A Busy 2010 for QBC

Geoff Peel was our only representative at this year's FISA World Masters Regatta, in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada over the first weekend in September. Geoff came a creditable second in category E men's single sculls. Geoff was the only European in his heat, the rest of the field consisting of three Americans, two Canadians and a Brazilian.

Stourport Photos

You can read the full, all-revealing reports from our two cub reporters, namely the hotel correspondent and the campsite correspondent by following the links. Also, take a look at the changes in the potwinners' chart, and click on the photo to the right for regatta pictures, including some moody black and white ones...

...and there's more - watch the videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTAh-DW7k1A and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-UmFD-EJs8.

Below is a summary of our six wins:

Saturday

• Women's Novice VIII beat Curlew (disqualified)
  • Orla Kilmartin (bow), Mandy Simpson, Fiona Stevens, Nicola Brooks, Tegan Gowlland, Helen Chandler, Stine Keyes, Sarah Blakeburn (stroke), Adam Beake (cox)

Sunday

• Novice Double Sculls beat Warwick and then QBC 'A' (Adam Beake and James Reed)
  • Alex Page, Paul Woodman
• Intermediate 2 Coxed IV beat Warwick
  • Alex Hambrook (bow), James Reed, Ed Sanders, Tom Collins (stroke), Jane Adams (cox)
• Intermediate 2 VIII beat Bridgnorth
  • Mark Chatwin (bow), Joe Wood, Max Wall, Alex Page, Ewen McLeod, Sean Pitt, Mash Chudasama, Ken Almand (stroke), Catt Campbell (cox)
• Senior Coxless Four beat Bridgnorth
  • Ewen McLeod (bow, steers), Alex Page, Mark Chatwin, Ken Almand (stroke)
• Senior Coxed Four beat Two Lions/Birmingham University
  • Ewen McLeod (bow), Alex Hambrook, Mark Chatwin, Ken Almand (stroke), Catt Campbell (cox)

Photographs of the regatta are available at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1003.

Last weekend saw an enormous contingent of Quintin members heading up to Stourport for the big finale of the season - and what a finale it was! Though our arrival late on Friday night was greeted with some very wet weather (more of a problem for the happy campers than for those of us who were sensible enough to stay in a hotel), it turned out to be a fantastic weekend with a phenomenal six wins overall.

Stourport Boat Club

Saturday morning dawned bringing more rain but spirits certainly weren't dampened as crews took to the water. First up for a particularly early start following a night of very little sleep in the tents was the men's ex-novices racing in IM3 eights. They were followed by the Ladies' Novice four who were pipped at the post by Bewdley by about a length and a half. The IM2 coxed four also opened their weekend with a win in their first round. The Henley (coxless) four raced just before lunch, ready for a close race against a fancied local composite. The crew put in a big start, the oppo then decided to hit the bank, but unfortunately Quintin followed and a clash of blades meant a restart was in order. The second attempt was clean off the start and Quintin took a length's lead at the half way point. However just as they were passing through the bridge (still a length up), getting ready for the final push to see off the locals, the race umpire called the race to a halt because we were catching a veteran sculler who was in the race ahead. QBC paddled to the finish only to be told that the race umpire had decided that the race needed to be started again (from the start) On the way back to the start the Captain was heard to ask which one of the crew we were racing was his son! The race started for a third time, and unfortunately whilst trying to avoid a clash we steered into a rather large buoy, causing Kenny to catch a crab, at which point the crew decided they had had enough and paddled in.

The boating area

Late in the afternoon, the Ladies' Novice eight headed up to the start to race against Curlew. A very dramatic race ensued, in which Sarah at stroke lost her seat on the second stroke leaving her to haul herself up and down the slide for the duration of the course. With about 70m to go the girls were three quarters of a length up and sure to win, however the opposition decided to steer straight into Quintin, which stopped both boats. The umpire called the race over. This time, being that none of the slower crew was related to the umpire, he called the race a win to Quintin, this being the Quintinettes first win and therefore losing their novice status. Unfortunately this was the only win for the day, but this did not stop thirty three of us heading to the curry house for plenty of champagne, beer and wine, before the disco at the boat club where there was a bit of dancing and a lot of drinking. Highlights of the evening were categorically the bulk purchase of almost all alcohol that was left in the bar and our prestigious club captain drinking pints of wine and running headfirst into sets of double doors.

Sunday morning soon came around and brought with it a bit more sunshine and some fantastic rowing. The Henley four of Mark, Kenny, Ewen and Alex went back in the coxless boat again and this time had a clean race and won by over 5 lengths. Our newest club member, Alex Hambrook, jumped in to replace Alex Page in the coxed four, which again resulted in a commanding win. The novice doubles ended up being a QBC-only final as Paul and Alex won their first round, and Adam and James had a bye straight into the final. This ended up being a very close race, but Paul and Alex managed to put in a big finish to win by one length. It turns out that Paul had promised Alex a life-time supply of Jaffa Cakes if they won. By the end of the day Quintin had accumulated a phenomenal number of pots and we were able to head home extremely proud of ourselves. The IM2 eight, which had three novices in it, beat Bridgnorth by a convincing margin, getting yet more novice wins, and the four which won Novices at Staines (with one change) continued their run of wins by winning IM2 coxed fours.

With a grand total of six wins, thirteen novices leaving the regatta with both pots and points, and all members of the club rowing very impressively, it was a great weekend for Quintin.

Big thanks must go to everyone who made the weekend such a success and to Graham for towing the boats; in particular all those who have taken part in the training and preparation which made the results possible, and the coxes who so readily jumped between boats. It's a truly exciting thing for the club to have such a large number of members not only racing, but winning, and enjoying themselves so much as they do it.

F.S.

Quintin BC ended the season on a high with around thirty members heading up to Stourport Regatta for the weekend. Half deciding to rough it camping, while the rest opted for the luxury of Stourport Manor. In fact it was only the guys who had never been before who decided to brave the campsite, the girls and those with previous experience probably knowing better. As the guys put up their tents, it became apparent that most of them were not seasoned campers. Mash asking what a guy rope was while assembling his tent and Tom C asking the same before promptly tripping over one Adam had carefully put in place. Once the tents were up and the others had found the Manor house, everyone retired to bed in preparation for a weekend of racing. It was at this point the heavens opened, upon which it was discovered, much to the joys of many of the happy campers that an £8 tent from Tesco is not fully (or at all) waterproof. With the first night out of the way all psyched themselves up for the first day of racing. Quintin put out ten boats on the Saturday's 1100m course:

Stourport Regatta Finish

The Intermediate 2 coxed four and Intermediate 2 eight made it to the final, but lost out to Hereford RC and Warwick BC respectively, the eight losing by the narrowest of margins (2 feet). However, it was all about the Quintinettes (Quintin Women) on Saturday. They managed a thoroughly deserved win in the Women's Novice Eight beating Curlew in the final despite two technical failures. Sarah, who was in the stroke position managed to take two strokes before her seat slipped off the runners and she was forced to row arms only over the remaining 1098m. This, compounded with Orla's foot slipping out of her shoe and a dramatic clash with the opposition 100m before the finish line, made for a dramatic race. Huge congratulations to Nicola, Stine, Tegan, Helen, Mandy, Sarah, Fiona and Orla for loosing their novice status and keeping the Quintin flag flying on the Saturday. Quintin however should have had one more victory on the day if it were not for a questionable decision by the umpire. The Senior Coxless Four, after already restarting due to a clash with the opposition, and leading by a good margin, had their race restarted yet again 100m before the finish line due to "catching up" with the previous race. On the third go, the four crashed into a buoy, losing time which they couldn't make up. The injustice of the decision played on the guy's minds, however they were determined to rectify this on the Sunday.

