National Veteran Rowing Championships 2009

Sunday 14th June saw us take part in the National Veteran Rowing Championships for the first time. A big day for the progress of the club and especially for the crews taking part.

Women’s Veteran B IM3 4+
A relatively slow start saw the women’s crew (Helen J, Paula, Becks and Clare, with Steph coxing) lagging behind by some two seconds at the halfway stage. They then staged an amazing fight back, pulling back on Eton Excelsior with every stroke, with neither crew being sure who had won the event as they finished. The Eton crew got the verdict, but by an agonising 1/2 second (later given as 1/3 second!). A truly determined comeback that must have given the other crew a very big scare. Disappointing not to win but a really impressive performance to finish second.

Men’s Veteran C IM3 4x-
Another fast start in the quad saw us in early contention. Unfortunately, lack of race practise caught up with us and we suffered a few poor strokes that dropped us well off the pace. Good experience but probably a bit too soon for us as a crew.

Men’s Veteran D 2x-
Courtesy of Pierre-Yves’ and my win last week, Steve and I had to switch from the Vet D IM3 category to the much more daunting Open Vet D. This also compressed our racing time – leaving us with just 27 minutes between the quad and the double! Still, we had a reasonable start keeping with the other three crews for the first couple of hundred metres. By halfway, we were trailing but a good second 500m saw us pull clear of Twickenham, to finish third overall. Well pleased with the result! Many thanks to the women’s crew who helped with our rapid swap – couldn’t have done it without them

See here for results

Star Regatta 2009

It’s that time of year with events coming thick and fast. This week-end saw us competing at two separate events, the local Star Regatta on both the Saturday and Sunday and, for the first time, the National Veteran’s Regatta on Sunday (new post to follow).

Star Regatta saw four wins over week-end, two on each day. Showing a major step up, three of these were from the Junior squad.

Saturday

Both of today’s victories came courtesy of the Junior squad, with wins in the J17 1x and J17 4x- categories. The only two (disappointing turnout) senior crews both lost their straight finals. Steve and I lost (at IM2 2x-) to two huge “kids” from St. Paul’s School, by seven seconds (which we thought wasn’t bad as we were about three times thier age!) while Paul and Nick lost out to a very strong Star boat in the IM2 2- category.

As well as the Junior wins, John also managed to capsize while leading his final, having won two rounds to get there!

Sunday

The wins today came from Salv at J17 1x and the Mixed IM3 4+ crew. Again, far more junior boats out today (although us Vets were up at Nottingham). The Mixed crew was almost the ultimate “scratch” crew; two of the crew had never met before, they had to borrow blades (thanks Nicky at Star for sorting this out) and use three seats from the Junior’s quad plus one borrowed from Bedford School! Still despite this, they clearly gelled as a crew and dominated their final to pick up the nice Star medals.

Results already on-line at Star Club

Peterborough Spring Regatta 2009

Following last week-end’s glorious weather at Dorney, for the Met, the Peterborough Spring Regatta took place in more typical British Spring weather. Cold, grey and wet, especially Sunday. Still, the racing more than made up for it, with some excellent races on Saturday, culminating in two wins on Sunday.

Saturday

First up were the Women’s IM3 4+ crew (Helen J, Paula, Becks and Clare with Lindy making a coxing début). Despite a very early clash of blades with Parr’s Priory they kept their nerve to finish second and secure a place in the repêchage. Next up were the Men’s IM3 4+ crew, a first outing together for Henry, Will, Dan and Pete, Karen coxing them. This was a really exciting race with a the guys making an incredible last charge to force a photo finish with Norwich – that last effort was worth it as they took the heat win and progressed to the final.

The W.IM3 4+ crew were then back in action in their repêchage, but were dropped to third place behind strong crews from Broxbourne and Trafford. Quite a hard race for the spectators with both us and Trafford in virtually identical black/green kit!

In the IM3 4+ final, the guys trailed in last – still, a good showing in their first race together (especially as Dan was trying so hard he came off his seat!).  Lots of potential here.

The last races of the day were the IM3 4x- boat (Pierre-Yves, Simon, me and Steve); a good start kept us in contention early on but we fell away in the latter stages of the race to finish last in a straight final. This race also took the edge off of Steve and I who raced just 40 minutes later in the Vet D 2x-, again trailing in last. Our final crew of the day were Nick and Paul as an IM2 2- pair, finishing second in their final (OK, only three boats and one was disqualified, but they were second!

No wins today but some very good performances, especially from the men’s four.

