What a weekend that was!
The hard was thronged with rowers, helpers, passers by, dogs, bicycles and plenty of friends new and old. The Tideway was oceanic with crews thrashing by – on Saturday and Sunday! Huge thank you to all who contributed, marshalling (Sarah, Sue, Ali and Neil), catering (a huge and wonderful team coordinated with consummate skill by Michelle and Vicki), boat launching, ordering numbers, putting out bins, parking, and generally lending a hand wherever it was needed.
Special Captain’s mentions: first for Ellie – who jumped into the coxing seat of Crew 33 Warszawskie Towarzystwo Wio?larskie on Saturday, no Polish and no previous outing, but she did come away with a (furry) bottle of Vodka, second for the 4 charmers of Warszawskie Towarzystwo Wio?larskie themselves who filled the bar afterwards with sublime piano playing (Radio Head and Chopin), third for Abi who stoked the ovens unstintingly in what must have felt like an episode of Hell’s Kitchen (eat your heart out Gordon), fourth for Anna who piloted two crews down the course with her usual grace, fifth for Bev who stuck it out on the tea stall looking only slightly bored, sixth for Emilie who survived in a crew with 2 coaches and 2 Dep Caps, and finally for my husband Tom who spent all (Birth)day on the hard being helpful and good humoured.
This before I have even mentioned the crews – we had 3 out altogether. On Saturday our WIM2 4+ came 15th out of 29 (well done ladies – fantastic result). On Sunday our WMasB 4x sculled past like goddesses, and our WIM3 4+ rowed valiantly to the end in what was for some a first Head Race. It’s such a long way down, but oh so much further back!
What a fantastic bunch you all are and what a wonderful place is the Civil Service Boathouse (especially looking so spick and span after last weekend’s clear out).
The glory doesn’t stop there though ladies – on Saturday 31st October Jackie Darling, typically, won both WMas E/F/G 2x and (in a composite crew with Hilary) the WMas E/F/G 4x penants.
So now, looking ahead, we have entries in for Scullers Head on 5th December (as well as a request for launch drivers – please let me know if you can help), and we have the BBL Christmas Party on Saturday 12th December in a private room at the Bull’s Head in Barnes. If you haven’t seen us at the Club in a while, this is the perfect opportunity – get your glad rags on and come down for dinner with music and dancing afterwards. We’d love to see you – all of you – old friends and new!
That’s enough for now!
Jo