Winter is still very much with us - ice on the canal, snow on the landing stage and another weekend with a cancelled head.
In preparation for Worcester Head, last Thursday, a large group of us loaded five fours and an eight onto the trailer in the driving snow. Come Friday we heard that the head was cancelled because of predicted cold water – Saturday turned out warm and sunny by 10.30; I've asked Worcester for an explanation, but nothing forthcoming so far.
A contingent of juniors headed east for Boston - a brief report from Dave Pollard -
It was sunny on Saturday with an inch or two of snow on Sunday. I came 18th in the singles, Ben came 37th, and we came 12th in the doubles. Ruth and Camilla came 13th and 17th in the singles, and 4th in the Pair I think. Ben and I were feeling rather short as we were walking around!
Meanwhile back in the west country, a small group headed for Bristol, where there were wins for the women's four and the old man's single.
The men's squad had erg tests on Tuesday – various coughs and sniffles contrived to make it a disappointing result for most; a few of the more imaginative athletes contrived to record PBs using distance reduction techniques, but I believe Ben has ruled these to be inadmissable.
A quick word on BOAT HANDLING and RACKING; a near-accident on Sunday saw a potential four-figure repair bill for Stephen Rose, (the boat, and by implication the treasurer!). There is a real need for concentration and care, when putting boats away - we simply cannot afford carelessness with boats costing in excess of £10,000 pounds each.
A safety day was held recently for the RAC rowing club, covering procedures on and off the water - we will be repeating this for our own members before the regatta season takes off.
A reminder to everyone to sign out before and after outings, and to fill in the damages book if you cause or discover anything wrong with the boats - we can't repair damage if we don't know about it!
Sarah has sorted the club sculls into sets, (see white board):
Two sets of quads blades
- White bands length 287, inboard 88
- Red bands length 286, inboard 88
Three sets of doubles
- Yellow/green bands 287, 88.5
- Blue bands 287, 88
- Green bands 287, 88
Six sets of singles
- White band on red 286, 88
- Blue band on red 287, 87
- Yellow/green on white 287, 87
- Red and Green - can't remember!
In total we have 20 pairs of sculling blades
There is a new set of quad blades, raedy to be assembled - their purchase was made possible by an additional input to club funds from the sponsored row at the end of last year.
A quick reminder to all squads; please don't alter rigging on club boats, or the setting of club blades, (however 'wrong' they may appear to be) without reference to Ben or myself.
There's a good reason for this - most equipment is set up up for particular crews, (age, size etc.) and in the case of blades, in sets. If changes are made the next user is likely only to find the problem when they are on the water, and a lot of time is then lost while the problem is investigated, readjustments made or alternative equipment sought.
Note that all club blades must be painted in club colours before being used in competition. There will be a blade painting session at 11am Saturday 27th February
Gloucester Head is on Sundy 14th March - please be available on the Saturday morning to help set up, and on Sunday to help with running the event, and clearing up afterwards. A work rota will be issued during the next week. As usual, entries from Gloucester crews will be considered when we are sure we have the work rota covered.
AuPair and Double Gloucester have had their shoulders repaired so are now available as doubles and pairs. Henry Beaumont will shortly be disappearing for a week or two, to have the foot plate repaired. Pangbourne have kindly offered us their Janousek eight for the next few weeks at a nominal rental to allow us to train and enter the Tideway eights heads in competitive boats. Monkton (the part wood, part composite double) is being retired; if anyone is interested in aquiring this boat, please contact Ben
Circuits continue on Wednesday evenings at beaufort School - contact Tim for details. This activity is very effective at preparing rowers for the Tideway events, and for 'benchmarking' fitness for the coming regatta season.
Russell Thornton 25th February 2010.
In preparation for Worcester Head, last Thursday, a large group of us loaded five fours and an eight onto the trailer in the driving snow. Come Friday we heard that the head was cancelled because of predicted cold water – Saturday turned out warm and sunny by 10.30; I've asked Worcester for an explanation, but nothing forthcoming so far.
A contingent of juniors headed east for Boston - a brief report from Dave Pollard -
It was sunny on Saturday with an inch or two of snow on Sunday. I came 18th in the singles, Ben came 37th, and we came 12th in the doubles. Ruth and Camilla came 13th and 17th in the singles, and 4th in the Pair I think. Ben and I were feeling rather short as we were walking around!