Sunday

Another Women’s IM3 4+ crew out today, this time the crew that finished fourth at the Met, Charlene, Jo, Lindy and Steph, with Paula making her coxing bow. Quite a surprise for some of the crews from yesterday as they thought it was the same boat (especially one Uni crew overhead saying they had an easy run as they’d beaten MK the day before…). This crew just blew away the opposition in the first round, finishing very clear of the others to move through to the semi-final. Putting down a marker, they were the only crew below 2 minutes in this round.

The second round race was pretty much a repeat of the first; dominating the race from the start to finish at least a length clear of second; again, the only boat under 2 minutes in the semis, this put them into pole position for the final.

Pierre-Yves and I took advantage of a break in our crews racing to get out for a quick practice session. We figured this was a good idea as we’d not raced together before and hadn’t been out in a double together for many months. A good session with quite a few starts thrown in – this was to pay dividends later.

We returned to the course to go out in the IM3 4x- crew that had raced the previous day; another good start saw us in early contention but our lack of race practice as a crew showed and after a couple of mistakes we dropped back to third. This was good enough to see us through to the final though, the first time we’d not finished last so another indicator of progress.

Straight out of the quad and into the double saw Pierre-Yves and I going off as a Vet Novice 2x-. The practice really paid off as we hit an almost perfect start which took us a couple of lengths clear. We were then able to sit on the other crews through the race, finishing first easily. A very nice feeling, watching the other crews trying to hunt us down – not been there before!

Just 40 minutes to recover and Pierre-Yves and I were back in the final of the VN 2x-. Another great start put us in the lead, although Beccles pushed us very hard over the first 200m we powered away to win and de-novice. Pretty proud of our time as well, at 1m 52s in the final. A really great feeling coming through the last 100m knowing we’d got this in the bag (barring any coconut related incident).

Having abandoned Steve for Pierre-Yves, he’d entered as a Vet D 1x in his first solo race for some time. A strong sculling performance saw him come second, still very much in contention with the leader.

It was now time for the W.IM3 4+ final. Clearly their performances had fired up the other crews and DMU flew off the start to hold the lead for the first half of the race. Our girls’ power and strength asserted itself in the second half and they stormed through to take the win with Jo de-novicing at last (15 pots, no points!). Again, they posted a sub 2-minute time – the only crew to break that barrier and they did so in each race.

Our final event of the day was the IM3 4x- final. Very similar to the other races, a good start but fading away during the race.

So, overall a pretty good week-end for the club in general and me in particular! I think I’ve just set a club record as the oldest person to de-novice; I suspect this one will stand for a long time! Sets us up well for the Nat Vets next week (although I’ve just blown our IM3 status!)

Photos on line now at MKRC fotopic site – do check out just how relaxed Pierre-Yves is in both races….

Metropolitan Regatta 2009

Two of the women’s crews took part in this year’s Metropolitan Regatta, held in glorious weather at Dorney. A very early start, leaving MKRC at 6:00 (think about what time we had to get up!) and a easy run down to Dorney got us there in plenty of time for registration by 8:00. Both crews were rowing in IM3, in Heats 2 and 3 (of 3).

First off was the crew of Charlene, Jo, Lindy and Steph, with Yemin coxing. Despite not having their best start, they soon stormed into the lead and proceeded to dominate the heat, winning easily to go through to the final.

The second crew (Helen J, Paula, Becks and Clare, coxed by Karen) didn’t fare as well, but had their preparation badly disrupted by getting a ridiculous official warning for being late to the start. The reason they were late – another marshal prevented them from rowing down. So, they either were late and got a warning or ignored a marshal and, er, got an official warning. It’s called communications guys! This really upset the crew and they had a poor start and struggled to make up the lost ground and came in last of the four boats. Despite this, a good showing considering they qualify easily as a Vet B crew!

So to the final. I wasn’t actually there (we’d shot off for a training session at Danesfield) so this is a second hand report. A better start this time saw them well in the leading pack, with them placed second at the halfway stage. The eventual winners, Edinburgh Uni, were well ahead but our crew fought all the way through to the finish, finally losing out to Marlow and Cardiff Uni but beating Star and Bristol convincingly. They felt it was a good race but reflected on the lack of distance training we can get in – if we had a 2k stretch to train on, maybe they wouldn’t have been rowed through at the end? Still, coming in as the second club crew at the Met is very, very impressive. Nice that a coach from one of the other Unis actually took time out to say how well they rowed.

Photos now on-line at mkrc.fotopic.net

Cambridge Sprint Regatta 2009

After being on coxing duty yesterday at Bedford, it was Steve and my turn to race today. Second visit to Cambridge, and an opportunity to get a check on progress from our first race together at last year’s regatta.

As we were the only crew with competition (the Vet C Quad and Novice Double had to be scratched – thanks ARA, new rules really helping out) we car topped the double rather than trailering. Great fun sticking this great long black boat on top of a Vectra.

