What went down in 2011

It gives us pleasure to announce that Catt McLeod has finally given birth, to a baby girl at approximately eleven o'clock on Sunday morning. Mother and baby are doing well. Catt and Ewen have decided to call their daughter Iona.

Club Sculls Photos

It was decided this year to move the club sculling championship from April to September, so that it could act as an opener to the autumn sculling heads and perhaps attract a few more members to the Annual General Meeting. The entry was a little down on last year with fifteen entries and thirteen eventually taking part. It would be nice to see a few more of the sculling boats housed in the boathouse (and their owners) taking part in this annual race, which this year followed the usual format and was sculled on an ebb tide from the Pink House at Isleworth to the Club flagpole. As well as detemining the overall club champion, the race has a sealed handicap with a prize of the Finlayson Cup. It is no surprise that this year's club champion is our captain, Mark Chatwin, but our chief handicapper, Malcolm Cook said that he had obviously underestimetad Richard Ratcliffe's boat speed when the latter took the handicap race by five seconds, with a cushion of some twenty seconds over the main body of the field. Prizes were also won by Charlie Harrison for Masters DEF and by Dick Findlay for Masters GH categories.

Full results may be found at ../sculling/results.php?ref=2011.

The AGM followed the 10:30 race at 12:00 noon, when the captain and treasurer presented their annual reports to the meeting and the new committee was elected. In practice this is the same committee as last year. The secretary will publish the minutes of the AGM in due course.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1257.

Upton Beginners' Regatta Photo

Our learn-to-rowers have taken their first step into competition with an appearance at Upton Beginners' Regatta (near Worcester) on Sunday. The format of the event was 16 entries with a plate event for first round losers so you were guaranteed two races. The course was 500m from a free start with a half length stagger for the bend advantage and then 2 seconds per woman in the boat if more than the opposing crew. Fortunately the weather held and our four, coxed by jane had a really good days racing actually racing 5 times as they deadheated in their semifinal. In the final they came up against a strong RAF Brize Norton crew and although we had a 2 second handicap they were just too strong and beat us by just under a length. Our crew was Kerri Abbott (bow), Nanyamka Brown, Nick Moore, Sam Broadhurst (stroke), Jane Adams (cox). What was very pleasing to see was that the quality of our crews rowing was definitely amongst the best on show which is a credit to everyone who contributed to getting them out on the water and coaching/coxing them.

A photograph of the crew may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1255.

Poznan Photos

The masters squad, under Pete Meaney's skilful management, rounded off the regatta season with what we believe is the greatest number of wins the club has ever achieved at a World Masters Regatta - a grand total of eight.

The regatta started on an overcast Thursday afternoon with a strong tail wind which caused the waves to build up the nearer you got to the finishing line, but this did not stop Deborah Mallinson winning the category A women's single sculls by a handsome 9½ seconds to chalk up our first win of the regatta.

Conditions on Day Two were pretty much the same and the club's programme commenced with two heats of men's 'D' coxless fours. Going first was the well-practised four of Lonergan and Co, who were up against Mladost (Croatia), Kiev (Ukraine) and a German composite, among others. Quintin dominated from the start and in the end the only danger came from the German composite, and even they were three seconds down at the 500m mark and the final verdict was a win for Quintin by 7/100ths short of three seconds. The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke).

An hour later our emphasis switched back to sculling, with Tom Bishop and Steve Aquilina going in category E double sculls. Once again Quintin dominated from the start, with a three second cushion at the 500m and a final verdict of 3½ seconds over the South Africans from Victoria Lake Club.

With three wins in the bag already, we now felt that things were going our way, and, sure enough, as lunchtime approached, the 'D' quadruple scull came up with our fourth win, leading the field by 1½ seconds at the 500m and just hanging on to win in a photo-finish by 16/100ths of a second. The crew: Geoff Peel (bow, steers), Steve Aquilina, Richard Lonergan, Rete Meaney (stroke). For Richard and Steve, this was a second medal of the day, and Steve was certainly having no regrets about his move from Walbrook at the beginning of the season.

Then Tom Bishop was back on the water, making it five wins by taking category E single sculls with a five second margin. Could we win the 'E' eights? Unfortunately, no. Although we had learnt our lesson the previous day, when we had been dropped at the start, we were still beaten out of the blocks by a powerful German composite, who had two seconds at the 500m and hung on to finish by the same margin. Were we downhearted - yes, but not for long! Deborah soon raised our spirits with another fine win (nearly nine seconds) in the category B women's single sculls, making it five wins on the day and six overall.

By Saturday morning the weather had changed. The clouds had rolled away, the temperature had risen, and the wind had eased and veered across the course. The previous day's results gave us high hopes for the category E coxless fours, but in the end success was not to be. The 'A' four (with one change of personnel from the day before) did not find its rhythm and slipped from second place at the 500m to fourth overall. The second four faired better, finishing second in their heat, but could not match the speed of Dynamo Moscow. We had to wait to the end of the day for our next win, Tom Bishop dominating his race and winning by 6½ seconds, this time Category F single sculls.

Day Four of the regatta is reserved for mixed races, and Tom and Deborah chalked up our eighth and final win in category D double sculls, winning by a comfortable six seconds.

Dick Findlay also fared well at the regatta, in his Occoquan colours, winning both category G and H eights, H coxless fours and H quadruple sculls.

All in all, it was a great regatta for Quintin. The course and facilities at the course were superb, we stayed at a luxurious hotel with an easy tram connection to the course, and Poznan itself has a very attractive city centre. On Sunday morning the city square had a carnival atmosphere with a brass band marching and playing (all dressed as chefs!), and there were many other activities, all of which were food-related. We found out later that it was indeed a festival of food and there were plans to make the "longest ever" sausage that afternoon. Unfortunately we had a plane to catch and missed much of the fun.

If you want even more detail about the racing, the results may be found via the hyperlink on each day below.

