but sufficient to get round the Medway's bends around Maidstone. In a piece from the Malta to Chavsda, we easily cruised round the Marina bend, and only required 5 really hard pulls round the Sewage Works bend instead of the 20 we used to endure before. Henry almost oversteered us into the inside bank at the Blue Bridge bend.
The boat was perhaps marginally less stable than before (not that we really noticed) so all in all, an excellent trade off.
As we washed down the boat, two cars entered the rowing club compound. A black Oldsmobile and a clapped out Polo. The short man got out of the Polo, walked to the Oldsmobile, waved to Henry (who was studiously avoiding them), and drove off with the tall man without saying a word.
Robin went up to the Polo, reached in and pulled out a tin of sardines.
"What the hell does this mean?" wondered a very puzzled Robin.
"Its an old Maidstone gangland message," said the all knowing Tony, "it says Pluto Nichols sleeps with the fishes."
Medway Invitation Race - Jan 30th 2011
MIRC put in 5 crews at the first race of the year, a friendly 3 mile invitation hosted by Medway Towns Rowing Club. Gravesend also fielded some crews, bring a total field to 14 boats.
While the thermometer read 2C, it felt like -10C as the crews put the boats together in the bitterly cold wind.
The water looked reasonably behaved despite the wind, and we set off fairly confident that conditions would be kind. However, just after we crossed under the M2, we found ourselves in a fair bit of chop... a surprising and novel experience for many of our novice rowers!
However, once the race got underway and we headed back into the wind, we felt the full impact of wind over tide conditions, and the water which seemed Amber at worst at the beginning of the outing rapidly became flaming Red as the waves crashed onto the side of the boats and into them.
I was in the Vet D 8+, and we kicked off at a good pace. We seemed to handle the choppiness reasonably well (I presume a combination of our extra years and our extra girth helped us sit it better). We were encouraged by coming up to the Medway Town's IM4 8+ very quickly (I think this is the crew composed mainly of boys from the Maths School in Rochester who did very well last season rowing at Novice). As we overtook them we took the full force of the inclement conditions, effectively shielding the boys from the worst of it! I think it took us a full minute to get past them. Once past, we stormed on and were very pleased with our row.
The Novice Vet 8+ had a hard time of it, and I could see them falling back through the field, and being overtaken by a couple of quads. They tell me they were actually rammed to a stop by a MTRC quad and took the best part of a minute to get going again. A tough introduction to 2011. They came off with smiles on their faces having clearly enjoyed the experience. I suspect they won't encounter conditions like that at a formal race.
The Vet E 4x had an interesting one. Slightly overboated, they were fine and dry going to the start, but the wind over tide did for them, and they would have sunk if it wasn't for the Morpheus' buoyancy compartments. Astoundingly, they rowed on (despite the last rat having vacated the ship, and the band having packed up their instruments) and they crossed the finish line heavily swamped but afloat and 8th overall. Brave boys.
I can't report fully on the Senior boats; an IM3 8+ and the Novice 4x, though I did see the quad cross the line, very fast and seemingly full of beans. Our lads came in 1st and 2nd respectively, and with the Vet D 8+ a few seconds behind in third, we had a successful, and strangely enjoyable start to the season.
RESULTS of the JANUARY 30TH MEDWAY HEAD INVITATIONAL
CREW POS TIME
MAIDSTONE 1M3 8+ 1 19.05
MAIDSTONE NOV 4X 2 19.15
MAIDSTONE VET D 8+ 3 19. 23
GRAVESEND VET B 2X 4 20.15
MEDWAY IM4 8+ 5 20. 36
MEDWAY MXD VET 4X 6 21. 32
MAIDSTONE VET NOV 8+ 7 22. 17
MAIDSTONE VET E 4X 8 22. 48
MEDWAY M VET 4+ 9 23. 03
GRAVESEND W 4+ 10 23. 36
MEDWAY MIX 4X 11 24. 11
GRAVESEND VET 4- 12 25. 13
GRAVESEND MIX 4+ 13 26. 10
MEDWAY W 4+ 14 27. 25
While the thermometer read 2C, it felt like -10C as the crews put the boats together in the bitterly cold wind.
The water looked reasonably behaved despite the wind, and we set off fairly confident that conditions would be kind. However, just after we crossed under the M2, we found ourselves in a fair bit of chop... a surprising and novel experience for many of our novice rowers!
However, once the race got underway and we headed back into the wind, we felt the full impact of wind over tide conditions, and the water which seemed Amber at worst at the beginning of the outing rapidly became flaming Red as the waves crashed onto the side of the boats and into them.