After a long day of racing it was time to celebrate the Quintinettes' victory. Most of us managing to get a quick shower (I will not mention those who decided not to) before heading into town for a curry, and a few drinks. It was then on to the highlight of the weekend, the Stourport BC Discothèque, for dancing and you've guess it - more drinks. This was to be the first time Quintin was to experience Joe's dancing which on previous occasions has seen him thrown out of clubs for health and safety reasons. After the party, with everyone slightly worse for wear, we headed back to our respective accommodation - a task managed by most, except our responsible captain, Mark, who managed to run straight into a door, before finding himself locked out of the room he was sharing with Kenny. Not wanting to wake Kenny, either due to good nature or in fear of what Kenny might do, Mark resorted to sleeping in the corridor, reportedly with little on.

On Sunday morning our aching bodies awoke to brilliant clear skies. The guy's races didn't start until the afternoon, allowing them to walk blurry eyed to get a full English breakfast in the Boat Club in preparation for the day ahead. This seemed to do the trick and got most back on form for another day of racing. Quintin put eleven boats out on the Sunday's 700m course:

Jason emerges

The Intermediate 2 coxed four and Senior coxed four both had straight finals and beat Warwick BC and Two Lions/Birmingham Uni composite respectively. The Senior Coxless Four avenged their previous injustice by beating Bridgnorth RC in another straight final. It was then time for some more members to break free from the shackles of their Novice status, as the IM2 eight beat Bridgnorth RC. Congratulations go to Mash, Max and Sean who rowed a brilliant race! Sunday also saw a Quintin/Quintin final in the Novice Double Scull with James and Adam up against Paul and Alex P. It was a close fought battle, however, Paul and Alex P had the extra energy to pull away in the last 100m winning by 1¼ lengths.

Having won their novices the previous day, the women's squad stepped up to Intermediate 3 coxed fours and gave Warwick a run for their money, losing to the eventual winners by just two thirds of a length.

As the weekend drew to an end, it was time to collect our pots. After a successful Sunday, Quintin had won a total of six races and 34 pots. It was wondered if we would be able to fit all the pots in the minibus on the way home, as we had little breathing space on the way up. We fortunately managed! Stourport Regatta was an amazing way to finish the season and everyone has said what a brilliant time they all had.

A big thank you to Catt, Jane and Adam for coxing us through the races and to Adam again for coxing us as we put up our tents. The weekend would also not have been as amazing as it was without the great effort of Mark, Duncan, Richard, Sean and Graham. A special thank you to you guys.

Next season here we come!

J.R.

The club had its largest entry so far this season at Maidenhead Regatta on Saturday, and managed to match this with its largest number of winning competitors. Although through sheer weight of numbers the home club won the victor ludorum, Quintin came away with a cash prize of £250 as the most successful visiting club. The winning streak kicked off in the morning with veterans John Ferrario, Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies and Richard Lonergan switching from their winning coxless formation at Henley Vets to a coxed four (Belinda Davies coxing), meeting Marlow RC in a straight final of Masters D 4+ and beating them comfortably by one length.

Next on for Quintin were the recent winners of novice fours at Staines, now racing in Intermediate 3 coxed fours against Oxford Academicals. In a closely-fought contest our crew were rowed through in the last few strokes after leading all the way and lost by the cruellist of margins - one foot. The crew were Harry Molozian, James Reed, Ed Sanders, Tom Collins, with Jane Adams coxing.

Maidenhead Photos

Ewen McLeod and Alex Page found themselves racing above their status again this week, as had happened in the four at Molesey a fortnight ago. Their first round opponents in Senior coxless pairs were again from Thames Tradesmen's RC, but a different pair than at Molesey. After a neck-and-neck race our boys just clinched victory by a canvas and then went on to beat Clares Court by a length in the final.

The veterans then returned to the water, this time racing against youngsters in the Intermediate 2 coxed fours - in fact the same crew which had beaten our boys in the Intermediate 3 event. Determined to avenge the earlier defeat, the masters rapidly established clear water, which they held to the finish.

Ewen and Alex were then back on duty in the last race of the day, the final of Intermediate 3 eights, teaming up with the IM3 four, novice Joe Wood and Alex Hambrook to take on and demolish Parr's Priory by a clear two lengths. Well done boys!. The crew: Alex Hambrook (bow), James Reed, Harry Molozian, Joe Wood, Ed Sanders, Tom Collins, Ewen McLeod, Alex Page (stroke), Adam Beake (cox).

Interspersed with all these races our novice squad was gaining more racing experience. We fielded two men's fours (one a composite with the University of Westminster), and a women's four, but unfortunately they all went out in their first round heats. So "bad luck" to Jason, Gavin, Mash and Sean in the QBC crew (Jane coxing), to Max, George (UWBC), Craig and Tom in the QBC/University of Westminster four (Adam coxing), and to Tegan, Helen, Stine and Nicola in the women's four (Belinda coxing).

Finally, a mention for Graham Lloyd who opened his regatta season with a tough race against Hopkins of Eton Excelsior in Masters F single sculls. Sculling on the Berkshire station, Graham reckoned he would need a good length and a half's lead approaching the enclosures if he was to win. Everything went according to plan until the 'gas' ran out and Graham 'blew' in spectacular fashion. Nevertheless, a good day was had by all.

Take a look at the changes in the Potwinners Chart. There are quite a few new entries and John, Fred and Richard are pulling ahead at the top.

Photographs of the regatta may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=989.

The men's novice squad opened their account by winning Novice Fours at Staines Regatta on Saturday. They had three races over the 500m course, beating first Putney Town by 2 lengths, then Staines by 1¼ lengths in the semi-final and they then beat Evesham by 3½ lengths in the final. Well done, boys (and not forgetting Jane coxing)! Crew: Harry Molozian (bow), James Reed, Ed Sanders, Tom Collins (stroke), Jane Adams(cox).

Take a look at the expanding Potwinners Chart.

Molesey Photos

It was quite an eventful day for Quintin Boat Club at Molesey Regatta on Saturday, including a number of 'firsts'. The senior squad four, entering IM1 coxless fours, was forced to step up to Senior status and add a cox. Miguel was due to replace an injured Mark, but was in turn replaced by John Ferrario, fresh from his Henley Vets win, but they drew a strong Molesey Boat Club four and, after a hard fought race, including a battle with some dull-witted Canada geese, went down to Molesey by a close ¾ length. Crew: Catt Campbell (cox), John Ferrario (bow), Alex Page, Ewen Mcleod, Kenny Almand (stroke). A first race for Ewen McLeod and Alex Page in Intermediate 2 coxless pairs also resulted in a creditable performance. They beat Thames Tradesmen's by two lengths in the semi-final, only to be beaten by Molesey (again) through a disqualification in the final when they had already taken a ¾ length lead. Another first was a combination of James Reed and Adam Beake of Mortlake Anglian in Open Novice Double Sculls. James had only completed a few hours of sculling before this, his first race. In the semi-final, the composite double beat Kingston quite easily, Kingston steering into the bank when James and Adam were already several lengths in the lead. They were outclassed, however, in the final, where they met a well-practised Thames double. Last, but not least, the women's learn-to-row squad took on the might of Cambridge University Women's Boat Club 'A' crew in women's novice eights. This was again a first race for our beginners and, although they lost by three lengths to a well-drilled crew, they performed very creditably for a group who had not stepped into a racing boat until three months ago. Now they can't wait for their next race!

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=978.

The men's novices managed to avoid victory again at the weekend, this time at Kingston Regatta. They drew Kingston Grammar School in a semi-final heat and in the closing stages and as they were challenging strongly, that old crustacean re-emerged. Recovering quickly from the shipwreck, our boys then closed Kingston down again along the enclosures, only to lose by 2/3 of a length. You are not alone boys. At Henley Veterans your correspondent watched a strong Durham ARC 'E' eight (the crew we just beat in 'E' eights at Nottingham four weeks ago) throw away a length's lead in the final of 'E' eights with a monumental crab at Remenham Farm to lose to Wallingford RC.

Henley Vets Photos

Last weekend saw the last Henley Veteran Regatta in its current guise - next year it will be called Henley Masters Regatta. To celebrate the end of an era, Quintin entered and competed in six events - and won five of them! Deborah Mallinson won women's single sculls in both 'A' and 'B' categories, Tom Bishop won men's 'F' sculls and Meaney's Marauders came away with two out of three wins in their events, winning 'D' coxless fours and 'E' coxed fours, but losing in the final of 'D' eights.

