Two events, one weekend: Hampton and Star Rowing Club

A number of junior crews from St Neots Rowing Club competed at Hampton at the weekend. Hampton is an extremely prestigious event, closely monitored by the GB team to spot potential talent and as usual, St Neots did themselves proud against clubs and schools like Eton, Henley and the like, who have far more resources at their disposal.

Highlight of the day was the dominance of the girls in the under 15 group, where Voirrey Taylor continued her recent form at this level. Voirrey has won several times of late in her single, came a narrow 2nd at Henley, then a clear winner at this event in Hampton (pictured). Zoe Adamson came second in the same category, so clubs up and down the country will be trembling in their boots at the thought of Voirrey and Zoe rowing in a double.

Joshua Davies and Fergus Mitchell-Dwelly were described in blogs ahead of the event as a “lethal combination”, and so they proved again, beating old rivals Marlow and favourites Maidenhead, and coming a close 2nd on this occasion. They were the 2nd fastest boat of the day out of some 700 entries.

The girls’ quad of Voirrey Taylor, Kate Lyster, Molly Harper and Zoe Adamson had only trained once together as a crew prior to this event, but came 4th to the 3 Henley crews – five seconds between 1st and 4th, and a fraction of a second between 3rd and 4th. Henley considers themselves dominant in this category, but their coaches tell us they know St Neots are breathing down their necks now.

Last highlight was that Sam Clift and Adam Williams who came 3rd in their category, showing real promise for them in the future – both GB trialists earlier this year – watch this space.

The senior women put in winning performances at Star Rowing Club’s winter head on Sunday with the masters C coxed 8 crew and the masters D coxed 4 crew both winning their events. Conditions were pretty good with no wind, although it was chilly and grey. The ladies rated a consistent 31 and 32 strokes per minute respectively over the course which was just short of 2k.

The men’s crews fared less well in that they didn’t come home with winning pots, but they all gained in experience. The IM3 eight came 3rd out of five crews, losing by just nine seconds, the IM3 4 came 7th out of 8 in their first race in this combination, the Novice 4 came 5th out of 7 and John Knights came 5th out of 7 in the Masters F/G single event.

Club Captain Ali Young said:

Yet again the junior squad are putting in amazing performances and are keeping the rowing club very much on the map. It is testament to their continued dedication to hard training that is paying off. And the ladies haven’t done too badly either. It was good to see rowers from the club attending both events over the weekend.”

Fantastic wins at Huntingdon Head

St Neots Rowing Club’s senior crews were successful in four events at Huntingdon Rowing Club’s Head races in windy conditions on Saturday. The men’s masters C crew came in one second behind their opposition, but scored a win once the time handicap had been applied against the younger crew.

The men’s novice coxed four of Tim Neill, Ralf Felsner, Dave Bygraves, Matt Womack (pictured) and Libby Milne as cox, soundly beat their opposition by four minutes in their first head race win since coming together as a novice crew.

John Knights beat his opposition by some two minutes in the Masters F/G singles event and the men’s coxed eight beat Star Club to clock the fastest time of the day for the second year running, and this was despite a handshake with the bank during the race. The mixed IM3 quad recorded the sixth fastest time of the day, winning their event and with a substitute due to illness. The women’s coxed 4 came second in their event.

Club Captain Ali Young said:

The club has started the head racing season very well, for both junior and senior squads and this will enable all rowers to build up their winter training over the coming months.”

All in one day: Thames and Bedford

On the 13 October, St Neots entered two junior crews into the prestigious Pairs Head on the Thames. The weather was dreadful, with driving rain and tidal waves, and the two crews were up against the best in the country of all ages. Fergus Mitchell and Joshua Davies finished 24th fastest overall, and were the fastest J17-only crew on the day, which is an excellent result in difficult conditions. Nick Shorten and Adam Williams also posted a very good result at the top end of the table, despite colliding with a buoy in the turbulent water and almost capsizing.