I was in the Vet D 8+, and we kicked off at a good pace. We seemed to handle the choppiness reasonably well (I presume a combination of our extra years and our extra girth helped us sit it better). We were encouraged by coming up to the Medway Town's IM4 8+ very quickly (I think this is the crew composed mainly of boys from the Maths School in Rochester who did very well last season rowing at Novice). As we overtook them we took the full force of the inclement conditions, effectively shielding the boys from the worst of it! I think it took us a full minute to get past them. Once past, we stormed on and were very pleased with our row.
The Novice Vet 8+ had a hard time of it, and I could see them falling back through the field, and being overtaken by a couple of quads. They tell me they were actually rammed to a stop by a MTRC quad and took the best part of a minute to get going again. A tough introduction to 2011. They came off with smiles on their faces having clearly enjoyed the experience. I suspect they won't encounter conditions like that at a formal race.
The Vet E 4x had an interesting one. Slightly overboated, they were fine and dry going to the start, but the wind over tide did for them, and they would have sunk if it wasn't for the Morpheus' buoyancy compartments. Astoundingly, they rowed on (despite the last rat having vacated the ship, and the band having packed up their instruments) and they crossed the finish line heavily swamped but afloat and 8th overall. Brave boys.
I can't report fully on the Senior boats; an IM3 8+ and the Novice 4x, though I did see the quad cross the line, very fast and seemingly full of beans. Our lads came in 1st and 2nd respectively, and with the Vet D 8+ a few seconds behind in third, we had a successful, and strangely enjoyable start to the season.
RESULTS of the JANUARY 30TH MEDWAY HEAD INVITATIONAL
CREW POS TIME
MAIDSTONE 1M3 8+ 1 19.05
MAIDSTONE NOV 4X 2 19.15
MAIDSTONE VET D 8+ 3 19. 23
GRAVESEND VET B 2X 4 20.15
MEDWAY IM4 8+ 5 20. 36
MEDWAY MXD VET 4X 6 21. 32
MAIDSTONE VET NOV 8+ 7 22. 17
MAIDSTONE VET E 4X 8 22. 48
MEDWAY M VET 4+ 9 23. 03
GRAVESEND W 4+ 10 23. 36
MEDWAY MIX 4X 11 24. 11
GRAVESEND VET 4- 12 25. 13
GRAVESEND MIX 4+ 13 26. 10
MEDWAY W 4+ 14 27. 25
The Knee
Huggy was just snuggling down into his cozy armchair with a nice cup of cocoa and his favourite slippers, ready for
'Question Time' when the phone rang.
"Y'ello".
The earpiece rattled with extremely loud jazz music accompanying the tinkling of glasses and girlie giggling.
"Hugs!", shouted Henry. "Get out of those slippers and get up here pronto. We've got a party going on".
"I'm not wearing slippers", Huggy blushed. "Anyway... it's 10 o'clock - way past my bedtime".
"It's Christmas and sleeping is for wimps, Hugs. I'm on a promise with one of two spectacular birds, and need a rear gunner to keep the other one occupied...", shouted Henry, a tad too aggressively, then rapidly changed tack with a pathetic: "... and a friend in need, is a friend indeed".
"Give me strength.... Well, everyone is in bed here, I suppose I could sneak out for a couple of hours".
'Question Time' when the phone rang.
"Y'ello".
The earpiece rattled with extremely loud jazz music accompanying the tinkling of glasses and girlie giggling.
"Hugs!", shouted Henry. "Get out of those slippers and get up here pronto. We've got a party going on".
"I'm not wearing slippers", Huggy blushed. "Anyway... it's 10 o'clock - way past my bedtime".
"It's Christmas and sleeping is for wimps, Hugs. I'm on a promise with one of two spectacular birds, and need a rear gunner to keep the other one occupied...", shouted Henry, a tad too aggressively, then rapidly changed tack with a pathetic: "... and a friend in need, is a friend indeed".
"Give me strength.... Well, everyone is in bed here, I suppose I could sneak out for a couple of hours".
*********
Edward Arthur Withers was an extremely good looking, but extremely ill-educated man. Born just outside Maidstone Prison, ironically he had had a spell or two within as an inmate. While not being the sharpest tool in the box, he did have a winning way with women, which he liked to combine with trips into London for a bit of "culture". In 1986, "culture" to Edward extended to all things French. And so he took his equally foolish wife, Esmerelda, to see Les Miserables, where he was bemused as to who the oft mentioned 'Madame Guillotine' was. Equally bizarrely, he took it as French 'culture' when he went with his drinking mates to a back street Maidstone cinema to see 'Black Emanuelle 2 goes to America'. And so it was no surprise that the following year, Edward and Esmerelda Withers named their twin daughters... Emanuelle and Guillotine.
