News

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Next Learn To Row - Saturday 14th January for 8 weeks. Contact Chris F on 07970 950704 for details.

I hope you all managed to recover from the Sherry Party in time to enjoy Christmas. If, like me, you’ve been consuming 10,000 calories a day for the last fortnight you’ll by now be bursting out of your all-in-ones and looking forward to a good solid training session! I am therefore pleased to report that Club Circuits will kick off again on Tuesday 3^rd January at 7 p.m. We’ll be making a few changes from the autumn circuits, with the intention of building stamina for the big spring head races. Many thanks to Jon Hore for taking the Thursday sessions and to those members who have led the post-exercise stretching.

We are delighted again to be welcoming two clubs to Grosvenor for training camps in January. From 3^rd to 7^th Jan Caius College Cambridge, currently the top men’s college first eight, will be visiting us. Caius will be hotly pursued from 7^th to 14^th Jan by First and Third Trinity boat club, also of Cambridge and a big rival of Caius. There will be more pressure on club resources than normal, so please be understanding and make our guests feel very welcome. We would like them to visit again!

The first of our 2012 Learn to Row courses is due to start on Saturday afternoon 14^th January. Many current members joined Grosvenor after completing one of Al Slynn’s courses and appreciate the value they add to the club. A recurring theme is that participants really enjoy the contact they get with the current squad rowers who have volunteered to help – by rowing, coaching or coxing. We need those volunteers to make the courses work, so when Chris Fawcett or John Pearson appear brandishing pen and paper, please make your first reaction be to say ‘Yes – when do you need me?’

I have recently started putting together a club development plan. Just as with any business, it is important that those responsible for running the rowing club have a clear idea of the club’s core values and principles, of where the organisation is heading in the future and how it is going to get there.

So far the committee have spent an evening doing a ‘SWOT’ analysis, looking at our strengths and weaknesses, and also defining Grosvenor Rowing Club as it will be in 10 year’s time. The next step is to send out a questionnaire to all club members asking for their opinions and ideas. I am very grateful to Sarah Armstrong for helping with this task. The aim is to present the completed plan to club members at the AGM in July. In the meantime if anybody has any helpful opinions I would be very pleased to hear them. michael@burlandfarm.co.uk or 07875 858723

Spring Head races in which your squads may be competing are (big club events in bold print):

To all those members who have given their time in the last year to help make the club a success – whether by helping with Learn to Row, coaching, doing a job on the committee, repairing equipment, cleaning boat sheds…. THANK YOU.

‘I’d love to be able to fly to the top of that tree’ sighed the turkey ‘but I haven’t got the energy.’

‘Why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings’ replied the bull ‘they’re packed with nutrients’

The turkey pecked on some of the dung and found it gave him enough strength to reach the bottom branch of the tree.

By the fourth day, having consumed considerable quantities of manure, he proudly hopped onto the top branch.

Icicle Race and Sherry Party - Sunday (18^th December) was a busy day at Grosvenor Rowing Club.

The morning saw members take to the water for the Icicle Race, a somewhat unusual annual race on the River Dee from Eccelston to Sandy Lane. The slowest crews are set off first, with each subsequent and faster crew setting off closely behind with the aim that they all cross the finish line at the same time at Sandy Lane. This can lead to entertaining boat manoeuvres as coxes try and steer boats, going flat out, on mass round the bends of the River Dee. This year was no exception with some near misses with five eights trying to squeeze around the notorious Heron Bridge turn at once. The first three boats over the line were all from Grosvenor, with the veteran women’s quad, followed closely by a women’s novice 8+ and then the men’s novice 8+. Kings School where the overall winners with the fastest time of the day.

Mince pies, mulled wine, carols and sherry then followed at Grosvenor’s annual sherry party. This year, it was an extra special occasion as it was combined with the naming of over £50,000 of leisure and competitive boats. In 2010 Grosvenor signed up to the new British Rowing boat package that forms the foundation of Explore Rowing. The aim is to increase participation in the sport and is part of the Grosvenor’s ongoing commitment to attract people to the sport of rowing, especially for those who don’t have the time and commitment needed to join a competition squad. The Explore rowing squad ranges in age from mid 20's to mid 80's and are always on the look out for new members. Grosvenor’s 6 Explore Rowing boats are named Heron Bridge, The Wires, Eccleston Ferry, The Crook, Earls Eye and Gypsy Hill, all key landmarks on the River Dee. The boats were named in style with the traditional champagne by David Lush, long time member of the club and trustee as well as a regular on explore rowing trips up the river.

The two new competition boats were a top of the range Women’s 8+ and Men’s 4. The Men’s 4 was named after Brian Udall, who is one of the mainstays of volunteering at Grosvenor Rowing Club and has been a member since 1962. The Women’s 8+ was named ‘Starr of the Dee’ in honour of Karen Hough, life member of the club, world rowing champion and current holder of the Frank Lowe silver blade (an impartial award presented to the most outstanding person of the River Dee). It is the first time in the 142 year history of the Club that an 8+ has been named after someone other than a member of Duke of Westminster Family and a tribute Karen who died suddenly last year after a short illness. Neville Orme, long term member of the club and former captain named the boat, albeit rather unusually with a bottle of Cumberland Ale, one of Karen's favourite drinks.

Head of the Float - The 3rd December saw Grosvenor taking part in the Head of the Float at Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club.

Conditions were difficult, with rain, choppy water and winds for crews to contend against. The Head of the Float is one of the more unusual head races of the winter season, with boats racing up the docks, turning round, and racing back and this year was no exception, especially as the race had to be shortened from the usual 2x1,200 m to 2x650 m due to the adverse conditions. However, Grosvenor crews did well and bought back a raft of medals.

The Veteran men put in a strong squad and won the Masters C 4x with the crew of Jeremy Perkins, Paul Larby, Neil Potter and Dave Naylor. The Novice mens squad narrowly missed out on a win in the Novice 8+ to Liverpool University. The senior women had a great day with the IM3 8+ of Goranka Bosanac, Kate Irwin, Leigh Jenkins, Cath Antrobus, Leanne Ratcliff, Margaret Ugbo, Sarah Dutton, Yvonne Wharton and Bill Webb (cox) having a solid win, and was the first race and win for both Kate Irwin and Leigh Jenkins. The womens IM2 8+ of Janet Vorberg, Margaret Ugbo, Helen Rowland, Louise Tobias, Carolyn Pollard, Laura Antrobus, Sarah Turner, Lindsay Scott and Bill Webb (cox) also drew as winners of the IM2 8+ alongside Liverpool University, with both crews being joint fastest women’s crew of the day with a time of 4:27 min.

Northwich Head - Sunday 13th November 2011 saw crews racing at Northwich Rowing Club Head of the River Race.

Held on the River Weaver, the 2350 m race attracts strong crews from all over the country. It was another successful day for Grosvenor with wins in all three divisions. Conditions were good as the first division, comprising only single sculls, kicked off with wins for Grosvenor’s Paul Turner (MasB 1x) and Phil Hill (MasC 1x).

Success continued into the second round with the MasB 4+ of Tim Betteridge, Phil Hill, Chris Hudson and Joe Robson with Sarah Armstrong coxing and the WIM3 4+ of Abigail Sedgwick, Tanith Allwood, Yvonne Wharton, Sarah Dutton and Bill Webb (cox) all bringing in the medals. Two novice 4+ crews were also entered, giving solid performances in a tough field. Grosvenors womens IM2 quad were racing for time and were just beaten by two J18 quads for the fastest womens crew of the day.

Despite the failing light, racing in the final division kept the spectators by the riverside. Building on their success at the Dee Autumn Head, Grosvenor’s IM3 4+ of James Graves, John Pearson, Richard Mehrtens and Gary Graham with Sarah Armstrong coxing came in with another strong win. Not to be outdone, the Womens MasB 4+ of Margaret Ugbo, Tanith Allwood, Lou Tobias and Goranka Bosanac with Bill Webb coxing also came in with a resounding win.

Dee Autumn Head 2011 - Crews from all over the UK took to the River Dee on Saturday (29th October) for the 2011 Dee Autumn Head race. This annual event hosted by Grosvenor Rowing Club covers a 4km course from the "Motorway" bridge to Dee Lane with racing taking place over two divisions.

The morning division began at 10:30 with nearly 90 crews competing. Grosvenor was well represented in the medals with the Masters D 4x of Nick McDonald, John McMahon, Mike Allwood and Tim Howe, and the Womens Masters B 2x of Rachel Jones and Jo Jones all coming in on top. The Womens Novice 4+ of Pippa Buist, Becky Read, Lucinda Roberts, Annika Corbijn van Willenswaard with Helen Reid coxing (pictured), fresh from their win at Agecroft two weeks ago also came in first. The Mens Novice 8+ of Mitch Hawkins, Steve McBride, Stuart Daulby, Taj Nathan, Mike Leeds, Robert Lawrence, Darren Griffiths, Dominic May, with Adrian Mullen as cox, also came in with a resounding win which for many in the boat was their first taste of victory.

Despite nearly an hours delay to the afternoon proceedings due to debris and a high tide, the afternoon division with nearly 100 competing crews was also a big success. For Grosvenor, the medals kept coming with the Womens IM3 8+ of Margaret Ugbo, Claire Anderson, Roxi Parkinson, Goranka Bosanac, Cath Antrobus, Anna Davies, Yvonne Wharton, Helen Reid and cox Sue Bein (pictured in action below) coming up trumps. The star performance of the afternoon however went to the Mens IM3 4+ of Chris Townsend, John Pearson, James Graves, Gary Graham, coxed by Sarah Armstrong, who overtook Lancaster University during the race to beat 6 other crews to the top spot.

Club Chairman, Chris Fawcett commented ‘The feedback from the athletes has been great. Today has been a success thanks to the volunteers from the club. We’re also very grateful to our sponsors including the Good Cheese Company, Hickory’s Smokehouse and Matthew Clark.’

Agecroft Small Boats Head - Grosvenor had a successful day at AgecroftSmall Boats Head on 15th October with 3 out of 5 crews entered coming home with medals.

Conditions were perfect on the 3,050 m course with a sunny autumn morning seeing the Masters E 4x of Steve Walker, Brian Chapman, John McMahon and Mike Allwood winning the C/D/E masters quads and becoming the fastest vet quad of the day. The afternoon saw more wins for the masters with Mike Allwood and Jeremy Lush winning the masters D 2x in the afternoon. Success was quickly followed by the womens novice 4+ of Lucy Roberts, Pip Buist, Annika Corbijn, Becky Read and Mike Hughes coxing. On their first race of the season, they came in for a narrow win in the afternoon division, beating a crew from Lancaster Schools by less than a second.

19/10/11

Dee Autumn Head Tombola - Could everyone try to find small prizes for a tombola that we’re planning to have at the Dee Autumn Head.

Suggestions include :
Chocolates or biscuits
Bottles of wine, spirits or beer
Unwanted gifts
Books, dvds, cds (new and good condition)

Please place all items in the box marked 'Tombola' that is in front of the bar. Thanks!

