Sunday 18 December — Plum Puddings and Christmas Party

It's that time of the year again! Time for silly hats and mince pies! Next Sunday is the date for the annual plum puddings race, starting at the Pink House at approximately 11:15am. Once this bit of fun is over it's down to the serious stuff of the Quintin Chistmas Party, starting at about 12:30pm. All members and friends welcome. If you fancy a warm-up event, Merv's squad invite you to join them for a few drinks from 5pm at the club on Saturday.

Saturday 10 December — Walton Small Boats Head

The club's masters continued their successful winter season with some good sculling performances in the Walton Small Boats Head. Ken Almand won the Masters C 1x pennant, finishing in a time of 11 min. 50 sec. Dick Findlay and Frank Webb won the Masters G/H 2x handicap pennant in a time of 12 min. 22 sec. Tom Bishop and daughter also put in good performances in Mixed Masters B (11 min. 47 sec.) and Mixed Masters C (11 min. 55 sec.).

Full provisional results may be found at http://www.waltonrowingclub.co.uk/WSBH/.

Saturday 3 December — Vesta Scullers Head

The club had eight competitors in the Scullers Head this year. Ken Almand was our fastest sculler, finishing 66th overall in a time of 22 min. 24.49 sec, placing him third in the Masters B category. Tom Bishop won the Masters F pennant, finishing 209th overall in a time of 23 min. 39.86 sec. A summary of the club's results:

Sarah Blakeburn was also competing, in University of Westminster colours, and finished 443rd in 26 min. 54.95 sec. Frank Webb was under doctor's orders again and did not take part.

Full results may be found at http://www.vestarowing.co.uk/.

Saturday 26 November — Burway Small Boats Head

Quintin had just one entry in the Burway Small Boats Head this year, but what a fine result! Although they qualify for Masters H, Dick Findlay and Frank Webb entered the Masters E/F/G double sculls category in order to qualify for a pennant, as there were no other category H entries. They were the fastest in the category by over 20 seconds, even before the handicap was applied, finishing in a time of 10 min. 39 sec, and they also beat four of the six Masters D doubles. This all means, of course that Dick and Frank won the Masters E/F/G 2x pennant.

The full results may be found at
http://www.burwayrowingclub.co.uk/SBH_Results2011event.pdf.

Saturday 19 November — Kingston Small Boats Head

The club had two entries in the Kingston Small Boats Head at the weekend and very nearly came away with two pennants. Pete Meaney completed the course in 20 min. 38.19 sec, just missing out on the Masters E 1x pennant by 3/100ths of a second to Alloway of Tideway Scullers School. Well done to the timekeepers for spotting such a slender difference! Dick Findlay and Frank Webb took 19 min. 54.91 sec. in their Masters G/H double, beating their closest opposition by 45 seconds to take the pennant.

Full results are available at the event website.

Saturday 12 November — Henley Sculls Head

The club had a good set of results in the Henley Sculls on Saturday, winning four pennants. First off, Steve Aquilina and Tom Bishop (Masters E 2x) won the Masters D/E handicap pennant outright, in a time of 12 min. 5 sec. In the single sculls, Ken Almand was our fastest, in 12 min. 23 sec. He was the thirteenth fastest sculler overall and took the Masters B pennant. Not to be outdone, Richard Ratcliffe won the Masters C pennant in a time of 12 min. 42 sec. Our next fastest sculler was Charles Harrison, who won the Masters E pennant in 13 min. 3 sec, followed by Steve Aquilina (Masters D, 13 min. 17 sec.), then Tom Bishop, who just missed the Masters F pennant by 5 seconds in a time of 13 min. 28 sec. Pete Meaney (Masters E, 13 min. 31 sec.) was close behind Tom, followed by Geoff Peel (Masters E, 13 min. 45 sec.In Masters G, Dick Findlay clocked 14 min. 15 sec, missing the pennant by 6 seconds. Frank Webb scratched on medical advice.

Full results may be found at this link.

Wednesday 9 November — Brian Howard

We have sadly learned of the death of Brian Howard, a member of the club in the 1960s and a regular supporter of our crews at Henley. Brian was suffering from cancer of the bowel. Brian had his first race for the club in 1961, along with Alec Field and Neville Baynes, and they had some success under their coaches, initially Brian Shaw and Dennis Body, winning Maiden (Novice) Eights at Hammersmith Regatta and beating Radley College in the final of Junior Eights at Reading Amateur Regatta (although finishing second to Bedford School) - this in a field of 26 entries. Arther Ward took over the coaching in 1962 and the crew went on to win Junior Eights at Chiswick Regatta.

The funeral will be held on November 15th st 11.15 at Easthampstead Park Cemetery and Crematorium, South Road, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, RG40 3DW. The wake will take place at the Wheelright Arms, Davis Way, Hurst, RG10 0TR. Family flowers only and donations (if desired) to Intensive Care at The Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading.

Brian appears in our photo gallery at 1970s 07 and 1990s 46.

Sunday 6 November — Veteran Fours Head

Contrary to an earlier news bulletin, the club had an interest in four crews racing in the Veteran Fours Head on Sunday. As well as the three crews previously mentioned, the club captain turned out in a Masters B quad under composite MAABC/QBC colours. Weatherwise, conditions had changed dramatically from the calm conditions of Saturday's Fours Head, there being a strong northerly wind, which signified rough water and a head wind all the way from Barnes Bridge to Chiswick Eyot.

The B quad (Mark Chatwin stroking) had an interesting scull and despite some imaginative steering (or maybe because of it) they finished eighth overall in a time of 20 min. 49.62 sec. However, this was enough for them to clinch the Masters B 4x pennant. Meanwhile, Ken Almand's and Richard Ratcliffe's Masters C quad composite with Auriol Kensington and Thames finished fifth overall in a time of 20 min. 36.46 sec. to win the Masters C 4x pennant. They were the second fastest masters quad, being beaten only by the Broxbourne Masters ‘A’ crew and two IM3 quads and an exceptionally fast IM3 coxed four, all from the University of London.

Next on for Quintin was our Masters E coxless four, starting at No. 78, with Ken's father Willy on board. This crew "battened down the hatches" in the rough water after Barnes Bridge and overhauled one of their rivals for the pennant, Upper Thames RC, just after Chiswick Eyot. With a strong second half, they managed to hold off the challenge of Walton RC and took the Masters E 4- pennant in a time of 21 min. 53.97 sec, finishing 34th overall. They beat all the Masters A, B and D coxless fours and were the fourth fastest coxless four, with only the Tyrian, Crabtree and Ardingly ‘C’ fours ahead of them. The winning crew: Geoff Peel (bow, steers), Willy Almand, Steve Aquilina, Roger Hine (stroke).