On the same day the rest of the Junior Competitive Stream raced at Bedford’s Small Boats Head where again the weather was foul, with very heavy rain. Result of the day went to Voirrey Taylor and Louise Shorten who won by 32 seconds in their double scull, which is a huge margin of victory over a 1.8 km course, and significantly quicker than winning crews in older age-group divisions. Lauren Parren also had a very good row indeed, winning her category in a single scull in a respectable time. Rory Tynan and Adrian Vulsteke came a creditable second in their double scull, building on their first win at the St Neots Head two weeks previously. Finally Sam Clift, Olivia Hooper and Zoe Adamson each had good races in their single sculls and achieved good places despite the torrid weather conditions.

St Neots Small Boats Head 2013

St Neots Rowing club was blessed with beautiful weather and good river conditions for its annual Small Boats Head on Sunday. Crews from as far afield as Newark and Leicester, Norwich and Broxbourne joined many local clubs to take part in this 2,600 metre race downstream. Entries had to be closed early due to the large number of crews wanting to race. The event is seen as a good first head race experience for juniors in particular.

Held over 5 divisions, each with 50 or more boats, the crews set off at intervals to complete the course. The fastest time was set by the Norwich men’s J18 double in 8 minutes 58 seconds. St Neots juniors achieved 7 wins, the fastest of which was by Rory Tynan and Adrian Vuylsteke in their novice double in 9:28. Other wins went to Josh Davies in the J17 single, Lauren Parren and Louise Shorten in the women’s J16 double, and Voirrey Taylor and Zoe Adamson in the women’s J15 double. Of note was a further win by Voirrey in the women’s J16 single event as she beat off competition in an older age group. Zoe and Lauren both won their singles categories as women’s J15 and novice. Whilst not winning, Molly Harper came a respectful third in the women’s J15 singles category, beating 11 other crews.

Senior entries were fielded in both the men’s and women’s categories and this was the first event for the novice women’s coxed four, who put in a good time in their first race, just one year on since they first sat in a boat.

The winners’ pots were presented by the club’s new captain, Ali Young, who has just become the third lady captain in the club’s history.

Bowball to bowball racing at St Neots Regatta

St Neots Rowing Club held its annual two-day regatta on the River Great Ouse last weekend, playing host to rowers from across the UK, as well as crews from Spain and Germany. The good weather set the scene for some highly competitive racing and spectators were frequently regaled with ‘bowball to bowball’ commentary from club member Kevin Sadler as crews approached the finishing line at the rowing club.

Racing on Saturday was over a 1,000 metre course with a bend at 500 metres causing a few steering issues for some crews. The 210, side-by-side races were set off at three minute intervals, and the winners were presented with their hard-fought trophies by St Neots Mayor, Andrew Hansard. There was also the added spectacle of a Dakota flyover (pictured right) in the afternoon, taking a slight deviation from a nearby air display to honour the regatta and support the RAF rowers.

Voirrey Taylor and Louise Shorten winning their J15 double

The Women’s MastersD 4 in their final.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, spectators could see the whole of the shorter 500 metre course from the Regatta Meadow, with even more excitement as 300 races were held every two minutes. St Neots rowers entered 16 events across the junior and senior squads, of which 9 crews were successful in their finals. On Saturday, there were wins for the women’s J15 and J16 doubles, and the mixed IM3 eight. On Sunday, the successes ramped up as the afternoon progressed for the home club, starting with wins for the women’s Masters D eight, a very well deserved win for Molly Harper in her J14 single, the junior boys’ IM3 coxless quad, and J18A double, and the women’s J14 and J15A doubles.

The regatta is one of the biggest in the country, second only to Henley in size, and is a very popular weekend amongst the rowing community. The many spectators played a key part in spurring the rowers on and there were some extremely close and exciting finishes.

