Thames Valley Skiff Club Regatta 2011

Hi All, Very happy Captain reporting in on this weekend's events ..........

So you'll have guessed we did very well today, not just with the wins but with the promise of many more to come. It's not always about winning, though that helps, it's about competing, improving, sometimes knowing you can do better & learning from mistakes or misfortune. From my point of view that means that I'm very encouraged that this squad, & those that couldn't race today, have a very promising season ahead.

We entered 11 events, reached the finals in 6 & in the end won 4, the highest total of all the clubs that competed. And it could so easily have been 2 or 3 more wins.

The first of our winners was Caroline Matthews in the Ladies Novice Restricted Single event, having competed in 2 heats before triumph came in the final in 1 min 46 sec & a 2 length margin over her DSPC opposition. Double sweet success!! Showing great determination, expect to see Caroline zooming up the singles league this year with a performance like that.

Next combination in the Ladies Novice Doubles, which is proving highly successful, not just in wins, but in the improvement in style & technique, was Verena Diehl & Lesley Russell coxed by Heather Bateman. This formidable trio were so in control throughout their whole race that it was a text book example to our less experienced racers in the squad of how to concentrate on 'racing your own race' & shutting out what the opposition are doing. And who were the opposition? Oh that'll be DSPC again, this time loosing by 3 lengths in 1 min 41 sec, cracking stuff..

For someone professing to be not 'race fit' it was magic to see Amanda Leach beating not one but two errrr, oh yes, DSPC opposition in her heat & final. Again, racing her own race, not bursting into fits of laughter as her final opposition careered towards the bank near the start, showed the reason why she now has to race at Junior Senior. Her last race at Junior was a win in 1 min 48 secs by 1.5 lengths.

And last but not least came the Mixed Novice Restricted Doubles, which had no less than 4 SC crews involved out of the 7 crews entered. All of our crews gave an excellent account of themselves, which is why it's only a matter of time before they're all successful.

But before I comment on our winners it's necessary to reflect on some of the misfortunes of the day that must have made the last win a great prize at the end of the day. Dave Strassburg or 'Stretch' as he's know to us had a couple of mishaps during his Novice Restricted Singles events. First when he completely snapped the shaft of a blade, such was the power that he was putting into his start against his DSPC opposition, soon to become history in the re-row. Looking forward to the final, we were all horrified to see him come to a stop half way up the course when his thole post popped out of it's socket. Quite rightly he was furious at the equipment failure, unfortunately beyond the white buoy marker & more unfortunately against his DSPC finalist. However there was no time to dwell on this as the Mixed Novice Restricted Doubles final beckoned.

This all Skiff Club final was not to be an easy race, with both crews keen to win. Sangeetha Iengar, Alex Farrell, coxed by Valeria Tretyak took an early lead over Stretch & Caroline, coxed by Amanda. Both crews could have won this race, with minor mistakes creating opportunity to capitalise. In the end, by only 1/2 a length, Stretch, Caroline & Amanda, pulled through to victory in 1 min 37 sec.

So in the end it was SC - 4 points, DSPC - 3, with TVSC & WSPC both picking up 2 points each, bringing us 1 point closer to DSPC in the league position to date:

Congratulations also goes to Lilli Burridge-Payne & Jessica Goldstein who raced at the Wargrave Junior Regatta on Saturday, coxed by their coach Kim Burridge, whose been working wonders with our Junior section. They may not have won but it's great to have Juniors representing The Skiff Club & at least giving WBC a crew to race against. I'm sure, as with others that raced today, their time will come for a win this season.

Next week it's back to Egham for the Wraysbury & Old Windsor regatta, where again we have a strong entry. Look out for further race entries coming your way very soon so we can keep up the pressure & hopefully pull ahead in the Ormiston league.

Cheers

Rog