|
| |
* The views expressed in this diary
are not those of the BBLRC management team. If you find something
offensive or inaccurate, please contact
webmaster@bblrc.com.
The contents are designed to amuse, create debate and inform. If you are
allergic to peanuts, do not eat
peanuts. If you are offended easily, do not
read this diary!
The author is also not particularly bright, so apologies in advance for bad
grammar & inappropriate use of the apostrophe. |
|
Oxford City Regatta - 21
August |
|
I haven't yet got an official report as
Jenny is still probably bouncing off the ceiling but a quick recap
is..... Special lunchtime 350m race - WIN - a more
importantly with the prize of a 2pint pot!!
Masters C 4+ - WIN - which meant that we have lost another novice as
Rachel has joined the intermediate ranks - congratulations
Novice 2x - WIN - well its only fair that the captain gets to win
something (aside from the coxing pot) Photos added
HERE (thanks again Fiona / Chris) |
|
Some sad goodbyes |
The last few weeks so the departure of two of our group with Sarah Davies
departing for Dubai and Jo Moir leaving for her homeland. If any
of you were there to witness the goodbyes at St Neots for Sarah or at
the club do for JoMo you will know that they will be sorely missed.
|
|
 |
|
Peterborough Summer |
|
A light sprinkling of BBL ladies at this years Regatta. Katy O and
myself were once again in the IM3 2x but in opposing positions and
finished 3rd in the heat which was pretty good considering the changes.
The IM3 8+ also had a good race but sadly didn't make into the next
round. There was also a IM3 M2x with Matt C and myself and ......
well the less said about that race the better...... |
|
Henley Town + Visitors |
|
A somewhat shorter report....... Katy O and I lost in the first round of
the IM3 2x - largely put down to the fact that we had to row the course
twice due to our opposition (yes you Sarah P) broke their boat - we
think it was all a ruse to make us tired!! The IM3 8+ did a fantastic
job in their heat qualifying for the final in their category but sadly
lost out in the final. Meanwhile the IM2 crew had a nailbiting
race in a straight final with IM1 crew from Upper Thames and despite out
best efforts were edged out by 1 foot at the finish line. Thanks again
to Chris who is fast becoming one of the BBLRC official photographers
|
|
The days weapons of choice
 |
|
The IM3 Heat
 |
|
The IM1 final - sadly not the end result
 |
|
Boat Naming |
The lovely Hudson was finally named after the lovely Annelise....
|
Jenny says a few words....... Leo looks enthralled
|
Annelise looks a bit uncomfortable about wasting champagne
 |
|
St Neots 24 - 25 July 2010 |
It was "Pimms o'clock" and "bow ball to bow ball" all
the way!
There were plenty of Pimm’s, sunshine and pots as Barnes Bridge LRC and
Cygnets put in a strong performance at the favourite St Neots Regatta -
with crews competing over 1000m on Saturday and 500m on Sunday.There
was a continual stream of boats up and down the course through out both
of the days at St Neots including the magnificent union of Cygnet and
BBL in a few mixed boats - with BBL adding the technical element of
course!
Saturday - Sadly that technical element wasn't quite enough to
enable myself and Matt C to get through the first round of the IM3 M2x -
however on the positive they did make it around the bend!!
However, we have a win in the IM2 Mixed 8+ though sadly it wasn't to be
an all Cygnet / BBL final but congratulations to the winning combination
of: Ciara, Becky, Jo Moir, Katy Baldwin, Laurent (for once rowing and
not coxing), Pete Humphries, Dave French and Ricky and coxed by Marj.
There was a great performance from the Novice 4+, which though sadly
didn't result in an overall victory did see them get through some hard
fought rounds which is impressive in itself. Equally impressive
was the new pairing of Poppy Coyle and Lucy Moir who
despite having no outings together in their Novice 2x made it through a
number of rounds before eventually losing in the final.
Whilst most of the clubs racing was concluded by 1730 some hardened
dedicated scullers took to the water leaving the sweet smell of Bulmers
for their race at 1900 - despite a phenomenally bad start from yours
truly, which left stern pair doing the start by themselves, we won the
IM3 4x final - so thank you and well done to Sarah D, Katy B, Katy O!
