The second regatta of the 2011 season took place on Sunday, the side walls of the Royal Albert Docks combined with a stiff cross-head wind to provide some challenging racing conditions all day.
Molesey had Senior and Junior crews racing in all boat classes bar the 8 and the highlight of the morning session were the WJ16 4+ and the Senior coxed four. First up was the WJ16 4+ of cox: Katie Winter, Stroke Maddie Thew, 3: Sophie Hughes, 2: Seren Orsman and bow Martha Godfrey. Their opposition was Henley, victors over MBC at Wallingford by 15 seconds. Both crews sat side by side for 1500 meters, stroke for stroke not giving an inch until Molesey's grit and determination started to show through. In the final quarter Molesey broke clear of Henley to win the first pot of the day. The Senior coxed four of cox: Hannah Clewes, S Jonnie Rankin, 3 Blake Friedman, 2 Tom Haworth and Bow: Phil Williams then dominated a field of club and university crews to win by 8 seconds over London RC.
In the afternoon the wind got a little stronger (having dropped during the lunch interval). This session witnessed the best race of the day and further success for Molesey. The best race of the day was the Women's senior 4- final between the junior girls of Molesey and the senior women of Mortlake Anglia and Alpha. MBC shot off to nearly a lengths lead but Mortlake stayed with overlap all the way down the track, at the half way the Mortlake crew pushed and their coach suggested that MBC were 'dead', the 'dead' crew responded and held off the push. Coming into the final 150 meters the wind that had been pushing MBC towards Mortlake finally got the better of MBC and a clash of blades saw the girls lose out on the pot. Enormously frustrating but great race experience.
The MBC seniors continued their dominance of their events. Ben Pugh and Pete Robinson overcame a crew in Elite pairs that had telemetry and a video camera onboard by 23 seconds, Pete even managed to jump out of the boat and provide winning words of wisdom (??) to his St Pauls girls. In the Senior 4- Blake was replaced by Jon Harman, the result against a reduced field was a 2 length defeat of Tideway Scullers. Also racing in a senior event were Aaron Wilkins and Patrick Graham in Im1 pairs, they took control of the race to win by 13 seconds.
A useful if rather windy and bouncy day on the Royal Albert Docks done, next up the National Schools Regatta for the Juniors and Metropolitan for the Seniors.
Molesey had Senior and Junior crews racing in all boat classes bar the 8 and the highlight of the morning session were the WJ16 4+ and the Senior coxed four. First up was the WJ16 4+ of cox: Katie Winter, Stroke Maddie Thew, 3: Sophie Hughes, 2: Seren Orsman and bow Martha Godfrey. Their opposition was Henley, victors over MBC at Wallingford by 15 seconds. Both crews sat side by side for 1500 meters, stroke for stroke not giving an inch until Molesey's grit and determination started to show through. In the final quarter Molesey broke clear of Henley to win the first pot of the day. The Senior coxed four of cox: Hannah Clewes, S Jonnie Rankin, 3 Blake Friedman, 2 Tom Haworth and Bow: Phil Williams then dominated a field of club and university crews to win by 8 seconds over London RC.
In the afternoon the wind got a little stronger (having dropped during the lunch interval). This session witnessed the best race of the day and further success for Molesey. The best race of the day was the Women's senior 4- final between the junior girls of Molesey and the senior women of Mortlake Anglia and Alpha. MBC shot off to nearly a lengths lead but Mortlake stayed with overlap all the way down the track, at the half way the Mortlake crew pushed and their coach suggested that MBC were 'dead', the 'dead' crew responded and held off the push. Coming into the final 150 meters the wind that had been pushing MBC towards Mortlake finally got the better of MBC and a clash of blades saw the girls lose out on the pot. Enormously frustrating but great race experience.
The MBC seniors continued their dominance of their events. Ben Pugh and Pete Robinson overcame a crew in Elite pairs that had telemetry and a video camera onboard by 23 seconds, Pete even managed to jump out of the boat and provide winning words of wisdom (??) to his St Pauls girls. In the Senior 4- Blake was replaced by Jon Harman, the result against a reduced field was a 2 length defeat of Tideway Scullers. Also racing in a senior event were Aaron Wilkins and Patrick Graham in Im1 pairs, they took control of the race to win by 13 seconds.
A useful if rather windy and bouncy day on the Royal Albert Docks done, next up the National Schools Regatta for the Juniors and Metropolitan for the Seniors.
PS: Good luck to all the Juniors (and Seniors) taking exams this month and next. Amazing that so many combine such hard and extensive training with school and university work.
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