This was the great disappointment, as we wanted to avenge last year's defeat by Crabtree. The semi-final was against Runcorn, whom we had beaten with a slightly different line-up at tne National Masters Championship four weeks previously. Just as at Nottingham, this was another close race, but our crew always had the measure of Runcorn and crossed the line 2/3 of a length in front, in a time of 3 minutes 14 seconds. This time remained the fastest time of the day until the final of A/B eights, when it was beaten by just one second. The 'D' eights final was a different matter, when, rowing into the blustery head wind that persisted for most of the regatta, a superb Crabtree eight (Cambridge Blues and ex-internationals) showed us a "clean pairs of heels " and won by a comfortable 3 lengths, in the slightly slower time of 3 minutes 16 seconds. Our crew: John Ferrario (bow), Nick Ryan, Charles Harrison, Jonathan Ferris, Richard Ratcliffe, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Helena Smalman-Smith (cox).

But the rest is all success! Deborah won all her races by comfortable margins, sculling her way to victory through two heats and a final in each case to take the women's 'A' and 'B' singles prizes. In her first 'A' race she beat Staite of Evesham easily (time 4 minutes 32 seconds), then she beat Crozier of Worcester by 3 lengths (4:13) and in the final, Benson-Skailes of Lea RC by 3½ lengths (4:35). In the 'B' event she beat Mcintosh of Tideway Scullers' School by 5 lengths (4:29), then Hutchins of Dart-Totnes easily (no time taken) and finally Kallal of Furnivall by 3 lengths (4:36).

Tom Bishop had a similar path to his final in the men's 'F' sculls, first beating Tubbs of Dart-Totnes by 3 lengths (4:25), then Whiting of Melbourne University, Australia by 2½ lengths (4:17). In the final he met the German Rehberg from RSV Meppen. After a closely fought contest he beat his great rival by 3 lengths in a time of 4:13, levelling the scores from their meetings at 2-2.

The 'E' coxed four of Charles Harrison (bow), Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Peter Meaney (stroke) and Helena Smalman-Smith (cox) beat a strong Australian crew, Toowong RC, by ½ length (3:41) in the first round on Friday, then beat a composite Durham ARC/Blue Star crew by ¾ length (3:46) in the semi-final and Upper Thames RC by 1¼ lengths (3:45) in the final on Saturday.

The 'D' coxless four of John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies and Richard Lonergan (stroke) beat Reading RC by ¾ length (3:32) in the first round on Friday, then Walton RC by ¾ length (3:34) in the semi-final on Saturday (despite hitting the booms with 400m to go and easing down at the finish), and then beat Walbrook RC by one length in the final (3:31). It did not pass our attention that both the losing finalists in these fours events had been winners in the same categories at National Masters, so perhaps Quintin can claim a right to these two crowns.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=955.

Henley Photos

With 59 entries in the Wyfold Cup this year, our four were not asked to qualify and went straight into the first round, where they met one of the selected crews, Commercial Rowing Club from Ireland. The Quintin crew raced well but were out-classed by the Irish and in the end went down by two lengths. In the Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup, Mark Chatwin and Kenny Almand drew the Japanese national lightweight pair, Takahashi and Nagasaki of Mitsubishi Boat Club. Considering their late decision to row a pair at Henley, Mark and Kenny were satisfied they did their best, but went down by 3¾ lengths. Deborah Mallinson became the first woman sculler to represent Quintin in the regatta proper, but had an equally difficult task against M.K. Wilson, a GB triallist. Full details of the Quintin races may be found in the Henley Records.

All results from the regatta may be found by searching the regatta website at https://www.hrr.co.uk/henley-results/search.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=940.

Some Photos from Richmond

The men's novice eight was racing once again at the weekend, this time at Richmond Regatta. Unfortunately they came up against tough opposition in a powerful Kingston crew and were beaten quite convincingly. Kingston went on to beat Putney Town by an even greater distance in the final. Still, it was a glorious summer's day and a good time was had by all.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=933.

Some encouraging news from Marlow (Dorney Lake actually) - the club entered an Intermediate 1 coxless four on Saturday and, improving with every race, they qualified for the final and finished second overall out of 25 entries. The improvement was plain in that they came third to Radley College in the first heat, second to Radley in the semi-final and beat Radley into third place in the final. Our crew were Ewen McLeod (bow), Alex Page, Mark Chatwin, Kenny Almand (stroke). The four also raced on Sunday and Mark and Kenny raced in Elite coxless pairs on Sunday, when the course was 1000 metres.

Race 17A IM1 4- Heat 3 10:28

Race 58A IM1 4- Semi-final 1 14:20

Race 87A IM1 4- Final 16:53

Sunday's Results

Race 19A IM1 4- Final 12:13

Race 7A Elite 2- Semi-final 2 14:03

Race 20A Elite 2- Final 15:15

Full results may be found at http://www.themarlowregatta.com/results/results/2010/.

Deborah made it through to the semi-final of Elite Lightweight Single Sculls at Henley Women's Regatta on Saturday and Sunday, where she lost to the losing finalist, Copeland of ULBC, by 1½ lengths. Copeland had a very close race in the final, losing by only ½ length, so well done Deborah! Deborah had a row over for her first race on Saturday and then proceeded on Sunday to beat McKeever of UTS Rowing Club, Sydney, Australia by 2½ lengths before meeting the UL sculler in the semi-final.

Full results of the event may be found at
http://hwr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2010_Full_Results.pdf.

Many were predicting foul conditions, the norm for the Nottingham course, but when Meaney's Marauders arrived at Holme Pierrepont on Sunday morning, the sun was shining and there was but a gentle cross-head wind blowing from the south. Richard Ratcliffe had, perhaps wisely, decided that a 10 o'clock race in 'C' sculls required too early a departure from London, and so first from the club to race was Jonathan Ferris in 'E' sculls at 11:34. Jonathan came third in his heat to qualify for the final. He was somewhat left behind the field in the final but, with some encouragement from the grandstand, rallied to overtake one sculler and finish in fifth place.

Race: 247 - ME1x H1

Race: 317 - ME1x FINAL

British Masters Gold Medal

Next to race was the 'E' eight at 13:14. With a field of six crews this was a straight final, and Quintin had drawn lane 4. By this time the wind had freshened a little, favouring the more sheltered lower-numbered lanes. Going off the stakeboat at 47, Quintin were soon in the lead, with Bewdley and Star Club in lanes 5 and 6 rapidly dropping to a length behind. Meanwhile, the real competiton was in lanes 1, 2 and 3 with Durham ARC, Nottingham RC and Belfast RC. At 500 metres Quintin had half a length over Durham, but Durham challenged strongly at 700 and Quintin went over the line just 0.66 seconds ahead to take the gold medals. Crew: John Ferrario (bow), Dick Findlay, Charles Harrison, Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Helena Smalman-Smith (cox).

Race: 272 - ME8 FINAL

The next Quintin crew to race was the 'E' coxless four at !5:02. This was also a final as Quintin had drawn a bye in a field of seven crews, including Crabtree, Avon County, Jock Wishart's Molesey/Kingston/Walbrook composite and Walton RC. For an essentially scratch crew, Quintin got off to a cracking start and passed the 500 metre mark just a fraction behind the leaders, Avon County, but then the lack of practice began to tell and Crabtree began to assert themselves. On the last stroke of the race the Wishart composite just got its bow ball in front to beat Quintin into fourth place by next to nothing, with Crabtree taking the gold medals. How annoying!. Quintin crew: Geoff Peel (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Nick Ryan, Dick Findlay (stroke).