Our race numbers are as follows:

• Thursday
  • 117 - C1x - Richard Ratcliffe
  • 143 - WA1x - Deborah Mallinson - 1st
  • 146 - D8+
• Friday
  • 217 - D4- QBC A (John Ferrario, Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan) - 1st
  • 218 - D4- QBC B
  • 237 - E2x - Tom Bishop and Steve Aquilina - 1st
  • 248 - C4-
  • 264 - D4x (Geoff Peel, Steve Aquilina, Richard Lonergan, Pete Meaney) - 1st
  • 283 - E1x - Tom Bishop - 1st
  • 333 - E8+
  • 340 - C2x
  • 355 - WB1x - Deborah Mallinson - 1st
• Saturday
  • 428 - E4- - QBC A
  • 429 - E4- - QBC B
  • 437 - C2-
  • 458 - D2x
  • 461 - G4+ (composite with Durham ARC)
  • 481 - C8+
  • 523 - E2-
  • 531 - C4x
  • 540 - F1x - Tom Bishop - 1st
• Sunday
  • 601 - Mxd D2x - Tom Bishop and Deborah Mallinson - 1st

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1210.

Stourport Regatta Photos

It has been a quiet time on the regatta front for Quintin Boat Club since Molesey, but the club made its annual pilgrimage to Stourport over the weekend of 13th and 14th August, with the degree of success we have rather come to expect. Your usual correspondent has been away, sunning himself (honest!) on the coast of Northumberland, and so this report from Rob Williams has only just come into his hands:

"On Saturday, Quintin entered boats into four competitions. The IM3 4+ (Jane, Mash, Max W, Sean and Jason) were beaten by eventual winners Loughborough in the first round. Mash was suffering from a heavy bout of man-flu and decided to take a leave off the racing for the rest of the day, giving him a chance to improve his photography skills. The IM3 8 (Jane, Rob, Max P, Richard, Craig, Tom, Max W, Sean, Jason) faced Stourport in the semi-final, and despite going behind from the start, managed to row back through them and earn a final spot against Burton Leander. In the final, Quintin led throughout and finished 2 lengths up. The IM2 4+ (Rob, Craig, Richard, Max P, Jane), racing for the first time in this category, faced another Burton Leander squad in the semis, crossing the line 2.5 lengths up (having now perfected the "Quintin" start with a devastating first 20 strokes!) In a close final, Quintin built up a lead over Magdalen College (who went on to win the IM1 4+ that day) in the early stages. Despite a fight back from them over the 2nd half of the course, Quintin held them off and won by 3 feet. In the vet events, Graham lost his first round scull and a Vet C 4+ boat (Tom, Craig, Duncan, Graham, Jane) lost to Nottingham Vet D by a credible 2.5 lengths - considering they had been forced to give them a 9 second headstart due to average age.

Sunday was an early start following the curry and beers the night before. That didn't stop the IM3 4+ (Tom, Max W, Sean, Jason, Jane) from beating firstly the previous day's novice winners in the heat, followed by Ross in the semis. In arguably the race of the Regatta, they faced home squad Stourport and for most of the race were behind. As they approached the finish, the curry power kicked in. Quintin support on the bank (bolstered by Jane's kids Harry and Ellie) just managed to make themselves heard over the roar of the home fans as Quintin closed down Stourport. As they passed the boathouse just before the line, it was neck and neck. Quintin laid down the power in spectacular fashion and finished ahead by a canvas.

From the previous day's wins, the IM3 8 and IM2 4+ were now over pointed. The straight final in the IM3 8 was changed to an 'invitational' as there was no IM2 event. Jane had a row in place of Craig and Mash took Richard's place. With a borrowed Stourport cox we eventually lost by 2 lengths to the Stourport boat we'd beaten the day before. IM2 4+ moved up to IM1 4+ as previous winners and beat firstly Trentham and then Bridgnorth in the final, both by around 2 lengths. Graham won his vets heat but lost in the semis. The Vet C 4+, with Richard taking Tom's place, lost to a very quick Warwick in the final, having beaten Ross by 1.5 lengths in the semi. The Quintin 4+ boat and Jane were hardly off the water as the afternoon drew to a close, with Duncan expertly negotiating on times with the opposition and organisers to fit everything in.

Overall it was a great weekend with Quintin heading back down the M40 with an impressive haul of 24 pots. It was a culmination to a season which saw both Tom and Jason finally losing their novice status, the IM3 8 boat finally pulling it all together, Craig and Rob progressing from Novice at the start of April, through to IM1 in the 4+ boat (with Richard and Max P) and we're now all reclaiming lost water to crews that initially take the lead in races. There is a new confidence amongst the squad about what we can achieve next season."

Photographs from the weekend may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1196.

We are pleased to announce the arrival on Friday of Mark and Lindsay Chatwin's first-born, Olivia Rose, at 4:47, weighing in at 7ib. 11oz, and all of 55cm. tall. Mother and baby are doing well and returned home on Sunday evening.

Molesey Regatta Winners

The club had four entries at Molesey Regatta on Saturday, and an interest in a fifth. Richard Ratcliffe started the regatta off at 9:30am in a heat of Masters 'C' single sculls, beating Macrae of Maidenhead by 2½ lengths. In the semi-final Richard was beaten by Hosking of Thames Tradesmen]s Rowing Club, by 4 lengths. Alex Page entered IM2 single sculls but was beaten in the first round by Wilkins of Molesey by 3½ lengths. Our IM3 coxed four raced HSBC RC in their semi-final, winning by a comfortable 4½ lengths. In the final they met Christ Church BC, Oxford and won impressively, this time by 2½ lengths. The IM3 eight had a bye to their final where they met Granta (the CULRC development squad). Despite having to borrow a boat at the last minute, due to their own boat suffering a broken shoulder, our crew put up a good performance, but went down to a very polished Granta crew by 4 lengths.