11/10/11

Racing galore! - It's been all go at Grosvenor in September, with events both at home and abroad.

A team headed out to compete at the World Masters Regatta (8 – 11 September) in Poznan Poland earlier this month. Brian Chapman, Jerry Poupard, Colin Morris and Maria Labadzka took on masters from all over the globe, competing in both single and double sculling events. The event has over 5000 athletes competing, ranging from 27 years old upwards, with the oldest competitor aged 92. Sadly this year no medals came home but plans are already being made to be in Duisberg, Germany for World Masters 2012 and Varese in Italy in 2013.

At the same time rowers from the Explore Rowing group at Grosvenor took part in the 18^th annual British Rowing Tour. The three-day tour covered the entire navigable length of the Lancaster Canal from Preston to Tewitfield, Lancashire. This memorable stretch of water runs for 41 miles over 130 bridges and 8 aqueducts, and luckily for the rowers, is also England’s longest stretch of canal with no locks.

On the 26^th September, the Chester Long Distance Sculls was held on the River Dee. This popular annual race, run over 5 km from Eccleston Ferry to the Groves attracts competitors from all over the north with this year seeing over 30 different crews from Grosvenor entered. The day dawned rather grey but the rain held off to see success for both the men’s and women’s squads throughout the day. In the morning, Grosvenor saw Bill Downing winning the Masters C single sculls, with Grosvenor scullers also coming in at 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th positions in the same category. The Masters F single sculls was also won by Grosvenor's John McMahon. The medals kept coming in the afternoon with the Masters D quad of Mike Allwood, John McMahon, Jeremy Lush and Nick McDonald, Sarah Turner in the IM1 single sculls and Paul Johnston and Phil Hill in the Masters C double all coming in with resounding wins. There was also success for the novice double of Neil Potter and Martin O’Connor, who sailed to victory competing in their first race together and Martin’s first ever sculling race. However, the highlight of the day was the senior women’s quad of Carolyn Pollard, Lindsay Scott, Leanne Ratcliffe and Hannah Pole who not only won the women’s IM2 quad in the morning but at 19:15.00, came in as the fastest women’s crew of the day.

Circuits - So, it's that time of year again, the nights are drawing in which can only mean one thing - CLUB CIRCUITS! Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7pm - everyone welcome!

Learn To Row - the next course will start on Saturday 1st October at 12pm. For £65, you get 8 coached 2 hour sessions concluding with a mini Regatta racing from the Suspension Bridge to the Clubhouse. Please contact Chris on 07970 950 704 for further details.

Annual Ball & Dee Autumn Head party - tickets are now available for our annual Ball which will be held at the Queens Hotel on Saturday 15th October, 7pm - midnight. £40 gets you a 3 course dinner, drink on arrival plus DJ and disco. There will also be a party after the Dee Autumn Head on Saturday 29th October, tickets £6 where a live band will be playing. See Lou of Chris F for further details.

Grosvenor Rowing Club saw a hugely successful August weekend (13-14^th) of racing with crews coming home with silverware from both the Peterborough Summer Regatta and Stourport Regatta.

Over a 1100 m stretch of the Severn River in Stourport, the womens novice 4+ of Helen Reid, Cathie McGuiness, mother-and-daughter pair Cath and Laura Antrobus, coxed by Lucinda Roberts, won their first rowing points in style, beating Bradford on Avon by 3 lengths in the semi-final and Loughborough BC in the final by 4 lengths.

On the somewhat choppier waters of Peterborough rowing lake, the pots just kept coming. Most notably a double hat trick to both Carolyn Pollard and Tim Betteridge and double win for Lindsay Scott and cox, Sarah Armstrong. Over the 1 km multi-lane course, Carolyn Pollard fought off stiff competition to win the novice single sculls, with Tim Betteridge winning both the Elite and Masters A single sculls. The women’s IM2 8+ of Hannah Pole, Becky Maddison, Helen Rowland, Roxi Parkinson, Carolyn Pollard, Lindsay Scott, Janet Vorberg and Abi Sedgwick, coxed by Sarah Armstrong put in a convincing show to win by a length against a composite from Auriol Kensington and Furnivall. Winning was all the better as it was Becky’s last row with us in the 8+ before she heads off to Cambridge. Success also came late in the afternoon for the mixed IM2 4+ with killer combination Chris Hudson, Tim Betteridge, Lindsay Scott and Carolyn Pollard, coxed by Sarah Armstrong cruising to victory.

Other notable achievements were the men's IM3 4+ of Liam Davoren, Gary Graham, John Pearson and Alex Redman with Gemma Welsh in the coxes seat, who in a field of 16 teams won two rounds only to come second in the final, narrowly missing a pot. The women also put up a solid performance, coming second in the final of IM3 8+ (Abi Wellings, Louise Tobias, Sarah Dutton, Yvonne Wharton, Helen Griffiths, Tanith Allwood, Anna Davies and Margeret Ugbo, Sarah Armstrong (cox), losing out by only 4 seconds to a crew who equalled the womens IM3 8+ course record. In the sculls, the novice double of Abi Wellings and Becky Maddison won their first heat, only to come third in the novice double sculls final.

Racing continued on Sunday with the highlight being the men’s novice 4+ of Simon Khoshneviszadeh, Chris Millward, Matt O’Connor and Mitch Hawkins with Gemma Welsh coxing, who after making it through a nail biting semi-final, came third in their final. Representing the veteran squads, Brian Chapman then came in second in his final of the Masters E single sculls.

This regatta rounded up a brilliant summer season for Grosvenor, so after a well earned holiday, focus and training now turns to the fast approaching Winter Head Season, with the upcoming Chester Long Distance Sculls (25^th September) and Dee Autumn Head (29^th October), both being held here in Chester on the River Dee.

AGM - Don't forget the Club AGM is tomorrow (Wednesday 27th July) in the Clubhouse at 7:30pm. Please attend if you can.

There were many notable performances at Bewdley Regatta on the River Severn this weekend with Grosvenor winning pots on both days. Conditions couldn't have been more glorious after the rain of the preceding week as the sun shone down the entire weekend turning many a face pink. There were 3 victories on Saturday over the 800m course with the most celebrated being a first win for the Men's Novice 4+ (John Pearson, Alex Redman, Gary Graham, Liam Davoren and cox Gemma Welsh, pictured) who won all their three rounds easily, beating Stourport in the final, to claim their first ever pots and also get a traditional dunking in the river! This was followed by a win for the Women's IM3 2x (Janet Vorberg and Lindsay Scott), Lindsay's first sculling point and a victory late in the day for the Masters D 4x (Jerry Poupard, Mike Allwood, Brian Chapman and Colin Morris) who beat Abingdon in a straight final.

The day had an extra bit of excitement when the Red Arrows flew over the Club in formation with smoke on at around 3pm with racing being temporarily suspended.

Racing on Sunday was over the shorter 600m course and the most competitive category was the Women's IM3 2x in which Grosvenor had 3 entries, 2 of whom met in the semi-final with Sarah Turner and Abi Sedgwick beating Roxi Parkinson and Lindsay Scott by a couple of lengths. Sarah and Abi then went on to beat Abingdon in the final by 2 lengths to claim their pots. The other notable performance of the day was the Women's IM3 8+ who got to the final but were beaten by Stourport, having had to make one late crew change due to injury.

Bikes - please remember that bikes should not be kept in the changing rooms. Please lock them outside to the railings or leave them in the gym.

There were many notable performances at Henley Masters Regatta last weekend with crews racing the 1000m course from Temple Island to Upper Thames Rowing Club. The undoubted highlight was a gold for brother/sister composite Phil Hill and Juliet Machan in the MxC2x (pictured in action, right) but there were also final appearances for Iwan Jones and the E4x (Mike Allwood, Jeremy Lush, John McMahon, Steve Walker). Phil (current Vice-Chairman) and Juliet (Past Captain and Life Member) only decided to team up at the last minute but the decision proved to be a masterstroke as they first overcame a Cheltenham College Composite by 5 lengths in the first round, completing the course in 4:17. They then met Ancholme RC in the semi-final who they comfortably beat by 3 lengths in 4:01. The final was a slightly closer affair but the pair still eased to victory by 2 lengths over Cincinnati RC in 4:09. Congratulations to them both (pictured below with their medals), a first Henley Masters gold at Phil's first attempt!

In other races, Iwan Jones also did well to reach the final in both his categories but was beaten by Fort Worth RC (McDonough) by 2.5 lengths in the C1x and Auriel Kensington (Mackworth-Praed) by 3 lengths in the B1x. The E4x came through their first 2 rounds, beating Eton RC easily then having a row over against Hollingworth Lake. In the final they came up against Berliner RC but were beaten by 4 lengths.

Henley Masters Regatta - Congratulations to brother and sister composite Phil Hill and Juliet Machan who won gold today in the MXCD2x category, beating Cincinnati RC by 2 lengths. Full report to follow.....

Bag 4 Sport - In order to raise funds for the club, we are getting involved in a project called Bag 4 Sport which is a social enterprise that supports schools, youth projects, sports clubs, communities and charities across the UK by turning unwanted and useless clothing into useful cash. Bag 4 Sport buy all of the unwanted textiles at the rate of 40p per kilo (£400 per tonne). The used textiles are then transformed into the capital they give back via textile recyclers, who use them to provide affordable clothing in Eastern Europe and Africa.

We will be collecting your goods in the corner of the gym where you can also find bags and information about the project. See Lindsay Scott or Chris F for further details.

Please do your best to support this project which also will generate funds for the club and give your wardrobe a good spring clean in the process!

Henley update - Unfortunately, the Senior Men were knocked out today in the quarter finals, losing to Radley Mariners by 2.5 lengths whose winning time was 7:22. The crew were happy with their row however so well done for getting so far.

Photos of them winning their first round were featured in today's Guardian and also one of them preparing to race on Twitter

There were many entries at Ironbridge last weekend with crews racing both days. The highlight was a win for the Women's IM3 4+ (Tanith Allwood, Sarah Dutton, Claire Cripps, Anna Davies, cox Steve Walker) on Saturday who came through 3 rounds, comfortably beating Ross RC in the final to claim their pots (pictured). Sunday was eventful with the Women's Novice 4+ victims of deteriorating conditions when after having easily won their first round, racing was suspended due to a high stream, denying them their first pots.

Henley update - Rowing on the Berkshire side, Grosvenor RC beat London "B" by 1/2 length today.

Henley Royal Regatta - Following their success at Nottingham and Marlow Regattas, our Senior Mens 4+ consisting of Tim Betteridge, Matt Neame, Paul Turner and Inigo Atkin, coxed by Sarah Armstrong have not only pre qualified for Henley Royal Regatta but have now also been seeded in The Britannia Challenge Cup.