Meanwhile back in the west country, a small group headed for Bristol, where there were wins for the women's four and the old man's single.
The men's squad had erg tests on Tuesday – various coughs and sniffles contrived to make it a disappointing result for most; a few of the more imaginative athletes contrived to record PBs using distance reduction techniques, but I believe Ben has ruled these to be inadmissable.
A quick word on BOAT HANDLING and RACKING; a near-accident on Sunday saw a potential four-figure repair bill for Stephen Rose, (the boat, and by implication the treasurer!). There is a real need for concentration and care, when putting boats away - we simply cannot afford carelessness with boats costing in excess of £10,000 pounds each.
A safety day was held recently for the RAC rowing club, covering procedures on and off the water - we will be repeating this for our own members before the regatta season takes off.
A reminder to everyone to sign out before and after outings, and to fill in the damages book if you cause or discover anything wrong with the boats - we can't repair damage if we don't know about it!
Sarah has sorted the club sculls into sets, (see white board):
Two sets of quads blades
- White bands length 287, inboard 88
- Red bands length 286, inboard 88
Three sets of doubles
- Yellow/green bands 287, 88.5
- Blue bands 287, 88
- Green bands 287, 88
Six sets of singles
- White band on red 286, 88
- Blue band on red 287, 87
- Yellow/green on white 287, 87
- Red and Green - can't remember!
In total we have 20 pairs of sculling blades
There is a new set of quad blades, raedy to be assembled - their purchase was made possible by an additional input to club funds from the sponsored row at the end of last year.
A quick reminder to all squads; please don't alter rigging on club boats, or the setting of club blades, (however 'wrong' they may appear to be) without reference to Ben or myself.
There's a good reason for this - most equipment is set up up for particular crews, (age, size etc.) and in the case of blades, in sets. If changes are made the next user is likely only to find the problem when they are on the water, and a lot of time is then lost while the problem is investigated, readjustments made or alternative equipment sought.
Note that all club blades must be painted in club colours before being used in competition. There will be a blade painting session at 11am Saturday 27th February
Gloucester Head is on Sundy 14th March - please be available on the Saturday morning to help set up, and on Sunday to help with running the event, and clearing up afterwards. A work rota will be issued during the next week. As usual, entries from Gloucester crews will be considered when we are sure we have the work rota covered.
AuPair and Double Gloucester have had their shoulders repaired so are now available as doubles and pairs. Henry Beaumont will shortly be disappearing for a week or two, to have the foot plate repaired. Pangbourne have kindly offered us their Janousek eight for the next few weeks at a nominal rental to allow us to train and enter the Tideway eights heads in competitive boats. Monkton (the part wood, part composite double) is being retired; if anyone is interested in aquiring this boat, please contact Ben
Circuits continue on Wednesday evenings at beaufort School - contact Tim for details. This activity is very effective at preparing rowers for the Tideway events, and for 'benchmarking' fitness for the coming regatta season.
Russell Thornton 25th February 2010.
The canal finally thawed last weekend, closely followed by the Severn flooding, (we rowed at Tewkesbury on the Saturday during which the river rose a metre, and was unrowable by the Sunday), but we were then able to row on the canal again, albeit with a bit of ice breaking in the tin launch.
Competition was curtailed this weekend with the cancellation of Stourport, but a junior contingent headed east to Boston and had some good results there - Dave Pollard won IM3 1x and came 2nd in J18 1x, Lauren got a 2nd in J15 1x, Lauren and Hettie 2nd in J15 2x, Alicia and Laura won J16 2x with Charlie and Jess 2nd. Commiserations to Liam who broke down with the trailer en route and thanks to Mark who drove up and rescued the trailer.
The women's squad have started training in the eight, (for tideway) and will shortly be joined by the men - but not at the same time. We'll get as many competitive boats out for these two events as we can, and hopefully a couple of boats for the vets head as well; everyone is encouraged to go for a place in a crew - whatever your level of experience, but training can be fairly demanding.
Circuits are running on Wednesday evening; these are open to all and an excellent way of building strength and stamina while on the water time is limited.
As we get back into the head season, and with lighter evenings to look forward to, please ensure that your subs and race fees accounts are up to date.
Russell Thornton 28th January 2010
Competition was curtailed this weekend with the cancellation of Stourport, but a junior contingent headed east to Boston and had some good results there - Dave Pollard won IM3 1x and came 2nd in J18 1x, Lauren got a 2nd in J15 1x, Lauren and Hettie 2nd in J15 2x, Alicia and Laura won J16 2x with Charlie and Jess 2nd. Commiserations to Liam who broke down with the trailer en route and thanks to Mark who drove up and rescued the trailer.