*********
Huggy and Henry finally met up outside Mahiki's in Mayfair. Huggy recognised Emanuelle Withers from his visit to Henry's law firm. The tall, leggy platinum, was no less spectacular than before, if a little worse for drink. Guillotine, despite being Emanuelle's twin, was 5' 2", sober, exuded intelligence (an extaordinary feat considering her parentage), and bored. Huggy initially assumed that the target of Henry's affections was Emanuelle, but quickly revised his opinion, after seeing the dewy eyed look on his face when he introduced Guillotine. To make things crystal clear, Henry announced on seeing Huggy, "there you go, Miss Withers, your knight in shining armour". To which, Emanuelle squealed in delight,"oh look, Guillotine, it's Sir Steve Redgrave"!
*********
At 2 in the morning, bored of Mahiki's Polynesian theme, the group tottered up the street to the Dover Street Wine Bar, where Henry launched himself on the dancefloor with a terrified Guillotine. With extraorindary skill, he swung her around with gay abandon, crashing her into the other dancers, swinging her under his legs and smothering her with his 6' 5" frame. Mistaking her screams of fear, for squeals of pleasure, he started throwing her, doll like, into the air, and catching her on bended knee with an "olez!" On the third throw, something seemed to have changed, Henry didn't get up, and the smile on his face was frozen.
Having escorted Henry back to a chair, Guillotine asked what was the matter, to which H muttered: "knee - old war wound - Korea. Gone again, I'm afraid".
Seeing that Emanuelle had passed out, Huggy decided his escort duties were over and took the opportunity to leave. During the long, and hugely expensive trip back to Kent, he pondered the longer term impact of Henry's gammy knee.
*********
A couple of days later, and still a little hung-over, the two enjoyed their most competent paddle in a very long time, just about keeping pace over a 3.5k piece with one of the heaviest, strongest Vets fours to grace the Medway (Big Bob, Big Bill, Big Greg and Thor - the God of War). Things are at last beginning to click in the Empacher.
Afterwards, Huggy confronted Henry about the knee.
"Well actually, both knees have gone old chap" said Henry almost sheepishly. "I'm in discussions with the quacks as to when to operate, they tell me those new metal knees work wonders. Besides, you should see this as your opportunity to step up to the plate and start pulling your weight!"
"Give me a timescale, Henry", said Huggy, as he transfered Mark Tompkins' mobile number to Speed Dial.
"ooh... 6 months, 1 year, 2 years... who knows" came the cagey reply.
No rowing this weekend 4/5th Dec
The road down to the club is treacherous and only passable with a 4
wheeldrive vehicle. The site and everything within it is covered in
snow, as are the steps and the ramp. Everything would have to be cleared
and salted prior to doing anything, it would then become slippery.
Therefore a red light for the weekend.
On behalf of the chairman.
wheeldrive vehicle. The site and everything within it is covered in
snow, as are the steps and the ramp. Everything would have to be cleared
and salted prior to doing anything, it would then become slippery.
Therefore a red light for the weekend.
On behalf of the chairman.
Huggy's Blog - A Hit and Miss Autumn
The Pairs Head
After a solid performance at the Small Boats Head, we just can’t explain the Pairs Head.
Henry took one look at the water and the wind at Putney, and instantly reneged on his promise to let Huggy stroke the boat.
“Hugs old chap”, he opined, “These conditions call for experience and a calm head... so that counts you out”.
We felt we had a reasonable race: a strong start, and while the last half was really bumpy and a bit slack due to the awful conditions, everyone else said they had it bad too.
So how did we come last in category? Beaten by 3 of the boats we beat at Nottingham. Badly.
Inexplicable. No Excuses. Move on.
Hardcore Training
Our two heroes set about “moving on” with true professionalism. Henry went on holiday and caroused through 4 capitals of Eastern Europe, chomping his way through as much goulash, borsch and caviar and drinking as much vodka and jet fuel as he could feasibly cope with.
Meantime, Huggy took full advantage of Henry’s absence and delighted in the balance and power of ‘No Excuses’ being stroked by one Mr Mark Tompkins, who (despite the occasional snigger at the gasping mess behind him after a “gentle” 2k piece) was equally impressed with what could be done with the boat... in the right hands... Huggy is slowly getting used to the now obligatory grin and a wink from said Tompkins, as well as a conspiratorial “hello partner”.
"Hello partner"
Then Huggy went on his own European carouse – Venice: ate and drank even more than Henry did, but in less time; so when the fatter and fully debauched champions reconvened, they decided to forego any other attempt to train and just go to...
The Docklands Head
Henry’s face dropped at the sight of the milk-pond before him. He only agreed to go because he knew that the Docks in November are, 9 times out of 10, blowing a gale with waves the size of mountains. Any excuse not to sit in the bow seat had dissipated in one go. So it was a triumphant Huggy who eased himself into the unfamiliar surroundings of the stern, happy that the steering would be in safe hands... after all, what could go wrong, the course is pretty much straight.