Race: 299 - ME4- FINAL

The squad then had to wait until 18:34 for the final of 'D' eights, during which time the weather turned for the worse, and, although the wind died down, the torrential rain was enough to dampen anyone's spirits and more besides. However all the winter training was not in vain and, with considerable rainwater on board, the Quintin crew came home to claim another impressive win with a more comfortable race than in the 'E' eights. Crew: John Ferrario (bow), Nick Ryan, Charles Harrison, Larry Tysome, Richard Ratcliffe, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Helena Smalman-Smith (cox).

Race: 352 - MD8 FINAL

Saturday

Great conditions at Dorney on Saturday were not entirely matched by the club's preformance. The best result was a second place for Deborah Mallinson in Women's Senior Single sculls, just two seconds off the winning time. Deborah clearly had a very strong third 500m, closing a deficit of over three seconds at the 500m mark to just ¾ of a second at 1500, but then Marshall of Nottingham just squeezed away.

Dov Ohrenstein came third in his heat of Intermediate 2 Single Sculls:

The Intermediate 1 coxless four of Ewen, Alex, Mark and Kenny finished fourth in their heat.

Sunday

On Sunday Deborah was racing in Women's Elite Lightweight Single Sculls. She won her first heat but came fourth in her semi-final, just failing to qualify for the final:

Heat

Semi-final

Sunday's Intermediate 1 coxed four of Ewen, Alex, Miguel, Dov and Catt came fourth in their semi-final (after qualifying for the final Catabrigian scratched, so no result is shown for them):

Mark and Kenny in the Senior coxless pair raced in a straight final and were second:

Full details of all the results may be found at http://metregatta.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2010-Saturday-Results.pdf and http://metregatta.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2010-Sunday-Results.pdf.

Learn to Row Race Photos

The Spring Learn to Row course reached its climactic conclusion on Saturday when, in gloriously calm and sunny weather a small competition took place in eight-oared boats. Supplemented by some of the men's novice squad, four boats took to the water in a knockout competition, racing two-abreast over the usual 1000 metres, finishing at the clubhouse, giving us two heats and a final. As might be expected, the races were full of drama, the second heat in particular being won by a crew with only seven people rowing and a post-crab oar trailing ominously alongside the boat. Undaunted, this crew went on to clinch victory in the final. Congratulations to the winning crew of Julie, Alessia, Tegan, Jessica, Ed, Marcin, Mash, Sean and Belinda. Congratulations also to James and Stine, who were each presented with a copy of Sir Steve Redgrave's autobiography for being the most improved man and woman on the course. Well done to everybody for a very enthusiastic and enjoyable end to the course.

Thanks to Marcin for providing the photographs.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=916.

It was that time of the year again, and some of our intrepid veterans headed off to Venice to take part in the Vogalonga marathon row around the Venetian Islands. The route starts from St Mark's Basin. After going round St. Helen Island, it skirts the Island of Vignole, Sant'Erasmo and San Francesco del Deserto. Burano is reached halfway through the route; then, passing the Islands of Mazzorbo, Madonna del Monte and San Giacomo in Paludo, the line of boats enters Murano and crosses its Grand Canal. After reaching Venice, the boats go through the Cannaregio Canal, reach the Grand Canal and, finally, they pass the finish line located at the Punta della Dogana, opposite St. Mark's Square.

Vogalonga Photos

This year's team manager was once again Dave King, who assembled an eight-man crew of himself at bow, with Duncan Hughes, Dave Nichol, Roy Macavoy, Adrian Ballardie, Simon Wood, Andrew Bramah, and Aubrey Capel at stroke. As is the custom, the coxswain's seat was filled by somebody with local knowledge, in this case a Venetian schoolboy named Gregorio. Dave King takes up the story:

"We came in 15th in a time of 2 hours 5 min for the 32K - which was our fastest time to date. The engine room of the crew (Andrew, Roy and I, plus wives) arrived in Venice in style on the Thursday and had a very civilised evening. The baser elements (Duncan, Aubrey, Dave, Simon) arrived on Friday and proceeded to have an all afternoon training session in a bar, after which Dave demonstrated his involuntary Moon Walk technique before being put to bed at the Hostel. Adrian arrived for the dessert course at dinnertime. This left us all a bit shabby for Saturday's practice outing, which fortunately got delayed until the afternoon as our 12 year old cox was at school. Saturday night saw us enjoying Querini BC's hospitality at their buffet party on the pontoon overlooking the lagoon. It was so romantic that Adrian got a proposition he had to think hard about refusing from the President's wife - until he realised he had been set up! Sunday morning saw an early rise to be in position for the 9am start gun in front of St Mark's Square with 2000 other crews. We had a flying start and with some excellent steering from our cox, Gregorio, were soon up with the leading pack by the time we got to the 16K mark at Burano. On the long stretch to Murano we passed another couple of crews, and then another two quads when Gregorio cut the corner into the Grand Canal. Finally we passed a flagging quad just before the Rialto bridge to storm over the line 15th and collect our medals. Lunch was taken standing up to relieve some very sore pressure points in the nether regions before catching the water taxi back to the airport and a few zzzz's on the plane home."

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=878.

Mixed success at Twickenham. The novice eight decided to let Parr's Priory win their heat after the latter kindly gave them a four length start by catching a boat stopping crab soon after the start. Quintin then returned the favour and Parr's Priory went on to win by 4 lengths. Jonathan Ferris never really made up the handicap at the start of E/F sculls and went down by 3 lengths. However, Deborah chalked up the first win of the season with a four length win over Holloway of Sporting Imperial in the WIM1 sculls.

Announcement: To Dave and Pippa Ford, a daughter, May Alexandra, born at West Middlesex Hospital on Friday 14th May, weighing in at 8lb 7oz and probably leaning towards bowside (so I am told).

Borne Regatta Photos

For the second weekend in a row, the men's novices were out there flying the club colours and hunting the pewterware. This time they chalked up their first race victory by beating Putney Town in the semi-final of novice VIIIs by ¾ length - this despite a crab count of at least seven! The boys are improving with every race and they competed in the final without any major shipwrecks, going down by a similar margin to a neat Medway Towns crew in a well-fought race. Better luck next time!

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=875.

Martin Carr has been busy on the other side of the "pond", not only umpiring, sorry, refereeing at a US regatta, but also sending us this detailed report:

"This was my second US Regatta as a licensed Referee and in the US, they don't come bigger than Dad Vail. 497 entries came to Philadelphia on Friday 7th and Saturday the 8th May from across the USA and Canada to compete in the largest collegiate regatta in the US. The regatta was formed in 1939 and is rowed on the Schuylkill River (pronounced "skookil"), upstream of BoatHouse Row (comprising 10 clubs including Vesper and Penn AC) annually in mid May. A 2000m course, six lanes, but with the added spice of a bend through a bridge 500 metres after the start.

After a two hour commute (so that will be a local regatta then!) on Thursday evening, it was a 5.45 a.m. start Friday for the officials' briefing as racing on the first day started at 7 a.m. and went on continuously until 5.30 p.m. with the day full of heats and repecharges for the Varsity events. Very much as with Henley, the first day separated the wheat from the chaff and on the Saturday, again racing started bright and early (albeit on a less lengthy programme), with plenty of tight racing in both semi-finals and finals. Both days found me in a Ref's launch in the morning and in the finish tower in the afternoon. Finals were delayed on the Saturday afternoon due to a gusting wind but when racing finally recommenced, there were the usual questions over fairness of the lanes, with a number of wins for crews in the more sheltered Lane 6.

In the Men's events Varsity 8s winners were Brock University from St Catherines, Canada and in Varsity 4s Grand Valley from Michigan were victorious. Women's victors were Cal Sacramento from California in Varsity 8s and Western Ontario in Varsity 4s. What struck at the end of racing was the phenomenal depth of quality in US collegiate racing, bearing in mind that the heavy guns (Brown, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia etc) were not present.

So as usual, when you see US crews in the Henley draw, chances are they're going to be quick!"

In contrast to Saturday's benign weather at Chiswick Regatta, conditions at Dorney on the Sunday were pretty awful and some of the finals had to be cancelled due to the late running of the programme. Deborah Mallinson was the sole Quintin representative to brave the elements, coming third to a Polish international and a British U23 in women's elite sculls.

