Sudbury International Regatta - 2012

MIRC continued their excellent record at Sudbury this year with a tally of 10 wins.  7 to the Masters and 3 to the Juniors.  We won 14 races last year, but that was with the Senior squad, who did not show this year.  This year was arguably a more difficult field with a veritable sea of orange as a very strong Lea contingent descended on the Regatta en masse.

I don't know how they do it, but the organisers at Sudbury always manage to get the weather right for their regatta, so after a couple of showers in the morning, we were treated to a beautiful English summers day.

The Masters campaign started off badly with a loss in the defence of their Masters A Eights title against Lea.  Who beat us tactically, by racing at 48 at 3/4 slide.  We strode at 40 at full slide, but just could not compete with that stroke rate.  Something to think about next time.

As we are talking Sudbury here, the day was littered with incidents, in particular, multiple flirtations with the infamous banks going both for and against our crews.  Although it was clear that we have an edge from our own experience at Maidstone compared to many other crews.

The Masters B2x of James Knight and Lewin Hynes came across top quality opponents from Medway, who were attracted to the Bank like magnets.  After Medway's first stoppage, our young Masters, very gentlemenly it has to be said, stopped and then restarted once Medway had almost caught up.  This lasted a few more strokes before Medway hit the Suffolk bank again.  A rather unsatisfactory win.

Richard Huggins (Masters D1x) and Ray Philips (Masters E1x) showed their quality in the single sculls both winning their events comfortably.

They combined to beat Broxbourne in the semis of the D2x, only to be just beaten by Paul Kane and Mick Howe (MIRC/Ardingly composite) in the final.  Paul and Mick had beaten Huntingdon fairly easily twice (another gentlemenly rerow) to get there.

You would have thought Sudbury themselves would be immune to the dangers of the course, but after their Masters F crew beat our very own Tony Marshall and Keith Jones (rowing Vet G) in the heats, they in turn succumbed to their Suffolk bank in the final against our Robin Chapman and Roger Mobbs.



Roger then combined with Sue Mobbs in their now traditional Mixed Masters F 2x race against Sudbury (Masters D) in the best Masters race of the day, with Sudbury clawing back against the large handicap every step of the way, and Roger and Sue hanging in there for dear life.  They won by a length.



Finally, the newly promoted Masters crew from Chris Long's Weight Training squad (for want of a better name) played at Masters A IM3 4+.  They were either going to thrash or be thrashed in that event, and fortunately it was the former, as they were placed against a very Novice looking Gravesend crew, allowing them to win by the biggest margin of the day.




Jez Massey, Ali Machin, Mr Mayor, Dani James, Darren Prentice, Chris Long

The Juniors came with a large posse of youngsters, some of whom were enjoying their first regatta. None successful, but a great experience for them anyway.





Andrew Collins and Jake Harris won the J16 2x easily in an all MIRC final beating Broxbourne on the way.  Andrew also made the final of J16 1x eventually being beaten by the boy who beat Jake in the previous round. However the race with Jake was extremely close and the fastest single race of the whole day!





Beth Arscott and Lauren Gilchrist won by 2 lengths in the WJ16 2x, beating Rob Roy in the final.

Finally Beth and Lauren teamed up with Arabella Gordon-Reid and Tamsyn McConnchie in a WJ16 4x+.  Coxed by Connor Gilchrist, the crew racing as seniors (WIM3 4x+) beat Leicester RC handsomely by 3 lengths in a straight final.

Do we know him?

The now usual Veterans celebratory picture in the evening sun.

Another fun day out for us in Suffolk. A big thanks to the parents who helped out, and for towing from Chris and Darren.

Finally, there is some good video footage at Row TV HERE from a number of the Divisions.

Big thanks to the Facebooks of Andi, Jez and Darren for the piccies.

Henley Town & Visitors - 2012

Lewin Hynes was MIRC's only competitor at Henley Town & Visitors this year (I think this is known as "pothunting" - Ed), playing in the IM2 1x category.