The women's squad have started training in the eight, (for tideway) and will shortly be joined by the men - but not at the same time. We'll get as many competitive boats out for these two events as we can, and hopefully a couple of boats for the vets head as well; everyone is encouraged to go for a place in a crew - whatever your level of experience, but training can be fairly demanding.
Circuits are running on Wednesday evening; these are open to all and an excellent way of building strength and stamina while on the water time is limited.
As we get back into the head season, and with lighter evenings to look forward to, please ensure that your subs and race fees accounts are up to date.
Russell Thornton 28th January 2010
A brief update to my Christmas blog - I omitted to mention GRC's success at the Monmouth Christmas Head - a small contingent from the club entered - water was high and fast and the conditions cold and windy - congratulations to Sarah and Gerry who won W IM2 2x by a substantial margin - 20 seconds over a fast 2k course.
I believe that the canal is and will be frozen at the weekend, so more land training looks to be in the offing. I will try and organise an outing to Tewkesbury for Saturday and Sunday morning, (9th and 10th). This will probably involve derigging and loading Friday evening. Would anyone interested let either myself or their vice captains know, so that crews and boats can be organised.
There is a committee meeting Monday evening, (11th). If any member would like anything raised, please let myself or any committee member know, preferably by email so that it can be included in the agenda.
Russell Thornton 5th January 2010.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything frozen so cross-training is the order of the day.
I'd like to wish all members and friends of GRC a merry Christmas and a happy and succesful new year, and thank everyone for their efforts in the past year.
I believe that the canal is and will be frozen at the weekend, so more land training looks to be in the offing. I will try and organise an outing to Tewkesbury for Saturday and Sunday morning, (9th and 10th). This will probably involve derigging and loading Friday evening. Would anyone interested let either myself or their vice captains know, so that crews and boats can be organised.
There is a committee meeting Monday evening, (11th). If any member would like anything raised, please let myself or any committee member know, preferably by email so that it can be included in the agenda.
Russell Thornton 5th January 2010.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything frozen so cross-training is the order of the day.
I'd like to wish all members and friends of GRC a merry Christmas and a happy and succesful new year, and thank everyone for their efforts in the past year.
Hope to see you all at the christmas pudding races on Sunday at 9 am.
Russell Thornton 24th December 2009
Back in Weybridge - cold, wet and windy, Thames flowing fast and high and I've just done an incredibly slow and exhausting 10k - isn't winter lovely!
On a positive note we have, as a club entered three events and none were cancelled!
Six of us went to the scullers head on the Tideway with varying degrees of success and a good spread of statii (!?) - lightweight, IM2, Vet C, D and E. Our two vet D entries were sabotaged, (torpedoed?) by their fellow competitors and both went swimming. Gerry was well treated by Grosvenor - showered, dry clothes, lift back to Barnes with boat in launch. The powers that be obviously felt that Martin was less deserving of succour and he was left to make his own way back, (once they'd let him get back into his boat!)
On the same day as scullers, Hampton Head draw a large entry, (over 700 raced), including 8 Gloucester Juniors, and saw some cracking performances; Ruth and Yasmin gained first places in WJ18 2x and 2-, with Camilla and Kalan-Mai finishing 5th and 6th in the same events, Dave Pollard got 4th in J18 1x and also 6th with Ben in J18 2x, (15th fastest time of the day). Jake Flower and Neil Vine also gave creditable performances in J17 1x and 2x.
Finally last Saturday saw what must have been a record entry at Wycliffe - 30 Gloucester crews raced, and the most boats I've seen on our trailer. We won a total of 11 golds, 5 silvers and 3 bronze. With some excellent individual performances including 2 golds from Dave Pollard in J18 1x and IM3 1x, and 2 from Ben and Neil in J18 2x and IM3 2x. Congratulations to all who took part, and a big thank you to all who helped mend and prepare boats, load, unload, tow and looked after crews and boats at the event - it couldn't have happened without you.
After recovering from the wind and rain at Saul Junction, 40 odd senior and junior members retired to the Gloucester clubhouse for chilli and a quiz. We all now know how many islands make up the Indonesian Archipelago and how many prime numbers there are in 100. (two?). A terrific effort from the chef, bar staff, quiz master and question composers. Thanks to Jane, Tim, Clive, the chef and servers, who's names I will add as soon as I can get them.