Our final representatives in the race were an IM3 coxed four, starting at No. 126. They finished 130th in a time of 23 min. 51.28 sec. Given the difficult conditions, this was a sterling performance from the crew; Sam and Nick only started rowing this year, and this was their first open race; Craig had swapped from bowside to strokeside. The crew: Sam Broadhurst (bow), Craig Russell, Nick Moore, Tom Barnwell (stroke), Jane Adams (cox).

Full results may be found at vet_fours_head_2011_results.xls.

Saturday 5 November — Fours Head of the River

We had one entry in the Fours Head on Saturday, an IM1 coxed four, starting at No. 228. They finished their race over the full Mortlake-Putney course in 284th position, in a time of 21 min. 44.04 sec. The crew: Ewen McLeod (bow), Rob Williams, Alex Page, Adam Page (stroke), Catt McLeod (cox). Full results are available at http://www.hor4s.org.uk/docs/results-2011-time.pdf.

Thursday 3 November — QBC Golf Society Inaugural Meeting

The clouds were dark and threatening as the competitors in the first QBC Golf Society meeting, organised by Simon Murby, teed off at Richmond Golf Club. There were two 3 balls playing individual stableford off full handicaps. The first 3 ball of Dave King, Geoff Potts and Andrew Bramah got off to a good start with all 3 drives in play on the first fairway, but it was downhill from there on in. Behind, the other 3 ball of Simon Murby, Roy Davies and Bill Dennis kept the pressure on by firing off the odd drive that landed too close for comfort on the group in front.

After a titanic struggle, many swear words and a surprisingly small number of lost balls the final outcome was —

• Dave King – 33 points
• Geoff Potts – 31 points
• Simon Murby – 31 points
• Andrew Bramah – 29 points
• Roy Davies – 26 points
• Bill Dennis – 23 points (winner of Knob Trophy)

We are hoping to organise a larger outing next spring so please let Simon or Dave know if you fancy swinging a club.

Saturday 29 October — Marlow Long Distance Sculls

The club had five scullers competing in the Marlow Long Distance Sculls on Saturday. These days the race is a mixed bag of quads, doubles and singles, and so an overall finish position is pretty meaningless and position within your own category has more significance. In Masters C, Ken Almand came second to Guy Pooley of Crabtree, in a time of 20 min. 28.1 sec, with Richard Ratcliffe third in 20 min. 32.6 sec. In the Masters E/F handicap Charles Harrison won convingcingly in 21 min. 15.9 sec. Dick FIndlay came second to Sean Morris of Wallingford in the Masters G/H handicap in a time of 23 min. 12.6 sec. with Frank Webb following on in 24 min. 14.2 sec.

Full results may be found at http://www.marlowrowingclub.org.uk/images/stories/
longdistancesculls/LDS2011/LDS_2011_Results_by_event.pdf

Saturday 22 October — Weybridge Silver Sculls

The Weybridge Silver Sculls were won on Saturday by Tim Male of Tideway Scullers School, in a time of 13 min. 18 sec. Quintin had five scullers competing in four of the Masters categories. In Masters C, Ken Almand came fourth in 14 min. 9 sec. and Richard Ratcliffe was fifth in 14 min. 15 sec. In Masters E, Tom Bishop overtook Geoff Peel to win the pennant in !4 min. 52 sec. Geoff finished fourth in 15 min. 22 sec. Tom also won the Masters F pennant sculling in an earlier division, in a time of 14 min. 43 sec. Finally, Frank Webb was the faster of the two Masters H scullers, beating R. Green of BTC Southampton by 15 seconds in a time of 16 min. 23 sec.

Tom is undoubtedly holding his own in our pennant winners table. Full results may be found at http://www.weybridgerowing.org.uk/silversculls.htm

Saturday 8 October — Pairs Head of the River

The club had six entries for the Pairs Head on Saturday, including two composites with the University of Westminster. The course was the usual one from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge, and this year we were blessed with mild weather and a tail breeze off the start which undoubtedly eased as the race progressed. With an entry of over 430 pairs and doubles it took well over an hour to get all crews through the start, and it was a little disconcerting for our masters at the back of the field to find crews returning to the UL boathouse while they were still marshalling for the race.

Mark Chatwin (our captain) and Andrew Lawson (University of Westminster) led the way for the club in an IM2 double, and were our fastest crew, finishing sixth in their category. Our next fastest crew were Deborah Mallinson and Tom Bishop, who won the pennant for Mixed Masters D/E/F doubles. Then came our coxless pairs - Richard Ratcliffe and Ken Almand (the second-fastest Masters C pair), Ewen McLeod and Alex Page (University of Westminster) half a second slower, followed by Geoff Peel and Roger Hine (fastest Masters E pair by 25 seconds and fastest in their division – Masters E/F/G/H – before the handicap was applied). Last but not least Dick FIndlay and Frank Webb won the Masters G/H/I doubles division, even without the handicap, in a time just 1/100th second slower than Geoff and Roger in their pair.

Full results may be found at PairsHeadProvResults-2011.xls

Saturday 1 October — Göta Älvrodden, Gothenburg, Sweden

The QBC Barflies arrived in a foggy Gothenburg on Friday morning. However things soon brightened up when the sun came out and we arrived for a training outing at Molndals Rowing Club, which is situated on an idyllic 2000m lake just outside town. Not only had our hosts provided us with a perfectly formed cox, Mimi, but also given us the loan of the Empacher eight that Quintin sold them a few years ago.

The race was on Saturday morning over a 20km course on the Gota River from Kungalvs to Gothenburg. There were over 40 boats in total – a mixture of fours and eights – from all over Scandinavia and St Petersburg. The start was fairly exciting as there was a mass start, at five minute intervals, for all boats in the same class. QBC lined up with the two other crews in the Masters category, and got off to a good start in front of Justitia, Norway and just behind the local club, Kungvals. Molndals first eight won the event in a record time of 1:02:50. After a good row, passing a number of eights and a lot of fours, QBC came in 6th overall in a time of 1:16:04. Our hosts then laid on an excellent dinner that evening when ample quanities of the local Falcon beer were consumed. As a result the flight home on Sunday morning was on the quiet side!

We look forward to seeing our hosts next year when they will be over for the HORR.

Editor's note: This link will give some flavour of the event.

Photographs from the trip may be found at ../photogallery/2011_10_01/pic_01.html.