Anyhow, I digress. Although we’d had some good starts and lengths in training yesterday, it all went to pot in the race. A poor-ish start left us frantically trying to catch up, which is pretty hard going over 400m. We took time to settle but in the latter half of the race finally got it together and then started pulling back the deficit. Unfortunately, a case of leaving it too late and we lost to the Cantabs/Nemesis Vet D composite double by 1 1/2 lengths.

Taking some comfort from this (my optimistic streak showing through) it was a lot better row than last year. Just need to sort out my starts and we’ll be there!

Definitely an event to make a bigger effort at next year. Lots of mixed events, which don’t attract points for winning, plenty of novice crews as well, so a good “fun” event and a great first race for new members. A nice location, and such fun to watch some of the mayhem at the start!

Results are available here.

Photos now on-line at mkrc.fotopic.net

Bedford Amateur Regatta 2009

Three womens’ boats out today, all rowing at IM3 (shows the growing strength and scale of the ladies squad though). In the inevitable good weather (OK, just HOW do Bedford do this), all three crews had second round races within minutes of each other – as one of the crews joked, just like buses, none for ages then three come along together.

The first crew off had a hard fought, close race, losing to the eventual winners, St. Edwards School (given as one length but I’m certain we had an overlap on them!) – disappointing especially as this was far from their best performance, also not helped by my steering them into a couple of buoys. The second crew off were more successful, beating Champion of the Thames by two lengths before the last boat off also lost out, against the losing finalists from Dame Alice.

In the third round the ladies went down to the Dame Alice crews, this time by (allegedly) 3 1/2 lengths – we were very surprised at this as it certainly seemed a lot closer.

Not as successful as previous events this year but some strong performances. All crews agreed that lack of starts in real events didn’t help, neither did being behind on the stagger.

No photos from me today – coxing in the first race and, hate to admit it, forgot my camera! Well, Steve and I had sneaked in a practice at Caldecotte first thing as we didn’t have to be at Bedford until quite late (made a VERY nice change).

However, some photos now available, courtesy of Charlene’s husband Rob. These are in the usual place, mkrc.fotopic.net

Great to see Bob all togged up in his finery as he attended his first event as an umpire. Well done to him – although a bit miffed he wouldn’t let me have a head start in our race…

No mens crews out – ominously, no competition for either the Vet C quad or the J18 quad. First case of the new rules killing competition?

Bedford Regatta results can be found here

Abingdon Head 2009

Another successful day for the Women’s IM3 4+ crew saw them winning their category at our second visit to Abingdon. Showing real, solid progress as a club since last year (see last year’s entry) we entered twice as many crews and posted some very good results as well as the ladies second win in a row.

Division 1 saw the J18 2x double of Sal and John post a reasonable time in their first outing together (although see the adjusted times guys – you won’t be happy!). Steve and I were in the Vet C/D/E 2x class, rowing as Vet D. We had a really good row, with Steve steering a great line that saw us in an early lead, beating some respectable crews (Canterbury Pilgrims, Upper Thames). We finished second overall after the handicapping was applied, falling to a Vet E double from Upper Thames – we were the fastest Vet D crew of the day though, a really massive improvement from our first go last year. Really pleased!

Up in Division 2 were the two Women’s IM3 4+ boats. Mixed fortunes here, with the Charlene/Jo/Lindy/Steph boat storming away and posting a time of 8:57 – 21 seconds ahead of the second IM3 crew and a time that puts them in the mix for IM2. The other boat of Helen/Paula/Becks/Clare had an unfortunate close encounter of the barge kind and this pushed them down the field to finish 4th in 9:45 – still ahead of two other crews, despite losing probably half a minute.

Division 3 saw me back in rowing action (having coxed the winning women in the last division). This time a Vet C quad, with Simon making his MKRC competitive debut. A good solid row saw finish last of the four crews on handicap but a very encouraging start. Our other boat out in this division was a J18 quad, another first as this was a composite crew with Hollowell. Sadly, this crew also had a close encounter, this time with the bank and this clobbered their time.

The final division had me coxing again, the victims on this occasion being a Women’s Novice 4+. First time that this crew (Jo/Lou/Terri/Yemin) had raced together and they pulled out a good row to finish 4th equal, beating many other big names. Only Lou’s second race, too. John showed his continuing progress, to finish second in J16 1x.

Overall, a very satisfying day out for the club and me in particular (first coxing pot!). The weather was great – although chilly at first it turned into a really hot sunny day (having to explain tan at work today) and the location really nice. The course is a good one too; a mix of some really nice wide straights and some very challenging corners. Although the boat handling was every bit as good as last year, the marshalling at the start could have been better. To be fair, the marshals weren’t helped by the total ineptness of some crews. Some of my favourites were the two crews desperate to get to the front of our division – only to then block the river when the division started as they were out of order, the school crew who were across the river aimed at another boat when the cox called for “whole crew, normal rowing” (fortunately, the crew ignored him) and the cox determined to fit his four in a space not big enough for a single. Then there were the J14/J15 quads….

