Barnes Bridge Ladies Rowing Club

 

 

 

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Archived Diaries 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

2009

* 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.
Pudding Race aka "complete domination"
The traditional Quintin pudding race took place on XX December and its an exclusive event as its invitation only!!  There were a number of crews is the race from Cygnet and BBL and it all went rather well!  For those that don't know the "rules" of the race are fabulously few: the crews set off in speed order with the slowest going first, you can't pass the crew in front until you have passed the start, and the first crew across the finish line wins!!

The BBL novices set off high up the starting order coxed by Dave, followed by some Quintin crews, followed by Cygnet Novices coxed by me and then hotly pursued by the BBL Vets and the Cygnet crew.  There were a few issues at the start for my crew due to a lack of errr speed which may have hampered the following crews due to the no overtaking rule, but in my defence it was exacerbated by the Quintin crew behind my deciding that that was a good time for 3 to take of his jacket, this in turn held up the BBL vets and Cygnet.
Sadly my crew went from 5th to last fairly quickly after the start so I can't provide a blow by blow account but apparently it was a tight finish with Cygnet coming first after an apparently great row, followed by BBL Novices, with the BBL Vets coming in 3rd - so you could say that we happily top and tailed the race.

Check out the Quinton BC report on the race - losing is a bitter pill to swallow apparently!!
 

Scullers Head - brrrrrr
It was a rather chilly return to the racing calendar though fortunately the predicted snow held off.  Of the 500(ish) entries we had 4 brave souls from Barnes Bridge competing (the 5th having back out at the last minute) and 5 Cygnets (well actually it was only 4 but you'll see why we're claiming the 5th)
The marshalling went off without drama aside from Jenny nipping into the White Hart for a quick toilet stop and with excess kit being dropped off with me at the Ship Inn an an attempt to ward off the cold until the last minute before the headed off down the 4 1/4 mile course!

The results were:

Stephen Feeney - 1st overall (ok he's the cygnet coach and doesn't actually row for Cygnet but its close enough to count in my view)
Neil Pickford - 183
Chris Davidson - 238
Matt Clarke - 343
Ali Elliott - 348
Nick Wylie - 366
Rob Henderson - 384
Jackie Darling - 388
Katy Baldwin - 395
Jenny Hawtin - 397
 

 Pairs Head
We had three wins on Saturday!! Zoe and Annabelle won their event (womens IM1 pairs), Ali and Lesley won their event (womens Masters B & C pairs) and Jackie D won her Event with Thames rower Pauline (Womens Masters E+F+G+I double). Well done to everyone who raced, a lot of training was put in and I think people have results they can be very happy with!! Summary of crew results below, full results can be found at www.pairshead.co.uk plus some photos
 
W.SEN.2x Rachael B/ Jo B - 15:11.40
W.IM1.2- Zoe/ Annabelle - 15:21.55
W.IM3.2x MT/ Jenny - 15:25.94
W.MasB+C.2- Ali/ Lesley - 15:32.47
W.IM3.2x Sarah/ Laura - 15:55.67
Mx.IM3.2x Sue/ Matt C - 15:58.44
W.IM3.2x Sarah P/ Katy B - 16:12.96
W.IM3.2x Lucy/ Poppy - 16:17.56
Mx.IM3.2x Becky/ Rob - 16:28.21
W.MasE+F+G+I.2x Jackie D/ Pauline 16:37.40
W.IM3.2x Sharon/ Kate 17:20.93

 

Light paddle in Geneva
Thanks to Rachel for the report - mad the lot of you!!

Jo B and I joined 3 friends for a quick spin around Lake Geneva.  As the weather forecast was not promising we spent Friday afternoon covering our filippi yolette boat in 2 rolls of gaffer tape and plastic sheeting to stop the waves coming in.  

At 9am on Saturday we (with a racing start, naturally) started our 162.5km outing. Fifteen hours and forty minutes later at 12.40am the next morning we finished.  As predicted, the weather did not play nicely, so we had cross wind (making big cross waves) and rain. At least we had the storm lights flashing on the shoreline to show us where to go! You know you are doing something a bit warped when 40km to go seems like the home stretch.

Of 29 starters we came 11th and won the woman’s category – bringing home the bling for The Bridge.

Neither Jo nor I are likely be seen in a boat for a few days. Neither will we be seen lifting, opening or doing anything involving the expenditure of energy. We will most be seen shuffling along fairly slowly and examining our puss filled blisters!
 
FISA Masters
Thanks to Hilary for the report....

Ali, Alice and I were entered in a range of events aged from B (you can race less than your age) through to D as part of a squad of 10 of us from the UK - including some girls from Leicester and one from as far away as Inverness. We also raced in a mixed 8 with the Croatians. The course was at St Catharines's on a small lake near Niagara and which hosted the World Champs some 10 years or so ago.

Racing was scheduled from Thursday afternoon till Sunday. Alas for the event Hurricane Earl passed to the east of us on Saturday. We were waiting to go onto the start in our first race of the day when the wind picked up and scullers and even fours started falling in. Not a problem for us Tideway rowers but that was racing over for the day - meaning we missed out on racing the C4+, D8 and C4-. Instead some of us went surfing (in our rowing kit) in the huge waves on nearby Lake Ontario

We did however manage to win in B8s, C8s, C4x, D4- and DMixed 8s so much partying was done by all (it was my first win in B8s at FISA Masters since 1995). St Catharine's is a notoriously fast course and so it proved - over the 1000 metres our D4- won in 3 min 31 secs and the C8 managed 3min 20 secs.

All our crews were composite but with Barnes Bridge Ladies RC as the headline name and therefore the only one read out on the medal rostrum - much to the amusement of the announcer of the mixed 8s winners.

Back now to reality and winter training.
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, Julia

A 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.