Saturday 1 October — Two Wins at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls

Whilst meteorologists were consulting their record books to see if the temperatures in the London area, approaching 30°C, were the hottest ever for October, Quintin Boat Club was opening its autumn sculling season with two wins at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls. Tom Bishop took part in two divisions, initially coming second to clubmate Charlie Harrison in the Masters E category, and then going on to scull the course again and win the Masters F category.

Full results may be found at http://www.wallingford-sculls.rowing.org.uk/sculls-results/2011/lds2011.html.

Sunday 25 September — To Catt and Ewen, a Daughter

It gives us pleasure to announce that Catt McLeod has finally given birth, to a baby girl at approximately eleven o'clock on Sunday morning. Mother and baby are doing well. Catt and Ewen have decided to call their daughter Iona.

Sunday 18 September — Club Sculling Championship and Annual General Meeting

It was decided this year to move the club sculling championship from April to September, so that it could act as an opener to the autumn sculling heads and perhaps attract a few more members to the Annual General Meeting. The entry was a little down on last year with fifteen entries and thirteen eventually taking part. It would be nice to see a few more of the sculling boats housed in the boathouse (and their owners) taking part in this annual race, which this year followed the usual format and was sculled on an ebb tide from the Pink House at Isleworth to the Club flagpole. As well as detemining the overall club champion, the race has a sealed handicap with a prize of the Findlayson Cup. It is no surprise that this year's club champion is our captain, Mark Chatwin, but our chief handicapper, Malcolm Cook said that he had obviously underestimetad Richard Ratcliffe's boat speed when the latter took the handicap race by five seconds, with a cushion of some twenty seconds over the main body of the field. Prizes were also won by Charlie Harrison for Masters DEF and by Dick Findlay for Masters GH categories. Full results may be found at ../sculling/sculling11_results.html

Photographs from the event may be found at ../photogallery/2011_09_18/pic_01.html.

The AGM followed the 10:30 race at 12:00 noon, when the captain and treasurer presented their annual reports to the meeting and the new committee was elected. In practice this is the same committee as last year. The secretary will publish the minutes of the AGM in due course.

Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 September — FISA World Masters Regatta, Poznan, Poland

The masters squad, under Pete Meaney's skilful management, rounded off the regatta season with what we believe is the greatest number of wins the club has ever achieved at a World Masters Regatta - a grand total of eight.

The regatta started on an overcast Thursday afternoon with a strong tail wind which caused the waves to build up the nearer you got to the finishing line, but this did not stop Deborah Mallinson winning the category A women’s single sculls by a handsome 9½ seconds to chalk up our first win of the regatta.

Conditions on Day Two were pretty much the same and the club's programme commenced with two heats of men's ‘D’ coxless fours. Going first was the well-practised four of Lonergan and Co, who were up against Mladost (Croatia), Kiev (Ukraine) and a German composite, among others. Quintin dominated from the start and in the end the only danger came from the German composite, and even they were three seconds down at the 500m mark and the final verdict was a win for Quintin by 7/100ths short of three seconds. The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke).

An hour later our emphasis switched back to sculling, with Tom Bishop and Steve Aquilina going in category E double sculls. Once again Quintin dominated from the start, with a three second cushion at the 500m and a final verdict of 3½ seconds over the South Africans from Victoria Lake Club.

With three wins in the bag already, we now felt that things were going our way, and, sure enough, as lunchtime approached, the ‘D’ quadruple scull came up with our fourth win, leading the field by 1½ seconds at the 500m and just hanging on to win in a photo-finish by 16/100ths of a second. The crew: Geoff Peel (bow, steers), Steve Aquilina, Richard Lonergan, Rete Meaney (stroke). For Richard and Steve, this was a second medal of the day, and Steve was certainly having no regrets about his move from Walbrook at the beginning of the season.

Then Tom Bishop was back on the water, making it five wins by taking category E single sculls with a five second margin. Could we win the ‘E’ eights? Unfortunately, no. Although we had learnt our lesson the previous day, when we had been dropped at the start, we were still beaten out of the blocks by a powerful German composite, who had two seconds at the 500m and hung on to finish by the same margin. Were we downhearted – yes, but not for long! Deborah soon raised our spirits with another fine win (nearly nine seconds) in the category B women's single sculls, making it five wins on the day and six overall.

By Saturday morning the weather had changed. The clouds had rolled away, the temperature had risen, and the wind had eased and veered across the course. The previous day's results gave us high hopes for the category E coxless fours, but in the end success was not to be. The ‘A’ four (with one change of personnel from the day before) did not find its rhythm and slipped from second place at the 500m to fourth overall. The second four faired better, finishing second in their heat, but could not match the speed of Dynamo Moscow. We had to wait to the end of the day for our next win, Tom Bishop dominating his race and winning by 6½ seconds, this time Category F single sculls.

Day Four of the regatta is reserved for mixed races, and Tom and Deborah chalked up our eighth and final win in category D double sculls, winning by a comfortable six seconds.

Dick Findlay also fared well at the regatta, in his Occoquan colours, winning both category G and H eights, H coxless fours and H quadruple sculls.

All in all, it was a great regatta for Quintin. The course and facilities at the course were superb, we stayed at a luxurious hotel with an easy tram connection to the course, and Poznan itself has a very attractive city centre. On Sunday morning the city square had a carnival atmosphere with a brass band marching and playing (all dressed as chefs!), and there were many other activities, all of which were food-related. We found out later that it was indeed a festival of food and there were plans to make the "longest ever" sausage that afternoon. Unfortunately we had a plane to catch and missed much of the fun.

If you want even more detail about the racing, the results may be found at http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2011-world-rowing-masters-regatta-poznan-pol, or use the hyperlink on each day below. There is also a brief article and a photograph of our winning quad scull on the British Rowing website at http://www.britishrowing.org/news/2011-world-rowing-masters-conclude-poland.

Our race numbers are as follows:

• Thursday
  • 117 - C1x - Richard Ratcliffe
  • 143 - WA1x - Deborah Mallinson - 1st
  • 146 - D8+
• Friday
  • 217 - D4- QBC A (John Ferrario, Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan) - 1st
  • 218 - D4- QBC B
  • 237 - E2x - Tom Bishop and Steve Aquilina - 1st
  • 248 - C4-
  • 264 - D4x (Geoff Peel, Steve Aquilina, Richard Lonergan, Pete Meaney) - 1st
  • 283 - E1x - Tom Bishop - 1st
  • 333 - E8+
  • 340 - C2x
  • 355 - WB1x - Deborah Mallinson - 1st
• Saturday
  • 428 - E4- - QBC A
  • 429 - E4- - QBC B
  • 437 - C2-
  • 458 - D2x
  • 461 - G4+ (composite with Durham ARC)
  • 481 - C8+
  • 523 - E2-
  • 531 - C4x
  • 540 - F1x - Tom Bishop - 1st
• Sunday
  • 601 - Mxd D2x - Tom Bishop and Deborah Mallinson - 1st

Photographs from the trip may be found at ../photogallery/2011_09_09/pic_01.html.

