Author: captain

Well, what a weekend!

Well done to all the rowers and volunteers who made it such a good few days. Congratulations in particular to the Mas C 4+ of Hilary, Lesley, Zoe and Annabelle who won their category   – and this after Annabelle had rowed in the IM1 4- with Jenny, Cara and Clemmy that came 2nd in their category the day before.

Great rows also from the IM2 4+ of Lucy, Nick, Abi and Ellie, the Mas 4x of Bec, Jo, Kate and Sharon and the Mas C 4+ of Sue, Rachel, Maria and Shevaun – particularly impressive given that it was the first time the Mas C 4+ had been out as a crew!

Thinks like this aren’t just about the rowing (though it is very important!) – BBLers also marshalled, helped with the boating, handed out numbers and – most important of all – sold lots of bacon sandwiches.  We made nearly £500 of profit on the tea stall- special mention to novices Philippa and Sian who manned the stall for much of the afternoon, smiling all the time.   Oh, and we also provided traditional BBL hospitality to visiting crews … I think we have a standing invitation to Northwich RC now!

Training for the rest of the yearI think racing crews will be taking a well earned rest this week.  After that we’ll be doing mixed 8s for a couple of weeks – mixing up the intermediate, development and happy monday squads.   This will almost certainly be Thursday 12, Saturday 14, and Thurs 19. I’d strongly encourage all intermediates / HMs to make yourself available for those outings –  it will be really important for helping us to move on and develop across the squads.  I’ll be in touch later  in the month with details of how we’ll be selecting 8s head crews – participation in the mixed outings all feeds into this process.

Sculling ‘mince pie’ – 21 December

Just as 8s have their plum pudding, we thought it would be good to give BBL and Cygnet single scullers their own opportunity to race a long way, four abreast through bridges (obviously not this bit, if you are from the PLA and reading this), and have a drink or four afterwards.   The plan is to race in singles  from the crossing point above Brentford to Barnes Bridge, starting in reverse speed order. If you’re interested let me know, and give me an idea of your speed (eg, who you’re faster /slower than).  Racing will probably start about 11am depending on tide times.

For the more traditional, there’s also the Quintin plum pudding race, in which 8s from all the Tideway clubs race from the pink house to Chiswick Bridge.  It is a LOT of fun.  Insider intelligence suggests it will be 22nd December but we have to wait to be invited, so watch this space.

Weights
I am just confirming with Kevin whether we’ll have weights on 15th. There will be no weights on 8th December.

Subs
Just a reminder that arrangements for subs will be changing in the new year, as per my earlier email.  We’ll be emailing out later this month with details of prices and direct debit arrangements.

Novice weekend – 14 / 15 December
Volunteers please to go out with the novices on their training weekend. We were all novices once, and all benefited from others giving their time  to help us progress. It would be great if we could have lots of volunteers – please let Clare / Carry know if you can help.

Christmas party
This Saturday! There will be a raffle, so please do donate raffle prizes (there was a box in the changing rooms but I think it has been ‘tidied’ away – perhaps put donations above the cox boxes while we’re trying to find it again). Looking forward to seeing lots of you then.

Have an enjoyable – and restful – week

Katy

 

Hello all!

We’re properly in winter now  – which means lots of lovely head races, and the Xmas party to look forward to.

Kingston Head
The intermediate 4-, 4+ and I raced at Kingston on Saturday.   It was cold, it was wet, but a good day’s racing I think  –  very good preparation for the 4s and scullers head.   Results here.

Weights
So we very nearly had no-one at the weights session on Saturday – it was only the willingness of a few people to stay on a bit longer and Kevin’s agreement to making it a core session that saved it from disaster.  I realise that it’s not ideal that we’ve had to change dates a few times recently, but weights are part of the training plan, and a valuable club resource.   I know I’ve said it a few times -but if we don’t have an average of at least 5-6 attendees, then we are going to have to reconsider continuining with coached weights.  I’ll review at the end of January.

Unlocking
Please make sure the key goes back in the key box when you unlock.I got back to the club after Kingston on Saturday to find the keybox was empty (luckily Sue had a key and could let me in) only to discover the key in the cupboard in the kitchen.  Disaster narrowly averted, but please do check in future.

Capsize drill – date for the diary

To complete our series of safety briefings, we are planning to hold a capsize drill at St Paul’s school on Saturday 18 January, jointly with Cygnet.   It’ll be early evening, and we plan to organise dinner somewhere local afterwards.

Everyone who hasn’t already done a capsize drill is very strongly encouraged to attend – whether you row in a single or an 8.   Obviously, we hope you’ll never go in, but if you do it’s important you know what to do be safe.    And it’s  good fun.