Needless to say that Saturday concluded with the usual BBL assault of
the mayor of St Neots during the prize giving, the traditional dunking
of successful coxes / departing Welsh rowers / and the bizarre new
tradition of winning bow steerers, and of course the St Neots disco
where BBL showed how it should be done on the dancefloor - you know who
you are!!
Sunday - An early start for some, though not for any reason as
the oppo failed to show - reputations obviously proceeded the crew.
However at just after 9am the novice 2x of Katie Coyle and Jo Moir took
to the water over the 500m course and did really well getting through
their first round thanks to a gutsy final 50 metres. The novice 4+
were once again in action (though with different novices) but sadly
didn't manage to win their category but had great heats. We also
had some IM3 mixed 8 races but sadly were knocked out in the early
stages.
The show piece of the day was obviously the IM2 8+ mark II - again
different crews but with the added element of it being a Cygnet / BBL
final. It was a great race despite me breaking Gledders during the
practice start but congratulations to the winning crew of Team JoMo
which consisted of Dave (cox) Matteo (S), Matt C, Ricky, Luke, Katy B,
JoMo, Me and Katy C (B). Two important things to note about that
race 1) It meant that every boat Katy B sat in won and 2) the love
between two men is a beautiful thing - Dave thinks Matteo is just
awesome - we don't know what Matt thinks of Dave.
Check out all of the photos
HERE |
|
Molesey |
|
The mighty Vets stormed another regatta at the
weekend by winning the Cat C 4- whereas they should have been Cat D and
gave up their time advantage!! The quad also won their final with equal
ease which means that Alice has now de-noviced! |
|
Vets Henley |
Just been given some news to share from
Vets Henley. It was the same weekend as Kingston but as it is my brain I
can only process small number of things (maybe i have a bit of man brain
in me???!!)
Both the Vet B eight and the Vet a quad won, and sadly the Vet C coxed
four lost by a tiny bit in their final. Congratulations to Catt, Hilary,
lesley, helen, jo, Zoe, ali, Rachael and Alice |
|
Kingston Regatta |
Sadly the Novice 4+ were unable to race due to a fast acting bug a
couple of days before the big day. So that meant that it was down
to the IM3 8+ to provide the BBL entertainment for the day - and provide
it they did. As you can tell from the photo below there was a very
exciting heat where the BBL boat saw off the Kingston boat by a canvas,
there was a 3rd boat in the race but they weren't in the picture frame
so can't remember who they were - sorry!
Sadly the crew lost out in the final but everyone was happy with the
performance and bodes well for the quality of the IM squad for the Head
season!!
 |
|
Richmond Regatta |
|
We had a Novice 8 racing - sadly the competition was too scared to enter
so the novice crew had to go in a IM3. Despite a good start they
started to lose ground half way down the course and sadly lost to LEH -
personally I blame the cox!! Meanwhile the 4x had a straight final
against Twickenham after they had beaten Molesey in the first round.
It was only the second outing for the crew and only the 1st or 2nd ever
sculling regatta. We need not have worried because we won by three
lengths - we'll ignore the fact I almost steered the boat into a tree
after we crossed the finish line.
 |
|
Henley Women's Regatta |
|
Well they say that pictures speak a thousand words so check out here
...... Photos
Thank you toAlistair Craigie for permitting to use his images - check
out
www.alcraigiephotography.co.uk |
|
Mortlake Regatta |
|
Not a lot of BBLRC action in this one but we did have a quad with Katy B,
Sara, Sarah and Marion. Whilst they had a positive start they were
undone by a poorly placed buoy thanks to the 'assertive' steering of
their opposition - however despite not securing a victory they came off
the water happy with their row and had even enjoyed the training! |
|
Borne @ Chiswick |
|
The novice 8 had the first race of the day against St
Barts - sadly they had a technical issue in the middle of the race -
despite which they made a storming come back and only lost by 1/2 a
length. Whilst disappointing on the day it shows great promise for
the regatta season because the power was definitely on display!!
The mixed fours consisted...