I'm hoping there will be some events between Christmas and the new year, including the highly competitive xmas pudding races - watch this space and get training.
Russell Thornton 8th December 2009
On a positive note we have, as a club entered three events and none were cancelled!
Six of us went to the scullers head on the Tideway with varying degrees of success and a good spread of statii (!?) - lightweight, IM2, Vet C, D and E. Our two vet D entries were sabotaged, (torpedoed?) by their fellow competitors and both went swimming. Gerry was well treated by Grosvenor - showered, dry clothes, lift back to Barnes with boat in launch. The powers that be obviously felt that Martin was less deserving of succour and he was left to make his own way back, (once they'd let him get back into his boat!)
On the same day as scullers, Hampton Head draw a large entry, (over 700 raced), including 8 Gloucester Juniors, and saw some cracking performances; Ruth and Yasmin gained first places in WJ18 2x and 2-, with Camilla and Kalan-Mai finishing 5th and 6th in the same events, Dave Pollard got 4th in J18 1x and also 6th with Ben in J18 2x, (15th fastest time of the day). Jake Flower and Neil Vine also gave creditable performances in J17 1x and 2x.
Finally last Saturday saw what must have been a record entry at Wycliffe - 30 Gloucester crews raced, and the most boats I've seen on our trailer. We won a total of 11 golds, 5 silvers and 3 bronze. With some excellent individual performances including 2 golds from Dave Pollard in J18 1x and IM3 1x, and 2 from Ben and Neil in J18 2x and IM3 2x. Congratulations to all who took part, and a big thank you to all who helped mend and prepare boats, load, unload, tow and looked after crews and boats at the event - it couldn't have happened without you.
After recovering from the wind and rain at Saul Junction, 40 odd senior and junior members retired to the Gloucester clubhouse for chilli and a quiz. We all now know how many islands make up the Indonesian Archipelago and how many prime numbers there are in 100. (two?). A terrific effort from the chef, bar staff, quiz master and question composers. Thanks to Jane, Tim, Clive, the chef and servers, who's names I will add as soon as I can get them.
I'm hoping there will be some events between Christmas and the new year, including the highly competitive xmas pudding races - watch this space and get training.
Russell Thornton 8th December 2009
I'm struggling for inspiration this week - from the perspective of competition it's been a bleak couple of weeks - our own Long Distance Head was cancelled due to horrendous winds giving rise to half metre breaking waves on Pilot straight and cross winds capable of taking the blade from your hand on non-aligned stretches. This was followed by cancellation of Stourport due to flooding, and finally the fours head was abandoned, again due to high winds - 30 to 55 mph! Anyone familiar with the Tideway will know what that means when the wind is from the SW. Silver lining in the cloud was the veteran fours head the next day - sunshine, moderate tail winds and calm, but fast water. Ho hum ....
As I write the Boston trials in ten days have been cancelled, but we're hopeful that Hampton and the scullers head will go ahead.
On the home front, the Rowing Committee finally met and a list of shiny new goodies was agreed, (well maybe not finally ...) The main and most important point that came up was a proposed change of training times for the Junior Squad - still on weekend mornings, but with some variations to cater for the different training levels required. I shall let Paul Crumpton communicate the details - the timing changes will be trialled for a few weeks to see how they work - be patient and be prepared to offer feedback to the Junior Committee.
The second Icicle Head will be run this Sunday - Robert Dibley will be confirming the arrangements on Saturday.
Land training has kicked off on Wednesdays - Tim has organised circuit training at Beaufort School, from 7 to 8pm.
The Royal Agricultural College Rowing Club has restarted on a Wednesday afternoon at the club, and we welcome their return.
Other less frequent visitors - University of Worcester Rowing Club held their annual camp, based at GRC and Wycliffe over last weekend. There is inevitably some disruption, but the club makes good money out of these camps and it increases our profile in the wider rowing world, as well as providing an invaluable training experience for these relative newcomers to the sport. We also hosted a camp from Bristol University through the efforts of ex-GRC member Ian Townsend, during the weekend of the LDH.
There is a Committee meeting on Monday evening. If you would like anything raised, please talk to your squad vice or coordinator, or indeed to any member of the committee.
Roll on light winds and clear days, (did I hear anyone mention ice?).