They tanked off at 32, zipping past the MIRC Veteran Novice Lightweight Four before they could say boo. Settling into strong and steady 30 strokes per minute, Huggy entered the zone and happily closed his eyes to concentrate on the rhythm and his legs.
Clearly, so did Henry.
They both opened their eyes to the sound of marshalls screaming at them left, right and centre:
Huggy: “everything all right back there, old boy”
Henry: “all tickety boo, old chap... just a little tickle with on the left will see us clear...”
Huggy: “...clear of what, perchance”
Henry: “oh nothing important (grunt), a little more left (grunt) perhaps”.
They missed the swing-bridge by a hairs breadth.
Despite this, as they entered the second half of the race, the power was still coming on. Rating – a solid 30.
Henry: “Now where did you say the finish was?”
Huggy: “Didn’t you check?”
Henry: “Not again... you are supposed to check”
Huggy: “Au contraire old chap, it is de rigeur for the steersman to check”
Henry: “Exactly, you’re the steersman”.
Huggy: “Not today, I’m not”.
The rest is a story of various detours, the questioning of various marshalls and competitors they passed as to where the finish was (they were still moving the boat despite the ongoing argument). False pushes for imaginary finishes were to take place before the exhausted pair collapsed in a heap when they finally found the end, easily adding a hundred metres or so to the 2.75k course.
Fortunately their only opposition from Erith were a bit ill, and the Maidstone duo finished well ahead with an OK time of 11.49 mins.
The boys were oddly pleased with the result. Standards have clearly slipped.
Their second row in the Vet D Eight, was entirely pleasurable. So, tired but happy, our friends went to their homes to watch the Formula 1 ... and to do more plotting.
After a solid performance at the Small Boats Head, we just can’t explain the Pairs Head.
Henry took one look at the water and the wind at Putney, and instantly reneged on his promise to let Huggy stroke the boat.
“Hugs old chap”, he opined, “These conditions call for experience and a calm head... so that counts you out”.
We felt we had a reasonable race: a strong start, and while the last half was really bumpy and a bit slack due to the awful conditions, everyone else said they had it bad too.
So how did we come last in category? Beaten by 3 of the boats we beat at Nottingham. Badly.
Inexplicable. No Excuses. Move on.
Hardcore Training
Our two heroes set about “moving on” with true professionalism. Henry went on holiday and caroused through 4 capitals of Eastern Europe, chomping his way through as much goulash, borsch and caviar and drinking as much vodka and jet fuel as he could feasibly cope with.
Meantime, Huggy took full advantage of Henry’s absence and delighted in the balance and power of ‘No Excuses’ being stroked by one Mr Mark Tompkins, who (despite the occasional snigger at the gasping mess behind him after a “gentle” 2k piece) was equally impressed with what could be done with the boat... in the right hands... Huggy is slowly getting used to the now obligatory grin and a wink from said Tompkins, as well as a conspiratorial “hello partner”.
Then Huggy went on his own European carouse – Venice: ate and drank even more than Henry did, but in less time; so when the fatter and fully debauched champions reconvened, they decided to forego any other attempt to train and just go to...
The Docklands Head
Henry’s face dropped at the sight of the milk-pond before him. He only agreed to go because he knew that the Docks in November are, 9 times out of 10, blowing a gale with waves the size of mountains. Any excuse not to sit in the bow seat had dissipated in one go. So it was a triumphant Huggy who eased himself into the unfamiliar surroundings of the stern, happy that the steering would be in safe hands... after all, what could go wrong, the course is pretty much straight.
They tanked off at 32, zipping past the MIRC Veteran Novice Lightweight Four before they could say boo. Settling into strong and steady 30 strokes per minute, Huggy entered the zone and happily closed his eyes to concentrate on the rhythm and his legs.
Clearly, so did Henry.
They both opened their eyes to the sound of marshalls screaming at them left, right and centre:
Huggy: “everything all right back there, old boy”
Henry: “all tickety boo, old chap... just a little tickle with on the left will see us clear...”
Huggy: “...clear of what, perchance”
Henry: “oh nothing important (grunt), a little more left (grunt) perhaps”.
They missed the swing-bridge by a hairs breadth.
Despite this, as they entered the second half of the race, the power was still coming on. Rating – a solid 30.
Henry: “Now where did you say the finish was?”
Huggy: “Didn’t you check?”
Henry: “Not again... you are supposed to check”
Huggy: “Au contraire old chap, it is de rigeur for the steersman to check”
Henry: “Exactly, you’re the steersman”.
Huggy: “Not today, I’m not”.
The rest is a story of various detours, the questioning of various marshalls and competitors they passed as to where the finish was (they were still moving the boat despite the ongoing argument). False pushes for imaginary finishes were to take place before the exhausted pair collapsed in a heap when they finally found the end, easily adding a hundred metres or so to the 2.75k course.