Their first race is on Wednesday 29th June at 2.50pm against London Rowing Club (B)

The Club and all our members are proud of their achievements to date and wish them all good luck in their quest to succeed at this the highest level

Updates for each day can be found on our website

28/06/11

Recent results - Crews have been racing far and wide over the last few weeks so here is a round up of the results:

The Masters D IM3 4X (Mike Allwood, John McMahon, Jeremy Lush, Nick McDonald, pictured) claimed the silver medal in their category out of 6 competing crews.

The Elite 4+ (Tim Betteridge, Paul Turner, Rob Irving, Inigo Atkin, cox Sarah Armstrong) finished second, 0.5 lengths behind Thames RC in their final, meaning they have pre-qualified for Royal Henley in 2 weeks time.

The Women's 8+ (Abi Sedgwick, Sarah Turner, Lindsay Scott, Carolyn Pollard, Lou Tobias, Helen Rowland, Becky Maddison, Goranka Bosanac, cox Bill Webb) competed at a windy, showery Henley on Saturday, a first appearance for many of the crew, and had a very tough first round draw against Mortlake. Grosvenor started well and were only a length down at the halfway mark however Mortlake's superior power meant they pulled away to win by 3.5 lengths over the 1500m course. They went on to reach the final on Sunday where they were beaten by Vesta RC. A great experience however (despite the rain) with everyone determined to go further next year!

Many crews will be racing this weekend at Ironbridge Regatta - good luck everyone!

Pilates - Pilates starts again this Wednesday 15th June in it's new location. The session will start at 6.45pm at Helen's new studio Bodyworks which is on Victoria Road near Northgate Arena, CH2 2AX. Price is £5 per session - all club members welcome!

Pilates - Pilates is CANCELLED this week. Sessions will resume next Wednesday 15th June at Helen's new studio. Location to follow shortly!

Club kit - Tanith needs all orders for kit by the end of the month. Can people please e-mail their orders to tanith.allwood@hotmail.co.uk so she can have a record of all the orders and then payments will be required before the end of the month. Posters will be going up soon with amended prices as they have gone up slightly.

Metropolitan Regatta - Crews from both the Senior Men's and Senior Women's' squads competed at Met Regatta on Saturday 4th June as part of their preparations for Henley. The multi-lane competition, which is held on Dorney Lake, Eton College and is the venue for the 2012 Olympics, attracts a high calibre of entrants from all over the UK and gave the Grosvenor crews experience of high class facilities (and also the chance to see Matthew Pinsent who was the official starter). Conditions on the 2km course were very windy which created problems attaching to the stake boats but luckily the day was dry and sunny. Of the 4 categories entered, we reached 3 finals with Tim Betteridge and Inigo Atkin competing in the Senior and IM1 2x finals, coming 4th and 5th respectively. The Women's IM3 4+ (Abi Sedgwick, Sarah Turner, Lindsay Scott, Carolyn Pollard, cox Sarah Armstrong) qualified 2nd in their heat and went on to finish 6th in the final out of 7, improving hugely on their time from the morning. The Women's IM2 8+ (Hannah Pole, Abi Sedgwick, Carolyn Pollard, Lindsay Scott, Lou Tobias, Helen Rowland, Becky Maddison, Sarah Turner, cox Sarah Armstrong) gave a fantastic performance in their heat, finishing 4th from 7 in a very strong field, made all the more impressive as they had to row in a borrowed men's boat due to trailer problems. Their time was 7th fastest of 21 crews in the heats and they were unfortunate not to reach the final which was ultimately won by Vesta RC.

Both squads now continue their training ready for Henley which is the weekend of 17th-19th June for the Women and the beginning of July for the Men.

Club Kit - Tanith will be doing another order for club kit very soon. More details to appear here or catch her at the club.

Spring Clean - message from the Captain: We are welcoming Star Club to Grosvenor for a Training Camp next week. As the boathouse is getting a bit grubby I’m sure you will all agree that this week is an ideal time for a spring clean.

I have allocated tasks to the squads as follows. Please ensure that all is completed by Sunday lunchtime 5^th June

Senior Women: Left Hand (sculling) aisle. Brush up and tidy (including under bottom racks)

Vet women: Staircase up to back of gym; Car Park: General tidy up and removal of detritus

Vet Men: Blades. All blades returned to correct racks. Brush and tidy underneath. Also coxes’ cupboard.

I will be removing all unclaimed/smelly/festering kit from the changing rooms and other assorted nooks and crannies this week, especially if it fits me, so please remove your belongings!

Corporate, Pub and Club Challenge - This year we are running our twelfth Challenge Event culminating in a Regatta on Sunday 25th September with races from the Suspension Bridge to the GRC boathouse with BBQ to finish. Crews should be made up of absolute beginners and it provides an excellent opportunity for team building, reducing stress and creating local publicity. Each crew will receive up to 6 rowing lessons on the Dee, at times outside normal working hours at a cost of £50 per person. Please could all club members spread the word at their place of work or to friends and it would be great if as many people as possible could get involved in coaching/participating in the event itself. Further details will follow or contact Chris Fawcett.

July social event - the next club social will be held on Saturday 16th July featuring live band "The Unknown" and with BBQ included. All for the bargain price of £12! See Lou for details.

Nottingham City Regatta - Both the senior men's and women's squads entered crews at Nottingham City Regatta on Saturday 21st May and came back with pots.

Despite a predominantly sunny day, rowing conditions were pretty horrific with strong headwinds making the first 1000m of racing more akin to coastal rowing with waves crashing over the riggers and multiple attempts required to get attached to the stake boats. However, competition was still of a high standard in the first multilane event of the season, raced over 2km. In the morning, the women's IM2 4+ (Becky Maddison, Helen Rowland, Lou Tobias, Janet Vorgerg, cox Bill Webb) reached the final of their event, eventually finishing 4th out of 6. The women's IM2 4- (Sarah Turner, Lindsay Scott, Carolyn Pollard and Abi Sedgwick) were racing in their first coxless race and had Marlow RC as their opposition. Despite holding them off for the first 1km, they were unable to sustain it with Marlow eventually powering away to win. The first pots were soon to arrive however, as the Elite 4+ (Tim Betteridge, Rob Irving, Paul Turner, Inigo Atkin, cox Sarah Armstrong) overcame Henley RC to win in 7:41. Conditions improved slightly in the afternoon and the women were back out in their 8+ and raced Manchester University at IM3. The crews were fairly level with 500m to go when Grosvenor (Abi Sedgwick, Hannah Pole, Lindsay Scott, Carolyn Pollard, Lou Tobias, Helen Rowland, Margaret Ugbo, Goranka Bosanac, cox Bill Webb (pictured)) pulled away to win by 8 seconds and claim their pewter tankards. The day finished with the Elite 4- racing in their final, finishing 2nd to Henley RC out of 5 crews.

Club Kit - For those that are unaware, the new club kit has arrived and for those who haven't already collected it, Tanith will be at the club on Sunday and next Tuesday.

Shrewsbury Regatta - Numerous crews headed down to Shrewsbury last weekend to compete in both the 1000m and 600m sprints and came away with pots.

Saturday saw victory for James Graves and Paul Blatch in the IM3 2-, their first event together. This was followed by a win for Jo Jones and Rachel Jones in the Women's Masters B 2x and John McMahon in the Masters F 1x. The Men's Novice 4+ were unfortunate to lose after getting to the final but that elusive first pot can't be too far away. The Women's' Novice 4+ comprising Anna Davies, Sarah Dutton, Yvonne Wharton and Tanith Allwood, coxed by Jo Jones (pictured) were knocked out in the first round by an extremely strong Abingdon crew (who went on to win at IM3 the next day) but picked themselves up to get back on the water on the Sunday and stormed through two rounds to win their first pots in style. Congratulations to them all - well deserved after many weeks of hard work!

The Senior squads will be racing at Nottingham City Regatta this weekend, the first multi-lane event of the season.

Chester Regatta results - Grosvenor was well represented at this years wet and windy regatta and came away with pots and medals. Tim Betteridge started the day off, winning his Elite 1 x by 1.5 lengths in the morning. This was followed by Lou Tobias and Janet Vorberg who were victorious over Mersey in the Women's Masters B 2x, winning Lou her first sculling point. The Womens Masters B 4+ was a straight final and Becky Maddison, Janet Vorberg, Lou Tobias and Goranka Bosanac, coxed by Hannah Pole, beat Liverpool Vics by 1.75 lengths to retain the trophy they won last year. One of the closest finals of the day was the Women's Novice 2x which was an all Grosvenor affair and went right to the line with Helen Rowland and Roxi Parkinson being declared winners over Becky Maddison and Goranka Bosanac after much discussion! The final trophy of the day was another all Grosvenor final as Abi Sedgwick and Margaret Ugbo competed in the final of the Women's Novice 1x with Abi Sedgwick victorious, claiming the Maidens Cup and her first sculling point. There were also mixed boats entered by the Men's and Women's Novice squads, all gaining valuable experience.

Attention now turns to next weekend and Shrewsbury Regatta where the Novices will be attempting to win their first pots - good luck to all.

Chester Regatta - Good luck to all crews racing in tomorrows Regatta on the Dee!

Donation in memory of Karen - Recently Ray Hough, husband of late member Karen Hough, sold two of her rowing prints, one of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race and one of Chester Regatta and he has kindly donated £300 to the Club in her memory. The sale also benefited the Hospice of the Good Shepherd which takes the total raised for this good cause, in Karen's name, to over £1000.

Easter Coastal Rowing fun! - On Easter Monday, some of the Senior Women's squad (past, present and hopefully future) tried their hand at coastal rowing for the first time as guests of Aberdyfi Rowing Club on the Welsh coast.

Situated in the Dyfi Estuary and Cardigan Bay, Aberdyfi Rowing Club was founded in 1997 and has been highly successful, competing regularly in the Great River Race on the Thames and also at World Championships. The club colours are aptly navy and gold therefore Grosvenor fitted in perfectly and were welcomed with open arms to try their hand at a different branch of rowing. The weather could not have been more glorious, providing unnaturally calm conditions but there was no doubting the swell as we headed away from the shore. First up were the Celtic Longboats i.e. coxed fours with the major difference (apart from width) being fixed seats. This meant a lot of upper body work, a concept that went against all our natural instincts! We were taken out in three boats with one expert rower in each boat and experienced coxes to guide us through the waves. Coaching was provided by the Club Captain from a safety launch (which broke down, sound familiar?) who also umpired a 20 minute race out to the furthest buoy and back. Turning around the buoy was definitely a highlight as this is a crucial part of the race and required one side to stop rowing completely while the other rows like mad to execute the 180 degree (handbrake) turn. Much fun was had by all and muscles were aching by the end! The crew of the winning boat was Tim Betteridge, Laura Champion, Carolyn Pollard and Lindsay Scott by 7 seconds.

Our second outing was in the Yoles i.e. double sculls and we were all given a go in either the coxed or coxless version, having to dodge a sailing race going on at the same time! The current also made this interesting, with a few near misses to gasp at but the technique was much more familiar due to the presence of sliding seats. The extra challenge in these boats was attempting to do a racing turn through 90 degrees whilst at full power - a lot harder than it looks!

