WSPC Regatta

The penultimate short course regatta of the season was held in an Indian Summer setting at Wraysbury, which provided a lovely environment to enjoy both the serious stuff as well as the family racing events. The latter events had been postponed from when we last mobbed their regatta earlier in the season, so it was great to see that a few of our team stayed on until early evening to support them.

So what of our team for this week? Well we were effected by a nasty sickness bug & also a bronchial infection that's been going around that meant that a number of the squad had to withdraw before the event & a few suffered on the day with not being 100%. But you can't say that those that competed didn't give their all & were duly rewarded as a result.

In a category that I managed to get included late into the race fixture, the Gents Novice Restricted Single, we fielded no less than 5 entrants in what turned out to be an all Skiff Club affair. Lucky that ! Chris Coveney again kept a cunning course to outwit his first round opponent who was leading until drawn into the dreaded 'Bermuda Triangle Bay' that eats wayward skiffers & spits them out after toying with them for a while. Chris again kept a crafty course in the final against his willow weaving opponent, Ricardo Davies who despite his best efforts to go off-roading in a skiff, powered back on course in the second half of the race to gain our first Ormiston point win in 1 min 42 sec by a margin of 4 lengths.

If those watching from the bank thought the singling was amusing, then the Gents Junior Doubles event was a hoot. Myself & what can only be described as a washing machine with the door open behind me, pulled off what was an amazing win against our DSPC opposition in the first heat. I know that my racing partner Russell Kesley won't mind me having a laugh at his expense because that's what I was doing most of the way down the course, having a laugh with our cox Lilli Burridge-Payne. It was like having a Tasmanian Devil behind me with so much raw power & enthusiasm that we'd have probably been better off with a lion tamer on board than a cox. Joking aside, that was the whole purpose of my wanting to race with Russell so that I could help to temper his enthusiasm & channel that power under race conditions. Hmmm, can I say that I achieved that? Well despite Russell loosing the foot stretcher & breaking a thole pin in our final we clearly managed some controlled skiffing together as we crossed the line in 1 min 35 sec & by a margin of 2/3 of a length over our Skiff Club colleagues. I have to say these were a couple of the funniest, rewarding & enjoyable races I've had this season. Thanks Russell.

Next came the far more controlled Ladies Novice Singles event. I may not be loved by our lovely ladies for entering them in, well, any singles event but they do enjoy picking up the pots at the end of the day. Lesley Russell saw off her DSPC opposition in the first heat by 1 length in 2 mins dead & proceeded to up her game still further to win by 2 lengths in 1 min 55 secs to beat her TVSC opposition in the final. Surely this bodes well for the singles marathons ???? (He says hiding behind his keyboard).

In what was to be her last Ladies Junior Singles, Caroline Matthews beat her DSPC first round opponent to cruise to victory in her final against TVSC in 1 min 45 sec by a margin of 2.5 lengths. In just one season Caroline has progressed from not having been in a boat to Junior-Senior level across all 3 categories, which is some achievement & one that I hope gets the recognition that it deserves in due course.

Now before I go on I must recognise the performance that deserved a better outcome in the singles game. Having won her first round heat in 2 min 07 sec by 2.5 lengths, Felicity Khoo was all smiles but determined to take out her DSPC opposition in the Ladies Novice Restricted Singles. Having stayed neck & neck to within the last few strokes of the course our Felicity decided to re-write that adage 'if you can't beat them join them' to 'if you can't beat them ram them' to join what Bill Taylor pointed out was an elite club of determined skiffers who didn't quite take their podium position. Keep smiling Felicity that's the spirit.

Overall we had reached all 10 of the Ormiston point finals on the day & it was left to our gallant gentlemen to crown our glory by winning the Gents Novice Doubles race. Stephen Russell, Simeon Wishlade, coxed Felicity Khoo had again beaten a DSPC first round crew to reach their final against WSPC who were outstripped in 1 min 48 sec by a 1.5 lengths margin to win the Robin Roberts Cup.

There was one other triumph in the early evening with Ricardo Davies & composite crew winning the overall knockout 'Rockin Robin' trophy. So well done along with those that stayed on to represent our club in this fun event.

	SC	DSPC	TVSC	WSPC	WBC	SSPC	Granta
Ormiston Total	86.0	72.0	26.5	23.0	9.5	1.0	2.0

There's still a lot of points to be had, 25 points next week at DSPC, 10 at Singles Marathon & 10 at the Doubles Marathon, although a number of those are Senior events & poor old Crispin Allen can't take them all on, not even in drag.

P.S. Sorry no photos as yet as I forgot my camera & video, dam it. Thankfully Simeon was there so there'll be some far better ones in due course than I would have snapped.