Lewin demonstrated some assured sculling; winning comfortably and earning himself a very impressive trophy!

Here he is in the final in slightly choppy water - 7.17 secs in.

The Torch Comes to MIRC!

Early on the morning of Friday 20th July, the Olympic Torch went through Maidstone.

MIRC members had a big part to play as they formed part of the crew that rowed the "Jubilant" with Naval Cadets from the town centre to the club.  All along the way, the Torch was met by cheering crowds, and received at the club by a MIRC guard of honour.

Fantastic stuff.  See here some photos.  Thomas Colgey has more excellent photos of the event on his Flickr site HERE

Ryan selected for GB Junior Worlds Team!

After a particularly brutal trials procedure which included a time trial, a pairs matrix, 17 x 1500m pieces, 12 x 1250m pieces (plus all the paddling in between) and 8 (!) individual seat races over 5 days, I am delighted to inform the club that Ryan Mitchell has been selected to represent GB at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Bulgaria in August!

  Ryan - seen here in the 2 seat of the Wyfolds Four at Henley

The first day saw a time trial over 2km in pairs in which Ryan raced with a boy from King’s Chester. They finished in 12^th place which was enough to place them in the B matrix. After a further 5 races, swapping pairs partners every time, Ryan had climbed up to finish in 2^nd place. The boys then moved into 4s to start the seat racing procedure. Racing over 1500m, the boys are swapped at random times to see how much impact they have in each boat. A lucky break when a rower dropped out ill meant that Ryan stayed in the top boats and went on to win 3 seat races in a row, putting him in contention for the Worlds team. From then on it was a stressful few days as he was tested against those surrounding him in the rankings but ultimately he came out on top, claiming the last spot on the 14 man team (7 on each side) with the last race of the trials. The final crews will be decided next week as they move to the GB rowing lake at Caversham for some ‘paddling’.

Ryan produced an incredibly impressive display this week, working himself into the ground to create and then take the opportunity for the Worlds team. No other boy at the entire trial was seat raced or tested as much and he entirely deserves not only his place but the accolades placed on him by the other coaches. It was a pleasure to listen to their praise of his attitude, commitment, desire as well as his rowing ability. I’m sure the whole club will agree with me when I say this is a fantastic achievement and we wish Ryan all the best over the next few weeks as he prepares to compete for his country!

Helen Taylor

Henley Masters - 2012

Maidstone Invicta won its first Henley Masters Race (I think)  with the B4+ of James Knight, Will Purnell, Richard Ridgway and Lewin Hynes - coxed by Joanne Jarrett beating Upper Thames by all of 2 ft.

It was the culmination of 3 epic heats over two very soggy days, and an inauspicious start with Will and Joanne only just making it in time as the boat was being carried down to the boating area.

Hurrah!

The Masters D8+ were unfortunate in coming across Leander BC (Canada) with 3 ex-internationals in the boat, and were happy that the losing distance was no more than 3 lengths.  That said,  they seem to have plateaued (not entirely fair - this is Henley after all).  The serious season is now over, and some thought is going into next season's priorities.

An experimental D4x made an appearance (Henley not really being the place to experiment, but hey...) and early impressions that this had possibilities were justified with a relaxed performance, just losing to Vesta by a canvas in the first round.  Watch this space.

Finally, MIRCs next generation Olympians made a an appearance  to sniff out the turf and get a feel for their future stomping grounds!

Kingston Regatta - 2012

After a poor start to Sat racing the Junior squad finally got into the swing of things at Kingston winning 3 Events over the 2 days  

Sat afternoon J16 Boys with Tamsin coxing winning the Novice mens 4 in preparation for next weeks Nat Champs.

Sunday both Junior J16 B doubles getting to the final with Walton . Ross Porter and Jake Harris finally winning a close final by a length and Andrew Collins and Jack Grace a close 3^rd

Finally, J17 G Bella Fish and Sally McConchie won the J18 G quad with  Bewl in a composite crew.