Deborah did not fare so well in the women''s IM1, having drawn one of the worst lanes in the strong cross-wind.

Chiswick Regatta Photos

Saturday saw our local regatta and the start of the club's racing season with entries in Men's Novice VIIIs and Men's Intermediate 1 Coxless Fours. The Novice VIII drew the American School in London in their first heat and were slightly overwhelmed by the occasion of their first race in open competition (first 3 came off his seat and then 4 caught a crab). However, everyone enjoyed the day and put it down to experience. The coxless four were equally unfortunate in that their only opposition scratched, leaving the event null and void. The regatta committee would like to thank all the officials and club members who helped the regatta to run smoothly and finish exactly on time.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=859.

The Spring Learn to Row course got off to a great start on Saturday, with the same kind of weather as on the "taster" day. As on the taster day, sessions were organised for the rowing tank, the gymnasium and, of course, the boats and we saw two women's and one men's eights take to the water. Sunday proved a little less clement with rain showers and not so much sunshine, but it is believed a good time was had by all and we look forward to seeing our participants' rowing skills improve over the coming weeks. Lots of help still required from members to support the coaches.

Club Sculls Photos

On Saturday Mark was threatening to withdraw from this fine competition, but we knew he wouldn't give up the chance of reclaiming the club crown if he could help it. Sunday dawned much as Saturday, giving ideal conditions for those who sometimes find the going a bit rough on the Tideway. Josh insisted that what Mark and Kenny needed as a "loosener" was an early morning outing together in the pair. We are not sure who was pulling whom round in the pair, but Mark had charge of the rudder and certainly established his sculling superiority over Kenny in the race, beating him into second place by 20 seconds. Having been deprived of the champion's crown, Kenny had to be satisfied with the Veteran C pennant. Deborah was sculling as an honorary Veteran D-F (we are not sure whom that arrangement was supposed to flatter) and managed to hold off Geoff Potts, one of her clutch of coaches, by just one second. Apparently Deborah was a little disappointed that Geoff didn't help her more with the steering, as he started immediately in front of her. Miguel should have been separating them, but along with Leif and Ewen he had fallen foul of the Icelandic volcanic ash and was stranded in the Emerald Isle. Ewen would have missed the race anyway but was stuck in Turkey; Leif didn't say where he was emailing his apology from. There was a battle in the middle order from "Meaney's Vets", with Nick Ryan, Richard Lonergan, Jonathan Ferris and John Ferrario starting in sequence. Nick was the winner, finishing third overall and John finished four seconds ahead of Richard, but Richard was able to claim the Veteran D to F prize. Jonathan had the misfortune to hit a buoy despite Richard's (rather late) warning to him, and that seemed to knock him off his stride. Geoff Potts turned the tables on last year's results by beating Tom Bishop, and Dick Findlay took the Veteran G/H pennant as expected, but the real surprise occurred when the sealed handicap was opened and Mike Kidd was declared the winner by 31 seconds. Mike was the first to admit that he had just returned from a lazy holiday in Devon and that his boat had not taken to the water for some months previously. Was this a secret ploy to secure a good handicap?

Full results at ../sculling/results.php?ref=2010.

Photographs of the race and presentaation of the prizes are available at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=831.

Spring finally arrived in trumps with a gloriously sunny day and not a puff of wind for the first Learn to Row "taster" day of 2010. With around two dozen attendees to look after, the coaches and helpers were kept very busy from 11 a.m. till half past three. A good time was had by all, with sessions in the gym, at the rowing tank and on the river giving everybody an opportunity to taste the various aspects of rowing as a sporting activity. The organisers would like to thank all the participants for their enthusiasm and all the coaches and helpers for their hard work. We are now looking forward to the course proper, which starts on Saturday 24th April.

Veterans Head Photos

The club had three crews entered for the Veterans' Head and also an interest in an Occoquan, USA/Tideway Scullers/Kingston/Quintin composite veteran G crew (the interest being Dick Findlay at stroke and Catt Campbell in the cox's seat). The course this year was from Hammersmith to Chiswick on an incoming tide. The top Quintin Crew (veteran D) started at No. 70, and, improving on last year's tenth position, finished third overall in a time of 13 minutes 35.91 seconds. This is a great result. The only disappointment was that they still didn't win the Veteran D pennant, which was retained by Crabtree, just 5½ seconds faster. The crew: John Ferrario (bow), Nick Ryan, Charles Harrison, Richard Lonergan, Geoff Peel, Jonathan Ferris, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Belinda Davies (cox). The "Bar Flies" (also Veteran D) started at No. 75, but rather as expected, finished in the lower orders at 166th in a time of 16 minutes 9.70 seconds. The crew: Dave King (bow), Malcolm Cook, Dave Nicol, Martin Carr, Andrew Bramah, Roy Macavoy, Mike Harris, Aubrey Capel (stroke), Jon Townsend (cox). The "Vice-presidents" (Veteran E) starting at No. 126 were not far behind, finishing 173rd in 16 minutes 26.15 seconds. The crew: Hugh Davy (bow), Steve "What Crab?" Grosvenor , Anthony Doran, Paul Gunn, Mike Kidd, Tony Zucker, Charlie Shelton (stroke), John "Sandy" Saunders (cox). The composite crew finished 16th overall in a time of 14 minutes 5.04 seconds, beating their nearest rivals in the category by more than twenty seconds and taking the Veteran G/H pennant.

Full finishing order at http://www.vestarowing.co.uk/veterans-head-of-the-river/vesta-veterans-head-2010-results/.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=817.

HORR Photos

The club's first eight finished 143rd in a time of 19 minutes 0.56 seconds. A summary of the results may be found on our Head of the River web page and the full results at http://www.horr.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2010.pdf.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=808.

Three of our members were part of a composite Quintin/Tideway Scullers/Kingston RC Veteran F eight competing in the Kingston Head. Stroked by Dick Findlay, coxed by Catt Campbell and with Roger Hine at 2, the scratch crew finished 54th overall in a time of 17 minutes 10.03 seconds to take the Veteran F pennant, 36 seconds ahead of their closest rivals, Walbrook RC.

Full results at http://www.kingstonrc.co.uk/images/stories/Events/KHORR2010/ KHORR_2010_Results.pdf.

Hannersmith Head Photos

With temperatures higher than in recent weeks and the odd spot of sunshine breaking through the clouds, there was a touch of spring in the air for the Hammersmith Head. The river was full with a high tide however, and to remind us it was still only mid-March a cross-tail wind off the start made for choppy conditions and a head wind round about the bandstand. The club had two eights entered: the Veteran D eight going off at No. 82, racing for the C/D handicap pennant, and the Veteran E crew at No. 84, racing for the E/F handicap pennant. The 'D' crew had just two other crews in their category - Thames (Vet C) starting at No.80 and Putney Town (Vet D) starting just in front at No. 81. The race plan to win the pennant was simple - overtake them both! Richard Lonergan, freshly re-instated in the stroke seat after a winter's rest, took the crew off at 37, settling to a lively 34, and Putney Town were history before the brewery had been cleared. The crew then settled down to haul in Thames, gaining the overlap down Chiswick Eyot and finishing two to three lengths clear, also dismissing one of the tail-end novice crews at the same time. Their overall time was 11 minutes 34 seconds, placing them 19th overall, and 30 seconds ahead of Thames. The crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Charles Harrison, Larry Tysome, Geoff Peel, Jonathan Ferris, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke), Helena Smalman-Smith (cox).

Meanwhile, the 'E' crew were equally intent on beating Putney Town, starting right in front of their Veteran Es, and also had the added challenge of Tideway Scullers starting just ahead. Unfortunately it was Tideway Scullers who won the Veteran E/F pennant, in a time of 12 minutes 20 seconds, but our crew came 84th overall in a time of 13 minutes 58 seconds, a full minute and a half quicker than Putney Town. The crew: Hugh Davy (bow), Geoff Garbow, Steve Grosvenor, Jorg Modersohn, Anthony Doran, Jim Moyes, Mike Kidd, Charlie Shelton (stroke), Paul Tremeer (cox).