Results

Crew	Position
Vet C/D/E 2x	2nd of 7
Vet C/D/E 4x-	3rd of 3
W.IM3 4+	1st of 7
W.IM3 4+	4th of 7
W.NOV 4+	4th= of 10
J16 1x	2nd of 4
J18 2x	3rd of 3
J18 4x-	No competition

The results are now online at Abingdon RC Results

My photos are now on-line at MKRC fotopic site, with others from Big Blade

Bedford Spring Fours & Small Boats Head 2009

A bit of a mixed day over at Bedford yesterday, for the Spring Fours and Small Boats Head. Somehow, Bedford RC managed to conjure up a really nice spring day, bright and sunny and virtually no wind. The river conditions were pretty near perfect, flat with very little stream running.

We put in a gratifyingly large entry, no less than sixteen crews being entered. These came from all the squads and had a good mix of sweep and scull, singles, doubles, pairs and fours.

Top results of the day came in the Women’s Intermediate 3 Coxed 4s. Not only did we win the category, but also came second, sixth and eighth (out of ten entries). Really good stuff, illustrating the strength of the ladies squad. The other results were:

IM2 4+ 6th (of 11)
J18 4x 5th (of 5)
J16 2x 4th (of 6)
IM2 2- 3rd (of 4)
J18 2x 4th (of 4)
VetD 2x 3rd (of 5)
J16 1x 5th and 7th (of 11)
VetD 1x 3rd (of 4)
J18 1x 8th and 9th (of 9)
Nov 2x oh dear….

Overall, pretty good and showing some good progress by the various crews. The Junior results look a bit disappointing in some events, but these crews included a couple of guys in their first ever events, so not unexpected. The IM2 4+ crew may have rowed together once before but I wouldn’t swear to it; certainly Rick hadn’t been in any boat for about six weeks, so their row (which they described as “chunky”) was pretty impressive.

The Novice 2x of Will and I failed to finish the course. In fact, we didn’t get past the first bridge… and found out the hard way that a bridge is an awful lot harder than our boat. I managed to get the line all wrong and we hit a pillar at race speed; this resulted in a very interesting new shape for my bowside rigger and left us limping back to Bedford Rowing Club to get out and carry the boat back to the trailer park. Not a good race. And on my birthday too.

Double rigger after losing argument with bridge

A special mention for Jo – having put in two hard races she then stepped in for a third when Terri was unable to row through injury.

As usual, Will Everitt at Bedford has excelled himself and the full results are already online here. My photos are also now on line at mkrc.fotopic.net and for the juniors at mkrowing-juniors.fotopic.net

Evening training again!

A combination of clocks going back and a nice day allowed us to escape the “joys” of circuits last night and get in our first water session in the evening this year. Nice to see so many small boats out, a four, a dobule and no less than four singles. Mind you, spotting the singles (and our “stealth” double – see pictures to see what I mean) in the gloom at the end was quite challenging.

A good extra session ahead of Bedford this week-end, allowing Will and I to get out in the double AHEAD of the race (not like usual) and Steve to dust off his single.

Can certainly tell it’s coming up to the Easter break as well. Suddenly our ranks are swollen by the (very welcome) return of the tax dodgers.

For info really, if you’re reading this and aren’t a member but would like to learn to row and/or scull, MKRC are running our first ever “Learn to Row” course, starting tomorrow morning. So, if you fancy a go, e-mail bob@mkrowing.org or just pitch up.

Rowing Challenge March 2009

We held our first ever rowing challenge today – the aim was to do 150,000 meters on the ergos in 5 hours. We did this with over five minutes to spare!
The event took place at Kingston District Centre, MK (courtesy of Tesco Kingston). Starting at 10:00, we rowed 1,000 meters at a time, swapping over and rotating through the members who were there. The split times held up well through the day, obviously dropping towards the end. Can’t remember who did what distances but thanks to everyone who took part. Special mention to Tom, Lou’s son, who put in some (very welcome) late 1ks despite not rowing for us.
From memory, those who took part were (let me know if I’ve missed anyone):
Kirsten (8k), Nick (6k), John C (1k), John D (15k), Kieran (3k), Bethany (3k), Pierre-Yves (15k), Paula (15k), Jo (4k), Clare (15k), Steve (15k), Mariano (9k), Lou (9k), Tom (5k!), Mike (9k) and Becks (3k). Oh, and me (15k).
Photos on line already at MKRC Fotopic site and the MKRC Juniors Fotopic site