Crew 1 - Stuart, Matt B, Jo M, Sarah Davies (cox
Laurent) beat Crew 2 - Sarah C, Gavin, Pete, Helena (cox Sue)
Crew 3 - Andy, Ricky, Ciara, Poppy (cox Sue) beat Crew 4 - Becky,
Rob, Matt C, Catherine (cox Laurent)
and we are please to announce that in a very close
final, Crew 1 beat Crew 3 - meaning that Sarah has finally
managed to win her first pot!! Check out the
photos
Or even better check out the video!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/rowtvtown#g/c/BC351354FB882C17
(its video 10 about 3minutes in)
|
|
Irish Silver - very
special |
|
Whilst some of us were slogging it out on the River Dart, others were
gaining glory and medals in Italy. Here's a report from the
World Rowing website with a report from the regatta This
season’s racing for adaptive rowers hit the ground running in Gavirate,
Italy, last weekend at the fourth edition of the Gavirate International
Adaptive Regatta. In wet conditions teams from Portugal, Spain,
Germany, Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Ireland and Italy raced at one
of the few regattas dedicated solely to adaptive rowers. This was a
chance for coaches to get the 2010 season underway and to test different
team boat combinations. It is the first step on the road to selection
for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand at the end of
October.
Great Britain also fared well in the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed
four (LTAMix4+). The crew of Kelsie Gibson, James Roe, Ryan Chamberlain,
Naomi Riches and coxswain Rhiannon Jones won both days against strong
crews from Ireland, Italy and Germany. The British crew was described as
‘experimental’ as it contained two new members, Gibson and Chamberlain.
In second place, Ireland look like they have put together a
boat that will challenge for the gold medal this season. Karen Cromie,
Shane Ryan, Kevin Dutiot, Sarah Caffrey, and coxswain Laura Purdy
managed to stay ahead of Italy on both days. The crew includes three
members that finished seventh last year at the World Rowing
Championships.
http://www.worldrowing.com
 
|
|
Training Camp (sorry its
taken so long) |
|
Well what can I say, there are 2 phrases that sum up the weekend "ooowwwww!"
and "I wish it would stop blooming raining"! Most people arrived
during the course of Thursday and Friday and the outings were started
with a vengeance - the plan was three outings a day starting 7 or 8 am
depending on who had annoyed Jenny and Jo B (joking). Those who
didn't attend the camp have no doubt experienced the joy of those that
did comparing blisters and raw hands. We also found out that in
Devon the usual BBLRC pre-outing faff is actually a subtle form of rain
dance - so radiator space was at a premium.
Every night we had the delights of some of the campers cooking for us
so thank you to the contributors to the burger night and lasagne night -
however the sudden in take of food usually led to a sudden wave of
exhaustion and a departure off to bed. The photos in the photo section
will hopefully give an over view of the weekend. Lots of photos
here
Not to forget the most exciting part of the weekend, well for me and
Jenny anyway - on the way back to the cottage Jenny and I saw Thomas the
Tank Engine pulling along Percy and Edward - it was so amazing I almost
crashed!!
Despite the rain everyone had a great time and learnt lots - but none
of this would have been possible without the organisational
wonderfulness of Jenny, the coaching prowess of Flic (most should
receive the mileage award), Jo B and Lesley, the courageous coxing of
Ali E, Allie D (up to your boobies), Ciara, Sara, Julia, Catherine,
Becky, Katy B, (aahh can't remember the others so do let me know), and
of course Dave who did the usual cat herding coxing but more
impressively (with his happy companion Lesley) drove the fully loaded
trailer down and back at a stonking top speed of 40 miles an hour!! |
|
24/04 - Oxford Bumps |
We had a four crews for the excitement that is the bumps....
Crew 1 :Cox = Dave - Sarah C, Jenny, MT, Charlotte S
Crew 2 : Cox = Sue G - Lucy F, Jo M, Katy B, Katie C
Crew 3 : Cox = Dave - Becky, Poppy, Helena, Sarah (super sub from Vesta)
Crew 4 : Cox = Jenny - Marion, Sue G, Suzannah, JuliaA quick re-cap
on the rules......
Boats are arranged into divisions based on the previous years results.