Full results at hammersmithheadresults2010.pdf.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=804.

We recently received an update from Martin Carr on his activities in the U.S.A. Martin and Trish were married on Friday 13th November 2009 at New York City Hall in, to quote Martin, "a brief ceremony in front of a bored city official that lasted about 5 minutes. On the Saturday we had a blessing from a local Anglican priest in front of about 50 guests. Post Christmas we honeymooned on Cape Cod."

Martin goes on, "So I'm pretty busy on the rowing front. Trish and I coach at a small local college (Sarah Lawrence College) which is leading me into to the murky world of coaching. Prior to the winter shutdown we coach on Glen Island Sound, the same water inhabited by New York Athletic Club, where I did have a 'lively exchange of differences' with a certain Jamie Koven!

We also have been rowing at a small rowing club based in Harlem (which is very much a bastion of white faces) and we row as the name implies on the Harlem. Key there is that you really do need to get on the water early as plenty of gin palaces use it as a cut through between the East and Hudson Rivers.

Feels odd not to have been on the water since early November but I'm currently erging regularly (5 to 6 times a week!!, following the Concept 2 UK program) at the superbly equipped college gym. Again it's odd that the season here starts at the end of March and that it's straight into the regattas.

I've been in touch with USRA and am currently studying to be a US Referee. Its a tough set of rules mainly because most of the rules are identical, its remembering the differences that are tough! Even not having passed the Ref's exam, I've already been invited to officiate at NE Junior Championships in Massachussets in May!"

Molesey Head Photos

Despite yellow boards, the Molesey Veteran Head went ahead this Saturday and so some very fast times were expected and achieved. We had two eights entered; the "racing" vets in the veteran D category going off at number 9, and the VPs in the Veteran F category going off at number 18. The Veteran D crew took their category pennant convincingly, by 13 seconds, in 8 minutes 41.94 seconds. They finished second overall, only 3.7 seconds behind the winning Tyrian Veteran B crew and 2.7 seconds ahead of arch-rivals Crabtree. The Quintin crew was: Nick Ryan (bow), Larry Tysome, John Ferrario, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Kenny Almand, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Helena Smalman-Smith (cox). The "Vice-Presidents'" crew (Veteran F) faired not quite so well, finishing 30th in 10 minutes 14.50 seconds, but on handicap were fifth in their category (Veteran F/G). The crew was Hugh Davy (bow), Steve Grosvenor, Paul Gunn, Jorg Modersohn, Francis Brown, Charlie Shelton, Mike Kidd, Jim Moyes (stroke), Paul Tremeer (cox).

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=796.

Paul Gunn arranged another of his excellent quiz nights for Thursday, 11th February, and proceedings got underway promptly at 8:30 p.m. The theme for the evening was "2009", which for many of us was obviously in the dim and distant past. There was some debate as to whether you get wetter walking or running in the rain, and a certain amount of apathy surrounded the question of who won "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of The Ballroom", but the eventual winners were one of the W4 Harriers' teams. The Harriers combined their evening with their annual club awards. Many thanks to them for providing the entertainment and the food during the quiz interval.

Once again a good time was had by all at the Royal Automobile Club for the Quintin Annual Dinner. Our principal guest was Sir George Cox, President of the Leander Club and a former member of QBC. After a hilarious introduction by Duncan (It's-amazing-what-you-find-when-you-Google) Hughes, Sir George gave a very entertaining speech himself. Leif Jacobsen managed to avoid the ordeal this year. It was good to see some of our newest members in attendance, as well as the likes of Ron Needs and Brian Shaw joining our "golden oldies". The food was up to the usual high standard: terrine of chicken and wild mushrooms, then roast rump of lamb, followed by profiteroles (as usual) and coffee. For our further entertainment, Duncan compiled a Quintin Quiz, with questions on the recent and not-so-recent history of the club, and additional questions on that well-known private fixture between a couple of ancient universities. Most of the answers were to be found on this website, but the webmaster's recollection was not too great on the night. Better luck with next Thursday's quiz! Mike Kidd won Heads-or-tails and treated his crew mates and others present to a post-outing drink in the clubroom the next day.

The organisers of the event and, most likely, all the competitors, spectators, photographers, race officials and volunteers, were very grateful to the gods for once again arranging excellent weather for this the seventh Quintin Head. The skies were blue and there was little wind, and there was a full turnout of 99 crews to race (116 entries having been received). The only adverse condition apart from the low temperature was the large amount of landwater flowing downstream, but the incoming tide overcame this in plenty of time for the race. It did suggest, though, that the upstream course record of 10 minutes 53 seconds, set by Quintin Boat Club in 2006, was fairly safe; this in spite of the presence of two finely matched crews from the Cambridge University Boat Race squad.

Photos of Pennant Winners

As expected, Cambridge came away with the major honours, and, as tradition would seem to have it, it was their second-to-start crew that proved the faster, albeit by a small margin. The Oxford/Cambridge alumni club, 1829, also proved they still have what it takes by finishing just 10.6 seconds behind the winners. Their third place was followed by the University of Bristol (IM2 winners) in fourth with Latymer Upper School fifth. Latymer's fastest IM1 time did not, however, win them the pennant as a late substitution of Bob Thatcher at stroke, changing their status from J18, meant they were rowing for time only. Nephthys, the Oxford University lightweights, finished seventh to take the IM3 pennant, and St Paul's School at ninth won the J18 category. The IM1 pennant was won by Vesta Rowing Club, finishing just behind St. Paul's in tenth place. The University of Bristol won their second pennant of the day with their Novice men's crew in 30th place and St George's College, finishing 32nd, won the J15 prize.

Photos of Quintin Crews

There were eight men's veteran entries, spread across five categories, but only Veteran D warranted a pennant, with three entries. This was won convincingly by Quintin Boat Club (hooray!), who beat all the other veteran crews to finish 18th overall. This crew set off with such determination that they almost overtook their opponents from Tideway Scullers before the start line (timing officials at the start could not work out why and nearly had a tricky situation separating their recorded start times). The Quintin vets were pleased with their result, but disappointed not to beat the first eight, who finished six seconds ahead of them in 16th place.

The fastest women's crew, from Vesta, had stepped up a category from WIM2 to WIM1 as a result of a late substitution and so they had to be content with winning only one pennant for their position of 44th overall. The WIM1 pennant was taken by Mortlake Anglian & Alpha, 49th overall, only a fifth of a second behind their own men's IM3 crew. They were followed at fiftieth by Putney Town who took the WIM3 pennant. Vesta, the most successful club on the day, gained their third pennant with their WIM2 crew in 55th place. Barnes Bridge Ladies won the women's novices category in 79th position, and, last but not least, Kingston Grammar School won WJ15.

It was good to see crews taking part from clubs further afield such as Worcester and of course the University of Bristol, who have been sending a strong team each year since 2006 (and collecting a good few pennants). It was also encouraging to see some of the Oxford colleges venturing away from the Isis and the organisers hope that the popularity of this event will continue in subsequent years.

Full results are at ../quintinhead/results.php?date=2010-01-30.

Photographs of the pennant winners may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=777.

Photographs of the Quintin crews may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=792.

Plum Puddings Race Photos

The traditional Quintin Plum Puddings Race was held on Sunday morning with the start, scheduled for 10:30, actually taking place at about eleven o'clock. Of the fifteen eights expected, thirteen turned up at Isleworth Eyot, ready for the row down to the Quintin flagpole. As usual the handicap system plus the inability of some boats to turn round quickly at the start meant that the early starters had a huge advantage over the faster crews at the rear. Nevertheless there was some exciting racing with quite a bunching of the middle-order finishers. First place went to Cygnet Men, with Mortlake Men's Novices overlapping in second place and Quintin "Vice-Presidents" in third. Then in the clubhouse bar there was a general thawing-out of the crews, who had had to suffer sub-zero temperatures on the river. Hot lasagne with salad and then mince pies to follow helped a great deal, as did the Christmas spirit. Thanks to all the competitors for taking part in the festivities and to Graham Lloyd at the start, Geoff Potts at the finish and the other volunteers in launches along the way. Geoff Potts also doubled up as event photographer.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=771.