Club Chairman Mick Staddon said:

This has been a hugely successful weekend for St Neots Rowing Club, with amazing racing from all competitors. On behalf of the club I would like to thank the many volunteers involved in running the regatta, from the regatta committee who begin planning some 7 months in advance, to officials and club members, sponsors, family and friends, all of whom make this possible. It’s a huge feat to run an event of this size and we have received great feedback from visiting clubs commenting that this is one of their favourite events in the rowing calendar.”

 

St Neots Rowing Club gearing up for Regatta weekend

St Neots Rowing Club crews have been busy competing over recent weeks in the run up to their prestigious two-day regatta this coming weekend.

Many of the junior squad and one senior took part in Bedford Rowing Club’s sprint regatta, with the only senior representative, John Knights, recording a win in his Masters G single. In extremely hot conditions the juniors built on their experience and many of the races had good St Neots representation.

Last week saw the senior squad take part in the annual Cambridge Town Bumps event on the River Cam, rowing each evening between Tuesday and Friday. The two eights, a men’s and a women’s, had a tough week trying to maintain their high status built up over the previous two years, and weren’t able to retain the John Jenner Trophy for 2013. Both crews had an exciting week with the men recording one bump, one row-over and were bumped twice, one of which was almost certainly as the result of a broken seat which meant that the crew member couldn’t actually move on the slide. They finished in twelfth position out of 51 crews, whilst the women’s crew were bumped each night, getting to within half a length of the crew they were chasing on the last night, but were unable to to convert to a bump before being caught by a chasing crew. On the previous night they had a narrow escape from a following eight that was unable to get round one of the tight bends and which ended up grounded on the bank. They also finished in twelfth position out of 41 crews.

This coming weekend of 27 and 28 July sees St Neots Rowing Club running its annual two-day regatta on the Regatta Meadow, opposite the club. The two days comprise 1k, side-by-side 2-lane races on Saturday, with races every 3 minutes, and 500m sprints on Sunday every 2 minutes. Rowers from as far away as Maidstone, Tyne, Leeds and Nottingham will be competing, as well as crews from Barcelona and Germany. The age range spans from 12 to 80 years, proving that rowing truly is good for body and soul. The racing provides exciting spectator viewing from the meadow, with cheers for the home team really spurring them on. There is a licensed bar, as well as hot and cold refreshments throughout the weekend and full race commentary. St Neots Mayor Andrew Hansard, will be presenting the winning pots on Saturday, from 5.30 pm.

Club Chairman Mick Staddon said:

Both junior and senior squads have worked hard at their various events recently, with some great results all round. We look forward to this coming regatta weekend which is an important two days as we raise much needed revenue for the club to maintain and renew its boat fleet and keep the club buoyant. Huge thanks go to the 100 or so volunteers who make the weekend happen, and we would love to see strong support from local residents and visitors alike.”

St Neots women visit Henley Masters

St Neots Rowing Club sent a women’s masters D coxed four to Henley Masters last week.  The crew of Ali Brown at stroke, Lynne Taylor, Louise Rushworth and Helen Knowles at bow, were coxed by Rachel Tackley over the 1,000 metre course.  The crew had only recently been put together in this formation, but with coaching from Ed Porteus over the previous few weeks had worked hard to get a competitive four together.

Conditions for the races were extremely good with a very light tail wind, and in the beautiful setting at Henley. The event is a shortened version of the prestigious course used for Henley Royal Regatta and attracts overseas crews from as far afield as America and Australia.

The semi-final took place in soaring temperatures on Friday and the crew took a comfortable 3 boat length win over Minerva Bath in 4 minutes, 17 seconds.  They knew they had a greater challenge in the final on Saturday against Ross Rowing Club.  In even higher temperatures they put in a really strong challenge but lost by just half a length, having pulled back from being one length down at the 500m point.  Even the following umpire congratulated both crews on a good race, the winning time for which was 4.01, so the St Neots crew proved that they were competitive.

The senior squad will be taking part in the exciting Cambridge Town Bumps this week, with a men’s and women’s crews in the top divisions each evening from Tuesday to Friday.