Sunday 11 September — Upton Beginners’ Regatta

Our learn-to-rowers have taken their first step into competition with an appearance at Upton Beginners’ Regatta (near Worcester) on Sunday. The format of the event was 16 entries with a plate event for first round losers so you were guaranteed two races. The course was 500m from a free start with a half length stagger for the bend advantage and then 2 seconds per woman in the boat if more than the opposing crew. Fortunately the weather held and our four, coxed by jane had a really good days racing actually racing 5 times as they deadheated in their semifinal. In the final they came up against a strong RAF Brize Norton crew and although we had a 2 second handicap they were just too strong and beat us by just under a length. Our crew was Kerri Abbott (bow), Nanyamka Brown, Nick Moore, Sam Broadhurst (stroke), Jane Adams (cox). What was very pleasing to see was that the quality of our crews rowing was definitely amongst the best on show which is a credit to everyone who contributed to getting them out on the water and coaching/coxing them.

A photograph from the regatta may be found at ../photogallery/2011_09_11/pic_01.html.

Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August — Stourport Regattas

It has been a quiet time on the regatta front for Quintin Boat Club since Molesey, but the club made its annual pilgrimage to Stourport over the weekend of 13th and 14th August, with the degree of success we have rather come to expect. Your usual correspondent has been away, sunning himself (honest!) on the coast of Northumberland, and so this report from Rob Williams has only just come into his hands:

"On Saturday, Quintin entered boats into four competitions. The IM3 4+ (Jane, Mash, Max W, Sean and Jason) were beaten by eventual winners Loughborough in the first round. Mash was suffering from a heavy bout of man-flu and decided to take a leave off the racing for the rest of the day, giving him a chance to improve his photography skills. The IM3 8 (Jane, Rob, Max P, Richard, Craig, Tom, Max W, Sean, Jason) faced Stourport in the semi-final, and despite going behind from the start, managed to row back through them and earn a final spot against Burton Leander. In the final, Quintin led throughout and finished 2 lengths up. The IM2 4+ (Rob, Craig, Richard, Max P, Jane), racing for the first time in this category, faced another Burton Leander squad in the semis, crossing the line 2.5 lengths up (having now perfected the "Quintin" start with a devastating first 20 strokes!) In a close final, Quintin built up a lead over Magdalen College (who went on to win the IM1 4+ that day) in the early stages. Despite a fight back from them over the 2nd half of the course, Quintin held them off and won by 3 feet. In the vet events, Graham lost his first round scull and a Vet C 4+ boat (Tom, Craig, Duncan, Graham, Jane) lost to Nottingham Vet D by a credible 2.5 lengths - considering they had been forced to give them a 9 second headstart due to average age.

Sunday was an early start following the curry and beers the night before. That didn't stop the IM3 4+ (Tom, Max W, Sean, Jason, Jane) from beating firstly the previous day's novice winners in the heat, followed by Ross in the semis. In arguably the race of the Regatta, they faced home squad Stourport and for most of the race were behind. As they approached the finish, the curry power kicked in. Quintin support on the bank (bolstered by Jane's kids Harry and Ellie) just managed to make themselves heard over the roar of the home fans as Quintin closed down Stourport. As they passed the boathouse just before the line, it was neck and neck. Quintin laid down the power in spectacular fashion and finished ahead by a canvas.

From the previous day's wins, the IM3 8 and IM2 4+ were now over pointed. The straight final in the IM3 8 was changed to an 'invitational' as there was no IM2 event. Jane had a row in place of Craig and Mash took Richard's place. With a borrowed Stourport cox we eventually lost by 2 lengths to the Stourport boat we'd beaten the day before. IM2 4+ moved up to IM1 4+ as previous winners and beat firstly Trentham and then Bridgnorth in the final, both by around 2 lengths. Graham won his vets heat but lost in the semis. The Vet C 4+, with Richard taking Tom's place, lost to a very quick Warwick in the final, having beaten Ross by 1.5 lengths in the semi. The Quintin 4+ boat and Jane were hardly off the water as the afternoon drew to a close, with Duncan expertly negotiating on times with the opposition and organisers to fit everything in.

Overall it was a great weekend with Quintin heading back down the M40 with an impressive haul of 24 pots. It was a culmination to a season which saw both Tom and Jason finally losing their novice status, the IM3 8 boat finally pulling it all together, Craig and Rob progressing from Novice at the start of April, through to IM1 in the 4+ boat (with Richard and Max P) and we're now all reclaiming lost water to crews that initially take the lead in races. There is a new confidence amongst the squad about what we can achieve next season".

Photographs from the regatta may be found at ../photogallery/2011_08_13/pic_01.html.

Friday 22 July — To Mark and Lindsay, a Daughter

We are pleased to announce the arrival on Friday of Mark and Lindsay Chatwin’s first-born, Olivia Rose, at 4:47, weighing in at 7ib. 11oz, and all of 55cm. tall. Mother and baby are doing well and returned home on Sunday evening.

Saturday 16 July — Molesey Regatta

The club had four entries at Molesey Regatta on Saturday, and an interest in a fifth. Richard Ratcliffe started the regatta off at 9:30am in a heat of Masters ‘C’ single sculls, beating Macrae of Maidenhead by 2½ lengths. In the semi-final Richard was beaten by Hosking of Thames Tradesmen’s Rowing Club, by 4 lengths. Alex Page entered IM2 single sculls but was beaten in the first round by Wilkins of Molesey by 3½ lengths. Our IM3 coxed four raced HSBC RC in their semi-final, winning by a comfortable 4½ lengths. In the final they met Christ Church BC, Oxford and won impressively, this time by 2½ lengths. The IM3 eight had a bye to their final where they met Granta (the CULRC development squad). Despite having to borrow a boat at the last minute, due to their own boat suffering a broken shoulder, our crew put up a good performance, but went down to a very polished Granta crew by 4 lengths.

The winning IM3 four: Max Popiolek (bow), Richard Miller, Craig Russell, Rob Williams (stroke), Jane Adams (cox).

A photograph of the winning crew may be found at ../photogallery/2011_07_16/pic_01.html.