Great end to a great weekend of rowing for the Junior Section. 

Will Porter

Henley Royal Regatta - 2012

MIRC continued to evolve into a club of substance last week, with 2 of 3 crews qualifying for Henley Royal.

The Wyfold 4- of Tim Grant, Morgan Hellen, Ryan Mitchell and David Porter were knocked out by Tyne RC in what looks like one of the closest races of Wednesday.  They were up at the Barrier and Fawley, but were rowed through and lost by 1/2 length.  Tyne's time was a very competitive 7.43 mins.

On the Friday, Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls were always going to be up against it, as they confronted the Italian national lightweight 2- in the Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup.  The Italians, L. De Maria & A. Dell'Aquil, who were Silver Medallists at the last World Cup, dominated the race to win by 5 lengths.  A tough draw in a tough event.

Well, it is Henley after all.  Just getting there for a club of our stature is a immensely positive statement, and with the quality shown by our J16s rowing in the Fawleys, the auspices for the next few years are good.

Meanwhile... on the river bank, MIRC members, old and current, were seen hobnobbing with the great and the good, and cutting a dash in numbers over the course of the 5 days... here's a selection stolen from FB as usual.

Dani and Andi

Andi and Sir Matthew!

Craig and David (wake up Craig)

 Huggy

 Chris

Mike, Roger and John

 Paul and friends from Holland

Sue

Henley 2012 Qualifiers

MIRC put in 3 crews for Henley Qualification this year, with excellent results:

The junior quad travelled to the Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers on Friday aiming to grab a place in the Fawley Cup. In blustery conditions, the predominantly J16 crew (in a J18 event), performed admirably, battling through the strong headwind against crews quite literally twice their size. In the end, the boys just missed out on qualification but finished 4th out of the non-qualifiers, 7s off and a fantastic 12/25 crews overall. Given that 3 of the 4 boys have 2 years left, it looks increasingly promising that we will have a Junior Fawley quad competing at Henley in the next couple of years.

 The quad was from stroke, Jack Grace, Jake Harris, Pierre Flasse, Ross Porter.

The Wyfold 4 of Tim Grant, Morgan Hellen, Ryan Mitchell and David Porter, meanwhile, has had some mixed results over the past few weeks. After a rigger fell off in the first 100m of their race at Marlow, they somehow still managed to pre-qualify for HRR and were therefore not required to race on Friday. This has allowed them more time to prepare and they have been cruising up and down the Medway, picking up speed daily since. The draw for HRR has now been made and they will be up against Tyne RC for their first race on Wednesday.

Meanwhile our coxless pair of Matt Nicholls and Chris Mollison successfully negotiated qualifying for the The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup in the dreadful stream and wind conditions.

Well done everyone, we look forward to seeing you at Henley!

Helen Taylor

Noticeboard

The old Noticeboard is now defunct and memberships have been closed.  The new Noticeboard is up, but not everyone has signed on yet.  Please endeavour to join as soon as possible, or you will MISS important club announcements.

Thanks

Marlow Regatta - 2012

MIRC crews were in action again over the Marlow weekend (17/18 June) with mixed results.

On Saturday, in difficult, windy conditions, Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls continued their excellent Henley campaign with a win in the Senior 2-



Our other 2 Henley hopeful crews had a little less luck.  The 4- with Morgan Hellen, Tim Grant, David Porter and Ryan Mitchell had equipment failure and did not race.

The J16 4x having an early challenge for Henley came in 4th in their heat of 5 in the J18 4x competition with a strong time of 7.16. Good prospects for the future.

On Sunday, two Masters crews played.  Ray Philips dipped his toe in a very strong Masters E1x field and came last. 

The Masters D8+ (ably coxed by Sue Hamilton on loan from Minerva Bath) had a strong row (according to the bow four) and a rushed rating of 36 (according to the stern four). Their new improved start paid dividends and they kept with the leaders: Bewdley and Marlow, all the way to the finish. A positive sign was that our traditional MIRC Masters fade seems to have been eliminated - and they had the fastest second half than the other crews. These 3 crews finished within 2 seconds of each other. Unfinished business for Henley Masters perhaps?