Fortunately their only opposition from Erith were a bit ill, and the Maidstone duo finished well ahead with an OK time of 11.49 mins.
The boys were oddly pleased with the result. Standards have clearly slipped.
Their second row in the Vet D Eight, was entirely pleasurable. So, tired but happy, our friends went to their homes to watch the Formula 1 ... and to do more plotting.
Docklands Head - 2010 - Vets Report
Maidstone Vets went mob handed to Docklands with no less than 27 competitors. Unfortunately, very few Vets from other clubs turned up, so for the most part we treated the day as a useful and enjoyable training exercise.
To add to the general pandemonium, most got 2 rows, which meant the day was incredibly busy.
For me, the result of the day came from our heavyweight Novice 4+, in the fantastically newly refurbished Sword (thanks yet again, Pat Tenters). The crew, coxed by Andrea Barker in her first ever race, were (like all the novices) asked to row at Open Masters level, yet still only lost the only Vet event – Masters D4+ by 2 seconds! The time was a strong 12.04 mins. If you consider that Liz Macham’s Top Squad rowing at Masters C4+ came in a very reasonable 11.26 mins, that’s quite an achievement. Well done chaps, it’s a bow shot on your oppositions for the future.
Andrea coxed her first race!
A couple of Heavies.
The lightweight Novices, coxed by Tui Thain, also rowing as Masters D4+, looked comfortable, but were disappointed by their 12.52 mins despite beating the Old Duffer D4+, who came in a surprisingly slow 13.10 mins (note the latter rowed in the second division when the headwind had stiffened significantly – probably a 20 second handicap).
A couple of Lights
So to the lightweights, I say “keep at it”, the heavies are punching above their weight as Novices, but you are still in the right ballpark. We may need to give the set up a tweak though. To the Old Duffers (who all felt it was a nice comfortable row - Alan Rickwood tells me he set a comfortable rate in the mid twenties) – probably just a bit too comfortable chaps. :)
Old Duffers: "Nice and comfortable lads, take it nice and comfortable"
Huggy and Henry in the Masters D2x delivered a respectable 11.49 mins, despite the usual sightseeing and other shenanigans which will be explored further in the Blog!
In addition to the small boats action, we all combined into 3, yes 3 Eights. A D8+ containing the top squad and the experienced Vets, a C8+ containing the Old Duffers and another C8+ containing the Novices – Poplar clearly have an aversion to Masters Novice racing.
Vet D8+ overtaking an extremely pretty ladies quad from Poplar...
In these combinations, all three boats did admirably well. All came off the water with broad smiles on their faces – it was lovely to see. For the record:
Experienced D8+ - 10.44 mins (9th overall)
Old Duffers C8+ - 10.55 mins (12th overall)
Novice C8+ - 11.39 mins (28th overall).
The question I have left with the Poplar organisers is: “why no pot?” We await their response.
Well done everyone – a great day out.
"Do you think I'm sexy?"
Who was in what boat.
To add to the general pandemonium, most got 2 rows, which meant the day was incredibly busy.
For me, the result of the day came from our heavyweight Novice 4+, in the fantastically newly refurbished Sword (thanks yet again, Pat Tenters). The crew, coxed by Andrea Barker in her first ever race, were (like all the novices) asked to row at Open Masters level, yet still only lost the only Vet event – Masters D4+ by 2 seconds! The time was a strong 12.04 mins. If you consider that Liz Macham’s Top Squad rowing at Masters C4+ came in a very reasonable 11.26 mins, that’s quite an achievement. Well done chaps, it’s a bow shot on your oppositions for the future.
The lightweight Novices, coxed by Tui Thain, also rowing as Masters D4+, looked comfortable, but were disappointed by their 12.52 mins despite beating the Old Duffer D4+, who came in a surprisingly slow 13.10 mins (note the latter rowed in the second division when the headwind had stiffened significantly – probably a 20 second handicap).
So to the lightweights, I say “keep at it”, the heavies are punching above their weight as Novices, but you are still in the right ballpark. We may need to give the set up a tweak though. To the Old Duffers (who all felt it was a nice comfortable row - Alan Rickwood tells me he set a comfortable rate in the mid twenties) – probably just a bit too comfortable chaps. :)
Huggy and Henry in the Masters D2x delivered a respectable 11.49 mins, despite the usual sightseeing and other shenanigans which will be explored further in the Blog!
In addition to the small boats action, we all combined into 3, yes 3 Eights. A D8+ containing the top squad and the experienced Vets, a C8+ containing the Old Duffers and another C8+ containing the Novices – Poplar clearly have an aversion to Masters Novice racing.