The winning IM3 four: Max Popiolek (bow), Richard Miller, Craig Russell, Rob Williams (stroke), Jane Adams (cox).

Also at this regatta, your webmaster broke the habit of 46 years rowing in sweep-oar events and took part in his first race in the sculling discipline, forming a novice double scull with his son, Thomas, from Twickenham RC. Hine and Hine had a comfortable race in their first round against KGS Veterans, winning by 3½ lengths, but met tough opposition from Molesey BC in the final, losing by 2¼ lengths.

A photograph of the winning crew is at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1194.

Doug Carpenter's funeral service will be at 2:00pm this Friday at Christ Church, Turnham Green.

Henley Masters Photos

The club had yet another successful Henley Vets (now called Henley Masters Regatta) at the weekend, with only two small disappointments. We won women's 'B' single sculls and men's 'F' single sculls (well done Deborah and Tom!) and also scored a comfortable win over Crabtree in the final of 'E' eights - this after a gut-busting canvas verdict over Durham in the semi-final. The 'E' coxless four were disappointed to have no opposition on the day in their event and rowed over to take the medals. The second disappointment was when John Ferrario found he was unable to row in the final of 'D' coxless fours, having sustained and aggravated a rib injury during his previous races. After consultation with the officials we were allowed to make a medical substitution and Geoff Peel gallantly stepped into the bow-steers seat. Our opposition in the final were Reading RC, whom we had beaten in a close race last year, and whose time in their semi-final this year was identical to ours. so we knew it was going to be tough. After a fast Quintin start giving us an early lead, Reading pushed ahead at the Barrier and, despite a thirty stroke onslaught from our crew at the finish, held on to a ½ length lead. Interestingly, our substitution in the final meant we would have been eligible for the Masters 'E' category. We wish John Ferrario a speedy recovery in time for the World Masters in Poznan in September.

Henley Masters this year was blessed with a strong head wind, which on Friday was strong in the extreme - hence much slower times in the Friday heats. It was also very gusty throughout the regatta, giving considerable variability to race times. The full results of our races:

E8+

Crew: John Ferrario (bow), Ian Hyslop, Willy Almand, Steve Aquilina, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

E4-

Crew: Steve Aquilina (bow, steers), Pete Meaney, Geoff Peel, Ian Hyslop (stroke).

D4-

Crew: John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke). Geoff Peel was substituted for John Ferrario in the final, due to injury.

F1x - Tom Bishop

WB1x - Deborah Mallinson

Quintin also had an involvement, in the form of Dick Findlay, in two composite crews with Occoquan RC, racing in 'G/H' coxless fours and 'G' eights.The four beat Breda in the semi-final by 2/3 length and then very soon afterwards Dick was in another close race in the semi-final of the 'G' eights against Wallingford. In the fours final Dick's crew had to give Henley a 10 second start on handicap and never really contested the race, but in the eights final Occoquan beat Reading RC by a canvas to take the title. The Occoquan results:

G/H4-

G8+

The full results may be downloaded at http://www.henleymastersregatta.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Henley-Masters-Regatta-Results-2011.pdf.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1168.

After yesterday's sad news, something from Martin Carr across the pond to cheer us up — "Just as many were heading probably unsteadily to the bus to go home from HRR Saturday, Trish gave birth to a baby girl; Eleanora (aka Ellie) weighed in at 8lb 10 oz and the nurse after the delivery remarked she has big feet. Hopefully this is a future sign of a tall girl with a nice long stroke!!"

It is with great sadness that we learned last night of the death of Doug Carpenter. Doug suffered a heart attack at 7:30 yesterday morning and neither his wife nor the paramedic team was able to revive him. He had been seen at Henley only the previous day looking fit and well. Doug was a long standing member of the club, first representing it in heads and regattas back in the 1970s. He was in the Head of the River crew (photograph here) and Thames Cup crew (photograph here) of 1977 and won a bronze medal as part of our lightweight eight at the National Championships that year, following his silver medal representing Great Britain in Lightweight eights in the World Championships of 1976. He will also be remembered by Graham Lloyd and Roger Hine as a worthy adversary (in London RC colours) in Elite pairs at various Thames regattas in the late '70s and early '80s. Doug was still very active in the club, venturing out in his sculling boat on a regular basis, and will be sorely missed. He leaves behind a 17 year old son and a 14 year old daughter as well as his wife Dee.

Doug was filmed in a brief interview at Henley on Saturday. You may view this interview at http://www.winkball.com/entries/PFYuYZiXYUHz/douglas-carpenter.

Henley Royal Regatta Photos

Our Wyfold four gave a spirited performance against Banks Rowing Club, Australia in the first round of the event, their rating never dropping below 36, but the Australian crew had taken and early lead and won by 2¼ lengths. Results of all the races may be found by searching the regatta website at https://www.hrr.co.uk/henley-results/search.

Details of the race and the crew may also be found in our own Henley Records.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1164.

Our development eight failed to qualify for the Thames Cup on Friday, but we hope the experience will stand them in good stead for the future.

Marlow Regatta Photos

The club had two entries at Marlow Regatta on Saturday and two on Sunday. The IM3 eight and the Senior four raced over the 2000m. course on Saturday and the Masters D eight and Masters B sculler (Richard Ratcliffe) raced over 1000m. on Sunday.

On Saturday the Senior 4- drew Vesta, Tyne, Henley and Star & Arrow but are clearly looking for more boat speed. Their results:

Heat:

Repechage:

he IM3 8+ event had a massive 40 entries, which was split into two divisions. Our crew was in division 2. The crew had a tough race against class opposition but must have gained much from the experience. The division was eventually won by St. Edward's School, with the University of the West of England second.

Heat:

On Sunday we had more success. Richard raced in Masters B single sculls and won convincingly.