Due to the width of the river the boats are lined up behind each other
with about 1 1/2 lengths between each one. The cox of each boat
holds on to a rope to maintain the distance between boats, and a pole is
used to keep crews away from the bank.
Once the whistle is blown, crews have to do a racing start with the aim
of catching i.e. 'bumping' the crew ahead, once they have they can stop.
If a crew fails to catch the boat in front they have to row the full 2k
course - which is hard after throwing everything at the start. You
have to do this 4 times so you can work your way up the starting order.
Results
Crew 1 - Started 1st ended 3rd - which means that have maintained our
great position for domination next year!
Crew 2 - Started 8th finished 7th
Crew 3 - Started 6th finished 3rd which is brilliant
Crew 4 - Started 8th finished 7th
Special thanks goes to Sarah who works with Poppy who bravely subbed in
the day before the race in Crew 3 so their result is even more
impressive. Also thanks to Marions daughters who turned up to hold
poles and throw ropes
Everyone had a great time without any serious injuries - aside from the
one MT inflicted on an innocent blind woman and her dog as MT charged
down the tow path on her bike - apparently the woman didn't get out of
the way!
Check out the photo section! |
|
17/04 - Sculling Camp
(from Laurent) |
Well ladies and gentlemen that's it, spring sculling camp 2010 has been and
gone!!
It's just a quick note to say a big thank you to everyone (well a
handful of the usual suspects) who helped out with the de-rigging,
re-rigging, loading, unloading etc.. they know who they are, no need to
mention names.. Now a BIG BIG thank you goes to Sue G & Dave for towing
the whole thing (trailer, boats, blades, UTE etc..) down to Weybridge on
Thursday evening, and congratulations to Sue for driving the whole thing
back on her own (escorted by Matt B at the front, Helena at the back &
me at the side!!) this afternoon and perform a class A reverse manoeuvre
at destination.
Another point of info that you may or may not like to hear is that none
of the boats, that were used at the camp, have been re-rigged nor have
they been washed!! Am afraid that none of us present (that same handful
of usual suspects) at the unloading session this afternoon, could be
asked to perform any of these tasks at 6.30p.m on a sunday afternoon, so
apologies, but crews taking out the involved boats for their next outing
will have to spare 5 minutes of their time to re-rig!!! Shouldn't be too
much hassle..
Last & least, there's been a number of items left behind at the camp, so
we've created a left luggage corner in the main 'chillout' area by the
corner cupboard (the one which houses the vacuum cleaner), so the owners
could grab them when they down there next.
That's it from me, will send out a mini report in the next few days.
Good Bye
Laurent
Check out the photos page |
|
10/04 - Jess gets
married |
|
By all accounts it was a fantastic day in South Africa - with Jess looking
stunning and Shaun being blubbering wreck
 |
|
12/04
|
|
Quote of the
Day Jackie Darling - "Its
often better without knickers" - and as a gold medal winner she should
know |
|
06/04 -
The Boat Race |
|
The group of enthusiastic rowers and some less
enthusiastic partners congregated on the Ventana (Dave's boat) for the
Oxford / Cambridge boat race. Dave had invested in a gadget that
almost exceeded his IT know how (he claims it was broken) that
transformed his computer into a TV, so the crowd were able to see the
start run up to the top to see the boats race past, and then scamper
back to TV's for the finish. It was a great race, and a good time
was had by all, but on a personal note my highlight was Janets 1980's
inspired strawberry sponge - and yes I did eat most of it
Quote of the
Day
Ciara 'Novice Captain' Mullan: "I'm
not very good on boats" (apparently it was rocking too much)
|
|
27/03 -
Cuckoo in the nest |
|
The Head of the River took place on 27 March - two Cygnet crews lined up
amongst the 430 crews and their final positions were Cygnet I, 226th,
19:28.6 and Cygnet II, 254th, 19:38.5 which meant there was less than 10
seconds separating the two crews which was far better than expected -
and no doubt the BBLRC cox in the 2nd boat made a huge difference (or it
could have been the 8 rowers - who knows). It also appears that the
cygnets do even more post race analysis that we do as can be
demonstrated by the fact that Dave French worked out that Cygnet I's
time of 112.2% of the winners would have been 175th or better in the
past 10 years, with Cygnet II's getting in the top 200
 |
|
07/03 -
So long to Jess |
|
|
Well the time has come for us to bid a very fond farewell to Jess Micallef
(and no I still can't remember how to say her surname). After a
couple of wonderful seasons Jess has decided that the only way to top
her experience at BBLRC is by getting married to the wonderful and
Patient Shaun, so that she can become Mrs Pudney, in SA before heading
back to Aus. Some of you may not readily conjure up an image of Jess,
as she has always been one of the shyer members of the club. Well
like many of the BBLRC ladies she does like a drink, and could often be
seen behind the bar at club events "helping" Katie Coyle serve, or
providing the entertainment with her dancing (St Neots '09), whilst
always being so friendly even if it wasn't welcome (James Bond Xmas '08)
However, Jess always had time to help out the club, from spending
many hours tending the BBQ at Head races, to helping out with the learn
to row course.