Also at this regatta, your webmaster broke the habit of 46 years rowing in sweep-oar events and took part in his first race in the sculling discipline, forming a novice double scull with his son, Thomas, from Twickenham RC. Hine and Hine had a comfortable race in their first round against KGS Veterans, winning by 3½ lengths, but met tough opposition from Molesey BC in the final, losing by 2¼ lengths.

The full results may be found at
http://www.moleseyregatta.co.uk/MAR/Provisional%20results%20Sat.pdf

Friday 15 July — Doug Carpenter’s Funeral

Doug Carpenter’s funeral service will be at 2:00pm this Friday at Christ Church, Turnham Green.

Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July — Henley Masters Regatta

The club had yet another successful Henley Vets (now called Henley Masters Regatta) at the weekend, with only two small disappointments. We won women’s ‘B’ single sculls and men’s ‘F’ single sculls (well done Deborah and Tom!) and also scored a comfortable win over Crabtree in the final of ‘E’ eights - this after a gut-busting canvas verdict over Durham in the semi-final. The ‘E’ coxless four were disappointed to have no opposition on the day in their event and rowed over to take the medals. The second disappointment was when John Ferrario found he was unable to row in the final of ‘D’ coxless fours, having sustained and aggravated a rib injury during his previous races. After consultation with the officials we were allowed to make a medical substitution and Geoff Peel gallantly stepped into the bow-steers seat. Our opposition in the final were Reading RC, whom we had beaten in a close race last year, and whose time in their semi-final this year was identical to ours. so we knew it was going to be tough. After a fast Quintin start giving us an early lead, Reading pushed ahead at the Barrier and, despite a thirty stroke onslaught from our crew at the finish, held on to a ½ length lead. Interestingly, our substitution in the final meant we would have been eligible for the Masters ‘E’ category. We wish John Ferrario a speedy recovery in time for the World Masters in Poznan in September.

Henley Masters this year was blessed with a strong head wind, which on Friday was strong in the extreme - hence much slower times in the Friday heats. It was also very gusty throughout the regatta, giving considerable variability to race times. The full results of our races:

Crew: John Ferrario (bow), Ian Hyslop, Willy Almand, Steve Aquilina, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Crew: Steve Aquilina (bow, steers), Pete Meaney, Geoff Peel, Ian Hyslop (stroke).

Crew: John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke).
Geoff Peel was substituted for John Ferrario in the final, due to injury.

Quintin also had an involvement, in the form of Dick Findlay, in two composite crews with Occoquan RC, racing in ‘G/H’ coxless fours and ‘G’ eights.The four beat Breda in the semi-final by 2/3 length and then very soon afterwards Dick was in another close race in the semi-final of the ‘G’ eights against Wallingford. In the fours final Dick’s crew had to give Henley a 10 second start on handicap and never really contested the race, but in the eights final Occoquan beat Reading RC by a canvas to take the title. The Occoquan results:

The full results may be downloaded at http://www.henleymastersregatta.org.uk/Full%20Results%202011%209%207%2011.pdf.

Photographs of the Quintin crews and personnel are available at ../photogallery/2011_07_08/pic_01.html.

Tuesday 5 July — Martin, Trish and Ellie

After yesterday’s sad news, something from Martin Carr across the pond to cheer us up — "Just as many were heading probably unsteadily to the bus to go home from HRR Saturday, Trish gave birth to a baby girl; Eleanora (aka Ellie) weighed in at 8lb 10 oz and the nurse after the delivery remarked she has big feet. Hopefully this is a future sign of a tall girl with a nice long stroke!!"

Congratulations from all at QBC!

Monday 4 July — Doug Carpenter

It is with great sadness that we learned last night of the death of Doug Carpenter. Doug suffered a heart attack at 7:30 yesterday morning and neither his wife nor the paramedic team was able to revive him. He had been seen at Henley only the previous day looking fit and well. Doug was a long standing member of the club, first representing it in heads and regattas back in the 1970s. He was in the Head of the River crew (photograph at http://quintinboatclub.org/photogallery/1970s/pic_23.html) and Thames Cup crew (photograph at http://quintinboatclub.org/photogallery/1970s/pic_25.html) of 1977 and won a bronze medal as part of our lightweight eight at the National Championships that year, following his silver medal representing Great Britain in Lightweight eights in the World Championships of 1976. He will also be remembered by Graham Lloyd and Roger Hine as a worthy adversary (in London RC colours) in Elite pairs at various Thames regattas in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Doug was still very active in the club, venturing out in his sculling boat on a regular basis, and will be sorely missed. He leaves behind a 17 year old son and a 14 year old daughter as well as his wife Dee.

Doug was filmed in a brief interview at Henley on Saturday. You may view this interview at http://www.winkball.com/entries/PFYuYZiXYUHz/douglas-carpenter

The funeral is on Friday, 15th July at 2:00pm at Christ Church, Turnham Green.

Wednesday 29 June — Henley Royal Regatta

Our Wyfold four gave a spirited performance against Banks Rowing Club, Australia in the first round of the event, their rating never dropping below 36, but the Australian crew had taken and early lead and won by 2¼ lengths. Results of all the races may be found at http://www.hrr.co.uk/results/.

Photographs of the Quintin crews and other personnel are available at ../photogallery/2011_06_29/pic_01.html.

Friday 24 June — Henley Qualifiers

Our development eight failed to qualify for the Thames Cup on Friday, but we hope the experience will stand them in good stead for the future.

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 June — Marlow Amateur Regatta, Dorney Lake

The club had two entries at Marlow Regatta on Saturday and two on Sunday. The IM3 eight and the Senior four raced over the 2000m. course on Saturday and the Masters D eight and Masters B sculler (Richard Ratcliffe) raced over 1000m. on Sunday.

On Saturday the Senior 4- drew Vesta, Tyne, Henley and Star & Arrow but are clearly looking for more boat speed. Their results:

Heat:

Pos	Lane	Crew - Club/Org	500M	1000M	1500M	2000M	Result	M/Sec
1.	1	144 - Vesta RC	1:31.54	1:36.31	1:39.99	1:41.25	6:29.08	5.1
2.	2	150 - Tyne RC	1:32.88	1:38.41	1:41.96	1:40.49	6:33.74	5.1
3.	4	149 - Henley RC	1:36.15	1:40.19	1:41.98	1:40.31	6:38.62	5.0
4.	5	146 - Star & Arrow	1:38.67	1:40.72	1:48.16	1:37.53	6:45.07	4.9
5.	3	148 - Quintin BC	1:37.37	1:43.24	1:48.99	1:45.25	6:54.85	4.8

Repechage:

Pos	Lane	Crew - Club/Org	500M	1000M	1500M	2000M	Result	M/Sec
1.	3	145 - Bristol City RC	1:35.88	1:42.96	1:44.26	1:42.30	6:45.39	4.9
2.	4	146 - Star & Arrow	1:40.73	1:42.80	1:44.02	1:43.41	6:50.96	4.9
3.	5	148 - Quintin BC	1:39.83	1:44.03	1:46.46	1:44.57	6:54.89	4.8

The IM3 8+ event had a massive 40 entries, which was split into two divisions. Our crew was in division 2. The crew had a tough race against class opposition but must have gained much from the experience. The division was eventually won by St. Edward’s School, with the University of the West of England second.