The weekend of 27 and 28 July sees the club hosting its two-day regatta weekend and hopes to see many St Neots townsfolk supporting their local club by sharing in the fun and cheering on the home side.

St Neots maintains the winning streak

Over consecutive recent weekends St Neots Rowing Club has seen a remarkable chain of success with wins for both juniors and seniors.

The junior squad had a very successful time at the National Schools Regatta in Nottingham at the end of May. Eight crews were entered, although two did not race due to a broken boat and the atrocious weather conditions on the Friday when racing was abandoned for the day. However, of the remaining six crews, four got to the semi finals, and two to the finals with one crew winning GOLD medal as well as the Tristan Hewins Commemorative Cup. Voirrey Taylor and Zoe Adamson (pictured left) had previously won gold medal in their double scull at the national inter-regional competition, but the National Schools Regatta is considered to be the highest level junior competition in the UK, and so winning GOLD confirmed them as the top crew in their category in the UK currently. These results are a remarkable achievement for a small provincial club like St Neots with limited resources, competing against the very wealthy schools and prestigious rowing clubs such as Henley, Walton, Eton and their like.

Peterborough was the next event for both junior and senior squads, with a well deserved win for John Knights in his masters G/H single sculls event (pictured above). Fergus Mitchell and Josh won their composite J16 double and Olivia Hooper (pictured above) had her first win in a composite W J15 double. Other crews competing were the men’s masters B novice coxed 4 (pictured above) who came a very close second by 1.5 seconds in their first race, most of the crew having only started rowing last year. Mia Hartwell and Natasha Wilson came second in the women’s IM3 pair, having only recently taken up racing in a pair. Club captain Alistair Mackie came third in his heat of the novice single sculls, having put in a good race sitting in second for the most part.

And last weekend saw a smaller contingent of juniors and seniors race at Star Rowing Club’s Regatta over a 1200m two lane course in Bedford.  Molly Tackley and Kate Lyster (pictured left) easily won in their J14 double heat and by 1.5 lengths  in the final, whilst Alison Brown and Helen Knowles recorded an emphatic win in the Masters E double category. The women’s masters D coxed 4 put up a good race with a strong finish but ran out of water and lost by one length.

Club Captain Alistair Mackie said:

The club has been well represented over recent weeks at various events with the juniors doing particularly well.  They are certainly getting noticed and bringing home the Commemorative Cup from Nottingham was a real coup.  The commitment and training is certainly paying off and well done to all the winners.”

National Schools Regatta: the full story

St Neots Rowing Club Juniors had a very successful time at the National Schools Regatta at the last weekend in May. Eight crews were entered – two did not race, with one due to a broken boat, and the other due to the atrocious weather conditions on the Friday when racing was abandoned for the day. However, of the remaining six crews, four got to the semi finals, and two to the finals with one crew winning GOLD medal as well as the Tristan Hewins Commemorative Cup. Voirrey Taylor and Zoe Adamson had previously won gold medal in their double scull at the national inter-regional competition, but the National Schools Regatta is considered to be the highest level junior competition in the UK, and so winning GOLD confirmed them as the top crew in their category in the UK currently.

These results are a remarkable achievement for a small provincial club like St Neots with limited resources, competing against the very wealthy schools and prestigious rowing clubs such as Henley, Walton, Eton and their like.

Friday

Voirrey Taylor and Zoe Adamson won GOLD medal and the Tristan Hewins Commemorative Cup in their WJ14 2x, beating off strong competition from Glasgow Academy and Aberdeen Combined Schools. The weather was bad and deteriorating with significant waves and heavy downpours of rain, so unfortunately racing was abandoned in the afternoon, and Louise Shorten and Lauren Parr did not get to race in their WJ15 2x where they would have been expected to medal. A cold and wet overnight campsite followed.