Russell Thornton 18th November 2009
As I write the Boston trials in ten days have been cancelled, but we're hopeful that Hampton and the scullers head will go ahead.
On the home front, the Rowing Committee finally met and a list of shiny new goodies was agreed, (well maybe not finally ...) The main and most important point that came up was a proposed change of training times for the Junior Squad - still on weekend mornings, but with some variations to cater for the different training levels required. I shall let Paul Crumpton communicate the details - the timing changes will be trialled for a few weeks to see how they work - be patient and be prepared to offer feedback to the Junior Committee.
The second Icicle Head will be run this Sunday - Robert Dibley will be confirming the arrangements on Saturday.
Land training has kicked off on Wednesdays - Tim has organised circuit training at Beaufort School, from 7 to 8pm.
The Royal Agricultural College Rowing Club has restarted on a Wednesday afternoon at the club, and we welcome their return.
Other less frequent visitors - University of Worcester Rowing Club held their annual camp, based at GRC and Wycliffe over last weekend. There is inevitably some disruption, but the club makes good money out of these camps and it increases our profile in the wider rowing world, as well as providing an invaluable training experience for these relative newcomers to the sport. We also hosted a camp from Bristol University through the efforts of ex-GRC member Ian Townsend, during the weekend of the LDH.
There is a Committee meeting on Monday evening. If you would like anything raised, please talk to your squad vice or coordinator, or indeed to any member of the committee.
Roll on light winds and clear days, (did I hear anyone mention ice?).
Russell Thornton 18th November 2009
The clocks have gone back and, surprise, surprise night rowing is in the dark! There are club rules for this - please make sure you know them before going out in the dark - should be a poster up in the club room somewhere.
Last weekend saw the Pairs Head of the River in London. Gloucester managed to enter six crews - three pairs and three doubles. Wycliffe and Pangbourne lent us boats for the race - thanks to Jonny Garrow and Beth Rodford. Conditions were reasonable, but the head wind took its toll among the more (and less) refined boats! For the record entries included IM2 2-, IM2 2x, IM3 2x and WIM2 2x.
This weekend Arran O'Dell, (Junior Squad Performance Coach) held a very useful session at the club during which he demonstrated (with Helen's help) and described the 'perfect stroke' and how to coach it. Much appreciated by those who attended, with a lot of positive feedback.
Ben was performing in Boston at the GB trials and produced an excellent 2K erg - 15th overall, and a fast run on the water - 30th overall. We'll let you know just how succesful he was.
And a small contingent represented the club at Weybridge Silver Sculls - unfortunately the sculls in question did not end up in Gloucester.
Next weekend we're running the Gloucester Long Distance Head - 7 km this year - it grows every year! Race is on Sunday, setting up on Saturday. All club senior members and as many juniors and parent helpers are needed to manage this. Not a big earner yet, but by creating a unique and well run event we hope to attract larger numbers in the future, as more clubs get to hear about it. Please be there and ready to help from 8 am.
Finally, my apologies to Annabelle and Gabriella for cutting their Sunday morning outing short - guess who didn't reset his watch ...
Russell Thornton 26th October 2009
Last weekend saw the Pairs Head of the River in London. Gloucester managed to enter six crews - three pairs and three doubles. Wycliffe and Pangbourne lent us boats for the race - thanks to Jonny Garrow and Beth Rodford. Conditions were reasonable, but the head wind took its toll among the more (and less) refined boats! For the record entries included IM2 2-, IM2 2x, IM3 2x and WIM2 2x.
This weekend Arran O'Dell, (Junior Squad Performance Coach) held a very useful session at the club during which he demonstrated (with Helen's help) and described the 'perfect stroke' and how to coach it. Much appreciated by those who attended, with a lot of positive feedback.
Ben was performing in Boston at the GB trials and produced an excellent 2K erg - 15th overall, and a fast run on the water - 30th overall. We'll let you know just how succesful he was.
And a small contingent represented the club at Weybridge Silver Sculls - unfortunately the sculls in question did not end up in Gloucester.
Next weekend we're running the Gloucester Long Distance Head - 7 km this year - it grows every year! Race is on Sunday, setting up on Saturday. All club senior members and as many juniors and parent helpers are needed to manage this. Not a big earner yet, but by creating a unique and well run event we hope to attract larger numbers in the future, as more clubs get to hear about it. Please be there and ready to help from 8 am.