In these combinations, all three boats did admirably well. All came off the water with broad smiles on their faces – it was lovely to see. For the record:
Experienced D8+ - 10.44 mins (9th overall)
Old Duffers C8+ - 10.55 mins (12th overall)
Novice C8+ - 11.39 mins (28th overall).
The question I have left with the Poplar organisers is: “why no pot?” We await their response.
Well done everyone – a great day out.
Docklands Head - 2010 - More Wins for the Senior Squad!
I will leave the vets to tell you all how they got on today. Their reports are always much more amusing!
Another weekend, another race! This time to the east of London when MIRC went, en masse, to the Docklands Head. A bitterly cold start but at least there was no rain and, unusually for the docks, no wind! Once again though, thanks to everyone who turned out to support us - it really is valued and I am convinced you spur us on to greater things.
Frenetic activity saw all the Maidstone boats rigged in double quick time, and out on the water for a 9.30 (ish) race start. The conditions were as good as you were ever likely to get at the docks in November and everyone was looking forward to a good morning's racing.
The MasA 4+ had a last-minute seat swap and Mark 'Free Rate' Tomkins stroked his first ever head race, and what an excellent row it was for the crew, overtaking two IM3 coxless fours in the process and rowing down Poplar's Elite 2-! All the crews were happy with their racing , the Nov 4x having stormed through the field and the Nov 4+ performing really well.
The wind picked up and changed direction slightly which made the conditions in the second division very different. All crews found they had scrappier rows but generally coped well. We then just waited for the results!
The organisers had already told me they reckoned there was at least 20 seconds difference between the divisions but asked me if it was possible for the Nov4x to have won. I said I hadn't seen the another Nov4x but I told them the crew was going really well at the moment and that they had said they'd had a stonking race (Tom deserving a special mention for some really excellent steering.) Going back to the trailer, I told a couple of the squad that the rumour was that the 4x had won and glibly said that if they meant that the crew had won fastest boat overall (and not just Nov4x), I would buy everyone in the squad a Chinese meal! However, as this meant they would have had to beat IM1, IM2 and IM3 8+s, I felt my money was safe.
When the results were finally posted, we could not believe how well the squad had done, and were delighted with some excellent racing from our vets crews as well! Some extremely good finishing positions and some very creditable wins against other crews. And all six of our 4s in the top 25! We think of Curlew and Poplar & Blackwall as the local rivals, so it was particularly pleasing to perform so exceptionally well against them. There was some surprise that a Nov 4x could beat an 8+ but Curlew's ex-Men's Captain, David, very graciously came up to John afterwards and said he thought that, when he saw them, the 4x was moving definitely faster than Curlew's IM1 8+. Very sporting.
Everyone in the squad had an excellent day, and it was really good to be able to turn out in force with the vets and show just what 'only Maidstone' can do! Does anyone know a good Chinese restaurant?!
Finishing Positions
1
Nov 4x Hugh (S), Charlie, John and Tom - Fastest Overall
7
IM2 4+ John (S), Charlie, Hugh, Ben and Jo (cox) - Fastest IM2 4+
8
MasA 4+ Mark (S), Richard R, Lewis, Rick Wood and Lois (cox) - Fastest Masters Boat
14
IM3 4x Alex, Richard R, Fergus and Rick Wood
16
IM2 4+ Rob, Mark, Will, Tom and Lois (cox)
24
Nov 4+ Rob, Fergus, Oli, Alex and Jo (cox)
Full results available at www.pbdrc.co.uk
Another weekend, another race! This time to the east of London when MIRC went, en masse, to the Docklands Head. A bitterly cold start but at least there was no rain and, unusually for the docks, no wind! Once again though, thanks to everyone who turned out to support us - it really is valued and I am convinced you spur us on to greater things.
Frenetic activity saw all the Maidstone boats rigged in double quick time, and out on the water for a 9.30 (ish) race start. The conditions were as good as you were ever likely to get at the docks in November and everyone was looking forward to a good morning's racing.
The MasA 4+ had a last-minute seat swap and Mark 'Free Rate' Tomkins stroked his first ever head race, and what an excellent row it was for the crew, overtaking two IM3 coxless fours in the process and rowing down Poplar's Elite 2-! All the crews were happy with their racing , the Nov 4x having stormed through the field and the Nov 4+ performing really well.
The wind picked up and changed direction slightly which made the conditions in the second division very different. All crews found they had scrappier rows but generally coped well. We then just waited for the results!
The organisers had already told me they reckoned there was at least 20 seconds difference between the divisions but asked me if it was possible for the Nov4x to have won. I said I hadn't seen the another Nov4x but I told them the crew was going really well at the moment and that they had said they'd had a stonking race (Tom deserving a special mention for some really excellent steering.) Going back to the trailer, I told a couple of the squad that the rumour was that the 4x had won and glibly said that if they meant that the crew had won fastest boat overall (and not just Nov4x), I would buy everyone in the squad a Chinese meal! However, as this meant they would have had to beat IM1, IM2 and IM3 8+s, I felt my money was safe.