Heat:

Pos	Lane	Crew - Club/Org	500M	1000M	1500M	2000M	Result	M/Sec
1.	5	348 - W Of England Univ	1:29.48	1:37.23	1:38.55	1:37.19	6:22.44	5.2
2.	2	352 - Reading Univ BC	1:33.36	1:37.67	1:38.99	1:38.56	6:28.58	5.1
3.	3	334 - Norwich Sch	1:35.46	1:38.17	1:38.74	1:41.30	6:33.66	5.1
4.	1	340 - Windsor Boys Sch	1:36.66	1:40.15	1:42.08	1:41.09	6:39.98	5.0
5.	4	345 - Univ Coll Lon BC	1:36.08	1:44.35	1:46.58	1:45.51	6:52.51	4.8
6.	6	343 - Quintin BC	1:44.28	1:49.20	1:49.30	1:51.93	7:14.71	4.6

On Sunday we had more success. Richard raced in Masters B single sculls and won convincingly.

Pos	Lane	Crew - Club/Org	Name	500M	Finish	Result	M/Sec
1.	2	519 - Quintin	C R Ratcliffe	1:48.98	1:55.58	3:44.56	4.5
2.	4	515 - Dart Totnes RC	P Atkinson	1:51.13	2:00.67	3:51.79	4.3
3.	3	517 - Dart Totnes RC	N Price	1:52.20	2:07.69	3:59.89	4.2
4.	1	516 - Lymington	T Bull	2:02.57	2:05.97	4:08.55	4.0
5.	5	514 - Dart Totnes RC	A Szender	2:06.21	2:11.25	4:17.47	3.9

The Masters D 8+ also had a convincing win against Thames RC and Reading RC. The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Pos	Lane	Crew - Club/Org	500M	Finish	Result	M/Sec
1.	2	394 - Quintin BC	1:28.42	1:35.87	3:04.29	5.4
2.	3	393 - Reading RC	1:32.15	1:40.92	3:13.07	5.2
3.	4	392 - Thames RC	1:34.06	1:39.60	3:13.66	5.2

The full results may be found at http://www.themarlowregatta.com/

Photographs of the Quintin crews are available at ../photogallery/2011_06_18/pic_01.html.

Tuesday 14 June — Stewart Mitchell

With regret we report that Stewart Mitchell died last week. Stewart joined Quintin in 1975 and rowed 7 in the Novice eight that won first time out at Hammersmith Regatta in 1976. He went on to be a successful Novice coach. He is best remembered for his very successful, and eventful, stewardship of the Quintin bar in the mid and late 70’s (Stewart appears in our photo gallery at http://quintinboatclub.org/photogallery/1970s/pic_07.html,
http://quintinboatclub.org/photogallery/1970s/pic_47.html and
http://quintinboatclub.org/photogallery/when/pic_09.html).

Sunday 12 June — British Rowing Masters Championships, Nottingham

The club entered four events at the British Rowing Masters Regatta, which took place on Sunday at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham. On our arrival the lake was calm and the sun was shining, but before we could get much racing done the skies opened and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day. That said, water conditions could have been a lot worse. The prevailing wind was across the course (slightly head), but the direction could change, even during a race.

First on for QBC was Tom Bishop in a heat of ‘F’ single sculls at 10:02. He had drawn West of Norwich, Marshall of Maidstone Invicta, Harris of Dart Totnes, Andrews of Ardingly and Langmaid of Dart Totnes, with the first five going through to meet Davies of Dart Totnes in the final at 17:22. Tom won the heat and the final, beating Langmaid into second place on both occasions to take the gold medal (West of Norwich scratched after the heat).

Race:  224			MF1x H		1000m
Posn,	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	4	QBC	Quintin BC (Bishop)	02:07.8	04:23.14
2	6	DAT (B)	Dart Totnes (Langmaid) B	02:13.0	04:30.61
3	1	NOR	Norwich RC (West)	02:19.3	04:39.43
4	3	DAT (A)	Dart Totnes (Harris) A	02:18.0	04:39.88
5	2	MAV	Maidstone Inv (Marshall)	02:26.8	05:09.34

Race:  334			MF1x FINAL		1000m
Posn.	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	3	QBC	Quintin BC (Bishop)	02:00.1	04:09.23
2	2	DAT (B)	Dart Totnes (Langmaid) B	02:06.9	04:16.72
3	4	DAT (C)	Dart Totnes (Davis) C	02:07.3	04:23.98
4	1	DAT (A)	Dart Totnes (Harris) A	02:11.0	04:25.04
5	6	MAV	Maidstone Inv (Marshall)	02:23.4	05:02.20

Our next crew to race was the ‘D’ eight, drawn against Runcorn, Star Club and Maidstone Invicta in a heat at 10:50. To qualify for the final the crew simply had to avoid coming last, but in practice they won the heat in style, winding down over the second half well clear of the field. They had a long wait (until 18:18) for the final, against Warwick/Poole/Bradford-on-Avon/Walbrook, Peterborough City and Broxbourne, but the wait was well worth it for the gold medals they deservedly won.

The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Ian Hyslop, Steve Aquilina, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Race:  236			MD8+ H2		1000m
Posn,	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	2	QBC	Quintin BC	01:43.2	03:36.20
2	5	MAV	Maidstone Invicta RC	01:48.5	03:43.36
3	3	RUN	Runcorn RC	01:50.5	03:44.17
4	4	STA	Star Club	01:49.9	03:44.46

Race:  352			MD8+ FINAL		1000m
Posn.	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	3	QBC	Quintin BC	01:39.1	03:20.47
2	4	WAR	Warwick Composite	01:40.5	03:22.56
3	6	PET	Peterborough City RC	01:42.0	03:27.03
4	5	BRX	Broxbourne RC	01:42.3	03:27.18
5	2	MAV	Maidstone Invicta RC	01:43.8	03:32.19
6	1	RUN	Runcorn RC	01:45.8	03:32.93

With a change of two personnel the crew also raced race in a straight final of the ‘E’ eights at 11:26 against Wallingford, Tideway Scullers and Durham ARC. As expected, Durham were the main rivals, but although our crew were slipped at the start, they gradually established a lead and crossed the line nearly a length ahead of Durham, with TSS and Wallingford clear water behind, for the first Quintin win of the day.