The Masters D 8+ also had a convincing win against Thames RC and Reading RC. The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

The full results may be found at http://www.themarlowregatta.com/results/results/2011/marlow-regatta/

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1150.

With regret we report that Stewart Mitchell died last week. Stewart joined Quintin in 1975 and rowed 7 in the Novice eight that won first time out at Hammersmith Regatta in 1976. He went on to be a successful Novice coach. He is best remembered for his very successful, and eventful, stewardship of the Quintin bar in the mid and late 70s.

Stewart appears in our photo gallery at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/image.php?ref=169,
http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/image.php?ref=210 and
http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/image.php?ref=247)

Three Golds and a Silver

The club entered four events at the British Rowing Masters Regatta, which took place on Sunday at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham. On our arrival the lake was calm and the sun was shining, but before we could get much racing done the skies opened and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day. That said, water conditions could have been a lot worse. The prevailing wind was across the course (slightly head), but the direction could change, even during a race.

First on for QBC was Tom Bishop in a heat of 'F' single sculls at 10:02. He had drawn West of Norwich, Marshall of Maidstone Invicta, Harris of Dart Totnes, Andrews of Ardingly and Langmaid of Dart Totnes, with the first five going through to meet Davies of Dart Totnes in the final at 17:22. Tom won the heat and the final, beating Langmaid into second place on both occasions to take the gold medal (West of Norwich scratched after the heat).

Race: 224: MF1x H

Race: 334 : MF1x FINAL

Our next crew to race was the 'D' eight, drawn against Runcorn, Star Club and Maidstone Invicta in a heat at 10:50. To qualify for the final the crew simply had to avoid coming last, but in practice they won the heat in style, winding down over the second half well clear of the field. They had a long wait (until 18:18) for the final, against Warwick/Poole/Bradford-on-Avon/Walbrook, Peterborough City and Broxbourne, but the wait was well worth it for the gold medals they deservedly won.

The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Ian Hyslop, Steve Aquilina, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Race: 236 : MD8+ H2

Race: 352: MD8+ FINAL

With a change of two personnel the crew also raced race in a straight final of the 'E' eights at 11:26 against Wallingford, Tideway Scullers and Durham ARC. As expected, Durham were the main rivals, but although our crew were slipped at the start, they gradually established a lead and crossed the line nearly a length ahead of Durham, with TSS and Wallingford clear water behind, for the first Quintin win of the day.

The winning crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Race: 245: ME8+ FINAL

The;'E' coxless four also had a straight final, at 13:58 against Nottingham RC, Tideway Scullers, Avon County and Molesey/Walbrook/Kingston (Bewdley scratched). This four had only just got together the previous day and so were, as rather expected, dropped by the field at the start, but after the 250 metre mark their rhythm began to be established and with ever increasing tempo they ploughed through the field. Unfortunately the finishing line came too soon and Avon County hung on to a canvas lead, leaving QBC disappointed but content with their silver medals. A real crowd pleaser apparently!

The silver medallists: Steve Aquilina (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Ian Hyslop (stroke).

Race: 283: ME4- FINAL

With just twelve competitors, Quintin narrowly missed out on winning the £1000 Victor Ludorum prize, finishing second to Durham ARC. Perhaps next year we can persuade a few more veterans to join us on this annual pilgrimage.

Our men's Intermediate 3 VIII raced on Saturday - at Barnes & Mortlake Regatta. They beat Cygnet RC by several lengths in the first round but in the final gave away an early lead to a tidy UCL crew. Our boys fought hard and clawed back much of the deficit, but still lost by about a length. They are improving with every race. It will be interesting to see how they fare on the multi-lane course at Marlow (Dorney Lake) next Saturday.

Martin Carr has just emailed to say that he (most probably) and Trish (definitely) will be missing Henley this year because - guess what? - they are expecting a new arrival in early July. Something in common with the captain and his wife there!

Martin is continuing to coach his local college crew with modest success. As Martin puts it "The college does not attract athletic types so let's just say that the racing results of the crews in question were pretty much as I imagined".

Lake Constance Photos

At the beginning of June, Bill Burbage, Mike Kidd, Hugh Davy and Martin Gee took themselves off to Switzerland to try a spot of lake rowing. Bill reports:

We had good weather and great time made possible by our excellent hosts Daniel & Silvia Minder who founded the Steckborn rowing club a few years ago. Daniel is the president which is the equivalent of our captain. We had outings from the Steckborn & Kreulingen rowing clubs in quintuple & quad sculling lake boats. The first outing was particularly testing because the lake was so rough. The locals were not keen to go out but we did not want to waste the opportunity. The lake boats we used coped with the conditions really well, so we survived but were very happy to get back to dry land. The scenery is beautiful & the history & architecture of the area all helped to make it a memorable visit.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1136.

Weybridge Ladies' Regatta Photos

Congratulations to Tegan Gowlland and Sarah Blakeburn, who won women's intermediate 3 double sculls at Weybridge Ladies' Regatta. They were drawn against Maidstone Invicta in their heat and Henley Rowing Club in the final, but Henley failed to show, even though Tegan and Sarah waited for them in the rain. So the heat turned out to be the final.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1132.

The club had an interest in three events at Twickenham Regatta this weekend. First on the water were our women's Intermediate 3 double sculls of Tegan and Sarah, racing as a University of Westminster/Quintin conmposite against Kingston Rowing Club. Unfortunately Tegan and Sarah are still having trouble with their steering and the verdict was "not rowed out". The Masters E eight had comfortable wins over Broxbourne and Walbrook before beating Twickenham in the final. The Intermediate 3 eight took on a strong Sons of the Thames crew, losing by 2½ lengths.

