23rd March 2009

What a beautiful day!  Everything that makes competitive rowing the addictive pleasure it is could be experienced in the glorious sunshine on Sunday, as we set about our last head event for the Vet eight this season – the incredibly well subscribed Vesta Vets Head:  A HORR for the grey generation, raced over the same course.

Our day started very early with some preparatory works – leaving cars and trailer down at Putney (to save a row back) and assembling the club’s latest acquisition – a Resolute for the bigger boys – at Twickenham.  Yet again we had personnel changes enforced upon us due to outside commitments. The paddle against the stream from the club to Barnes Bridge gave us plenty of opportunity of “bedding in” the new line up – officially a Vet E but only six months off being a Vet F crew which is our usual fighting weight.

Queuing up for the start gave crew members a chance to catch up with sparring partners of old sitting in other boats and once we turned for the start the organisers have to be congratulated for making every effort to ensure crews set off within only a few lengths of each other, to provide close competition over the full course distance.

We spun up to our first phase 34spm and soon found a very quick Walbrook composite crew chasing us down, while we caught our first crew at around the same pace.  By Barnes Bridge it was close three-abreast racing with us well positioned in the middle.  We called to go into our power phase as we shot the bridge and a good change allowed us to stay neck and neck with the Walbrook crew to well beyond Chiswick Pier. We both passed another crew as we tussled with each other but eventually Walbrook got the better of us and as another very quick boat came past us we again fought stroke by stroke to resist their attack.  Clearly no crew was going to get an easy ride passing us this day! 

This was no more apparent than the approach to Hammersmith Bridge. We had good line and speed with a Tideway Scullers crew coming alongside on our strokeside as we were closing down and overlapping a Poplar crew on our bowside.  As the three crews emerged from beneath the bridge, Scullers moved into us looking for the better stream but with Poplar not moving we had no room to accommodate them and inevitably some yellow, red, magenta and blue paint was exchanged with the usual cheers from the spectators on the bridge.  All was well and after we had cleared Poplar and Scullers had cleared us passing Harrods we found ourselves able to settle into a sustained and uninterrupted rhythm for the first time.  This was our best period, a solid and long 32 spm until we approached the Black Buoy (which is yellow now) and moved up through the gears to finish back at the 34/5 spm we started with. 

With all the action and battling it was never going to be a text book row but everyone in the boat enjoyed the constant tussles – far better than rowing in a void which has happened too much this season.  We finished 14th out of the 19 “E” eights that started and 115th overall – so not exactly a quick day.  That said we beat some 30 crews in higher (for which read “younger”) categories and we have a good idea about what was good and what was bad so remain upbeat for the upcoming regatta season, where we will be boating a variety of quads, doubles, singles and the eight at whatever events can offer vet competition and where only the finest tea and cakes can be found!  With some luck those will be the same events where the rest of the club competes and we can give the benefit of our experience – on the subject of tea and cakes. Roll on the 2009 regatta season.

The crew was : Richard Stanley (bow); Bob Hurles; John Sewell; Dennis Kenny; Brian Dorling; Jason Boulter; Rob Bailey; Simon Pullen (stroke); Paul Davis (cox)

Paul Davis