So overall, a fantastic experience for all and a huge thanks to Aberdyfi Rowing Clun for their excellent hospitality, providing equipment, rowers, coaches and coxes and unlimited tea and coffee to boot. They couldn't have been more welcoming and hopefully a link has been forged between the two clubs for future events.

Northwich Spring Head - Grosvenor had a spectacular day at Northwich on Sunday, returning with a haul of medals, winning nearly every category entered.

The weather could not have been more glorious as crews competed on the 2350m course on the River Weaver. The Novices were especially prolific, with both men and women winning both their 8+ and 4+ categories, their first silverware in their last Head race of the season. The Men's 8+ comprising Mitch Hawkins, Liam Davoren, Alex Redman, John Pearson, Gary Graham, Gaz Thomas, Matt O'Connor and Paresh Deshpande, coxed by Gemma Welsh, won their category in 8:44 then followed this up with a win in the 4+ with Mitch, John, Alex and Liam, coxed again by Gemma, the successful combination, winning in 9:19. The Novice Women matched this success with Helen Reid, Laura Antrobus, Tanith Allwood, Cath Antrobus, Anna Davies, Sarah Dutton, Yvonne Wharton and Cathie McGuiness, coxed by Jo Jones, victorious in the 8+ (left to right in photo) in 9:54 then Tanith, Sarah, Cath and Laura, again coxed by Jo Jones getting their second medal in the 4+ in 10:16.

Not to be left out, the Vet Men had a similarly successful day with the Masters E 4x of Mike Allwood, John McMahon, Jeremy Lush and Steve Walker winning their category and setting the 6th fastest time of the day of 8:08. John McMahon was also victorious in the Masters F 1x in 10:30 to bring the total medal haul to 6 out of 8 categories.

Preparations are now well under way for the Regatta season with many crews taking advantage of the light evenings and sunny weather to sharpen up their technique with Chester Regatta on May 7th the first target.

Training Camp - a fantastic weekend was had by all with the added bonus of glorious sunshine so all involved got an early start on their tan lines!

The weekend started on Friday for those able to get down when Colin was available to impart valuable coaching tips to those present. Saturday and Sunday then saw five intensive outings on the river, both sweep and scull, with Danny keeping everyone fed and watered in between (along with the nearby ice-cream stalls!) On Saturday, those interested were treated to a taster session of pilates which demonstrated exercises aimed at increasing our core strength and flexibility. This has been running weekly at the club for over 2 months now on a Wednesday evening at 6.30pm (all welcome, £5 per session). Sunday saw the much anticipated rowing masterclass by Tim Betteridge and Chris Hudson, designed to help us all add those extra inches to our stroke and the weekend finished with a scratch regatta (see photo of participants, winning eight at the front) - a "splash and dash" from the Suspension Bridge to the Boathouse. Sandwiched between all this was the hugely successful cheese and wine evening on Saturday which added extra spice to the 8am outing on Sunday!

A huge thank you to all those who helped to organise and run the weekend and especially those who took part - everyone has been buzzing and now seem even more determined to translate this momentum into results at firstly Northwich Head this weekend then the summer regattas.

Men's Head of the River and Veterans Head - Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd April

Head of the River

3 Grosvenor crews raced the Mortlake to Putney championship course on the river Thames on Saturday afternoon in a field of over 400 crews including national squad athletes from the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain:

Grosvenor 1 were 9th fastest provincial club out of 75 crews (Tim Betteridge, Matt Neame, Paul Turner, Rob Irving, Bill Downing, Harvey Worden, Phil Hill, Martin Chandler coxed by Sarah Armstrong), finishing 74th overall.

Grosvenor 2 finished 28th in class, 203rd overall, beating several higher status crews in the process (Mark Edney, Rob Wareing, Paul Blatch, Jim Graves, Geraint Jones, Chris Townsend, Joe Robson, Chris Hudson coxed by Bill Webb), a commendable result given that 3 of the crew had not raced the 6.8km tideway course previously.

Racing for the first time on the Thames, Grosvenor's novice squad (Mitch Hawkins, Liam Davoren, Alex Redman, John Pearson, Paddy Graham, Gaz Thomas, Matt O'Connor, Paresh Deshpande & cox Jamie Flynn) gained valuable experience and finished in 21 minutes and 21 seconds.

Veterans Head

Grosvenor Vet B had an outstanding row and finished 3rd out of 204 crews, finishing just 7 seconds off a pennant and overtaking several crews along the 6.8km course including French crew Leo Lagrange Nantes and Corgeno crew of Italy. This excellent result was even more remarkable as the crew of Tim Betteridge, Matt Neame, Paul Turner, Bill Downing, Harvey Worden, Chris Hudson, Phil Hill and Martin Chandler, coxed by Sarah Armstrong had raced the same course the previous day.

Grosvenor Vet C (Jeremy Lush, Mike Allwood, Jeremy Perkins, John McMahon, Colin Morris, Rich Maclean, Pete Lush, Jerry Poupard & cox Steve Walker) finished 68th.

04/04/11

Training Camp - final details are now available for next weekends training camp including social events. See below:

SPRING TRAINING CAMP

Blow away the winter cobwebs and set yourselves up for the summer at the club training camp.

3 days of what you do best punctuated by a spot of light relief. Danny will be on hand throughout for refuelling

SCHEDULE

An evening dedicated to the quiet appreciation (and consumption) of two of life’s great pleasures: wine and cheese. Tutored by your resident experts Mike Allwood and Mike Hughes. Tickets now available, £12, from Mike, Mike, Lou, Tanith and John P

North Of England Head - The club had a full turn out on Saturday with all squads entering eights in the North of England Head on the River Dee. Conditions were calm if overcast for both divisions and the standard was high. In the morning, the Veteran Men came second in their category and were the sixth fastest crew of the division whereas the Senior Women, racing for their third consecutive weekend, finished as third fastest women's crew of the day. In the afternoon, the men's senior eight were sixth fastest, competing against a very strong entry from Durham University and the Veteran Women came second in their category. Both Novice crews continued to gain racing experience with the Novice Men taking this forward to the Tideway on Saturday. The day was completed by the North Of England Party in the evening where a fantastic turnout were treated to a brilliant set from The Roddai - huge thanks to Lou and Chris F for their organisation.

This coming weekend is the Head of the River Race where two Senior Men's crews will be racing along with the Novice Men, with Veterans Head the day after- good luck to all crews.

Both the Senior and Novice women raced in glorious sunny conditions on Saturday on the Tideway with the Senior crew coming away with an outstanding 87th place finish out of 297 crews, completing the course in 20 mins 58 secs. The crew of Abi Sedgwick, Carolyn Pollard, Lindsay Scott, Janet Vorberg, Louise Tobias, Helen Rowland, Becky Maddison and Goranka Bosanac, coxed by Sarah Armstrong, started in position 153 and went through 4 crews on their way to the line, finishing as the fastest Chester crew, 26th out of 43 IM2 crews and 12th fastest Provincial Club out of 53. All the girls were ecstatic, especially the three who had competed in this event last year as novices when they finished 205th showing what immense progress has been made within the squad. The Novice women had a long wait to start and finished 289th in their first ever race on the Thames, a valuable experience.

Next racing is the North of England Head this Saturday and the Boat Race will also be shown on the TV in the clubhouse at 5pm.

Runcorn Spring Eights Head - an uncharacteristically dry and still day yielded a good days racing at Runcorn on Saturday with four Grosvenor squads represented. The Vet Men carried on from recent success at Trafford to win both categories they entered, triumphing in the Masters E 4x in the morning (Mike Allwood, John MacMahon, Jeremy Lush & Steve Walker) and following this up with a medal in the Masters C 8+ in the afternoon (Jeremy Lush, Mike Allwood, Tim Howe, John MacMahon, Colin Morris, Jeremy Perkins, Ian Tweedy, Richard Maclean & cox Steve Walker), recording the 5th fastest time of the division. The Senior Men IM2 crew also gave a good account of themselves in the morning, coming second in their category and 5th fastest in the division. The Senior Women had an excellent row in preparation for WEHORR next weekend, finishing in 21 mins 51 secs, fastest women's club 8+ and third fastest womens 8+ of the day behind two University crews. The Novice Men continued to gain experience, finishing 5th out of 9 in their category.

Attention now turns to Women's Head of the River next weekend on the Tideway where the Senior and Novice Women will be representing the Club - good luck to both crews.

North Of England Party - This will happen on Saturday 26th March from 7.30pm with live music from Chester band The Roddai. Tickets £5 from Lou or Chris F.

Kit Order - Tanith would like you all to know that she will soon be doing another kit order with extra items such as tracksuits, shorts etc.. available. Posters will be up at the weekend and the order has to be placed by the end of March to guarantee delivery for Shrewsbury Regatta (14th/15th May). Keep your eyes peeled!

Captain’s log – March 2011

Nobody mentions to you when you put your head above the parapet and ‘volunteer’ to be club Captain that you are taking on a full time job – which you have to fit around your other full time job (which pays the rent) and hopefully also a spot of rowing. Until the point that you actually take over from your predecessor, you are aware that the captain organises a bit of boat repair, the occasional trailer loading plan and gets to spend most of the club’s money on new boats (generally favouring his/her own squad). Not wishing in any way to deter potential future captains from taking on the role, I can vouchsafe that there is a whole lot more to it than the above. Which is a long-winded excuse for the late arrival of my opening Captain’s Log, first mooted in September.

After all the hard miles put in during the autumn and winter, it is now time for the squads to show their pedigree. The first tester of the spring was Trent, where the club entered five eights. Unfortunately it was not to be Grosvenor’s finest hour, with the men’s first eight losing a rudder and the novice women also unable to compete due to steering problems. The senior women lost time to a blade clash, but they, along with the novice men and Sen2 men put in creditable performances. Thank you very much to Martin for towing the trailer.

Coming up are Runcorn next weekend, followed in quick succession by Women’s HORR, North of England, and finally men’s HORR on Sat 2^nd April and Vesta (veterans head) the day after. Good luck to all crews competing in these events.

I had planned to take the club down to Peterborough for a training camp as a start to the summer season. It became apparent that to quite a few members the cost of a weekend away – especially just after HORR, was prohibitive so I have a NEW PLAN. Since Chester is such a lovely place and the Dee such a fine river we are going to have our training camp at the club. It will be a fun but worthwhile weekend of rowing and other activities, interspersed with some guest appearances and a social on the Saturday night. Friday will be optional, so if you can only make the weekend, that’s fine. And the cost will be…not very much at all! Lou and John P will be helping to organise the detail – more news to follow very shortly.

Toby has been injured and not able to play an active role as vice captain, so recently John Pearson has agreed to step in to his shoes – in addition to his duties as maintenance man par excellence. John has already helped me a lot, particularly by taking on the organisation of the Learn to Row courses. Thanks, too, to Al Slynn for continuing to coach the Learn to Rowers. Proof of the pudding is that Colin and Mike, the novice coaches, are really impressed by the quality of recruits who have come through Al’s training school.