When the results were finally posted, we could not believe how well the squad had done, and were delighted with some excellent racing from our vets crews as well! Some extremely good finishing positions and some very creditable wins against other crews. And all six of our 4s in the top 25! We think of Curlew and Poplar & Blackwall as the local rivals, so it was particularly pleasing to perform so exceptionally well against them. There was some surprise that a Nov 4x could beat an 8+ but Curlew's ex-Men's Captain, David, very graciously came up to John afterwards and said he thought that, when he saw them, the 4x was moving definitely faster than Curlew's IM1 8+. Very sporting.
Everyone in the squad had an excellent day, and it was really good to be able to turn out in force with the vets and show just what 'only Maidstone' can do! Does anyone know a good Chinese restaurant?!
Finishing Positions
1
Nov 4x Hugh (S), Charlie, John and Tom - Fastest Overall
7
IM2 4+ John (S), Charlie, Hugh, Ben and Jo (cox) - Fastest IM2 4+
8
MasA 4+ Mark (S), Richard R, Lewis, Rick Wood and Lois (cox) - Fastest Masters Boat
14
IM3 4x Alex, Richard R, Fergus and Rick Wood
16
IM2 4+ Rob, Mark, Will, Tom and Lois (cox)
24
Nov 4+ Rob, Fergus, Oli, Alex and Jo (cox)
Out of 127 crews
Full results available at www.pbdrc.co.uk
Kelsie wins Silver at the World Championships
At 2:55am Kelsie raced in the final of the LTA 4+. Racing in her third ever international regatta and first world championships she was both excited and nervous at the whole experience.
Going into the final the main rivals were Canada and Germany who came 1st and 2nd in the other heat. GB made a strong start but all crews were neck and neck going into the last 500m. Germany dropped off with GB and Canada battling for Gold. By less that a canvas Canada took the Gold.
Kelsie is really chuffed to have won the Silver as the crew has only been together since September although disappointed in not winning Gold with the race being so close. She cheered up after words of congratulations from Sir Steve and Jurgen!
Going into the final the main rivals were Canada and Germany who came 1st and 2nd in the other heat. GB made a strong start but all crews were neck and neck going into the last 500m. Germany dropped off with GB and Canada battling for Gold. By less that a canvas Canada took the Gold.
Kelsie is really chuffed to have won the Silver as the crew has only been together since September although disappointed in not winning Gold with the race being so close. She cheered up after words of congratulations from Sir Steve and Jurgen!
Kelsie is into the A Final at the World Championships in New Zealand
After a 5:15am text from Kelsie and phone call I am now sleepy but really happy with her news. The LTA 4+ came 1st in their heat in a time of 3:23 a comfortable 5 seconds ahead and in Kelsie's words "well we didn't do the wind up so we have lots left". The other heat contained a tight battle between Canada and Germany only beating Kelsie's heat by 3 seconds.
It should make for an interesting final on Thursday. The weather is not ideal although the wind dropped for today's racing. The final may be moved due to an expected hurricane on Thursday! So will keep you updated on her progress.
The BBC is not showing any footage of the Adaptive races so please send in complaints and perhaps next time we might get to watch Kelsie.
To read about the whole GB performance so far click here
It should make for an interesting final on Thursday. The weather is not ideal although the wind dropped for today's racing. The final may be moved due to an expected hurricane on Thursday! So will keep you updated on her progress.
The BBC is not showing any footage of the Adaptive races so please send in complaints and perhaps next time we might get to watch Kelsie.
To read about the whole GB performance so far click here
Playing with the big boys!
12 intrepid rowers from the men's senior squad set off yesterday morning to play with the big boys at Upper Thames 4s and SBH. Knowing we'd be up against the likes of Star & Arrow and Oxford Brookes, and many other high-performing clubs and universities, would have terrified the life out of most of them at the beginning of the year but they are now a much more relaxed and confident group.
It was one of those days you just knew was going to be miserable. The rain wasn't heavy but it was unrelenting and somehow got into every nook and cranny. Our poor supporters huddled under umbrellas and stood stoically on the bank. There wasn't any shelter and only a walk into Henley or up to Upper Thames RC secured a hot cup of coffee. Thank you so much for cheering us on!
Between divisions, Mark and Jo disappeared and we only realised where they were when we noticed Mark's car had completely steamed up. As Jo had, by this time, purchased a rather risque calendar of semi-naked Leander rowers (not in aid of Save the Hippo!), Lois quickly joined them, ostensibly to warm up! Actually, she was just contemplating where her training programme is going wrong as her rowers don't look quite like the pink palace's!