Our squads performed well again last weekend, registering three wins at Borne Regatta, although officially the honours were shared between QBC and the University of Westminster. Ewen McLeod (QBC) and Alex Page (UWBC) had a comfortable win over Ardingly in Intermediate 3 double sculls, finishing many lengths clear. Alex then went on to beat Penchev of Sons of the Thames in a heat of Intermediate 3 single sculls. Later in the day it emerged that this was in practice the final as Witting of Balliol College failed to appear and Alex sculled over for the pot (in UWBC colours). Tegan Gowlland (QBC) and Sarah Blakeburn (UWBC) chalked up their first win of the season by beating Thames Tradesmen in a straight final of Women's Novice Double Sculls. The only disappointments were with the IM3 four and IM3 eight, although they were sufficiently close to the winners to raise hopes for success in the near future.

Alex's and Sarah's choice of colours unfortunately means they will not yet feature in the Potwinners Chart but Ewen and Tegan join the throng on one win. Who will emerge as leader this year?

Chiswick Regatta Photos

The club had three crews racing at our local regatta on Saturday. The day started very breezy with a strong cross wind, but with warm air and sunshine some pleasant racing conditions were anticipated and fulfilled. Racing started on a flood tide at 10:15 am. The men's novice coxed four were first on the course for us, with a heat against Norwich School, which they won by 1¼ lengths. Next to race was the men's IM3 coxed four, who unfortunately could not get the better of Emanuel School and lost by 3½ lengths, although Furnivall were even further behind. The novices then competed in their second round race, beating neighbours Putney Town by 1½ lengths. After the turn of the tide, which provided a suitable lunch break, the "heavies" took over the club's representation, with Meaney's Marauders taking on Tideway Scullers School and Walbrook Rowing Club in Masters E eights. This was a straight three-abreast final, and Quintin rapidly established a length's lead over Tideway Scullers, with Walbrook bringing up the rear, despite the fact that our stroke man didn't hear the umpire's "Go!". The final verdict was a win for QBC over TSS by 1 1/3 lengths, with Walbrook in third place. Not to be outdone, the novices turned in a splendid performance in their final, defeating Norwich School by 1½ lengths.

Well done to all the winners: Novice four:- Rob Williams (bow), Mark Pascoe, Craig Russell, Mike Cuthbertson (stroke), Jane Adams (cox); Masters E eight :- John Ferrario (bow), Duncan Hughes (well done, Duncan), Willy Almand, Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

The Potwinners Chart is now open

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1115.

Born at 2:15am and weighing 4.14 kg (9lbs 1oz for Imperialists). Dov says she has a fine set of vocal chords. Congratulations to Heather and Dov. Mother and baby are both doing well.

The club had two men's crews competing in the Vets Head, and also an interest in a Quintin/Occoquan (US) composite (Dick Findlay's chums) and a Fredericia/Middelfart/Quintin composite (Leif Jacobsen's chums). The Masters E crew were the fastest of the four, finishing 16th in a time of 20 minutes 9.06 seconds, which won them the Masters E pennant. Next fastest were the Quintin/Occoquan composite, finishing 62nd in 21 minutes 16.36 seconds (2nd in the Masters G/H handicap). The Quintin/Danish composite finished 96th in 21 minutes 47.91 seconds (7th in Masters F) and the Masters D crew (better known as the Barflies) finished 126th in 22 minutes 24.27 seconds.

The full results may be found on the Vesta website.

The winning Masters E crew were: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Willy Almand, Jonathan Ferris, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

The club had two crews competing in the Head of the River Race this year. The IM1 crew, largely a development crew, starting at number 141, finished 183rd in a time of 19 minutes 0.72 seconds. The IM3 crew, largely composed of last year's novices, started at number 278 and finished 348th in 20 minutes 32.2 seconds.

A summary of the results may be found on our Head of the River web page and the official results may be found at http://www.horr.co.uk/2011/results.html..

The club had three men's crews competing in the Hammersmith Head, achieving somewhat mixed results. The Masters D crew were the fastest from the club, finishing 30th in a time of 11 minutes 30.2 seconds and winning the Masters D pennant. The IM1 crew finished 49th in 11 minutes 47.1 seconds, and the IM2 crew finished 91st in 12 minutes 51.9 seconds.

The winning Masters D crew were John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Geoff Peel, Richard Ratcliffe, Jonathan Ferris, Richard Lonergan, Fred Jefferies, Pete Meaney (stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Full results are available at http://akrowing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Hammersmith_Head_Results_2011.pdf.

We don't know if Crabtree were fooled when the Barflies entered the Molesey Veteran Head in the Masters D category, but it didn't stop them winning by a comfortable margin in a time of 8 min. 49.8 sec. Our boys came 17th in a time of 10 min. 1.7 sec.

The venue for our annual dinner was once again the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall and the surrroundings certainly do add a certain grandeur to the occasion. The food was also of an excellent standard, the non-vegetarians among us tucking in to smoked salmon and haddock roulade, with quail's eggs and asparagus, followed by rump steak, Guinness and mushroom pudding with mashed potato and root vegetables. As is becoming the custom at our dinners, the meal was then interrupted for mid-dinner speeches. Guest speaker Mark Hunter, reigning Olympic and world champion in lightweight double sculls, gave a very personal account of his rowing career and rise to startdom and was given a standing ovation. After toasting the health of the club we settled down to apple and blackberry tart with Cornish clotted cream, followed by coffee and petit fours. Those with enough stamina for more then attempted to prise Peter Meaney's "Heads or Tails?" winnings from his firm grasp and avail themselves of the cash bar.

Quintin Head Photos - Pennant Winners

Our very own head of the river race took place on the last Saturday in January, with a chilly northerly breeze blowing and an air temperature near zero. This did not deter the record 109 starters. There was one scratching on the day and 146 entries (another record) for the 110 places limited by the Port of London Authority. Cambridge University successfully defended their headship, beating their nearest rivals London RC (Senior pennant winners) by 19 seconds. The Cambridge second crew were third although Newcastle University's time was so close as to make no difference. The University of London picked up both IM1 and IM2 pennants, the IM2 crew being just behind St. Paul's School, who were the fastest J18 crew. The University of Bristol took IM3. Quintin retained the Masters D pennant and were also the fastest masters crew home.

