Wednesday 2 July Henley Royal Regatta

The Thames Cup VIII have drawn Kingston R.C, 'A'. The provisional time for the race is 7:00 p.m. (see timetable). Full draw here.

Monday 30 June New ARA Points Proposals

The ARA has published proposals for a new system of racing statuses. A summary of the proposals may be found here. You can email your comments to competitionreview@ara-rowing.org. The proposals may be summarised as:

where one point is awarded for each win where two boats complete the course (i.e no non-qualifying wins). NV=novice, IM=Intermediate.

Saturday 28 June Richmond Amateur Regatta

The club chalked up its first veteran VIIIs win of the season with a convincing win over Sudbury R.C. in the Veteran C/D handicap event at Richmond. Our 'D' crew were given 5 seconds start over Sudbury Vet 'C's but consolidated their advantage by leaving the stakeboat striking 41 and striding to 36-37. The final verdict was 2½ lengths in a time of 4 minutes exactly - at the time of going to press the fastest time of the day. Thanks to Graham for organising the crew and getting the equipment to and from the regatta. The crew was Graham Lloyd (bow), Malcolm Cook, Ewen McLeod, Nick Ryan, Roy Davies, Roger Hine, Ian Roots, Dick Findlay (stroke), Catt Campbell (cox).

Friday 27 June Henley Royal Regatta Qualifying Races

Our Thames Cup VIII has qualified. Full details of the Qualifying Races may be found here.

Saturday 21 June Marlow Amateur Regatta (at Dorney Lake)

The club raced in Senior 2 VIIIs at Marlow on Saturday. There were 35 entries in this event, giving five seven-lane heats. The first three in each heat progressed to the semi-final. In their heat, the crew finished just outside the qualifiers, in fourth place. This was the fastest heat in the event by some three seconds and Quintin's time would have been enough to win three of the other four heats.

The final was won by Abingdon School, with Commercial R.C. in fifth place. Full results here (the S2 8+ final is race 96).

Sunday 15 June National Veteran Championships

Nick Ryan and Charlie Harrison again ventured to Nottingham for the National Veterans' Regatta, this time in Veteran D double sculls. The competition was fierce, and Nick and Charlie finished fifth. Tom Bishop was entered in Veteran F single sculls, which he won, following on from his Durham victory the previous day. Tom is now vying with Malcolm at the head of the potwinners' chart. Pete Meaney sneaked in a win in Veteran D Eights in a Northwich/Agecroft/Quintin composite. Results of finals below.

Saturday 14 June Barnes & Mortlake Regatta and Durham Regatta

The club had three wins at Barnes and Mortlake Regatta: Malcolm Cook won veteran handicap sculls, beating Jock Mackerral of Vesta in the final despite a 15 second handicap. Miguel Llanos won Novice sculls in his first sculling regatta. The QBC/UW men's novice four also won, rowing in the Ernie Vincent for its first regatta and first win. The crew was Jack Gannaway (bow, QBC), Tom Sweetman (QBC), Lionel Eid (QBC), Andreas Kaefer (stroke, UWBC), John Peters (cox, QBC). Lionel was last year's captain of the University of Westminster Boat Club. See a photograph of the winning crew here. Unfortunately the women's novice four which was due to race had to scratch.

At Durham, Tom Bishop was in Vet E/F/H handicap sculls, and travelled all the way north to race H. Jones of Thames Tradesmens' R.C. in the first heat! Tom went on to win the final.

Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June Metropolitan Regatta

The senior squad competed in Senior 2 VIIIs and Senior 1 coxless IVs at the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake, Eton. In general they found the going tough, just failing to qualify in three of their four first round heats. The eight did, however, make it to the final on the Sunday. The result of the final was:

Full results of all races here

Saturday 10 May Bedford Regatta and Borne Regatta @ Chiswick Bridge

The first VIII (Quintin/MAA composite) found the going tough at Bedford, going out to a heavier Kingston crew in S2 8+ and to a Christ Church boat reputedly with three Blues on board in S1 8+. Meanwhile, back in Chiswick, Malcolm Cook cruised through his first heat in Vet E 1x, in which he was the only non-Putney Town sculler to have entered. He was then presented with a row over in the final as the Putney Town sculler who had won the other semi-final scratched from the race in protest, reportedly after a dispute with an umpire whilst marshalling for a double sculls event. Still, it doesn't say that on the pot, does it Malcolm?

Saturday 3 May Chiswick Amateur Regatta

Thank you to all the helpers at this year's regatta. The return of three-boat racing allowed a record number of entries to be accepted, and the day's racing went very smoothly, finishing slightly ahead of schedule. Thank you also to all competitors for some fine races. Results of finals here.

Sunday 13 April The Bob Slade Sculling Handicap

This year's club sculling championship was raced  from the Pink House to Quintin on Sunday 13 April at approximately 11.00am.

The overall winner was our captain, Mark Chatwin, who keeps the Bob Slade Cup for the next twelve months. The winner of the sealed handicap and new holder of the Finlayson Cup was Miguel Llanos. Other notable results were from Geoff Potts and Tom Bishop, continuing their rivalry just one second apart from each other. For the full results click here.