On two occasions recently fuel in cans clearly marked – ‘Chester College’ and ‘Learn to Row’ – has been borrowed and not replaced. This is stealing and is not acceptable. Please ensure that the fuel which your squad uses for the coaching launch has been provided by your squad.

Just to clarify, the launch fuel tanks are operated on an empty to empty basis. i.e. if you leave half of your fuel in the launch tank, it is ok for the next user of the launch to add their own fuel to this and use it.

Trafford and Trent - Racing got under way last weekend with the club well represented at Trent and bringing home a medal from Trafford. The Vet Men had multiple entries at Trafford and there was success for Steve Walker in the Masters F single, completing the 3200m course in 13mins 50secs, 16 seconds clear of his nearest rival.

5 eights also went to Trent where an eventful day unfolded despite apparently pleasant conditions (unusual for this race!). Of the 5 competing, only 3 ended up racing with both the Novice Women and Senior Men's crews losing their rudders before the start and having to be escorted back. The Senior Women then had an almighty clash of blades, nearly losing Goranka at Bow, which brought them to a standstill but they carried on and powered home for a 4th place finish. Fortunately this was the last accident to befall Grosvenor and the Novice Men and second Senior Men's crews came through their races unscathed. Other clubs weren't so fortunate however and stories of a capsized eight and two fours soon filtered back and the Novice Men were surprised to pass an eight that had set off in front of them now floating along in two separate halves! It is believed the very fast stream may have caught crews out but this made for a memorable day!

Next Learn To Row course - the next Learn to Row course starts on Wednesday 13th April at 6.30pm. For £60, you get 8 coached 2 hour sessions concluding with a mini Regatta racing from the Suspension Bridge to the Clubhouse. Please contact Chris on 07970 950 704 for further details.

Birthday Party - Don't forget there is a party down at the club tomorrow night to celebrate various birthdays. Bar will open from 7-7.30pm and feel free to bring nibbles!

Baby News - Huge congratulations to Tim & Sophie Beesley on the birth of their baby girl Nancy Alice at 7.36pm on 8th February, weighing in at 6lbs 15oz. Mum and baby doing well, Dad is a little tired! Best wishes from everyone at the club.

North of England Head Party - there will be a knees up after the North of England Head on Saturday 26th March in the clubhouse, £5 per ticket with live music from Chester band The Roddai. Tickets from Lou or Chris F.

Club training camp - The Captain has released initial details of the club training camp in April which will take place in Peterborough on the weekend of 8th-10th April. The price will be £5 per head per day for use of the lake with accommodation (there are many cheap hotels nearby) and meals on top of that. Provisional plans are to travel down on the Thursday night, have 2 days hard training on Friday and Saturday, a few beers Saturday night then head back to Chester on Sunday. All squads are welcome and further details will be announced in due course.

Learn to Row - the next Learn to Row course starts on Saturday 29th January at 12pm. For £60, you get 8 coached 2 hour sessions concluding with a mini Regatta Day racing from the Suspension Bridge to the Clubhouse. Please contact Chris on 07970 950 704 for further details.

Pub Quiz results - the standard was high in Saturdays pub quiz with 4 teams competing for the star prize of a bottle of fizz which was eventually won by team "Steve" who completed the double by also snatching the coveted £5 prize in "Play your cards right". The picture round ended up going to a tie break but team "Bottom of the barrel" prevailed to win not one but two Cadburys chocolate oranges (which did not make it out of the clubhouse). Many thanks to Chris H for hosting the event along with his two glamorous assistants Sarah and Carolyn.

Pilates - There will be a weekly pilates session beginning tomorrow Wednesday 19th January at 6.30-6.45pm for anyone who wants to participate. Carolyn has organised a trained instructor to come each Wednesday to help us all improve our core strength so feel free to come and join in. Cost will be £5 per session initially while we get a idea of numbers.

Pub Quiz - Chris Hudson will be compering one of his legendary pub quizzes this Saturday (22nd January) so come and enter a team. £1 entry per person and the chance to participate in such rounds as "Name that cat" and win a chocolate orange in the picture round. Bar opens at 7pm, aim to start at 7.30pm so get your teams together!

Club Kit - For those that ordered kit from Tanith and haven't collected it yet, she will be at the club on Sunday 9th and Thursday 13th so please seek her out then.

First and foremost, Happy New Year all! The ideal way to get rid of that hangover and Christmas stodge? Club circuits, of course! Kicking off again at 7pm on Tues 4th Jan. No excuses for skiving off in these newly tropical conditions. And remember, every training session completed is worth an extra 2 seconds in the spring heads. See you there. Mike.

Dates for your diary:

Trent Head                                          Sunday 27th Feb
Runcorn Head                                     Sat 12th March
Women's HORR                                 Sat 19th March
North of England Head (Chester)     Sat 26th March
London Head of River                         Sat 2nd April
Vesta Veterans Head                         Sunday 3rd April
Club Training Camp - 3 days away - Fri 8th April to Sun 10th April Watch this space....

Visitors to Grosvenor.

We are delighted to host Caius College, Cambridge for a training camp on the Dee from Monday 3rd Jan through to the following Sunday 9th Jan. Please make them welcome and help make their visit to Grosvenor an enjoyable one.

Icicle Race and Sherry Party - So, the final Sunday before Christmas is fast approaching and that can only mean one thing - a morning dash down the Dee against our Chester rivals followed by sherry, mince pies and carols in the clubhouse. The Icicle Race starts at 10:30am with a £2 entry fee per seat (being donated to The Hospice of the Good Shepherd) and some fancy dress may be on show, keep your eyes peeled. This of course precedes the legendary Sherry Party which will kick off from about 1pm where we will have live musical accompaniment plus a buffet and beverages. Hope to see everyone there!

Head of the Float report - Grosvenor had a successful day in the rain at Wallasey Docks on Saturday 4th December, bringing back a haul of pennants and also the three fastest times of the day set by the Senior Men (all coxed by Sarah Armstrong). Every squad in the club was represented and gave a good account of themselves with many crews beating their times from last year. Winning crews were as follows:

IM1 8+ - Martin Chandler, Brian Black, Joe Robson, Mark Edney, Ed Mills, Rob Wareing, Phil Hill, Chris Hudson Time: 07:12.64 & Head of the Float

IM2 8+ - Ed Mills, Chris Hudson, Brian Black, Rob Wareing, Mark Edney, Chris Townsend, Phil Hill, Neil Potter Time: 07:14.55

IM3 8+ - Brian Black, Chris Townsend, James Graves, Rob Wareing, Joe Robson, Peter Carew, Martin O'Connor, Neil Potter Time: 07:24.81

Masters C/D 8+ - Mike Allwood, Brian Chapman, Jeremy Lush, John McMahon, Colin Morris, Tim Howe, Rich MacClean, Gerry Poupard & cox Steve Walker

Women's IM1/2 8+ - Abi Sedgwick, Goranka Bosanac, Lindsay Scott, Janet Vorberg, Becky Maddison, Lou Tobias, Margaret Ugbo, Lisa Annersley & cox Bill Webb

Competitive racing is now over for 2010 with the exception of the Icicle Race on Sunday 19th December which will precede the annual Sherry Party where members past and present will gather to celebrate the festive season with the traditional musical accompaniment.

Head of the Float - Good luck to all those racing on Saturday. All squads will be represented so hopefully plenty of pennants will be heading our way! Don't forget to take plenty of layers....

City Treasure Hunt - a bit of a delayed report but just to recap on a successful Treasure Hunt last Saturday. A handful of hardy souls braved the elements to traipse around Chester looking for landmarks they never knew existed, congregating in the Brewery Tap to announce the winners who were Goranka, Anna, Helen, Becky M and Toby with an haul of 43 points. Following a mini stewards enquiry, a bottle of champagne was shared around before everyone decamped to OddFellows to continue the night. Thanks to Chris F and Lou for their organisation.

8 Coached 2 hour Sessions concluding with a mini Regatta Day racing from the Suspension Bridge to the Clubhouse

Learn to Row Experience Vouchers can be purchased as an open voucher giving you the flexibility to redeem over the next 12 months.

City Treasure Hunt - This will take place on Saturday 27th November, starting at 7.30pm from the club. There will be an entry fee of £10 per team, maximum 5 per team. Please get your entries in to Chris F or Lou before the day so they can go and buy the prizes! Start swotting up on your knowledge of the city, well the bars/pubs anyway......

Weekend racing – Crews raced in Northwich and London last weekend and brought back a haul of medals.

There were 6 Grosvenor wins at Northwich making us the 3^rd most successful club of the day. Victories were as follows with the Veteran men leading by example:

IM2 4+ (Rob Wareing, Chris Townsend, Toby Restorick, Martin O’Connor & cox Roxi Parkinson)

Women’s Masters B 4+ (Margaret Ugbo, Goranka Bosanac, Louise Tobias, Lisa Annersley & cox Bill Webb)

Three boats raced at the London Fours Head with the men’s elite quad (Tim Betteridge, Inigo Atkin, Ed Mills, Martin Chandler) coming 7^th out of 13, the men’s IM2 4+(C) (Phil Hill, Brian Black, Pete Dean, Mark Edney & cox Sarah Armstrong) finishing 18^th out of a whopping 43 and the women’s IM2 4+(C) (Abi Sedgwick, Janet Vorberg, Lindsay Scott, Carolyn Pollard) came 19^th out of 30, racing in a borrowed boat after an accident on the trailer rendered Neville Orme crippled.

Special mention also goes to ex-Grosvenor member Laura Champion who was in the winning women's IM3 4x in London with her new club City of Bristol, coming first out of a field of 18. Laura graduated from our Learn to Row last year so maybe we can take the credit?! Congratulations from us all.

Baby news - Congratulations to Harriet Maclehose and Rob Davies on the birth of their baby boy, William Hudson, who arrived on 8th November weighing 9lbs. Mum and baby doing well.

Dee Autumn Head report - Approximately 500 people competed in the Dee Autumn Head Race on Saturday with athletes and crews coming from around the North West and Wales and even as far as Middlesex to compete in our annual event.

All crews were blessed with predominantly sunny and dry conditions and the morning division started on a poignant note as Mama Kaz, rowed by Sue Bein and Di Moore, two of the winning coxed four from the World Veteran Championships in 2005, led the crews down the course as a tribute to Karen. All Grosvenor boats bore black ribbons as a

mark of respect.

The rest of the mornings racing then produced the fastest time of the day set by Kings School Chester in the IM3 Eights, sponsored by Welsh Water. The tightest finish of the competition was in the men’s Masters Eights sponsored by Corks Out with the race being declared a dead heat between Northwich and Royal Chester. The Women’s Novice Eights sponsored in memory of Karen Hough was won by Sheffield University.

Grosvenor entered many crews and had its own successes. One winning result of note was in the men’s’ senior quad comprising Tim Betteridge, Ed Mills, Inigo Atkin and (very brave) last minute stand-in Carolyn Pollard powering to victory in the second fastest time of the afternoon. There was also victory for the womens’ Masters coxed four comprising Rachel Jones, Janine Clifford, Dawn Houghton and Sue Bein, Tim Betteridge in the men’s Elite single and a win in the women’s novice double for Roxi Parkinson and Helen Rowland who was competing in her first ever sculling race.