The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Race:  245			ME8+ FINAL		1000m
Posn.	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	4	QBC	Quintin BC	01:31.5	03:12.32
2	5	DUR	Durham ARC	01:33.6	03:15.01
3	2	WRC	Wallingford RC	01:38.0	03:21.81
4	3	TSS	Tideway SS	01:37.3	03:22.62

The ‘E’ coxless four also had a straight final, at 13:58 against Nottingham RC, Tideway Scullers, Avon County and Molesey/Walbrook/Kingston (Bewdley scratched). This four had only just got together the previous day and so were, as rather expected, dropped by the field at the start, but after the 250 metre mark their rhythm began to be established and with ever increasing tempo they ploughed through the field. Unfortunately the finishing line came too soon and Avon County hung on to a canvas lead, leaving QBC disappointed but content with their silver medals. A real crowd pleaser apparently!

The silver medallists: Steve Aquilina (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Ian Hyslop (stroke).

Race:  283			ME4- FINAL		1000m
Posn.	Lane			500m	FINISH
1	5	AVN	Avon County RC	01:44.6	03:33.77
2	2	QBC	Quintin BC	01:47.3	03:34.51
3	6	MBC	MoleseyWalbrookKingston	01:46.7	03:38.44
4	4	TSS	Tideway SS	01:52.0	03:48.72
5	3	NRC	Nottingham RC	01:51.2	03:49.89

The full results may be found at http://www.masterschamps.org/files/MastersChamps-2011-Raw-Results.pdf.

With just twelve competitors, Quintin narrowly missed out on winning the £1000 Victor Ludorum prize, finishing second to Durham ARC. Perhaps next year we can persuade a few more veterans to join us on this annual pilgrimage.

Saturday 11 June — Barnes & Mortlake Regatta

Our men’s Intermediate 3 VIII raced on Saturday – at Barnes & Mortlake Regatta. They beat Cygnet RC by several lengths in the first round but in the final gave away an early lead to a tidy UCL crew. Our boys fought hard and clawed back much of the deficit, but still lost by about a length. They are improving with every race. It will be interesting to see how they fare on the multi-lane course at Marlow (Dorney Lake) next Saturday.

Thursday 9 June — News from Across the Water

Martin Carr has just emailed to say that he (most probably) and Trish (definitely) will be missing Henley this year because – guess what? – they are expecting a new arrival in early July. Something in common with the captain and his wife there!

Martin is continuing to coach his local college crew with modest success. As Martin puts it "The college does not attract athletic types so let’s just say that the racing results of the crews in question were pretty much as I imagined".

Sunday 5 June — Rowing on Lake Constance, Switzerland

At the beginning of June, Bill Burbage, Mike Kidd, Hugh Davy and Martin Gee took themselves off to Switzerland to try a spot of lake rowing. Bill reports:

We had good weather and great time made possible by our excellent hosts Daniel & Silvia Minder who founded the Steckborn rowing club a few years ago. Daniel is the president which is the equivalent of our captain. We had outings from the Steckborn & Kreulingen rowing clubs in quintuple & quad sculling lake boats. The first outing was particularly testing because the lake was so rough. The locals were not keen to go out but we did not want to waste the opportunity. The lake boats we used coped with the conditions really well, so we survived but were very happy to get back to dry land. The scenery is beautiful & the history & architecture of the area all helped to make it a memorable visit.

Photographs of the trip are available at ../photogallery/2011_06_05a/pic_01.html.

Sunday 5 June — Weybridge Ladies’ Regatta

Congratulations to Tegan Gowlland and Sarah Blakeburn, who won women’s intermediate 3 double sculls at Weybridge Ladies’ Regatta. They were drawn against Maidstone Invicta in their heat and Henley Rowing Club in the final, but Henley failed to show, even though Tegan and Sarah waited for them in the rain. So the heat turned out to be the final.

Photographs of the winning duo are available at ../photogallery/2011_06_05/pic_01.html.

Saturday 28 May — Twickenham Regatta

The club had an interest in three events at Twickenham Regatta this weekend. First on the water were our women’s Intermediate 3 double sculls of Tegan and Sarah, racing as a University of Westminster/Quintin conmposite against Kingston Rowing Club. Unfortunately Tegan and Sarah are still having trouble with their steering and the verdict was "not rowed out". The Masters E eight had comfortable wins over Broxbourne and Walbrook before beating Twickenham in the final. The Intermediate 3 eight took on a strong Sons of the Thames crew, losing by 2½ lengths.

The full results are available at http://www.twickenham-regatta.org/RESULTS-2011.pdf

Saturday 7 May — Borne @ Chiswick Bridge Regatta

Our squads performed well again last weekend, registering three wins at Borne Regatta, although officially the honours were shared between QBC and the University of Westminster. Ewen McLeod (QBC) and Alex Page (UWBC) had a comfortable win over Ardingly in Intermediate 3 double sculls, finishing many lengths clear. Alex then went on to beat Penchev of Sons of the Thames in a heat of Intermediate 3 single sculls. Later in the day it emerged that this was in practice the final as Witting of Balliol College failed to appear and Alex sculled over for the pot (in UWBC colours). Tegan Gowlland (QBC) and Sarah Blekeburn (UWBC) chalked up their first win of the season by beating Thames Tradesmen in a straight final of Women’s Novice Double Sculls. The only disappointments were with the IM3 four and IM3 eight, although they were sufficiently close to the winners to raise hopes for success in the near future.

Alex’s and Sarah’s choice of colours unfortunately means they will not yet feature in the Potwinner’s Chart, but Ewen and Tegan join the throng on one win. Who will emerge as leader this year?

Full results are published at http://www.borne-regatta.org/results.htm.