Nottingham City, Metropolitan and Peterborough Regattas - 2012

The regatta season continues with more success for MIRC with Novice crews "popping their cherries"!

Nottingham City Regatta

The seniors gained two victories at Nottingham.  Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls continued preparation for the henley campaign with a win in the IM1 2-, and the Novice Quad won convincingly with a fast time of 7.02 over the 2000m quad (pictures and names of the latter from someone would be good).

Metropolitan Regatta

No wins this time, but a couple of encouraging 2nd places at this top regatta.  Our Henley IM1 4- were beaten into second place by a dominant Isle of Ely/Rob Roy four, and Mollison and Nicholls came 2nd in the Senior 2-.  good preparation for Henley.

Peterborough Regatta

The Masters C crew of Jez Massey, Darren Prentice, Bob Barwick and Ali Machin - coxed by Dani James won their novice pot in the Open (Masters A) category.  A write up may be on its way...




Pictures stolen from people's facebooks.

Website Upgrade

The website upgrade is now pretty much complete.

A summary of the changes:

• A more colourful front page and new banner
• Other key MIRC sites can be accessed in the main menu at the top
• A search engine
• A translation engine (particularly useful if you speak Haitian Creole)
• A "Contact Us" form for those making inquiries. Very successful so far.  We have been flooded with queries.
• The old Noticeboard has been replaced with a new one embedded in the website (found as a tab on the top menu).  All members and parents of Juniors should really join asap to ensure you are kept up to date with club information.
• Information tabs at the top have been updated and are now pretty much current. 
• The competition page has a useful new calendar.  This will be regularly updated and you can use the link provided to incorporate it into your Outlook or web calendar.... no more wondering when the next race is!
• Our club crest has now replaced the horrible blogger icon in the address bar in your browser and in your bookmarks/favourites. If you can't see it, empty your browser cache, close the browser and restart.

Please do feel free to send in reports, and articles (not just rowing, but club social) and piccies. If you fancy doing more than the odd one, just ask and I can make you an author, so you can update the blog directly. Particularly welcome are reports from the Junior and Senior Sections.  We average about 40 unique visitors a day, and that number is growing, so people do use it.

Also, keep up to date with the latest news by becoming a follower (see the option at the
bottom of the sidebar) which will provide you with email alerts.

Cheers

Richard

The New Noticeboard

Dear all,

The old Yahoo Noticeboard as well as Lilac Ladies and Stones Rowers Noticeboards is now being retired to be replaced by one based on Google Groups.  It will work in very much the same way as the old Noticeboards, but will be much more user friendly, and better maintained.

It can be accessed from the main menu in the Rowing Club Blog (New Noticeboard).

It is really important that all members and parents of juniors to access it, so that you are kept up to date with latest announcements and information, as well as be able to get involved in group discussions, post messages, buy and sell - the usual.

To do so, you will need to follow the simple registration process:

When you first click on the "New Noticeboard" tab, you see this message:

Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club Forum

You must be signed in and a member of this group to view and participate in it.

Sign in to view this group

You will then be asked to "Apply for Membership".  Do so using ANY email address you like.  Remember to click the option: Email (Approximately 1 email per day) Send each message to me as it arrives.  This will ensure that you will get all messages posted to the forum via email as soon as they are posted.

If you are using a user name or email address which is not obvious who you are, please put your name in the box provided for additional information.  If you are a parent, please say so.

One useful tip is that you don't need to visit the Noticeboard to post a message.  Just email your message to:

maidstone-invicta-rowing-club-forum@googlegroups.com

and it will automatically post it for you.

The old Yahoo Noticeboards will be shutting down in the next few days, so please do not post any new messages there.  Use the new Noticeboard from now on.

Any questions/issues, please contact Richard Huggins on 07841 278489 or richardhuggins@hotmail.com