Quick Wrap

Hi All,

Haven't been able to persuade anyone else to write for now so you're stuck with me...

Very quickly, we spent some time at the course yesterday to see some finals.  We were pleased to see that the London A crew that conquered us won the final easily in good conditions in a time of 6:51.  So we were very competitive in the end. 

Shane, Hatsy and myself are off to the airport now, Sam and Rad are staying to help the farmers today.  We've had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  I'm sure one of the others will give a full run-down on the last couple of days when they get some time, it should make entertaining reading.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported us during the last couple of weeks, your messages have been great and kept us all in touch with home.

Cheers, Drew

Semi-Final and out...

Hi All,

Well, we've had a pretty crazy Sunday.  We prepared to race at 2pm, did our warm-up, hit the water, pushed off, rowed about 10 strokes then got pulled up by the stewards.  London had hit a drunken canoeist and lost part of their bow.  Apparently, he then tried to board them.  Unsurprisingly, they weren't particularly happy.  They were unable to repair their boat, so requested time to re-rig another.  Hence the race was delayed til 7pm. 

We headed back to the farm, ate, slept and did it all over again, hitting the water for real this time at 6:30pm.  Warm-up went well, and we settled onto the blocks in good order.  For once our start was fantastic, only problem was we were up against a genuinely quick crew this time and they led us by half a length at the top of the island and nearly a length by the Barrier.  Aware of our strengths, London then very sensibly pushed away from the Barrier to hold nearly 2 lengths by Fawley (almost halfway).  From there they were able to absorb our mid-race surge and dominate the final 500m.  They did this, running out winners by 2 lengths in a time of 6:56. 

It would be nice to have an excuse, but we don't, London were simply a better crew.  We had a good row, pretty clean, start was cracking, we hit good rhythm through the middle, rate stayed 35+ for the whole distance as per plan, we wound up as much as we could over the last 400, but they were able to ride every punch we threw.  So, all credit to them. 

We've just got home after de-rigging, packing oars and a couple of pints and dinner in town.  The guys are naturally disappointed, but realistic, we met a good crew on a good day.  Will post more later - by weight of request, Hatsy will be back!  That's it for me for now.

Cheers, Drew

Delayed

Hi All,

Apologies to anyone who stayed up to listen to the semi-final, London had a minor accident en route to the start and lost their bow ball and part of their bow.  The stewards have delayed the race until 7pm GMT to allow them to make repairs.  So we are back at the farm to eat and rest up.  Race will be at 4am EST, so we'll post the result before you all get up on Sunday.

Cheers, Drew

Race #3

Hi All,

Below is Shane's view on today's race.  It seems most of you already know the result - thanks for all your messages of encouragement, we are overwhelmed by the support.  As Shane notes below, tomorrow is the big test, London A are the form crew of the event and we will have our work seriously cut out.  But at Henley, anything can happen and we'll be making sure nothing is left on the water.  Drew

1^st July

Today’s race pretty much went as well as it could. Our opposition London C managed to oust out Lea and Thames Tradesmen RC in earlier rounds. We managed to discover that London C were similar in speed to the Elizabethan crew we raced yesterday. Essentially every crew that you beat feels at least some loyalty or at least obligation to pass on their best wishes and perhaps a bit of local knowledge regarding what they know of the next crew. London received allot of vocal support from the bank, it wasn’t until we reached the stewards enclosure that the raucous football (soccer) styled encouragement turned into polite clapping.

This time we started on the opposite side to the previous 2 races. 

 Decorum and tradition dictates that the lanes are called Berks (Berkshire) and Bucks (Buckinghamshire) but basically I can’t be bothered committing either to memory when perfectly clear instructions such as north, south, left and right are more than adequate. When I ask Drew what side are we racing on today he will often answer either Berks or Bucks, when asked for further elaboration he refuses to do so.  So this time we were on the other side to normal (left) which initially wasn’t a problem until we passed Temple Island. Temple Island is called so because it is an Island with a temple (church like thing) on it. Amazing Ha’ and yea when I often ask Drew why it is called Temple Island he again refuses to elaborate.  This of course often happens straight after I’ve asked him what lane we are racing in. But to me (stroke seat) Temple Island is something you pass after 30 or so strokes after the start. To Drew it is a time when you start paying attention to the direction of boat travel in order to miss the big wooden boom and bollard things that hold in place said ‘wooden boom’. Just before we hit the big wooden boom like thingy I lightened off my stroke, Conrad fortunately stoped rowing, Sam managed to pull in his oar and Drew smashed his into the big wooden bollard. We probably only lost a couple of strokes but fortunately didn’t lose the lead. Although we did damage one oar. 

The rest of the race proceeded fairly comfortably. The boat travelled straight and we let the rating drop to 30 spm over the last half of the race.  Our opposition were congratulatory and wished us, ‘but not too much’ luck since we are racing team mates ‘London A’ in our next race.  During the race Mum (riding in the umpires launch) was asked by the London coach what our average ergo scores were. Mum, having no idea what an ergo is stated that we average around 40 or so 41, 38, 39 etc. After a couple of confused moments and further requests for clarification in dawned on the London coach (Richard) that she was quoting our ages and was shocked into the realization that we are a masters crew.  

Tomorrow we race the cream of the London RC Wyfold contingent. Due to a freak occurrence of the draw we’ve managed to be selected in the same side as all 3 London RC crews. Like Sam said ‘we have to commit total London RC genocide’ to get through to the final, fortunately we’ve already raced the London B and C crews. Unfortunately since London A have already beaten all current opposition this year left in the competition, they are probably the crew to beat. Today they put on a show by setting one of the fastest times (6.47) for a 4- today, this time is within a few seconds of the international crews. They came came down the course approximately 20 seconds faster than us. Could we have gone 20 secs faster than we did today if really pushed? Perhaps not, but the obvious question is why did they feel the need to demonstrate such an obvious display of chest beating when they, also not pushed, had no need to waste energy in doing so. A crew totally confident in their ability would not have acted in such a way. Also, since we are the only crew they have not raced and had the measure of this season we can only conclude that the message was intended entirely for us. Everyone knows they have considerable speed, everyone knows they are hungry after the same crew was beaten over the closing stages of the Wyfold last year. But could they be (even ever so slightly) lacking in confidence. Could the fact that they know nothing about us, have never raced us be enough to bring some of this lack of confidence to the surface when it really counts? Within 24hours we all know!

Shane.

Note:  I probably should have noted that, ironically after yesterday's blog, I did in fact hit a timber bollard during today's race, exactly where I have been fearful of doing so ever since I started steering this course 2 weeks ago.  I can only guess that the Race Radio did not mention it, because none of you have given me any grief!  To my (and the crew's) great good fortune, I was already turning back to the centre when we struck, it was only my oar, and I was almost at the catch, so was able to absorb most of the shock.  Rad and Shane were right on to it and dropped that stroke so I wasn't pulled further into the booms.  Sam pulled his blade in the required 3 inches and missed the bollard I hit.  It all seemed to take for ever and my god was it loud, but watching the video later, we hardly seem to miss a beat.  Again, the great irony was that other than that one near disastrous incident, I steered my best course of the regatta.  Of course.  Jeff, damage to the oar is minor (promise) and is being fixed overnight by the Croker guy on site.  With half an ounce of luck, it'll be ready to go by 2pm tomorrow!

Which is the next point - tomorrow's race is against London A crew at 2:00pm GMT or 11:00pm EST, probably just after the Geelong finish smacking Essendon all around the park!  Go Cats!  And go us.

Cheers, Drew