The day was therefore a great success and many thanks to all who helped out – it was great to see everyone mucking in and helping the event run so smoothly and efficiently (medal shortage aside!). Don’t forget to take a look at Brian’s photos in the Dee Autumn Head Results section and a full report with photos should be published in the Chester Chronicle this week.

The focus now turns to the Head of the River Fours on the Thames in mid November where both men’s and women’s boats will be competing with over 500 crews on the Tideway.

P.S. A mention must also go to Lou for organising a fantastic Dee Autumn Head party in the evening – an awesome time was had by all and the Funk Dragons certainly lived up to their name! I’m sure all those who came were very grateful for the extra hour in bed the next morning…….

Mama Kaz Funeral - Chris has just called with details of the funeral. It is to take place on Thursday 28th October at 3pm at Blacon Crematorium. It will immediately be followed by a celebration of Karen's life at the rowing club.

Karen requested that no one should wear black or formal attire for the funeral or celebration - she asked us to go in whatever we would would for rowing - be it a splash top, gillet or maybe even racing kit! A true rowing celebration.

If you are unable to get the time off work to come to the funeral, please do come to the rowing club when you can - I am sure it will be a good celebration of what Karen loved about the club.

Ray has asked that any donation be made to the Hospice of the Good Shepherd and flowers via the Co-op Funeral Directors on Lower Bridge Street, Chester.

Mama Kaz - It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Grosvenor Rowing Club Member KAREN HOUGH sadly passed away on Friday 22nd October 2010. The date for the funeral has not been set yet, but it is likely to be the week of 1st November at Chester Crematorium with a reception at the rowing club afterwards. Our thoughts are with Ray and the family. Karen (stroke), Di, Gilly, Sue & Sarah (cox) winning Gold at World Veteran Championships

Karen (stroke), Di, Gilly, Sue & Sarah (cox) winning Gold at World Veteran Championships

Karen joined Grosvenor Rowing Club as a novice over 30 years ago in 1979, reaching Elite level in both Rowing and Sculling. She rowed at Women’s Henley reaching the quarter finals when it was an open competition to all.

Through out her long association with the Club she held numerous official committee posts including Social Secretary, Bar Manager, Press Secretary, Entries Secretary, Fundraiser and Vice Chairman and for Chester Regatta the positions of Secretary, Catering and Club Rep, and went on to edit the Club newsletter The Raven for a number of years.

In 2010, in recognition of her outstanding contribution and service to Grosvenor Rowing Club she was awarded Life Membership, only the 2nd woman in the Clubs 140 year history to be given this honour.

In 2002 she had a boat named after her, insisting it was titled after her nickname Mama Kaz.

Karen was also this year’s holder of the prestigious Frank Lowe Silver Blade, an impartial annual award open to all river users, given to the outstanding person on the River Dee in any year.

Well known and recognised in Northwest rowing circles, in recent times Karen represented the Club at 5 World Veteran Regattas:- Groningen, Hazewinkle, Seville, Strathclyde and Vienna; winning a silver and 2 gold medals at Nat Vets and a Veteran Henley along the way, and culminated in being crowned World Veteran Champions in Strathclyde in 2005.

She established a Veteran Women’s Squad in 2007 running and organising crews training etc and ensuring the continuation of Veteran Women’s rowing at Grosvenor, and it was as part of this squad that she could be found upriver most weekends until her illness made it impossible.

Grosvenor through and through, there was never any doubt were her loyalties, passion and commitment were directed, she will be greatly missed not just by everyone at Grosvenor Rowing Club but by all on the River Dee.

Dee Autumn Head - Next Saturday sees the club hosting the very popular Dee Autumn Head race. Club Captain Mike Allwoood and the Veteran Men are again running the event so I expect it should go very smoothly...Mike's master spreadsheet is a sight to behold! Entries have been good with plenty of competition, so fingers crossed for the weather.

Lou has organised a party at the club in the evening (think it will be an 8pm start) with music from a fabulous live band. It is also Liz's & Dawn's (from the Vet Women) birthday so I am sure it will become something of a birthday celebration as well as a celebration of all the victories earlier in the day. Tickets are £6 from Chris F and Liz

Sweaty People and Club Kit - Club circuits are well under way with lots of keen athletes sweating...so much so that Chris F has had to get a supply of sweat towels in.....so if you are training and don't have a suitable towel with you, give Chris £1.50 and you can have an official circuits sweat towel. And if you aren't sweating, work harder.

Lindsey Dodd, our club kit mistress has asked me to let you know that she is going to be doing another order of club kit in the next few weeks - so bear that in mind for the races ahead. I will withhold any cutting statements on the new style kit or she will hit me (actually, she is about 12 inches shorter so I might chance it). Linds is going to send me some details to put up here shortly, but in the meantime, if you sellotape an old Morrison's bag over your mid section, it is pretty close to the new plasticy kit ;-)

Becky Maddison, our Press Officer is going to be taking on the website in the next week or so we can hope that the updates will resume their old frequency and may even be useful stuff such as the members pages being updated with the new committee details.

NEW SEASON - A quiet spell on website update front - sorry! Normal service should be resumed shortly. However, in the meantime, our new Captain, Mike Allwood has given me orders to tell you about the start of season Squad meetings:

Anyone wanting to join a squad should go along. Tell anyone who isn't likely to have read this or checked their emails!

Henley Royal Regatta - The boys were the first to race this morning in the Britannia Cup draw and unfortunately they were beaten by Cork Rowing Club from Ireland. Great shame. Big pats on the back for them when they get home.

Ironbridge Regatta - Super efficient Press Secretary Becky Maddison has sent me the official press report from the weekend at Ironbridge. It seems that there was the usual party atmostphere compounded by a good number of the crews winning, including Rob Wareing and Dan Knox winning in a coxless pair, Jo Jones and Maria Labedzka winning in a double and Louise Tobias, Carolyn Pollard, Roxi Parkinson, Lisa Annesley and cox Sarah Armstrong losing their Novice status in a coxed four.

From the look of some of the photos I have seen, spirits continued to be high into the night with the Men's four flashing, a demonstration on how do 'Above heads' with Lou rather than a boat and the traditonal dunking of the winning novice crew.

Henley Royal Regatta - Quick Update - the Senior Men's coxed four has just got through qualifiers this evening. Iwan, Edders, Phil and Peter Dean, coxed by Sarah were in the top 7 of the 17 who qualified. Good going! Good luck to them next week.

The rest of the club is off to Ironbridge Regatta in the morning - always a fun regatta.

Learn to Row - The next learn to row course will be starting on Wednesday 7th July.

Loughborough/British Masters - Race report courtesy of Becky Maddison, our press officer:

Grosvenor Rowing Club had multiple successes in Nottingham this weekend, bringing back pots and medals from Loughborough regatta on Saturday and the British Rowing Masters on Sunday.

Held on consecutive days at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham, conditions were uncharacteristically glorious making for perfect racing over the 1000m course. First success of the weekend went to the men’s novice coxed four, comprising Chris Townsend, Toby Restorick, James Graves and Martin O’Connor and coxed by Gemma Welsh, which stormed to victory at Loughborough regatta ahead of 3 other crews to claim the first win of their rowing careers in style.

The following day was the British Rowing Masters and Grosvenor’s Veteran men came home with a clutch of medals, kicked off by a gold for the C Novice quad comprising Stuart McCormick, Tim Howe, Shaun McCormick and Colin Morris. There was also gold for Iwan Jones in a photo finish in the C single scull, improving one place on his silver in the B category. There were also silvers for the E quad (Steve Walker, Jeremy Lush, John McMahon and Mike Allwood) and E IM3 double sculls (Mike Allwood & John McMahon) to cap off an impressive haul for the club.

Attention now turns to next weekend where the women will be racing at Women’s Henley while the men will be attending Marlow Regatta in their build up to Royal Henley at the beginning of July.

There are some photos and further information on Steve Walker's blog pages and there is a photo of the winning novice men's crew celebrating (courtesy of Gemma) on facebook here.

Busy Weekend - With the Senior Men away, racing at Metropolitan Regatta on Saturday, the rest of the club was out practising ready for next weekend - Loughborough Regatta and National Veterans Regatta. However, there were a few obstacles - the Sailing Club was holding an Enterprise Race (although to be honest, given the amount of wind, it was more 'assisted drifting') so we had to be above Red House before it started, and wait until it finished before we could come back home. However,while the Novice Women timed their outing so they wouldn't have to wait, the Novice Men took the opportunity to stop off at the Red House for a pimms rather than having to do any extra rowing waited:

The River was pretty much perfect for rowing on Saturday - as you can see in this video of the Old Bags...sorry - Goddesses, or is it in fact Women Masters...or Mistresses...oh I don't know anymore....

And finally, now that the trees have been chopped down along the 'embankment' at the bottom of Dee Lane, not only is the view of the river great, but from the river, the embankment looks great. Even the new storm tank outside the club is now finished with all the cobbles back in place. It make be a foot higher than it was, and a lime tree down, but it is a pretty good job and at last we have somewhere to stash boats between outings.

Not quite finally actually..... on Saturday, as we are used to when the sun is out, the steps outside the club were home to 'certain elements of society' (AKA Scallies), a couple of which took part in the traditional 'jumping in the river in underwear'. However, they also decide to jump over boats coming into the landing stage, narrowly missing being decapitated by the blades. They had also previously been found trying to get into the coxes cupboard, apparently 'wanting a towel'. A couple of months ago Steve Walker found someone in the club trying to get into the changing rooms and when challenged he said he was 'looking for somewhere I could keep me bike, mate'. So PLEASE beware of leaving bags around, make sure the changing room doors lock behind you, and be vigilant of people looking shifty (but leave Stuart & Sean alone, they can't help looking shifty).

Lycra - The first order of the new club racing kit has arrived. The thing with club all-in-ones is that people are very polarized on it - they hate one make and love another. When I asked about the previous set of kit one person said 'you should have seen it - it was like two sacks sewn together'. So - what of this year's incarnation..... well it is a new design with blue panels amongst the yellow. It certainly isn't 'sacks sewn together' as it is all printed on colour, even the crest (which is still wrong!).

So, what do you think? I missed the official arrival of the kit in the week (apparently, the novice men immediately rushed to put them on and paraded around the club room). However, Abbie and Chris were wearing the kit on Saturday and agreed to model for the website.

Grosvenor Rowing Club had further successes at Shrewsbury Regatta this weekend with the highlight of the day being a first victory for the women’s novice coxed four, presenting them with the first silverware of their rowing careers.

On a glorious day, various crews entered the 1000m sprint on the River Severn. Notable performances included the women’s IM3 and IM1 coxed fours each reaching their finals, losing out to Kings School Worcester and Nottingham Rowing Club respectively. There was also a first final appearance for the men’s novice eight, also losing to Kings School Worcester.

