Dear Everybody,

First (this being England) a description of the weather:  Classic norms demand the word “glorious”, and we were lucky to avoid the record breaking temperatures of the following day (the Vale of Evesham can be a bit close).   That said, we treated the sun with caution, the gazebo went up early, and crews spent their time between races sitting around in the approved manner.  The regatta itself was generally well run, but a bit flexible in its timekeeping (we finished an hour late, but nothing like Bewdley).  The only fly in the ointment was an imbalance in the sides on the racing course.  A quick analysis of last year’s results reveals a bias of 29% in favour of the nearside overall (112 wins near side to 80 wins far), so I will mention this factor in the report.  

The day started very well, with Sam and Jake winning their heat of J12 doubles handily (near).  They kept their eye in, and went on to win the semi (near) and then the final (far), so well done.  Alas, David was not so fortunate in his first heat, and lost on the far side.   Next the Mixed Masters D four (Gillian Stuart, Paul, and a chum from Loughborough) won their semi on the far side, and their final on the near.  Here endeth the first division.

The second was not so fruitful.  Cameron lost his heat of J15 singles on the far side to a finalist (who then lost the final – on the far side).  Adam Grundy (same event) was similarly defeated on the far side in his heat (he also managed a blade collision with a Canada goose, which didn’t help).  Ethan and Alex won their first round nicely in J16 doubles (near side), but lost their semi to Monmouth (eventual winners), despite being on the near side (Monmouth are good – more later).  Josh had similar wildlife problems (and a buoy as well) and lost his heat of open singles on the near side (to be fair, his oppo was two years older).   Then the ‘novice’ four (the class no longer exists, so they were racing in Open) lost their heat (far side) to an experienced University College crew.  In our boat were Tom, Harvey, Adam Jennings, and Oliver – Sam Coxing.

Then the Women’s J15 quad (Beth, Stella, Charlie, Gracie and Will Hall) won their semi-final against an established Stourport boat, on the far side, by two feet.  A really great row from them, and an inspiration.  Alas, they were far side again in the final, and lost to a good Abingdon crew.   And lastly (in the division), the Mixed Masters D quad (as above) lost a straight final on the near side to a home crew.

Things picked up third division.  The J13 quad (Luke, Tilly, Sam, Jake, and Will Hall) won their semi on the near side, and their final on the far – well done!  Then Cathryn and I discovered that Mixed Masters C doubles was not a soft option, and despite beating our training times by some way, lost our semi on the far side.  Next Gillian and Stuart won semi and final (far then near) of Mixed Masters E doubles.  And finally, the J16 quad lost a straight final (far side) to Monmouth, containing the same double that had beaten Alex and Ethan earlier.

So four wins for the day, and some very good racing, but the choice of side made the difference in a few of our races.  Despite the loveliness of the setting, we won’t be going again.

Yours,

Lewis