The Club's Results

Over the last week and a half we have improved beyond measure; this showed in our paddle down to the start (despite a dodgy moment in our practice start).

The start of the race was quite tense, with some ripping which we had virtually eliminated in practice. However, St. Catharines had been pushed out angled toward the opposite bank, and this allowed us to close to 1/3 of a length by First Post Corner. Although there was no audible indication of this from the bank, the rocking and swaying sensation of being close to another boat was quite noticable at the kink in First Post Reach. St. Catharines then put their experience to work and began to open up the gap.

Meanwhile, Clare made very little impression behind (we had moved perhaps 1/4 length away off the start, they got it back by Grassy, and then they disappeared behind us increasingly rapidly). When it became obvious that we weren't going to bump Catz or be hit by Clare, Mark Hall (our finishing coach) called for us to save ourselves for the next day.

In front of Catz, Robinson hit Jesus a little before the Railway Bridge. Catz also decided to save themselves, but as we started our "practice" wind for the finish, Steph realised that they were well within distance, and seemingly hadn't noticed us moving up. Eventually they moved as well, and we were about 3/4 length off at the finish.

Let's see what drama day 2 can bring. (JPD)

Rowing pretty much the same as yesterday, but without any real drama; paddle down good, not a bad start (apart from an air-stroke from Ed) and then slowly moving away from Clare (who were just short of 3 lengths down when bumped by Queens') with Catz moving away slightly (who hit Jesus). We again wound it down in the reach, but apart from watching Churchill on a mission to nothing behind us, little else interesting happened. (JPD)

Stonking. Grassy. (Dubya)

Another good paddle down, with very comfortable bursts at 37, and a lift to a smooth 39 in one. The practice start wasn't our best, but was by no means terrible. The real start was very strong, and we moved about 1/3 length in the right direction on the crews in front (Jesus) and behind (Queens'). Coming out of First Post corner, it got very rocky, causing the boat to crash over to stroke side for one or two strokes. We recovered quickly, and within a few strokes we had our single hooter for 1/2 length. As planned, initially we didn't change much, but a few strokes later Steph called "Go Now", and we went. We hit them on the entrance to Grassy. With Queens' only a couple of lengths behind we had to move quickly to the outside of the corner, removing the bowball of our boat on the bank in the process. Oops - sorry Iain. (JPD)

Occurred at the railings. Had a canvas at grassy, but took a while to finish it. (Dubya)