Success was to finally come however, first with Rachel Groves and Dawn Houghton in the women’s Masters B double scull then Tim Betteridge in the IMI single scull who then partnered Carolyn Pollard to victory in the IM1 mixed double scull. Then as the day drew to a close, the womens’ novice coxed four, comprising Margaret Ugbo, Lisa Joyce, Lindsay Scott and Becky Wimpey and coxed by Lexi Clarke having knocked out another Grosvenor crew in the semi-final, cruised to victory in the final against the home crew from Pengwern rowing club to earn their first rowing point. As tradition dictates, they were subsequently thrown in the river for their efforts!

Post Chester, Pre Shrewsbury - Although the club didn't put in much of an entry to Chester Regatta (worried about getting points due to limited competition) the non qualifying races that we did enter yielded a good few wins! Both the Men and the Women won the invitational eights over the long 1750m course which was great. The senior women also entered a coxed fours race as veterans and won both Vet B & C. So quite a few members came away with the engraved champagne flutes as their prizes (and they were even presented with a magnum of champage to fill them - nice touch). The novice squads had a pretty entertaining row as the novice men and novice women came together in two mixed eights.

The BBC's presence at the regatta ground was too early to catch any competition, so they used a long shot of the novice men's four rowing up - with Colin coxing! This is becoming a regular event, the coach in the coxes seat. Mind you - I even saw super cox Sarah Armstrong rowing - albeit to help ferry a four back to the club from the regatta ground. Plenty of photos are in the gallery.

With the boat shed tidied (Chris would like to thank everyone who helped - it is looking great now) the club is gearing up for Shrewsbury Regatta on Saturday...will the novices win? Do we get to throw them in? Will the new all in ones arrive in time? Fingers crossed for all three. (the draw is on the website now).

Race Time - Chester Races! Well, not the sort where you see men in badly fitting suits and women struggling in high heels while both ignore the horses...no..it is Chester Regatta tomorrow! The draw is out and we have a few crews entered - the 'invitational eights' and some veteran (sorry - Masters) crews. Priority has been to make sure no crews picked up points from such a small field. Speaking to Jan, the regatta secretary, it seems that the regatta has got a good few sponsors this year plus...PLUS......PLUS...... THE BBC is coming! BBC breakfast are going to be at the regatta site from scarily early (poor Jan has be there at something like 5am) until 9am. So if you want to be on TV, mill around the regatta area, or even better row up and down repeatedly, get in an out of boats on the landing stages for no reason and generally pose about.

We aren't holding a regatta party at the club this year, but on Sunday there is a club wide boatshed tidy, with a BBQ afterwards. By order of the Captain, the work is as follows....

Novice men. Tidy space between the shed doors where the shoes and seats are dumped.
Novice women. Sweep and tidy the blades and riggers down the singles side of the shed.
Vet men. Sort out the riggers and junk behind the door by the petrol bin.
Vet women. Sweep and tidy the riggers and blades on the 8's side of the shed.
Senior men. Ergos, Gym area and old weights equipment.
Senior women. Coxes cupboard

Armada Practice - Yet another beautiful week on the Dee....however the weather (sunshine only interrupted by a 10 minute downpour on Sunday lunchtime) has got everyone out on the water...... even the screamers in pedalos. So now the traditional summer game of dodgems starts as we pick our way back to the landing stage past bright green plastic pedalos with women in full make up screeching 'Hey! Show us your cox' and four year olds rowing the dinghies directly at us while tight lipped father's look the other way. Even Heronbridge straight has been packed with crews doing 1k pieces up and down.

Amongst the interesting sights at the weekend were a mandarin duck by the canoe club and some very strange plumage in a Royals boat. A few of the usually vociferously anti-yellow chaps from 'the other place' had been seen loitering outside the club a couple of weeks ago. It seems that some of the goings on at Royals have led to a depleted men's squad and they have asked to do a composite with our chaps. So as we rounded Heronbridge corner and saw a Royals eight coming up (on the correct side - probably because super-cox Sarah was in charge) there was a whole crew double take at who was in it. Amusingly, as the boat went back into the Royals landing stage, their Chairman walked down and immediately started talking about membership - perhaps not having been told about the 'composite' nature of what was going on. Good on him for ensuring the rowers are members though - I know we are probably a bit too relaxed about it.

Whilst there may be many strange intra-club political reasons for Royals wanting this very unusual composite, it is rather nice to see some sort of d'etente between Royals and Grosvenor. The rivalry over the years, while traditional, can get a bit silly and it is a shame to see the prejudices being instilled in the junior rowers who don't in fact have any experience of Grosvenor, what the club is like and how nice we are. We shall see what develops....

Vesta Rowing Club are back with us for a training camp this week - this time it is their novice squads I believe. Will our Chairman's olfactory bulbs be as impressed this time? Chris was telling me that last week Vesta found it highly amusing that when the Lady Diana or Mark Twain pleasure cruisers went past our crews, they would often stop and wait for the wake to die down. Ok, they row on the Thames and are used to waves - but to us, anything short of a mirror like surface is cause for concern (and not because we like staring at ourselves, Narcissus style).

A quick mention that our rowing machines have been overhauled (thanks to Rick and Captain Chris) and the two new ergs are sitting on slides - should be great for getting rid of fast slides and slow catches. The club is starting a program of upgrading the land training equipment in time for the autumn when we have to go back to evening land training....boo!!! So here is a quick reminder of one particular 'warm down' at the end of an evening's circuit training...Rachel just happened to have her iphone with her.....

Club Racing Kit - It is time to for an order of all in ones to be put in, and this year the club kit has been updated with a smart new look. We still have the traditional club colours of yellow/gold and blue, but with a few extra blue panels so we look even better.

Lindsey Dodd has organised this after doing a survey at the club. Although some kit with white panels was voted most popular, it strayed too far from the official club colours. Powerhouse will be making the kit for us. Initially, only all in ones are being ordered and they will cost £45 each. If you would like one, you need to act quickly - you need to order (and give in a cheque) by this Thursday (22nd April) for delivery by 15th May (Shrewsbury Regatta). Lindsey has some samples if you are unsure of sizes and has sent me these links to Powerhouse's sizing charts MEN WOMEN.

If you would like to order the new lycra, email Lindsey straight away to let her know. The email address to use is clubkit@hotmail.co.uk . Remember, if you don't get the order in by Thursday, your order won't be placed in time for 15th May delivery.

Idyllic River - What a week! With the weather giving us an early taste of what a good summer is like, the evening and weekend rowing has been great on the Dee - although I think there will be a few sun burnt noses and strap lines after this morning's sun drenched outings.

The river was very busy this week, with an armada of King's School crews ploughing up and down, followed by Duncan bellowing at them (has that chap never heard of a megaphone?). Canoeists were swarming over the surface of the river (some in some quite 'unusual' places, as discovered by some of the coxless boats).

Broxbourne RC were doing a training camp at Royals (which apparently caused so much chaos, the Royals Juniors were not allowed to row as it was unsafe!). We had Vesta RC - always happy to see them at the club. They arrived with their enormous trailer on Saturday lunchtime, complete with two launches on the top!

I think that the quote of the month goes to Chris Fawcett, who this morning said "It is the first time I have ever gone past the men's changing room and thought 'Ooh that smells nice'. The Vesta men have obviously discovered deodorant." Oi - the Grosvenor men don't smell THAT much...ok, some of them do perhaps.

With only 4 weeks until our first big regatta entry - Shrewsbury - I suspect there are going to be a lot of 1k pieces and practice starts going on. So here is a little sample of one of the Novice Women's Coxed Fours from Thursday night.....

As a bit of advance notice, there has been some discussion on changing the design of the club kit. So I think I should have some information, and maybe even a poll up on here shortly, thanks to Lindsey Dodd.

Catch Up - Normal service is now resumed! Apologies for the quiet patch - laptop took rather longer to be repaired than I thought!

So, what have we been up to - well, a lot of head races for a start. Runcorn Spring Head was pretty quiet this year (maybe something to do with the last head their having terrible weather). The Veteran Men brought home a medal in their Vet D Eight. The Veteran Women and Novice Women also had good races in the afternoon.

After having a bit of fun with the Novice Women who had been entered into Head of the Trent for the first time ("Oh yes, it it quite normal to sink there, but don't worry, even the top men's eights do it") we were disappointed that the race was cancelled due to likely weather. However, they had a great race at Women's Head of the River the following weekend. As the Senior Women weren't able to form an 8, the Novices took their slot and ended up starting in the top 40 amongst the higher status crews...somewhat daunting...but they did really well and came home rightfully proud of themselves. The Novice Women have been training really hard under Chris & Jon all winter, so I suspect they will have a good regatta season ahead of them.

The day of the North of England head was cold, but bright and there was a good entry for the race on our home water. There was a big entry and all of the squads put at least one eight in. The Senior Women raced as a composite with the University of Chester.

The Head of the River in London had two entries from the Senior Men - conditions were a 'bit choppy' but the crews were fairly happy, although the official time for the 1st Eight did seem at odds with the other recordings. The Vesta Veterans Head on the following day had better conditions, although due to the tide times and the clocks changing, the race was much shorter than the usual full Mortlake to Putney course (it was Hammersmith to Mortlake - yes, backwards!) so only the veteran women raced it this year. Photos of the HoRR and Vets HoRR are in the Gallery.

The latest learn to row course has just finished, ending in the tournament with some good racing. Rather than the usual 8 week course, the new athletes had their coaching spread out over nearly 3 months thanks to the river being in flood, races taking the coaches away and then the river being frozen! So well done to them and we look forward to seeing them row with the novice squads.

The construction work outside the clubhouse has at last finished. A massive tank has been installed under the cobbles to help cope with flash floods. The engineers and workers were absolutely great, helping to carry launches etc while the road was blocked.

Planning for the new boatshed for the single sculls is still in progress and plans to renew and repair the ergs are under way.

So a lot of racing under our belt! Easter Weekend has been quite quiet rowing wise - a well deserved rest. Evening rowing is starting now that the clocks have changed too.

North of England Head - Seven Grosvenor crews entered for Saturday's race. Come down and give your support.

Work continues on the 'storm drain improvements' outside the club - not the prettiest thing and pretty inconvenient as we are having to carry launches down the steps, but it looks like the work is well under way.

There will be a party at the club on Saturday 20th March - the evening of the North of England head - so put the date in your diary for the evening too!

All Quiet - In the absence of any news this week, while we are all itching to get back on the water (the ice has gone!) I spotted this video on youtube - what to do if you catch a crab. Interesting if not amusing.

Ice Ice Baby - While Chester is very picturesque, the cold weather now means rowing is cancelled this weekend due to the river being frozen over! (Thank you Sue Bein for this photo from Saturday morning!)

Dee Lane still hasn't been gritted so there is a good chance cars could get stuck trying to get back up it. So while you are missing the rowing here is a video Janet Vorberg found of the Dee being well and truly frozen in 1963 and a few pretty photos taken on Wednesday.