Back to the racing! The boats were very efficiently rigged, crews registered and blades put out in double quick time. Lois had to change her pep talk but, once again, this day trip was intended merely as another a training session, gaining experience of racing against some really good quality crews, on a fantastic stretch of river. We weren't expecting to win but wanted to row well and just have a enjoyable day.
The squad has been decimated over the weeks by various cold (man flu!) bugs and various upset tummies, meaning that most of the crews were scratch or had had only one or two outings together. We do like a challenge! We put a quad and two coxed fours into each division, half of which had to row out of category to enable us to enter everyone who wanted to race. Everyone seemed happy after their rows and they are becoming confident in analysing their row, giving their feedback and offering constructive criticism.
The youngsters deserve a particular mention as they all performed really well and are showing great potential. They have settled into the squad, becoming valued members of crews and are brilliant at giving us tips for Angry Birds! Oli, who has only been rowing for about 7 weeks can legitimately say he has raced at Henley and Rob even shed blood for his crew!
Rick celebrated an incident-free row, much to the relief of his crew and steered a fantastic course to win the category. We know there were only two in the category but you can only race who turns up and a win is a win! This is particularly notable though as this was a scratch IM2 4x and the crew is IM3 - just! Congratulations to Alex, Richard, Fergus and Rick!
Tom decided that his crew would enjoy seeing as much of the scenery as possible and worked out that the best way to get a really panoramic view was from the middle of the river. It wasn't until a marshal kindly invited him back onto the course (and out of the navigation channel!) that Tom reluctantly moved Hugh, Charlie and John out of the stream! However, his crew enjoy terrific views for most of the course and this tactic must have worked - they finished 12th in Division 1, only being beaten by some very handy crews from Brookes, Upper Thames and Henley! Swapping Tom for Ben in the 4+, and adding Jo in as cox, saw another creditable performance with them finishing 18th in Division 2.
All in all, a very good day and a very positive start to the season. Watch this space! Full results are available on the Upper Thames website.
It was one of those days you just knew was going to be miserable. The rain wasn't heavy but it was unrelenting and somehow got into every nook and cranny. Our poor supporters huddled under umbrellas and stood stoically on the bank. There wasn't any shelter and only a walk into Henley or up to Upper Thames RC secured a hot cup of coffee. Thank you so much for cheering us on!
Between divisions, Mark and Jo disappeared and we only realised where they were when we noticed Mark's car had completely steamed up. As Jo had, by this time, purchased a rather risque calendar of semi-naked Leander rowers (not in aid of Save the Hippo!), Lois quickly joined them, ostensibly to warm up! Actually, she was just contemplating where her training programme is going wrong as her rowers don't look quite like the pink palace's!
Back to the racing! The boats were very efficiently rigged, crews registered and blades put out in double quick time. Lois had to change her pep talk but, once again, this day trip was intended merely as another a training session, gaining experience of racing against some really good quality crews, on a fantastic stretch of river. We weren't expecting to win but wanted to row well and just have a enjoyable day.
The squad has been decimated over the weeks by various cold (man flu!) bugs and various upset tummies, meaning that most of the crews were scratch or had had only one or two outings together. We do like a challenge! We put a quad and two coxed fours into each division, half of which had to row out of category to enable us to enter everyone who wanted to race. Everyone seemed happy after their rows and they are becoming confident in analysing their row, giving their feedback and offering constructive criticism.
The youngsters deserve a particular mention as they all performed really well and are showing great potential. They have settled into the squad, becoming valued members of crews and are brilliant at giving us tips for Angry Birds! Oli, who has only been rowing for about 7 weeks can legitimately say he has raced at Henley and Rob even shed blood for his crew!
Rick celebrated an incident-free row, much to the relief of his crew and steered a fantastic course to win the category. We know there were only two in the category but you can only race who turns up and a win is a win! This is particularly notable though as this was a scratch IM2 4x and the crew is IM3 - just! Congratulations to Alex, Richard, Fergus and Rick!
Tom decided that his crew would enjoy seeing as much of the scenery as possible and worked out that the best way to get a really panoramic view was from the middle of the river. It wasn't until a marshal kindly invited him back onto the course (and out of the navigation channel!) that Tom reluctantly moved Hugh, Charlie and John out of the stream! However, his crew enjoy terrific views for most of the course and this tactic must have worked - they finished 12th in Division 1, only being beaten by some very handy crews from Brookes, Upper Thames and Henley! Swapping Tom for Ben in the 4+, and adding Jo in as cox, saw another creditable performance with them finishing 18th in Division 2.
All in all, a very good day and a very positive start to the season. Watch this space! Full results are available on the Upper Thames website.