Springtime Red Rose - Sat. March 29th 2014

It was a very pleasant Spring morning down on the river bank at Halton Training Camp. It was also very busy when we started arriving from 08:45-09:15. A Royal Marine convoy of various heavy duty vehicles and equipment had arrived the day before and was just departing en route for Scotland. In addition, a squad of cadets was marching back and forth.

DY had organised a big group of boys to compete in this Red Rose event and boys were expected to row twice, if possible, in both Divisions. He had some extra juggling of crews to do at the last minute but it all worked out well. A J14 octuple in both Divisions was a first for the event. LUBC and JOG crews were somewhere in the fleet of boats.

J14 Octuple (8x+)

The J16 4x- A of J.Mapp, A.Fyfe, D.Kingcox, and O.Tiddswell led the charge, racing up the river from John O'Gaunt boat house to just below the Motorway bridge. On the return leg, there was an unusual easterly and warmish tail wind pushing the boats back with the stream.

A brief pause after Div 1

Once boats returned, there was not much time to recover before swapping crews and boats and heading off again for the 2nd Division. It was good to see the octuple in action. The stern section was boosted by having the J14 boys who had raced at York a fortnight ago. Their experience helped the bow four. For some boys, it was their first experience of a race.

Off again, for Div 2 (J16 4x-B)

The J16 4x- A crew came out as the overall winners based on handicapped time with M.Ashall in his 1x finishing second overall. Well done to all crews for some good racing. As soon as I get the 'official' results, I will post them here. It was great to see J14 parents coming down to support. The squad is developing well.

Many thanks to DY for organising the crews and to RGT, Ciro and our latest helper, Radu (a trainee teacher & rower from Romania), for giving up their Saturday morning so that the boys could race.

Has anyone got any photos of the start/ finish area? Thanks to Mr.Gelder for supplying photos. I will try and put some more up here later.

Results. Note that the ranking is based on a handicap which is based on age,sex, boat type.

I must admit that I have not been through the calculations myself to get to these ranks!

Summer Term Regattas - 2014

Several events have been added to the School calendar for next term. As usual, they need to be firmed up next term. At this stage, there is a commitment to go to Strathclyde and Nat.Schools.

1. Strathclyde Regatta (Glasgow). 
Multi-lane event over 1500m. Sunday 27th April. First weekend back after the Easter break.
http://www.scottish-rowing.org.uk/index.php/news/293-strathclyde-park-regatta-2014

Crews aimed at: J14x+, J16 4x-, Nov 2x, 4+

LRGSBC at Strathclyde Regatta 2010

2. Merseyside Regatta (provisional?) - Saturday 3rd May, although it is the weekend after Strathclyde.

3. National Schools Regatta (Nottingham at the National Water Sports Centre).
Friday 23rd May - Sunday 25th May. First weekend of the Half Term holidays.
http://www.nsr.org.uk/

LRGSBC at NSR 2010

Crews aiming for this event: J14 4x+, J16 4x-

4. Durham Regatta (14-15th June)
http://www.durham-regatta.org.uk/

5. York Summer Regatta (June 22nd) - Provisional. The day after Open Day which might mean we cannot do it.
http://www.ycrc.co.uk/

6. Barbecue Row Regatta (Founder's Day) - Saturday 5th of July. The Tour de France is in the UK this weekend, so we need some feedback about the suitability of holding this regatta on this date.

Yorkshire Head 2014

Up at 04:00, depart Old School House Car park at 05:30, trailer hitched 06:00 and on the motorway at 06:15. LRGSBC run to a schedule.We got the message at 04:00 that Alex Titterington was down with tonsilitis and so mulled over the problem. Who would cox the Novice Mens coxed quad? We were parked up in St.Peter's School playing fields in York by 09:20 and the next phase of the operation began. Fourteen boys and three staff plus parents gathered by St.Peter's Boat House to prepare boats and crew.

LRGSBC entered two crews in the morning Division of the The Yorkshire Head. Our J16 coxless quad of A.Fyfe, J.Mapp, T.Nixon and O.Tiddswell were the first crew to boat, followed by our Novice Mens coxed quad of C.Stuart-Burgess, J.Unwin, R.Bell, D.Hammond and D.Yates (cox).



Conditions were good with a cross tail wind and following stream to push the crews down the 5300m course on the river Ouse. The course has several points of interest to crews and spectators, not least, the tight 'Z' bend before approaching Clifton bridge which crews have to navigate around whilst racing each other.

The J16 s were racing against four other crews including a very big and hirsute crew from Doncaster Rowing Association. The Novice quad were up against crews from York City RC and Talkin Tarn RC. It was quite a sight to see over 100 crews charge down the river and through the centre of York.

Both crews had good races and our hopes were up for the Novice Quad which sculled a consistently strong race, and encouraged by an enthusiastic cox.

Once both crews returned, we set about preparing the J14s for their race in the afternoon division. It would be another good spectacle especially as one of the top School Boat Clubs in the country, Hampton, had turned up with two eights. Our J14 coxed quad of T.Kerr, W.Burrow, C.Whittaker, B.Heseltine and C.Hopkinson (cox) enjoyed rowing up to the start beside them. Mr.Yates followed on his bike.



The J14s set off and it looked as if the York City crew had a strong start but faded. LRGSBC had a good row and all was going well until they met a women's quad. Details are a little unclear at this stage but they sustained a bent rudder and a broken rudder wire. With no working rudder, Mr.Yates thought the game was over but he was amazed how C.Hopkinson and the crew managed to get round the 'Z' bend and carry on in a relatively straight line. Coming up to the finish, I could not notice from my position that the crew had a problem. They looked the stronger of the crews and had plenty of power towards the end of the race.

Results:

Div 1

J16 4x-

1st Doncaster Schools Rowing Association 18:08

2nd LRGSBC 18:48

3rd Bradford ARC 18:58

4th Doncaster SRA 19:26

Mens Novice Coxed quad

1st LRGSBC 19:36

2nd Talkin Tarn RC 19:57

3rd York City RC 20:33

Div 2

J14 4x+

1st York City RC 21:13.9

2nd LRGSBC 21:14.5

6/10ths of a second between the crews! I'm not sure that you can measure a Head Race to that degree of accuracy. Very good without a rudder. Well done to all the boys and a big thank you to staff and parents for their support. We got back by 22:00, slightly over schedule, after waiting for results that did not appear until today. They can be found at http://www.yorkshirerowing.co.uk/Yorkshire_Head.html