Saturday

Fergus Mitchell, Adrian Veylsteke, Sam Clift, Rory Tynan raced in their J16 4x- reaching the semi finals where they were knocked out, but their semi final time was the 6th fastest of the day. So for a new crew, in context, that puts them 6th fastest in the country, so bags of potential. Adam Williams and Nick Shorten also reached the semi finals in their CH 2x, but did not have a good start to the race and ended up coming 4th in their semi – poor starts were a feature of several boats and something we will work on. Ellie Sadler and Olivia Hooper then exceeded expectations in their WJ16 2x with a tremendous performance in a highly competitive field to reach the semis and post the 14th fastest time in their category on the day.

Sunday

Disaster struck – Adam Williams, Ethan Page, Nick shorten and Bryce Taylor would have been expected to make the final and potentially medal in their CH 4x-, but the boat broke at the start of the race, with the footplate stretchers ripping off and no repair possible in time – real shame that they were let down by poor equipment, and so an application for a new 75kg 4x- can be expected at Rowing Committee. If we are building a nationally competitive junior squad, we need the equipment to support them. This is especially true as we are targeting a Henley boat in 2014. The boys were devastated.

Then Louise and Lauren finally got to race, with Voirrey and Zoe making up a J15 4x+ coxed by Molly Tackley, winning their semi final in 8m9s which was the equal fastest qualifying time with Henley. Then the weather again took its toll – whilst Henley and other top clubs rested in their air conditioned tents and buses, our girls sweated under canvass on a very hot & sunny day for 4 hours, and it showed in the final where they finished in a slower time of 8m22s – had they repeated their performance in the semi, they would have got the silver medal position, 1 second behind Henley.

Lastly, the ever improving Fergus showed us just how much he was improving by putting up a fantastic race in the semi finals in the J16 1x catagory. He came third in a very close finish, narrowly beaten by Josh Davies who is also a member at St Neots, but was rowing for Huntingdon due to competition rules. So Fergus didn’t make the final, but Josh did where he put in a very good performance but unfortunately did not medal.

In summary, St Neots Rowing Club juniors continue to make waves punching above their weight and establishing themselves as highly credible competitors at National level. This is in line with SNRC Club Development Strategy.

 

British Masters gold and silver win for St Neots women

St Neots Rowing Club sent 5 crews to the British Rowing Masters Championships at Nottingham last weekend. Two of the crews brought back a gold and silver medal after a day of beautiful rowing conditions and fierce competition.

The gold medal was won by the victorious novice ladies crew of Rachel Tackley, Lynne Taylor, Louise Rushworth and Ali Young, coxed by Sarah Porteus. These ladies have been aiming to lose their novice status for some time and this was also a successful return to the crew by Ali Young after injury. They dominated the race throughout and were well ahead of the second placed crew with a time of 4 minutes 15 seconds over the 1km course.

The silver medal was won by the women’s Masters C crew of Tash Wilson, Lynne Taylor, Louise Rushworth and Helen Knowles, again coxed by Sarah Porteus. The race for second place was a strong one and the ladies pulled away strongly from the third placed crew as the finish approached in 4 minutes flat.

The ladies Masters D eight came 6th in their final, a race where the last three boats were separated by just .007 of a second, and it was unlucky that the eight came at the wrong end of this time in 3.26. Sarah Porteus, Sarah Davies, Dione Page and Ali Brown joined Helen Knowles, Tash Wilson, Lynne Taylor and Louise Rushworth in this crew, coxed by Rachel Tackley.

Ali Brown and Helen Knowles went in the first race of the day in their Masters E double final, coming in fifth. Their performance showed that improvements have been made since their previous race last year, with a time of 4.47.

The only male to race was John Knights who came in 4th in the heat and 6th in the final in his Masters F category of single sculls. John’s comment on finishing was ‘That was hard work’.

Club Chairman Mick Staddon said:

I am so pleased that the novice ladies have finally won a race and lost their novice status. It’s always a pivotal moment in the rowing world and the ladies have received the club’s traditional ceremony of being thrown in the river.”