We would like to apologise to all members, old and new, who have had to pay a postal surcharge on receiving the Quintin Newsletter. Somehow and inexplicably the wrong value stamp was attached before posting and we can only say how sorry we are for this blunder.

The Christmas issue of our periodical newsletter has just been published and sent to members new and old. This is largely intended for people who do not regularly look at the web site, but if you don't get a copy and you would like one, you can download it (1MB pdf).

Wallingford Head has had to be called off. It is now rescheduled to run on Sunday, January 17th 2010.

The Burway Small Boats Head has had to be postponed.

Scullers' Head Photos

The club had eleven scullers entered for the Scullers' Head, which was raced on the usual course from Mortlake to Putney. It was another encouraging day for our scullers, with some pennant wins and some near misses. Our scullers' results are given below. Congratulations to our Captain, Mark Chatwin, for finishing 21st overall and winning the vetaran A pennant. This is the highest position the club has attained in this race for more than twenty five years. Congratulations also to Pete Meaney for winning the Veteran E pennant and to Frank Webb for winning the Veteran H pennant.

Full results at http://www.vetfourshead.com/storage/past-results/V4HResults2009.xls.

With the autumn heads nearly over it is worth taking a look at the Pennant Winners Chart.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=768.

Back in April we published an extract from the March 1960 Polytechnic magazine which struck a certain resonance with the Club's current activities. We therefore think it is now appropriate to publish an extract from the November 1960 edition. In fact, there are two extracts; one pertaining to Quintin, without attribution but presumably penned by Brian Alldridge as in March; the second pertaining to the students' club and ascribed to their then secretary, P. J. A. Cameron.

QUINTIN BOAT CLUB

The last article which appeared under this heading has given cause for more comment than ever before, most of it adverse. There is one correction to make which is worth a mention. You will remember that I said that Tom Peters was the only international representative that Quintin had produced: "Bean" Vernon, of course, was a member of our club when he rowed for Thames R.C. and represented England in the early 1900's - he says that much of his rowing was learned with us and has always acknowledged this. It goes without saying that we are proud to acknowledge him.

The Sculling Championship and Handicap was held on 24th September in ideal conditions. Bill Barry won easily and the handicap was taken by "Ced" Nowell. Bill beat his handicap by three seconds, but a hurried revision of the rules (if any) for this Club event decreed that he could not take both titles. The new gigs were used for the first time and were passed fit for service by those who know about these things.

The Head of the River for Four (sic) took place on 1st October and there were twenty-four crews in the Coxless four division. Our four came second by one second to National Provincial Bank. The crew was changed slightly from the winning combination of the summer and was as follows:-

• R. Slade (bow and steers)
• 2. W.L. Barry
• 3. N. Webster
• B. Alldridge (stroke)

We beat our old rivals Vesta R.C. easily, thus reversing two very close decisions (two feet each time) which occurred at regattas during the summer.

Closing Eights took place on 8th October. The usual bustle and disordered organisation was apparent, but no serious mishaps occurred except that Bob Slade lost a race. I cannot give you the names of the winning crew, but I remember that Mike Cadiz stroked, Norman Webster was at five, Clive Warwick at bow, your correspondent at six. We were never in trouble and gave John Hammond the fright of his life in the final when he found himself level with only ten strokes to go. McTernan won his first Club Regatta pot in six years, a great day for him and the bar. The usual social niceties were enjoyed afterwards and Basil Kemp-Gee informs me that he is well pleased with his books. If anyone finds spare raffle tickets in his pocket during the week, will he please destroy them and not try to pass them the following weekend, they cannot be used to obtain new raincoats, hats, umbrellas or the like.

Saturday, 8th October also meant the Extraordinary General Meeting for the Election of the Captain-Elect for 1960-61; the vote showed that Brian Shaw had been chosen. This result will be confirmed at the Annual General Meeting to be held in the Clubhouse on November 12th. At this Meeting all the other officers of the club for the next year will also be elected.

The Annual Dinner is to be held at the Connaught Rooms on Friday, November 11th. We hope that the Club's successful year will mean that many club members and their guests will be there to toast the winning crews.

Members may be interested to know that twenty-five club entry forms have been filled in since the clubhouse re-opened in September. This fact in itself is some measure of our success. Will members please do all they can to make our new chaps feel at ease and wanted, because we do need novices and we can only keep them by ensuring that they think Quintin is the best club on the river, and it could very easily be.

Please note that the Annual Dance will be held at The Bull, Sheen, as usual, on Saturday, 21st January.

POLY STUDENTS' BOAT CLUB

Having a wife and child to keep, the Captain of Boats for the past three years regretfully felt it was time he left the Poly and B.C., and entered the Civil Engineering industry - the finals for which he successfully passed last term. We wish Ted Harris all the very best in his work and in his future rowing with Quintin B.C.

At the A.G.M., at the start of this term, J. R. D. Elgie, I. Vinsky and P. J. A. Cameron were elected Captain, Vice-Captain and secretary respectively. After these elections and the presentation of numerous College and Club Colours for rowing, Mr. Elgie expressed his hope that, with the additional mid-week rowing, there would be a great expansion of the number of members, and a raising of the standard of rowing in the Boat Club.

So far these hopes have been fulfilled. Tentative 1st, 2nd and 3rd VIIIs have already been selected and training is under way. The 1st VIII are once more under the guardianship of Mr. F. V. Harry, while the 2nd and 3rd VIIIs are being coached by Mr. R. Gohar - a lecturer in the Department of Engineering. Mr. A. J. McTernan - Quintin B.C. cox and lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Physics - is helping the novices, with a special eye on the novice coxswains.

As well as three VIIIs we also have several novice IVs, the best of which, it is hoped, will combine to make a 4th VIII, and if enthusiasm is strong and keen enough, possibly a 5th VIII for the Head of the River Race. It is, however, impossible to make any definite statement on the latter two boats at the present.

By way of conclusion, the Boat Club wishes to thank Mr. Tyler, our President, and Mr. J. Edmundson for all that they have done in securing the required funds for a new boat for the 1st VIII. This boat is expected at the beginning of next month.

P.J.A.C.

More successes for the Club in the autumn heads! At the Kingston Small Boats Head on Saturday, Deborah Mallinson was the fastest woman single sculler by over a minute and a quarter, taking the Women's Senior single pennant in a time of 18 minutes 36.5 seconds. Geoff Potts won the men's Veteran F single sculls pennant in a time of 19 minutes 34.2 seconds, beating Gus Gait of Kingston into second place by 11.5 seconds. Dick Findlay and Frank Webb, being the only entry in Veteran G double sculls, sculled for time only in 19 minutes 17.9 seconds.

Veteran Fours Head Photos

After the disappointment of the cancellation of the Fours Head, Sunday turned out to be still somewhat breezy but fine and sunny. The Vets Head got off to a late start, but this did not hamper the Quintin crews, which were both seen to be overtaking other crews even before "The Ship". The club had two crews entered; a Vet D quad of Pete Meaney, Fred Jefferies, Jonathan Ferris and Richard Lonergan going off at number 36 and a Vet E quad of Nick Ryan, Tom Bishop, Charles Harrison, and Dick Findlay at number 43. The D quad finished a creditable 7th in a time of 19 min. 49.39 sec, just missing out on the pennant to Upper Thames by 1.11 seconds. The E quad excelled themselves, finishing 4th overall in a time of 19 min. 37.50 sec. to take the pennant in their category. The only crews to beat them were two Vet B coxless fours and a Vet B quad.

Full results at http://www.vetfourshead.com/storage/V4HResults2009.xls.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=759.