It has been a pleasure and privilege to know you Jess, and you will be
hugely missed. Looking forward to featuring a wedding pic or two
on this site soon.
|
 |
|
06/03 -
'Cygnet' Bungalow |
"Cygnets" is currently available for hire during the Summer and Autumn.
The bookings are normally .from 2.00pm on the Sunday until 1.00pm the
following Sunday unless otherwise agreed. The premises are well
equipped, with two bedrooms each for three and room for two more to bed
down in the sitting room.
The rent for June, July and August is GBP340 a week and other dates
GBP295 a week. Short rents are charged at £50 a day or part of a day.
Most of you will have spent some time at the bungalow and I'm sure will
have some very fond (or maybe hazy?) memories of the place. If you do
have any questions about any of the above, please don't hesitate to
contact either Rob Henderson (Cygnet Captain) or Ronnie Lambe (Bungalow
Secretary). |
|
06/03 -
Navigation |
From the PLA:
With most of the River Thames red boarded at the moment and the main
London heads approaching fast, I expect a number of crews will be
visiting the tideway over the next few weekends. This coming weekend,
6th and 7th March, the PLA will have a launch patrolling the Tideway
from Putney up to Richmond. On board will be members of the TRRC. If any
crew is seen to be navigating badly they will be asked to stop and
explain their actions.
It is extremely important that any crews navigating the Tideway do so
correctly. With the amount of land water coming down, steering through
the bridges and by the piers can be difficult. Do not rely on the tide
tables to determine if the tide has turned. Again with the amount of
land water in the river system the flood tide will be later than
predicted.
The PLA will also be patrolling on the following dates.
20th, 21st and 26th March.
|
|
02/03 -
Training Camp |
Final costing for training camp. We have found a cottage in Newton Abbot
which is about a 20/30min drive from cottage to boathouse. The cottage
sleeps 11 people and then the rest will have to be on air beds or
something a like I am afraid (still better than camping).
http://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/devon/south-devon/teign-lodge
Accommodation for those staying Thursday evening till Monday = £40.51
and Food = £60 approx
Accommodation for those staying Friday till Monday = £29.10 and food =
£45 approx
On top of these charges will be trailer costs of about £8 per person,
plus the hire of a launch and using the boat house will be about £32.
Total for Thurs – Mon = £140.51
Total fro Fri – Mon = £114.10
The aim is to do a massive shop of food so that in the cottage we can
provide, breakfast lunch and dinner for all. If people want snacks of
anything then they are to buy them themselves. As you could imagine it
would be hard to cater for all. So breakfast will be toast or cereal,
lunch = rolls/ sandwiches, dinner a pasta or rice dish – catering for
meat and veggie eaters.
These costs are based on the following people on the following days. We
have held the cottage for 48 hours so please let me know ASAP either
way.
|
|
20/02 -
Catering saviours |
Woohoo - thank you to Mel and J who have "offered" to take over the BBLRC
catering. Thank you to everyone that has helped me over the last 2
years, and I know that you will all be behind the new catering angels
|
|
13/02 -
AGM |
The latest AGM took place in between outings and post feasting on pancakes
/ crumpets!
