Dear Everybody,

Trentham...Okay, get comfortable, first I’ll just throw numbers at you until I run out.  Eighteen entries in seventeen events, leading to (possibly) twenty six races.  In the event, we had eighteen races and seven wins.  Rob and I arrived (with trailer attached) at ten to seven am, and we drove away at half seven pm.  The boating facilities at Trentham are minimal, so they operate a ‘once you go on, you stay on until you lose’ (or win).  This simplifies the question of boat doubling, and meant that Margaret could be raced by five scullers over the day.  The regatta takes place on a lake over a short 750 m course (actually about 725), and this year was run with three lanes and a stakeboat start, which worked very well.  The conditions were sunny, with a strong cross tail wind, which made it rough water.  Due to the layout, neither Rob nor I were able to watch any of the racing, (too busy moving boats about) so my apologies if my account of events is sometimes inaccurate.

The racing:  James usurped Rob’s traditional position as first race of the day (well, second actually), which meant a half eight kick-off.  James has been invited to join a men’s quad with a view to entering the Prince William at Henley (they are apparently going quite well), and in his heat of J18 singles had to race another member of said quad, who beat him by a length (and who then later won the J18 final by seven).   More of James’ day later.

Next Lucy James (having been balked of her debut at Nottingham) raced and won her first race (a straight final in J12 singles against two opponents).  It was not an easy race, and she sculled very well.

Next Will Doleman raced in a single (J13) for the first time since his victory at Burton last year, and he also beat two opponents in a straight final. (verdict two lengths?)

Graham and I did not fare so well in our straight final against a Masters F double from Runcorn (I can tell you about this one cause I saw it from up close).  At three hundred meters we thought we were doing well, having gotten clear water on them.  It didn’t last, and they overtook us at about five-fifty.  We were coming back at the finish, but not good enough, and the verdict was a third of a length.  We are somewhat comforted by the fact that one of them stroked last year’s winning F double at the National Championships, so a good crew.

Milly was up next in J15 singles.  She started well, and was staying with the winner, but got into trouble with the rough water and lost touch.  She finished a decent second out of three.

Next was our Men’s Masters C four (Stuart, Andy, Gary, Paul, and Will Abbott cox) racing in a boat borrowed from Trentham, a front loader.  Will coped well with his first experience of steering from the bows (and in a race too, so no pressure then).  Alas they were not victorious.  Sorry, I have no further details.

Gillian and Harriet then were second out of three in their straight final in the Masters coxless pairs.

James raced again in IM1 singles (he was moved up from IM2 for lack of entries), and came second in a race so close that the commentary got the result wrong, and gave it to James, only to be overruled by the Umpire.  Galling, but only fair.

Will Abbott then swapped ends to race in J15 singles, coming third in his heat.  It is worth noting that both male and female J15 singles were packed out, with fifteen and twelve entries respectively, so the competition in both events was fierce.

The Club returned to winning form with the next event, which was Kate Doleman winning her well deserved novices in a three boat straight final.

Will Abbott then climbed (damply, he was finding the bowloader coxing position a bit splashy) back into the borrowed four to steer Gillian, Harriet , Sue, and Jenny to a solid victory in Mas A/B.  

Then Ellie and Eliza put their Nottingham baptism of wind and rough water behind them, and raced to a very respectable second in a three boat straight final of J12 doubles.  They had to row down a crew to get their second position, and should be well pleased with their efforts.

Now back to Harriet and Co for a race in the Club coxless four, this time not so victorious, alas.  

Next Josh raced in J12 singles, and was the only Derwent crew to get more than one row.  He won his heat (despite a bad start), and then won a three boat final (a better start).

Stuart and Co then had their go in the coxless (IM3 – no masters offered), and came up against two much younger crews.  Our four came in a respectable third, finishing within two lengths of the youngsters, who battled each other for the pot.

Penultimately Cesca and Sophie raced a three boat straight final of IM3 singles, with the honours changing hands from their last encounter at Nottingham, with Sophie winning, and gaining her promotion to IM2 (not that she is very happy about that).  This time it was Cesca who had difficulties with the conditions.  She lost a blade (i.e. it came out of her hand), which then trapped itself beneath the boat.  Her watermanship deserves a mention, for, although it took some time, she was able to balance on her remaining blade and recover the errant one without falling in.  Difficult enough in calm water, let alone in wind driven chop.

And finally Will Doleman (having waited patiently?  I dunno, ask his folks) since nine thirty (it was now half six), got into the J3 double with Ethan, and erased their defeat at Leicester, winning a three boat straight final.

All that remained was to pack up, drive the fifty miles back to the Club, unload, re-rig and put away.  A mere bagatelle (I jest, merely, the good humour of the squad who helped with the unloading etc at the end of a long day was wonderful).  The day’s efforts (and successes) would not have been possible without the support of Rob and Sophie, with a special mention to Paul Doleman (callsign: Grey Fox), who, with the use of a new pair of walkie talkies and the video camera, was able to record all the racing, and keep the trailer updated as to ongoing events.  As a result no crew went on or (more importantly) came off the water without support.  A great day for the Club.