Sunday 8th March 2009

The Head courses were, 4 km from broken bridge to Simms bridge and a shorter 2.5 km one for juniors under fifteen, from turning bay to Simms bridge. There was some cold, heavy rain at the start of Division 1 and a strong south westerly wind blew along the course throughout the day.


Altogether 47 boats raced on the long course in division 1, scheduled for 11 am. The events included were :- S1, S3, Nv eights; S2, S4 quads; S2, S4, Vet E coxed fours; Vet B coxless fours; S3, Vet D, Vet F, J16 doubles; S2, S4, J18, J15 singles. On the short course in division 1, five crews raced in events WJ13, J14 doubles and WJ14 singles.


Division 2 started at 2 pm when 60 crews raced on the long course and nine crews on the short course. The long course events were :- S2, S4, VetE eights; S3 quads; S1, S3, VetF coxed fours; S4, VetC, VetE, J18, J15 doubles; VetE pairs; S1, S3, Nv, J16 singles. The short course events were :- J12, J13 coxed quads; J14 doubles; J13 singles.


In division 1 on the long course Gloucester had four crews. Gerri Jones won event WS4 1X in a time of 19mins 19secs. Charlotte Allen and Louise Nichols achieved a time of 18mins 19secs in WJ16 2X. Timothy Nichols in J15 1X finished in 19mins 27secs, and Georgina Lowe, in WJ15 1X, had a time of 20mins 18secs. On the short course in division 1 Lauren Williams did exceptionally well to win WJ14 1X in a record breaking time of 11mins 38secs.

In division 2 Gloucester had 10 crews on the long course. They fared as follows. Jon Garner, Sam Thornton, Toby Venn, Graeme Hill, Timothy Barnett, Rich Woods, Ben Rodford, Daniel Braun with cox Rosie Jones rowed in S2 8+ and came third in the event with a time of 12mins 56secs. Our other crew in the event was Paul Brooker, David Pollard, Martin Jones, Mark Venn, Stephen Lowe, Andy Jones, Lyndon Cook, Russell Thornton with cox Ed Jones. They took sixth place with a time of 14mins 9secs. Our NV4+ crew was Lee Godsell, Johnathan Claridge, John Denne. Johnathan Phipps coxed by Peter Hills. They achieved a time of 17mins 2secs and came second to Loughborough. Tobie Bowdler and Nicholas Waters time was 17mins 5secs in J15 2X to take second place. Alicia Green and Hattie Neave had an excellent performance in WJ13 2X to win the event in a new record time of 17mins 21secs. The WS3 4+ event was won by Rachael Britnell, Janet Godsell, Eleanor Cooper and Karern Longstaff coxed by Pete Hills in a time of 17mins 27secs. Ben Marshall again showed his capability to win his event, J16 1X with a time of 17mins 33secs. Alistair Yates and Thomas Waters in J18 2X finished in 17mins 56secs. The established pair of John Squire and James Dorer in VetE 2X, won their event in 18mins 17secs. Our women's novice crew consisting of Abigail Cooper, Lwando Squire, Verna Green and Janet Phipps coxed by Deirdre Squire in WNV 4+ finished in 21mins 4secs.

We had five crews sculling for Gloucester on the short course in division 2. In J13 4X+ Lucy Hailes, Samantha Staite, John Helsby, Noah Serafin coxed by Laura Meadows won the event with a time of 11mins 47secs. Also sculling in WJ13 4X+ Alena Antonijovic, India Parsons, Ben Rolfe, James Bird coxed by Jessica Sharples finished in 11mins 49secs to take second place. Freddie Wise sculling in J13 1X took first place with a time of 12mins 56secs while Rory Green came a very close second, in a time of 12mins 57secs. Patch Pollard was not far behind to take third place in a time of 13mins 3secs.

The number of senior and junior events won by the clubs were Evesham RC 3 senior 5 junior; Bristol City RC 2 senior; West of England University 4 senior; Avon and Somerset Police 1 senior; Hereford RC 2 senior; Bristol Ariel 4 senior; Dart Totnes 5 senior; Pengwern RC 3 senior; Ross RC 6 junior; Warwick RC 3 senior; Gloucester RC 3 senior 4 junior; Bewdley RC 1 senior; Loughborough BC 1 senior; Stourport BC 1 senior.

Inspite of poor weather the Head was again a great success, with all the crews enjoying some good racing. The organisation worked well with umpires, marshals and time keepers and helpers all doing their jobs efficiently. Fortunately, the rescue boats had nothing to do, while those preparing and serving the food in the clubhouse had a busy day.