Finally, my apologies to Annabelle and Gabriella for cutting their Sunday morning outing short - guess who didn't reset his watch ...
Russell Thornton 26th October 2009
The first 'Icicle Head' of the winter was run on Sunday. This was a modest event, run without the juniors who were recovering from Evesham, and timed by the first and last boats. Run over the normal head course in near perfect conditions, the arrangements worked well, and will hopefully be repeatable for longer distances and greater numbers. I'm not sure if the results are posted elsewhere, but I've included them below:
Beth 1x 20.11
Gerry 1x 19.28
Jon & Russell 2- 16.03
Kim 1x 18.52
Martin & Andy 2- 16.17
Rich 1x 15.55
Sam 1x 16.26
Sarah 1x 17.56
Steve 1x 16.5
Tim 1x 16.43
Toby & Dan 2- 16.06
W4+ 18.45
Congratulatiions to Brian Nelson on receiving the award for volunteer of the year:
"At the conference held on 26th September 2009, British Rowing was delighted to announce the Regional Volunteer of the Year Awards in recognition of the outstanding commitment and dedication demonstrated by each individual. Brian Nelson was awarded Volunteer of the Year for the WAGS region.Brian has been a member of Gloucester Rowing Club for over 60 years. He will give up whole days to help out and helps to maintain the clubhouse, doing DIY jobs, organising the servicing of equipment and opening up the boathouse. Brian has been actively involved with Project Oarsome from start to finish and regularly coaches junior club members, mans the safety launch and will cheerfully tow a trailer to a regatta at some unearthly hour if asked to do so. He was also an active umpire within WAGS until recently - he is a great person to have about, cheerful, helpful and supportive – a true all-round volunteer! "
Evesham senior head was cancelled last weekend, but the junior event went ahead and there were a number of wins and new course records set by Gloucester crews. I will add some of the more notable results when I have the information to hand.
Pairs head this Saturday - we have six boats entering from the men's and women's squads. I apologise to the rest of the club for hoovering up all the black doubles - I'll try and make sure they make it back in one piece. We've also had to borrow boats from Weybridge and Pangbourne, and my thanks go to them for helping us out.
Ben is running a boat maintennance course on Sunday - I recommend everyone attends this - either to help or to learn, or both! I believe it starts at 12.30 and runs for an hour and a half. Very much a hands-on session, and should lead to a better appreciation of how to care for our fleet, and to sorting some of the current problems with the boats.
Russell Thornton 14th October 2009
Beth 1x 20.11
Gerry 1x 19.28
Jon & Russell 2- 16.03
Kim 1x 18.52
Martin & Andy 2- 16.17
Rich 1x 15.55
Sam 1x 16.26
Sarah 1x 17.56
Steve 1x 16.5
Tim 1x 16.43
Toby & Dan 2- 16.06
W4+ 18.45
Congratulatiions to Brian Nelson on receiving the award for volunteer of the year:
"At the conference held on 26th September 2009, British Rowing was delighted to announce the Regional Volunteer of the Year Awards in recognition of the outstanding commitment and dedication demonstrated by each individual. Brian Nelson was awarded Volunteer of the Year for the WAGS region.Brian has been a member of Gloucester Rowing Club for over 60 years. He will give up whole days to help out and helps to maintain the clubhouse, doing DIY jobs, organising the servicing of equipment and opening up the boathouse. Brian has been actively involved with Project Oarsome from start to finish and regularly coaches junior club members, mans the safety launch and will cheerfully tow a trailer to a regatta at some unearthly hour if asked to do so. He was also an active umpire within WAGS until recently - he is a great person to have about, cheerful, helpful and supportive – a true all-round volunteer! "
Evesham senior head was cancelled last weekend, but the junior event went ahead and there were a number of wins and new course records set by Gloucester crews. I will add some of the more notable results when I have the information to hand.
Pairs head this Saturday - we have six boats entering from the men's and women's squads. I apologise to the rest of the club for hoovering up all the black doubles - I'll try and make sure they make it back in one piece. We've also had to borrow boats from Weybridge and Pangbourne, and my thanks go to them for helping us out.
Ben is running a boat maintennance course on Sunday - I recommend everyone attends this - either to help or to learn, or both! I believe it starts at 12.30 and runs for an hour and a half. Very much a hands-on session, and should lead to a better appreciation of how to care for our fleet, and to sorting some of the current problems with the boats.
Russell Thornton 14th October 2009