Katie Coyle is the AGM Secretary so I will rely on her to fill in the
gaps / correct the inaccuracies but for the time being my recollection
the highlights was;
1. The clubs finances were in better position than they have been
in years, thanks to the increased number of subs in the last year due to
the healthy squad sizes, good performance on the catering front, and a
healthy profit made at the Christmas party. All of these efforts
have helped us to by a new boat and blades! Also big thank you to
Annelise who was stepping down from the role of Treasurer
2. There was a vote on some of the committees positions, and this
was done without significant cat fights etc. Katie Coyle =
Secretary, Lucy Fry = Treasurer, Sue Grobler = Webmistress, and M-T as
Social Secretary
The minutes will tell you about all of the other good stuff! |
|
28/01 -
Thames Water meeting |
|
As many of you will be aware there have been a few problems over the last
few years with the amount of sewage that is finding its way into the
river. Our stretch of river is affected by the Mogden Sewage
Treatment Works which is based near Isleworth, and serves approximately
1.9m - and currently overflows
once per week into the Thames. Mogden currently has 8 storm tanks,
which has holding tanks for the excess waste and water that arrives at
the Treatment Works when there is heavy rainfall. Thames Water
have a plans underway to increase the capacity of the holding tanks by
50% with the aim of reducing the number of dumps into the river to just
1 per year. The planned completion of the work is 2013 so we have
some way to go before we have an improved situation.
There are also plans to have a 'super sewer' as well that will help
the sewers to cope with the volume over the next few decades and will
run for about 20 miles from Hammersmith (TBC) to Beckton (past Thames
Barrier). Construction is planned to start in 2012-13 with
completion due in 2020 - though this is dependant on achieving the
necessary planning permission. The development will include a
number of large shafts (size of 2 football pitches) and 5 smaller shafts
to be built but the site for these shafts is yet to be agreed but
potential areas include boroughs of Hammersmith, Hounslow and Richmond.
If you want to see more information on the site selection then you
can go to
www.thameswater.co.uk/londontidewaytunnels There will also be a
public consultation regarding the works launched in Summer 2010 and we
will be notified of its launch.
Thames Water will also be launching a text alert service which will
notify those that sign up for alerts regarding sewage overflows - I'll
keep you posted of how that works out
Finally...... in case you were wondering the brown waterline marks we
get on the boat is not due to waster in the river but rather a
particular type of brown moss (hmmmmm) |
|
12/01 -
Weather warning |
|
So its been a little cold over
the last week or so. When going out rowing please make sure that
you wear lots of thin layers, and if you get too wet and too cold make
sure that you let the coach or cox know - your safety is the
priority. When you come off the water, don't hang around on the hard - get inside,
get changed and have a cup of tea to warm up!! |
|
09/01 -
Quote of the Day |
|
Katie Coyle
" Sue you have
kept me warm and got me a big sausage" My pleasure ..... |
|
01/01/10 -
The New Year ..... brought in with cheese |
|
Ok so technically this should be in the 2009 diary but I am sure that
you will forgive me ...... but if not tough 'cos I'm changing it
now!! Well the New Year BBLRC style was going to be a rather
exclusive affair, a few canapes, and only the finest drinks. Well
Katie Coyle soon put an end to that when she produced the saucepan of
Cheeky Vimto
- all you need to know is that it was Port and Blue WKD, and
whilst it tasted great, in lulled you into a false sense of security and
came back to bite you on New Years Day. There were laughs, romance,
cheese, and photos
 
|
At least someone got a kiss at midnight......
 |
|
|
Stuart and Tabs gets excited!!! |
 |
This innocent looking photo was the starting point for a cheese and
profiterole fight - in case you wondered that's why the club
smelt so
"nice"  |
|
31 seconds to midnight |
 |
|
WELCOME TO 2010 @ BBLRC |
|
Sorry it has been a long time coming - lets hope it was worth
the wait. Remember that you can access
the previous years diaries should you want to reminisce!
If you have any photos, stories or information you want
publishing, just let me know. Its your website, anyone can
contribute.
|
|
Barnes Bridge Ladies
Rowing Club