Quintin Head Photos - Quintin Crews

Vesta again provided the fastest women's crew, as they did last year. This time they also earned the WIM3 pennant, beating WIM1 winners City of Oxford and WIM2 winners Putney Town by some twelve seconds. Barnes Bridge Ladies retained the novice pennant and St. Paul's Girls School won WJ18.

The Quintin Senior crew were pleased to have beaten the Quintin Masters, who had been threatening to give them a tougher race, and last year's novices commendably finished 80th - a good result as some of them had had to forgo training due to pressures of work.

Full results may be found at ../quintinhead/results.php?date=2011-01-29.

Photographs of the pennant winners may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1095.

Photographs of the Quintin crews may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1111.

Your hard-working webmaster has been taking a well-earned Christmas break (preparing for the Quintin Head actually) and so this greeting arrives a little late. It is accompanied by the news that Mark and Lindsay Chatwin are hoping to be joined shortly after Henley by a new addition to our Junior section. The sex of the newcomer is as yet unknown, but, to quote a well-known moustachioed gentleman, "We're a mixed club now!".

For all those members who don't read their emails, here is a reminder about the Annual Dinner on 4th February. Details are available at the Club Dinner page.

And another reminder that volunteers from the club are much needed to help in the running of the Quintin Head on January 29th.

The annual precursor to the Christmas Sherry Party took place on Sunday with thirteen crews competing over the course from (ostensibly) the Dove Pier at Hammersmith to the club flagpole. I say "ostensibly" because most crews seemed to break into race pace at Hammersmith Bridge. Cygnet men won yet again - isn't it about time they earned a stiffer handicap? Second were Barnes Bridge Ladies novices and third across the line were Meaney's Marauders, who had been given the stiffest handicap by starting last. The crew were, however, deprived of the prize by an officious moustachioed chief umpire for the sin of overtaking the Quintin men's crew before the start, and the prize was awarded to Barnes Bridge Ladies' Masters, if that's not a contradiction in terms. Still, a good time was had by all and victories were celebrated and sorrows drowned at the ensuing party.

On a cold and dull winter's Saturday, three Quintin scullers braved the elements at the Walton Small Boats Head this year: Dick Findlay and Frank Webb sculled their double, while Ken Almand was our sole representative in single sculls. What was lacking in quantity was made up for in quality as Frank and Dick came away with the Masters D/E/F/H doubles pennant and Ken won the Masters C singles pennant. Frank and Dick were 51st overall (out of 138 finishers) in the doubles in a time of 12 minutes 15 seconds. Ken was 14th of 193 single scullers in a time of 11 minutes 42 seconds.

Full results are available at http://force8consulting.net/sites/waltonrowingclub2/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WSBH_Res_2010.pdf.

Scullers' Head Photos

This year's Scullers' Head kicked off at the unearthly hour of 9:00am with sub-zero temperatures. This did not appear to disturb the demeanour of our scullers, especially the "Masters", who managed to pick up five pennants. Well done everyone!

The Quintin Results:

The full results may be found at http://www.vestarowing.co.uk/vesta-scullers-head/vesta-scullers-head-results-2010/.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1083.

The club had five entries in the Kingston Small Boats Head, but unfortunately Deborah Mallinson in the women's elite singles and Deborah again with Nick Ryan in the Mixed Masters C/D doubles had to scratch dues to illness, leaving just Dick Findlay and Frank Webb in Masters H doubles, Hugh Davy in Masters I singles and the women's IM3 coxed four of Tegan Gowlland, Nicola Brooks, Stine Keyes and Sarah Blakeburn, with Jane Adams coxing. Dick and Frank finished 74th in 19 min. 26.1 sec. but there was no pennant for them as they were the only crew in their category. The women's four finished 138th in 20 min. 56.4 sec. and Hugh Davy came 235th in 26 min. 31.4 sec, avoiding 236th and last by some three minutes!

Full results may be found at http://www.kingstonrc.co.uk/images/stories/Events/ksbh2010/ksbh_2010_results.pdf.

Turin Silver Skiff Photos

While the attention of most of the club was focused on events closer to home, Tom Bishop was metaphorically waving our flag in Italy, where he took part in the 11 kilometre "Silver Skiff" endurance race in Turin. This race has been taking place since 1992 and is rowed on the River Po, upstream, around a buoy and back downstream again, starting and finishing at the Cerea rowing club. Tom finished a highly creditable second out of twenty in the Masters F category, in a time of 49 min. 5.74 sec. The category winner was an Austrian called Willy Koska, who completed the course in 46 min. 54.66 sec! Tom was 41 seconds clear of the third-placed sculler. Well done Tom!

The event web site is at http://www.silverskiff.org/ and the results for the Masters F category may be found at http://www.silverskiff.org/Download/2010/ClassificaSilverSkiff2010MMF.pdf.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1079.

The club had two crews in the main Fours Head this year. The race is now limited to a minimum points tally of six for each sweep-oar crew. Our Elite coxless four finished 116th in a time of 19 min. 59.45 sec, and an IM2 coxed four finished 342nd in 21 min 44.65 sec. There were 505 entries altogether and 461 finishers.

The full results are at http://www.hor4s.org.uk/docs/oldresults/2010results.pdf.

Veteran Fours Head Photos

The Veteran Fours Head proved rich pickings for the club this year. The event now includes lower status crews who are barred from the Fours Head through its minimum points requirement. The club had six entries and claimed 50 per cent success by winning three pennants. The fastest crew from the club were the men's Masters D coxless four, who finished 9th overall in a time of 20 min. 8.98 sec, won their category by 13 seconds and were the second fastest coxless four in the event. The Masters E coxless quad also fared well, finishing 17th in 20 min. 20.04 sec, winning their category by 10 seconds. The third win of the day came from one of our men's IM3 coxed fours, who finished 49th in a time of 21 min. 19.22 sec, winning their category by 16 seconds. They were the sixth fastest coxed four in the event.