Saturday 30 April — Chiswick Amateur Regatta

The club had three crews racing at our local regatta on Saturday. The day started very breezy with a strong cross wind, but with warm air and sunshine some pleasant racing conditions were anticipated and fulfilled. Racing started on a flood tide at 10:15 am. The men’s novice coxed four were first on the course for us, with a heat against Norwich School, which they won by 1¼ lengths. Next to race was the men’s IM3 coxed four, who unfortunately could not get the better of Emanuel School and lost by 3½ lengths, although Furnivall were even further behind. The novices then competed in their second round race, beating neighbours Putney Town by 1½ lengths. After the turn of the tide, which provided a suitable lunch break, the "heavies" took over the club’s representation, with Meaney’s Marauders taking on Tideway Scullers School and Walbrook Rowing Club in Masters E eights. This was a straight three-abreast final, and Quintin rapidly established a length’s lead over Tideway Scullers, with Walbrook bringing up the rear, despite the fact that our stroke man didn’t hear the umpire’s "Go!". The final verdict was a win for QBC over TSS by 1 1/3 lengths, with Walbrook in third place. Not to be outdone, the novices turned in a splendid performance in their final, defeating Norwich School by 1½ lengths.

Well done to all the winners: Novice four:- Rob Williams (bow), Mark Pascoe, Craig Russell, Mike Cuthbertson (stroke), Jane Adams (cox); Masters E eight :- John Ferrario (bow), Duncan Hughes (well done, Duncan), Willy Almand, Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox). The Potwinner’s Chart is now open!

Photographs of the winning novice four are available at ../photogallery/2011_04_30/pic_01.html.

Thursday 14 April — Lydia Shirley Ohrenstein

Born at 2:15am and weighing 4.14 kg (9lbs 1oz for Imperialists). Dov says she has a fine set of vocal chords. Congratulations to Heather and Dov. Mother and baby are both doing well.

Sunday 3 April — Vesta Veterans Head of the River

The club had two men's crews competing in the Vets Head, and also an interest in a Quintin/Occoquan (US) composite (Dick Findlay’s chums) and a Fredericia/Middelfart/Quintin composite (Leif Jacobsen’s chums). The Masters E crew were the fastest of the four, finishing 16th in a time of 20 minutes 9.06 seconds, which won them the Masters E pennant. Next fastest were the Quintin/Occoquan composite, finishing 62nd in 21 minutes 16.36 seconds (2nd in the Masters G/H handicap). The Quintin/Danish composite finished 96th in 21 minutes 47.91 seconds (7th in Masters F) and the Masters D crew (better known as the Barflies) finished 126th in 22 minutes 24.27 seconds.

Full results, with quick hyperlinks to the Quintin entries, may be found at
../horr/2011_vets_results.html.

The winning Masters E crew were: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Saturday 2 April — The Head of the River Race

The club had two crews competing in the Head of the River Race this year. The IM1 crew, largely a development crew, starting at number 141, finished 183rd in a time of 19 minutes 0.72 seconds. The IM3 crew, largely composed of last year’s novices, started at number 278 and finished 348th in 20 minutes 32.2 seconds.

Full results, with quick hyperlinks to the Quintin entries, may be found at
../horr/2011_results.html.

Sunday 20 March — Hammersmith Head

The club had three men's crews competing in the Hammersmith Head, achieving somewhat mixed results. The Masters D crew were the fastest from the club, finishing 30th in a time of 11 minutes 30.2 seconds and winning the Masters D pennant. The IM1 crew finished 49th in 11 minutes 47.1 seconds, and the IM2 crew finished 91st in 12 minutes 51.9 seconds.

The winning Masters D crew were John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Richard Ratcliffe, Jonathan Ferris, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Full results are available at
http://www.akrowing.com/downloads/HH_2011_Results_Final.pdf.

Saturday 26 February — Molesey Veteran Head

We don’t know if Crabtree were fooled when the Barflies entered the Molesey Veteran Head in the Masters D category, but it didn’t stop them winning by a comfortable margin in a time of 8 min. 49.8 sec. Our boys came 17th in a time of 10 min. 1.7 sec.

Full results at http://www.moleseyregatta.co.uk/MAR/Provisional results.pdf

Friday 4 February — Annual Dinner

The venue for our annual dinner was once again the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall and the surrroundings certainly do add a certain grandeur to the occasion. The food was also of an excellent standard, the non-vegetarians among us tucking in to smoked salmon and haddock roulade, with quail’s eggs and asparagus, followed by rump steak, Guinness and mushroom pudding with mashed potato and root vegetables. As is becoming the custom at our dinners, the meal was then interrupted for mid-dinner speeches. Guest speaker Mark Hunter, reigning Olympic and world champion in lightweight double sculls, gave a very personal account of his rowing career and rise to startdom and was given a standing ovation. After toasting the health of the club we settled down to apple and blackberry tart with Cornish clotted cream, followed by coffee and petit fours. Those with enough stamina for more then attempted to prise Peter Meaney’s "Heads or Tails?" winnings from his firm grasp and avail themselves of the cash bar.

Saturday 29 January — Quintin Head

Our very own head of the river race took place on the last Saturday in January, with a chilly northerly breeze blowing and an air temperature near zero. This did not deter the record 109 starters. There was one scratching on the day and 146 entries (another record) for the 110 places limited by the Port of London Authority. Cambridge University successfully defended their headship, beating their nearest rivals London RC (Senior pennant winners) by 19 seconds. The Cambridge second crew were third although Newcastle University’s time was so close as to make no difference. The University of London picked up both IM1 and IM2 pennants, the IM2 crew being just behind St. Paul’s School, who were the fastest J18 crew. The University of Bristol took IM3. Quintin retained the Masters D pennant and were also the fastest masters crew home.

Vesta again provided the fastest women’s crew, as they did last year. This time they also earned the WIM3 pennant, beating WIM1 winners City of Oxford and WIM2 winners Putney Town by some twelve seconds. Barnes Bridge Ladies retained the novice pennant and St. Paul’s Girls School won WJ18.

The Quintin Senior crew were pleased to have beaten the Quintin Masters, who had been threatening to give them a tougher race, and last year’s novices commendably finished 80th – a good result as some of them had had to forgo training due to pressures of work.

Photographs of the pennant winners are available at ../photogallery/2011_01_29/pennant_01.html.

The Quintin crews may be seen at ../photogallery/2011_01_29/quintin_01.html

Full results may be found at ../quintinhead/2011/results.html.

Wednesday 12 January — A Belated Happy New Year

Your hard-working webmaster has been taking a well-earned Christmas break (preparing for the Quintin Head actually) and so this greeting arrives a little late. It is accompanied by the news that Mark and Lindsay Chatwin are hoping to be joined shortly after Henley by a new addition to our Junior section. The sex of the newcomer is as yet unknown, but, to quote a well-known moustachioed gentleman, "We’re a mixed club now!".

For all those members who don't read their emails, here is a reminder about the Annual Dinner on 4th February. Details are available at the Club Dinner page.

And another reminder that volunteers from the club are much needed to help in the running of the Quintin Head on January 29th.