Upcoming…

Scullers Head – Saturday 16 November, 2pm – come and watch a few (fool)hardy BBLers and Cygnets compete in the most solitary of head races.   And then buy us lots of drinks in the bar afterwards.

Look out for:
97 – Me!
118 – Neil P
260 – Jeremy
327 – Matt B
328 – Nick Bates
333 – Laurent
397 – Ellie

Fours Head – Saturday 30 November
Two BBL crews racing 4-(Annabelle, Cara, Clemmy, Jenny) and 4+ (Ellie, Abi, Nic, Lucy and Sue).  Also the next big catering effort.  I will post up a rota shortly – this is a big money-spinner for us, so we need lots of volunteers – incluing someone to volunteer to coordinate proceedings, do shopping in advance etc. Please let me know if you can help.

Vets Fours Head – Sunday 1 December
Hopefully a couple of HM crews and a senior 4 racing – supporters always welcome.

Xmas Party – Saturday 7 December, Rosslyn Park Rugby Club
The social event of the season  reserve your ticket with Katie C (cc’d) now.    This will include the annual awards ceremony – and we would welcome your nominations for the following categories:Club member of the yearOarswoman of the yearMost improved / best newcomerCrew of the year

The captain’s decision is final!

Novice weekend – 14/15 January
A weekend of water and land based training at the club for novices.   We’ll need volunteer rowers and coxes from the intermediate squad to make this work, so please do let Jenny, Carry  or Clare(cc’d) know if you can row or cox at some point over the weekend, and help bring the new squad on.

Katy

Lots of bits and pieces this week.

Pairs Head Prize Giving
The pairs head prize giving – hosted by BBL patron John Inverdale – was held today.   A HUGE thanks to Lucy and Sarah R for all the  organising and compere-ing   and , Nick, Katie C, Sarah and Sue for variously tidying the shed, making sandwiches and manning the bar.

It was a great event – luckily there were enough sandwiches and nearly enough cava to keep everyone going whie we waited for our host ‘flying in specially for the event’, everyone seemed excited to meet John (though one Quintin Vet was heard to say ‘I’m not giving you a kiss’ when he went up to collect his award).

People came from as far afield as Cardiff to collect their prize (and then had their car window smashed by the local low-lifes – welcome to Chiswick!).  The President of Weybridge came to present the new Amy Gentry trophy for the fastest women’s crew.  Amy Gentry  was central to the development of  women’s rowing as well as  founder of Weybrige Ladies ARC – I think it is really appropriate that a race run by a women’s club has a trophy in her name.

Cygnet lunch
A selection of captains and other BBLers went to Henley to join Cygnet in their annual lunch on Satuday.   The wine flowed, toasts were made and Cygnet Captain Dave gave a very lovely speech (which will be shamelessly ripped off for the Christmas party).  As well as lots of friendly Cygnets there were lots of women who have been important to our club and to women’s rowing generally – it was really lovely to feel part of such an impressive tradition.

Christmas party – 7 December

The event of the social season  –

This year’s ‘do’ is being held at Rosslyn Park RFC (on the corner of Priory Lane and the Upper Richmond Road, just beside Barnes Station), starting at 7pm on Saturday 7 December.  There’ll be food, drinks and dancing – in short, a right good knees up.  It’s licenced till 2am so all the die-hard party animals can carry on into the wee small hours.

Tickets are £40 each, to include a welcome drink, three course meal and 1/2 bottle of wine per person.  Partners and friends welcome. Contact Katie C (cc’d) asap to let her know if you want

Head races

Kate and Sharon were racing the lovely Luna at Upper Thames Small Boats Head today – we await news of the results.  Looking ahead:

Kingston Head – 9 November
Annabelle, Clemmy, Cara, Jenny – 4-

Lucy, Nick, Abi, Ellie – 4+Sue – 1xKaty – 1x

Scullers Head – 16 November

Sue, Katy, Ellie, Leah, Caroline

4s Head – 30 November

Annabelle, Clemmy, Cara, Jenny – 4-

Lucy, Nick, Abi, Ellie – 4+

It also looks like we’ll have a good mix of boats for the Vets Head – watch this space.

Also -Vesta are on the look out for launch drivers for the scullers head on 16 November – please contact me asap if you think you can help out.

Subs
I’ve emailed today outlining the plans for changing the timing of subs. I think this will be a change for the better, but do let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Safety
I think we’re all a lot more conscious about naviagation since the PLA talk – but I’m aware that a few of us have been caught out recently. Please keep your wits about you when you’re out there.  Remember, in particular, that published tide times are never entirely accurate and that at the turn of the tide you need to make sure you are checking on the direction of the stream (not the height of the river) and be ready to move sides (safely) if the tide turns while you are out.  Please also report all near-misses to me – I completely understand that mistakes are made (many of them by me) but I’d much rather hear about something from you than the PLA or another club.

Katy