The Club's Results

Today's race demonstrated that it is possible to completely separate a seat from the sliders midrace, and rowing arms-only during a race at stroke has a strong negative effect on boat speed, timing, and balance, and should be avoided in the future. Luck was on our side, however, and the considerable lead we had on Madgalene NW1 allowed us clinch a win. As I spent a good chunk of the first race sitting the boat to victory, congratulations are due to bow seven, and I expect to lose my seat to a half-eaten ham sandwich and/or mars bar in the near future. (Alexa)

We started with a wind that took us up to racing speed (and rate 34) as we crossed the start line before settling into a consistent rate 30 that was maintained for the rest of the race. After focussing on some technical points (catches and finishes) and pushing off Chesterton Footbridge, it became clear we were gaining on the Maggie boat that had started about 50 seconds ahead. We had another push off the railway bridge and despite looking exhauted (Alexa's "angry face" had been replaced by a rather more tired looking expression) the rowing was still technically good and we were still gaining on Maggie. I called a push for the finish as we approached the railings and we took the rate up to 32 before crossing the finish line of our last race as novices. Overall an excellent race. Very well done girls! (Ronnie Coleman)