The winning crews: Masters D 4- — John Ferrario (bow, steers), Roger Hine, Fred Jefferies, Richard Lonergan (stroke); Masters D 4x- — Nick Ryan (bow, steers), Charles Harrison, Peter Meaney, Dick Findlay (stroke); IM3 4+ — Sean Pitt (bow), Mark Pascoe, Craig Russell, Alex Page (stroke), Catt McLeod (cox).

See the expanded Pennant Winners Chart.

Also competing were a Masters G coxless quad of Jim Moyes, Hugh Davy, Mike Kidd and Charlie Shelton, who finished 153rd in a time of 23 min. 43.75 sec, a second men's IM3 coxed four (Michael Cuthbertson, Max Wall, Joe Wood and Thomas Barnwell, coxed by Jane Adams), who finished 118th in 22 min. 37.33 sec, and, last but not least, our women's IM3 coxed four of Nicola Brooks, Tegan Gowlland, Stine Keys and Sarah Emma Blakeburn, coxed by Orla Kilmartin. Unfortunately the girls suffered an equipment failure and were unable to complete the race.

The full results may be obtained at http://www.vetfourshead.com/storageV4H Amended Results 2010.xls.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1072.

We have been greatly saddened to learn of the death on 4th October of Roger Greenfield, aged 63, who was suffering from motor neurone disease. Roger was an active member of the club in the 1970s, and was part of the successful 1976 squad which reached the quarter-finals of the Thames Cup at Henley and went on to win a silver medal in Lightweight Eights at the National Championships that year. Roger will be remembered by all his contemporaries at the club. He appears in our Photo Gallery at this link, and subsequently.

The club had seven scullers racing at Henley on Saturday, and came away with two pennants. Ken Almand won Masters C sculling in divison 3 and was 5th in division in a time of 12 min. 31 sec. Ken also competed in the IM3 category in Division 2 and finished 13th in division in a time of 12 min.41 sec. Deborah Mallinson won Women's Masters B in Division 2 and was placed 43rd in division in a time of 13 min. 39 sec. She also competed in Women's Senior in division 3 and was placed 29th overall in a time of 13 min. 30 sec. Dov Ohrenstein also sculled in both these divisions, finishing 16th in Division 2 (12 min. 52 sec. - Masters B) and 14th in Division 3 (13 min. 3 sec. - IM2).

Our other division 2 scullers were Peter Meaney (Masters D) - 28th in 13 min. 14 sec. and Tom Bishop (Masters F) - 39th in 13 min. 27 sec. Tom came second in category once again to Sean Morris of Wallingford. In Division 3 we had Richard Ratcliffe (Masters C) - 24th in 13 min. 24 sec. and Dick Findlay (Masters G) - 57th in 14 min. 27 sec.

Full results may be found in this Excel spreadsheet.

Tom and Deborah are now tied on three each in the 2010–11 Pennant Winners Chart.

Two of our men's crews got a taste of rowing at Henley on Sunday, in the Upper Thames Fours and Small Boats Head. The course is approximately two miles, rowed against the stream. In division 1, our Senior coxless four finished 14th in a time of 10 min. 23.05 sec. (fourth in their category) and a coxed four with Tom Barnwell stroking finished 45th in 11 min. 14.99 sec. (6th in IM3).The club also had an IM2 coxed four in division 2. They completed the course in 11. min 25.65 sec. finishing in 50th position.

Full results at http://www.mikrotime.com/rowing/row2010/utrc10.pdf.

The club had only two competitors in the Marlow LDS this year. Tom Bishop (Masters E) came 50th overall in the main 14:00 division in a time of 21 min. 23.3 sec. and Dick Findlay came 74th overall in a time of 22 min. 23.3 sec, and was second to Sean Morris of Wallingford RC in the Masters G/H category.

Full results at http://www.marlowrowingclub.org.uk/images/stories/longdistancesculls/2010_Marlow_Sculls_Results_final.pdf.

All active club members will be interested to know that we now have a new, online method for arranging our crews, training sessions and so forth. Most of you will have been contacted already and received your logins and passwords. If not, and you would like to be included, contact coach@quintinboatclub.org or captain@quintinboatclub.org.

The website is at http://www.mysportsplanner.com/.

The club's results for the Weybridge Silver Sculls are as follows: Richard Ratcliffe finished 119th overall (3rd in Mas.C 1x) in a time of 15:51, Dov Ohrenstein was 98th (9th in IM2 1x) in 15:37, Ken Almand was 96th (8th in IM2 1x) in 15:36, Peter Meaney was 138th (6th in Mas.D 1x) in 16:06, Tom Bishop was 127th (2nd in Mas. E 1x) in 15:55 and 90th (winner of Mas. F 1x) in 15:31, Dick Findlay was 213th (winner of Mas.G 1x) in 16:59 and Henry and Tom Spence were 35th (6th in IM3 2x) in 14:44. Deborah Mallinson scratched and Frank Webb retired.

Full results at http://www.weybridgerowing.org.uk/silversculls/ss10results.php.

Pairs Head Photos

A somewhat mixed day for the club in the Pairs Head. First the captain and partner failed to take to the water and then Toby Lonergan had to pull out through injury. The head wind after Barnes Bridge also proved a bit of a challenge to our remaining crews. Peter Meaney sat in for Toby and Peter and Richard were the fastest double from the club, and finished 92nd overall in a time of 14 min. 33.48 sec. Next fastest were Nick Ryan and Deborah Mallinson, winning the Mixed Masters B + C category in a time of 14 min. 48.94 sec. (142nd overall and with an adjusted time of 14 min. 25.94 sec, more than 15 seconds ahead of their closest rivals). The Spence brothers (IM3) finished 249th in 15 min 22.03 sec, and last but not least, Dick Findlay and Frank Webb finished 288th in 15 min 32.64 sec. But for the fact that they were a late entry and raced for time only, this would have won them the Masters G+H+I category as they were over a minute faster than anyone else in that division, even before the handicaps were applied.