Wednesday 9 April George Marshall RIP

It is with regret that we announce the death of George Marshall earlier today. George was until recently an active member of this club and a regular both rowing in and coxing the vice-presidents' crews until, at the age of 85, his doctor advised him to stop. He was a bomber navigator during the war, serving in Egypt, the Western Desert and over Germany, and it was in the RAF that he learned to row. Many years later he returned to rowing at Ibis Rowing Club (who occupied what is now Mortlake Anglian and Alpha's boathouse). George joined Quintin as one of the "free transfers" when Ibis Rowing Club became defunct, and so for many years prior to joining us had also been a close neighbour. He won his novices aged 60 and then was successful as a coach.  He was well liked in the club and on occasion would fascinate other members with tales of his exploits on the Berlin raids with Bomber Command. On giving up rowing, he moved to Somerset to live with his daughter and had become increasingly poorly in recent months. George will be sadly missed. The funeral is at 1pm on Wednesday, 16th April at Taunton Crematorium.  Family flowers only, but donations can be made to St Margaret's Hospice via the undertaker:  Grandfield & Son, Keenthorne, Nether Stowey, Bridgwater, Somerset TA5 1HZ.

Sunday 6 April The Thames Towpath Ten

Roy Davies very bravely took on the wintry weather and competed in the Thames Towpath Ten on Sunday, 6th April. The snow had scared off about 300 competitors but Roy was one of the 337 to complete the course, finishing a creditable 82nd in a time of 1 hour 13 min. 35 sec. Results here. Picture here.

Sunday 16 March The Vesta Veterans Head - cancelled

In contrast to the mild, sunny morning of the Head of the River, Sunday started extremely blustery and wet, and the conditions were such that the organisers were forced to cancel the event. The club had two men's crews entered, the Veteran Ds starting at No. 82 and the Veteran Fs starting at No. 117, but it was not to be.

Saturday 15 March The Head of the River Race

9:45 a.m. saw the start of the 2008 Head of the River Race, a race in which Quintin Boat Club is one of the few to have competed on every occasion. Contrary to earlier weather forecasts, the morning was dry, and by the time the race started, the sun was breaking through the clouds. There was a slight head breeze heading round the Dukes Meadows bend, but compared with last year's ocean the conditions were relatively placid and there were no sinkings. The Leander (mainly) under-23s won by a comfortable margin of 7 seconds over Imperial College, who had strengthened their eight with four Italian internationals. Leander's time was 17 min. 39.57 sec. compared with IC's 17 min. 46.61 sec. The club had two crews entered, starting 98th and 218th. QBC I, boating in the new wing-rigger Empacher (not yet Christened), finished 76th in 19 min. 4.77 sec. - our best result for some years. QBC II finished 161st in 19 min. 40.10 sec. See the photo gallery for pictures of QBC I and QBC II.

Full results here and full details of the start order here.

Leander I - winners of the 2008 HORR.

Sunday 2 March Hammersmith Head

The club had four crews entered for the Hammersmith Head (11:00 am on Sunday, 2nd March). The first men's crew. a Quintin/MAA composite, started 21st and finished 12th overall in 11 min 38.5 sec, the Vet D crew started No. 49 and finished 54th in 13 min 18.16 sec, the Vet E crew started No. 52 and finished 58th in 13 min 51.53 sec, and the women's novices composite with the University of Westminster started No. 64 and finished 61st (out of 61 starters) in 14 min 41.95 sec. Full details of the results here and the start order here.

Sunday 10 February Molesey Veterans' Head

The "Bar Flies" and the vice-presidents took to the water in eights to represent the club at the annual Molesey bash. The weather over the weekend was some of the most benign for the time of year - blue skies, warm and sunny, with little wind. It must have had a soporific effect on the "Bar Flies", who managed to maintain only a ten second margin over the vice-presidents. The "Bar Flies" finished 21st in 10:14.4 and the VPs were 23rd in 10:24.7. Full results here.

Friday 8 February Annual Dinner

The annual dinner was held on Friday, 8th February. Once again the venue was the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, and some 60-plus members and guests (that's numbers rather than age, I think) turned up to toast the health of the club. The meal kicked off with smoked salmon and caper berries, followed by succulent rump of lamb. The principal guest was Steve Trapmore MBE, who gave us his unassuming account of the Sydney Olympic Games and how to stroke a crew to the gold medal in the blue riband eights event ("Row as hard as you can for the first five hundred, then row harder for the next five hundred; at the thousand row even harder, and, with five hundred metres to go, row harder still"). It works every time! Steve's talk culminated in a video re-run of the Sydney Eights final - and GB won again, earning a tremendous round of applause from all present. Unfortunately Steve had to leave the dinner early to keep a coaching appointment on Saturday morning in Lincolnshire and so he missed not only the excellent apple and blackberry tart with clotted cream but also the Captain's speech and Leif Jacobsen's dazzling act, which itself culminated in Leif promising to give us a speech next year, possibly to talk us through the Lightweight World Championships in when was it Leif? Sad to say, much beer and wine was consumed by all.

Saturday 26 January Quintin Head

The Quintin Head was again blessed by fair weather; a bright sunny day with a strong westerly wind. The following wind and torrential stream resulted in a record-breaking time of 10 min. 13.6 sec. for the University of Bristol, who came Head for the second year running. Imperial College also impressed, finishing second and third to take the Men's Senior 2 and Senior 3 pennants, whilst Westminster School retained their fourth position and the Men's J18 title. Another record broken was the number of entries; 88, with 82 actually racing, compared with 61 last year. Interest within the club was maintained by a Quintin/MAA composite finishing 10th and Dick Findlay's Veteran C crew assembled on the day finishing a creditable 16th, taking the Veteran C pennant - all the more creditable as they actually qualified as Veteran D! Full results are available here.

Quintin would like to thank all the officials and the clubs that helped with launches as well as all the competitors that took part in the event.

Check out the photo gallery for pictures of club interest (Nos 63-67).