Due to the inclement weather, the Fours Head was cancelled this year. The general opinion around the club bar was that the racing conditions were probably acceptable, if rather wet, but that marshalling would have been a bit of a nightmare, what with extremely powerful gusts of wind. At times the club flagpole was beginning to take on the shape of Robin Hood's trusty bow. I'm sure our erstwhile competitors were quietly relieved that they did not have to brave the elements, even though it did mean an extra workout in the gym with the Cambridge squad looking on.

Thanks to Paul Cooper of Molesey and Leander, who has helped us to identify one of the photographs in the "When Was It?" section of the photo gallery. He recognised his father, Ridley Cooper, who was Captain of Quintin in 1952 and 1953. From the record of a club committee meeting we have concluded that the photograph marks the event of a Captains' Dinner on 16th February 1956 in honour of "Tiny" Mitchell, who was captain of the Polytechnic Rowing Club in 1909 and 1910. The picture has been moved from "When Was It?" to QBC Photo Gallery 1950s.

Our autumn sculling pennant haul continues apace, with a further five pennants acquired at Henley Sculls Head. The race was split into three divisions with Division 1 at 10:30 for doubles and quads. Our scullers concentrated on the singles in divisions 2 and 3 at 12 noon and 2 p.m. respectively. Mark Chatwin came a creditable 3rd overall in division 2 while Ken Almand (Vet B), Tom Bishop (Vet F), Deborah Mallinson (W Elite), Geoff Potts (Vet E) and Frank Webb (Vet H) came away with wins in their categories. On top of this the club was awarded the senior men's team prize for the combined times of its four fastest scullers in different categories. So well done to Mark, Ken, Charles and Tom for clinching this extra award. The club's results are as follows:

Division 2 - 12:00 noon

Division 3 - 2:00 p.m.

Full results at http://www.henleyrowingclub.info/images/stories/HRC_docs/
Fours_and_Sculls/ResultsSculls09.pdf.

It is our sad duty to report the death earlier this week of Tony Hutchins. Tony represented Quintin in what could be termed a "golden" era for the club when top ten Tideway Head finishes and strong performances at Henley were the norm. He rowed in the National Championship winning Quintin eight in 1973 at a time when the full Great Britain squad still took part in the Championships. At Henley that year the crew had lost by ¾ length in the quarter final to Wisconsin University in race that set a new course record for Thames Cup eights. In 1974, having beaten Leander at Reading and Marlow, the Quintin crew lost by 2/3 length to Harvard University in the semi-final of the Thames Cup. In 1975 the crew retained their Reading Grand trophy by rowing through the full Oxford University Boat Race crew. At Henley the crew lost the final of Thames Cup to Garda Siochana by 1 length. In the semi-final they beat Leander setting a Barrier record of 1 minute 49 seconds which stood for 9 years and which 34 years later no subsequent Quintin crew has equalled. In the same year, the crew also defeated the national lightweight eight (world bronze medal winners) at the Metropolitan Regatta (see QBC Photo Gallery, where Tony is "centre stage").

Tony spent the early part of this year sailing through the Panama Canal and across the Eastern Pacific with Graeme Mulcahy, another member of Quintin's 1973 crew.

More veteran successes in the autumn sculling heads! Quintin came away with first and second in Veteran E/F singles and first and second in Veteran G/H singles. So congratulations go to Tom Bishop and Frank Webb for winning their pennants, and commiserations go to Geoff Potts and Dick Findlay for being pipped by their own clubmates. The club's results are as follows:

The club had a good turn out of men for this year's Weybridge Silver Sculls. Nowadays this event is sculled in several divisions, the first starting this year at 10:30 a.m. and being for double sculls and junior quads. Division 2 at 12 noon was for all but elite singles, division 3 at 2:00 p.m. was the same as for division 1, and division 4 at 3:30 p.m. was for all singles, including Elite. The morning's conditions were quite benign, but in the afternoon a strong head wind got up, making the winning time for division 4 (the Silver Sculls proper) half a minute slower than division 2 (same sculler, A-K's Mackworth-Praed, winning both). Returning to the morning's races, fresh from their Pairs Head success, Tom Bishop and Geoff Potts clinched the Vet F doubles pennant and Mark Chatwin put in the second fastest time of the day for a single sculler. Dov Ohrenstein was the fastest IM2 sculler but was deprived of a pot as there was only one other entry in the category. Nick Ryan took the Veteran D pennant, with Pete Meaney in third place and, in Veteran H, Frank Webb overtook his old rival and our neighbour Ken Williams of MAABC to take the combined Vet G/H/I pennant.. Tom and Geoff separately fought it out between themselves and Gus Gait of Kingston for the Veteran F crown, Tom coming out the victor with Geoff in second place. Mark decided he needed to rest his back and so scratched from division 4, which prompted a number of other Quintin scullers to do likewise. The summary of results for the club is below.

Full results are available at http://www.weybridgerowing.org.uk/silversculls/ss09results.php.

Pairs Head Photos

The club had six and a half crews racing in the Pairs Head on Saturday, and once again some of our veterans came good, Tom Bishop and Geoff Potts coming first in Veteran F Double Sculls and Dick Findlay and Frank Webb being the fastest in Veteran G+ double sculls (although slipping to second place on handicap). The Ratcliffe/Almand Veteran B pair also showed the Captain's pair a clean pair of heels, so to speak (sorry Mark!).

Club results below and full results at http://www.pairshead.co.uk/results-2009/

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=750.

A small but important announcement escaped your webmaster's attention last week - it is with great pleasure that we announce the engagement of Ewen McLeod, Quintin oarsman, to Catt Campbell, coxswain to many a Quintin crew. We wish them a happy future together and await a further announcement of the date of their wedding.

Tom Bishop was our sole representative at Reading Small Boats Head. He won the Veteran F category by a comfortable margin of some 47 seconds, in a time of 15 min. 25.4 sec. Full results may be found at http://www.mikrotime.com/rowing/row2009/rsbh09.pdf.

The club had four scullers competing in the Wallingford LDS this year (Ken Almand scratched his entry). Once again the club came away with the Veteran E pennant, this year through Geoff Potts' efforts rather than those of Tom Bishop, who did not compete this year. Congratulations to Geoff on his win and to Deborah on her first competitive scull for Quintin.

Full results may be found at http://wallingford-sculls.org.uk/2009-results/

Below, courtesy of Dave King, is an account of the barflies' venture on to the Continent to take part in the Rund um Wannsee race in Berlin. This race is held annually to celebrate German reunification in a circular route around the Wannsee. It includes a massed start followed by approximately one hour's row for the 15km to complete the course. The Berliner Ruder-Club kindly acted as our hosts again. Now for Dave's story:-

U Boat on the Rund um Wannsee

The Saturday of the race dawned bright and early for QBC as we rigged the boat at 6.30 am before breakfast. By the time we left the pontoon of Ruderclub Wannsee the wind had got up and conditions for the mass start out on the Wannsee were somewhat chaotic, as fifty boats tried to get lined up in an ever freshening breeze.

Berlin Photos

Finally, 15 minutes late, we pounded off the start trying to maintain safe water and repel boarders from some of the other boats around us. Combined with the wash from the fleet and the spectator boats, conditions worsened rapidly and we were soon taking on water from some hefty washes. However, it was only when we were 15 minutes into the race, and well up with the pack, that the words "Achtung -I think we have a serious problem" from our German cox alerted us to the fact that he was sitting waist deep in water.

Deciding early October was not a good time for a swim in the lake we pulled over and hailed the efficient German rescue launch. They were able to lend us a bailer and, after a bit of elbow grease, we were on our way again - but last in the race! Settling into a good rhythm we got around the 15k course in 1 hour 12 minutes and narrowly avoided coming last by catching one boat on the way.

The rest of Saturday passed by in a blur of German Kindle beer at the post race bash at Berliner Ruder Club and on the evening "kulture tour" in central Berlin. After a late start on Sunday morning we had an outing upstream from BDR in the 110 year old coxed six "Oder", with a stop for coffee half way - very civilised! After a late lunch, and the compulsory route march around Potsdam, the exhausted crew collapsed into the clutches of British Airways for a good slumber back to London.

Photographs of the trip may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=732.