The full results may be found at http://www.pairshead.co.uk/results-2010/.

Photographs of the event may be found at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1067.

What is becoming the club's annual pilgrimage to Berlin took place over the weekend, culminating in participation in the "Rund um Wannsee" 15,000 metre race. This year we sent a strong masters eight which someone had thoughtfully named "Quintin Super Vets" on the entry form. The team set off from Heathrow airport at the crack of dawn on Friday 1st October, and were already on the water at the Ruderklub am Wannsee at 11 am, ready for a gentle familiarisation paddle round the 15 km course.

Rund um Wannsee Photos

As the crew set off on the first 2k across the lake it soon became apparent that conditions in this part of the race were not going to be easy. There was quite a popple on the surface and a considerable amount of broadside swell that made it difficult to keep on your toes. However, once the headland of the island that forms the boundary of this course had been reached, conditions moderated to a "choppy Tideway" level and the crew felt more at home. It still seemed a long way to the halfway mark at the Glienicker Brücke. This is famous as the "spy bridge", which carries the road from Berlin to Potsdam and formed the border between the American sector of West Berlin and East Germany in the days before reunification. This is where the spy-swaps used to take place during the Cold War. Coincidentally it exactly marks the 7.5 km distance from the start, so the crew was expecting a metaphorical downhill run in from here. But the crew unfortunately overshot the 'canal turn' and headed off in the direction of central Berlin, only realising their mistake when an express train thundered over a bridge as the crew passed under. This deviation added an extra 5k to the trip, which at least showed that distance would not be a problem in the race.

Friday night saw the crew, weary from their exertions, take a brief tour of central Berlin, covering the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the Konzerthaus on the Gendarmenmarkt before retiring from the cold night air to the warmth of a local hostelry.

Saturday's outing was a more modest affair, concentrating on the last 4-5 km of the course, followed by an excellent lunch at the Ruderklub am Wannsee, then off to Berlin for another culture tour.

The day of the race dawned bright and clear, and after an early breakfast the crew took to the water at 8:15 in preparation for the massed start at 9:00. Everyone agreed that this was one of the highlights of the race, with 43 crews lining up across the lake awaiting the starting cannon. Then it was a mad dash to try to be the first crew round the headland and into the narrower channels. At about 6k there is a real Grand Prix-style chicane, where all hell broke loose, with blades overlapping and worse. Quintin came off best from their clashes, unnerving the opposition so much that two of them clattered into one of the large navigation buoys shortly afterwards. Then it was the Glienicker Brücke and a strong head wind and a long battle to get past the Berliner Ruderclub's J16s before returning to the relative calm of the two small lakes that lead to the finish line. Quintin crossed the finishing line in 55 minutes and 8 seconds (a club record) and were the twelfth fastest crew, finishing in 8th place after the handicap was applied. Unfortunately we missed out on the masters D-H pennant by a slender two seconds, but all agreed it was the best row we could have done. The crew: John Ferrario (bow), Roger Hine, Willy Almand, Richard Lonergan, Geoff Peel, Ken Almand, Fred Jefferies, Peter Meaney(stroke), Kevin McEvoy (cox).

Our thanks go to our hosts at the Berliner Ruderclub and the Ruderklub am Wannsee, and in particular to Götz, Hermann and Andreas from the Berliner club for all their help and to the steward at the Wannsee club for providing us with such excellant meals.

Geoff Peel has summarised the results in a compact Excel spreadsheet.

Photographs of the trip are available at http://quintinboatclub.org/gallery/index.php?ref=1027.

Tom Bishop was our sole representative at Wallingford LDS this year, but he wore the club's colours proudly by winning both the Masters 'E' and Masters 'F' pennants for single sculls, and so continuing our winning start to the winter heads season following on from the Boston Marathon. His times were 20 minutes 1.02 seconds and 21 minutes 4.05 seconds for the 6000 metre course.

Full results at http://wallingford-sculls.org.uk/2010-results/.

The Club's Closing Eights event was rather quiet again this year, but Duncan managed to select two crews from the diehards who insisted on taking part. The course was, as usual, from the (now only notional) petrol pumps to the club flagpole, and Surrey went on to win comfortably after taking an early lead. Congratulations to the winners.

With the racing out of the way, the Annual General Meeting of the club was held in the clubroom at 12:00 noon. The following officials were elected:

• Captain: Mark Chatwin
• Vice-captain: Graham Lloyd
• Treasurer: Bill Burbage
• Secretary: Malcolm Cook
• Other committee members: Roger Hine, Duncan Hughes, Dave King, Ewen McLeod, Sean Pitt

The AGM voted in favour of the outgoing committee's proposals for subscriptions and rack fees. For the year starting 1 September 2010 the subscription is therefore £365 for those who pay before 1 November and the rack fee for private sculling boats is £160.

Results in from this 31 mile rowing marathon: our fastest sculler was Deborah Mallinson, who completed the course in 4 hours 9 minutes 11 seconds and won the Women's Senior single sculls pennant. Nick Ryan won Masters D single sculls in 4 hours 19 minutes 8 seconds, and Dov Ohrenstein was not far behind in 4 hours 21 minutes 21 seconds. The fastest time of the day was by a Walton RC Senior quad in 3 hours 19 minutes 4 seconds.

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS INTERESTED IN RACING IN THE COMING SEASON! There will be a kick-off training session supervised by our head coach at 7:30am on Saturday 18th September. The water session will be followed by a meeting in the clubroom to discuss plans for the year ahead.