Car Park - John McMahon has asked that members do not use the car parking spaces numbered 2-7 from 8am to 6pm on weekdays. He gets emails from annoyed parkers who pay the club telling him that a car is in their parking space that they have paid for. So if you are going to leave you car in the club car park, can you use the spaces against the boatshed, or we may loose the income from the paying car parkers.

A Busy Day! - Most people have just about recovered from Sunday's exertions. The day kicked off with the Icicle Race which was as dramatic as ever, with plenty of blade catching, brave coxing and the odd holed boat. The crews came back smiling, still wearing their assortments of Santa Hats, tinsel and Carolyn even managed to race wearing a set of angel wings!

After the race, Chris Fawcett refuelled the crews with gluvine before the dashed off to get changed for the arrival of the Lord Mayor. The big Bentley was soon outside the club and the Lord Mayor gave a speech about being Admiral of the Dee and talked about the Admiral's badge of office - the Admiral's Oar (which is very similar to the Grosvenor Chairman's Oar, even if alot bigger and about 300 years older!). The Sims Eight was duly christened 'Admiral of the Dee' by the traditional pouring of champage.

Just as the snow started, everyone went back upstairs where the Sherry Party was kicked off by 'The Harmonettes' singing for us. Graham Jones made the presentation of the Frank Lowe Oar to Karen Hough during the party and once enough of the buffet had been demolished, the floor was clear for the games to start. These included pass the parcel, with each layer demanding a task ("Do I really have to take my tights off so she can lick my foot?"), Knights, Roundheads & Cavaliers (won by Victoria & Will) which was thankfully injury free this year. I think the last set of games was the boat racing - I think as, being a participant, my memory has become a bit vague. However, I do know the Veteran Women beat the Novice Women, Novice Men, Intermediate Men and the Senior Men! Allegations of their Bowman being a ringer are entirely unfounded. I suspect there could be some interesting photos and videos around.....

The Karaoke soon started, with 'memorable' performances of 'I've got a brand new combine harvester' by James Graves (we had no idea that the song was soooooo long), 'YMCA' with none other than John Hoare on the mic getting everyone dancing and the Dawn fanclub persuaded her to do a reprise of her famous cover version of ' do be dooo be dooo dooo Marcarena.....Stoz you git, it is in Spanish again!..dooo be daaaa heyyyyy Macarena'

I would like to wish Laura Champion the best of luck in her new job in Bristol. Laura has been a valued member of the club and done a great job as Press Secretary on the committee this year. She will be sorely missed when she leaves us next week.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and look forward to providing you all with a new set of stories from the Big Happy Family that is Grosvenor Rowing Club in 2010

Frank Lowe Award - The Club is also delighted to announce that this year's winner of the Frank Lowe Blade is longstanding Grosvenor member Karen Hough. The award is made by the Guild of Goldsmiths of Chester in memory of Frank Lowe and in recognition of his love of the river in Chester. This traditional silver oar is presented annually for the 'Outstanding Person on the River'. It is open to anyone with connections to the River, not just rowers. In the previous 20 years, the only Grosvenor winners of this prestigious award have been Juliet Machin and Dave Carter.

"A fantastic winner of this award! She pushed us all hard and set us a fantastic example! I believe she has alwasy done this over the years!" - Janet Vorberg

Christmas - The Captain has asked me to let everyone know that formal rowing sessions end on Sunday 20th December . Club circuits restart on Tuesday 5th January 2010 and water sessions on Saturday 9th January 2010.

Head of the Float - The results are now up on Liverpool Victoria RC's website. It seems Grosvenor came home with rather a large haul of pennants, with wins for the senior men's eight at both IM1 and IM2 (the IM1 race taking the fastest crew of the day), the veteran men's 8, the veteran men's quads (both of them!), the women's IM2 eight composite with Chester University and the women's IM3 eight.

Quote of the Month - After a couple of months barren of things worth repeating, and the suddenly there is a rash of things being said that when taken out of context make me start giggling.

1) When explaining how one of the eights racked in the car park got damaged, Chris mentioned, "The Earl got blown off in the car park". I am sure there was also mention of "Lady Viola was hard up against the wall".

2) When doing some glute stretches before weight training, a Baguette/GG who shall remain nameless, when warned this is a very deep stretch said, "No no, its good, my arse needs some serious stretching"

3) This one isn't smutty.... at last month's Dee Autumn Head, Chris F went onto the motorway bridge with her camcorder to film the crews starting. She must have been standing on the edge of the bridge over the river for about twenty minutes. She felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see a policeman....
"Excuse me Madam. Can I ask what you are doing. We have had several calls from motorists saying there is a woman trying to jump off the bridge."

Head of the Float - I have just got back from watching an Armada of Grosvenor crews at the Head of the Float. Some divisions were a sea of yellow with every squad from the club racing. Perhaps unusually for The Float, the conditions for rowing were great. I am not sure what the results are yet but I suspect we should have a few wins.

Change of Date & Food - The EGM is now going to take place on Thursday 17th December at 7pm. It isn't expected to take very long as it is purely to approve the new rules, so it won't interfere with training.

Danny will also be doing a 'snack option' on his Tuesday & Thursday food menu for just £2.50. Tonight it is going to be Cheeseburger & Chips. He is still going to be doing the usual £4.80 meals - tonight is Sausages and Mashed Potato apparently.

Sherry Party & Another Boat Naming - The Sherry Party is all set for Sunday 20th December and as part of it the Simms Eight is being named. Traditionally the club eights are named after the Grosvenor Family, but we have run out! So in the meantime the eight is going to be named 'Admiral of the Dee' by the Lord Mayor of Chester, who holds the Admiralty of the Dee. Quite a cool name for the boat, suggested by Bran Chapman.

We also have 'The Harmonettes' performing for us this year - a group who will do a few numbers for us and then lead us in the Christmas Carols. The Party kicks off at 12.30pm, with the Lord Mayor arriving at 1pm. I expect we will be having the 'Icicle Race' in the morning.

David Lush has given me a CD of the excellent photos he took from the Duke's visit a few weeks ago and these have been uploaded to the gallery now.

Bad River - While we have been spared the Cockermouth extremes, the Dee is not very rowable at the moment. The Captain had notices up this weekend cancelling all rowing due to the river's very fast flow and high level. Here is a link to the river flow data at the weir - you can see how much it has increased this week (this link is always in the links page anyway). Keeping an eye on the graph will give us a clue as to how the river is recovering. As I type (Sunday night) the flow is starting to drop quite fast - but we will have to wait and see if it is rowable by the weekend.

Parking - The committee would like members to be aware that the car parking spaces along the wall by the road are used by private, PAYING individuals during the working week. This brings in a small income to the club, so if members do leave their cars in the car park during the day, please don't use these spaces!

Also, if barriers have been put up near the racked boats, please don't move them. They are put there when one of the boats will be taken off the rack shortly and therefore plenty of room to manoeuvre is needed. I am sure you wouldn't want a rigger through your window - so keep away!

Extraordinary - The Club will holding an EGM on 14 December 2009 (Monday). This is to formally adopt some changes to the club's rules and regulations. These include removing the need to have a proposer and seconder on the application forms and changing some parts of the club rules wordings to bring it up to date with various BRA requirements.

Embarrassment - The veteran women organised a squad meal last weekend which was very civilised. However, soon after the food was cleared away..... karaoke began..... oh dear.....

Chris Fawcett just happened to have her video camera with her, and luckily, the highlight of the evening, Dawn 'singing' the Macarena was caught in all its glory. Now on youtube for all to see with another video of everyone 'singing' American Pie....Don Mclean would be sooo unhappy....

Press Coverage - Laura has sent me some links to the coverage we have in this weeks papers. The Chronicle has an article on the Dee Autumn Head and so does The Standard - a similar article (on page 69), but with photos of Tim Betteridge and Phil Hill in their singles....

Boat Naming Ceremony - Saturday's Boat naming ceremony went very well with the Duke and the Lord Mayor visiting the club, and the rain holding off. Some photos are now up from the Duke's Visit on Saturday in the gallery.

Dee Autumn Head Photos - The photographer for the Dee Autumn Head, Hector, has put the photos of most competitors on his website so go and have a look... there are one are two with great facial expressions!

Boat Naming Ceremony - The strong wind on Sunday morning gave the club a good excuse to make sure the boat shed is ship shape for Saturday's ceremony. So a few details for you:

The Duke of Westminster and the Lord Mayor of Chester are attending together with representatives of British Rowing (the organisation formerly known as the ARA!). Members are welcome to bring guest and the dress is smart (blazers, etc - think sherry party).

There will be a drinks reception from 10.30am in the clubroom and a buffet available after the ceremony (which should take place around 11.30am)

We need to keep a couple of spaces free in the car park for the Duke and Lord Mayor - and given the fact that traffic wardens are regularly checking the double yellow lines outside the club - if you can, it would be a good idea not to count on being able to park at the club.

Once the formalities are over, I am quite sure there will be ample opportunity to practice boat racing etc ready for the Sherry Party (which is on Sunday 20th December)

Dee Autumn Head - With a day of almost perfect rowing conditions, this year's Dee Autumn Head was an almost perfect race, with everything running smoothly and the competitors enjoying the racing (and the table full of home made cakes provided by the women's squads!)

Grosvenor won medals at it home race - the Steve Walker's Vet D Quad, Tim Betteridge in his IM1 single, Maria Labedzka in her Vet Novice single, Rob Wareing's IM2 coxed four and Phil Hill in his Vet C single.

Photos - Lindsay and Grace have sent me links to their photos from the 140th Ball and these are now up in the gallery - so take a look. I think there may be one or two people who check immediately to make sure there is no evidence of, er, certain things... cough.

Blocked - As people start to recover from Saturday night (apparently it has taken some this long already) a tail of sorrow has come to light. One of our esteemed new members who was revelling at the Ball (although doing it on water alone!) came to her car at the end of the night and found she had been blocked in. Despite many announcements and waiting until everyone was going home, her car was still trapped. A £45 taxi ride home later, and her car was still blocked in on the Sunday afternoon.

Most of the members know to leave keys (usually with Danny) if they block someone in and are out on the water etc. However the driver of this car doesn't seem to have had any concern for blocking someone in. We are still trying to find out who owns the Black VW Passat Estate FV57 JTX. The car was gone this morning when I went to the club - so they have narrowly avoided being reported to the police. If you know who the car belongs to, please let me know.

As the car park is often jam packed (and traffic wardens are in a phase of giving tickets to people parked outside) we need to be extra considerate. Being blocked in is inevitable, so blockers must respect that people will need to be let out.

The Date After the Night Before - I suspect there are quite a few sore heads around this morning after last night's Anniversary Ball. The night went down well, with the first floor decked out, The Veteran Women giving a presentation on their racing in Vienna, Dawn giving Top Totty prizes to the girls, and the 'Novices' (ok, some aren't Novices anymore...) singing their song Summer Rowin' (with apologies to John Travolta and Olivia Neutron-Bomb).

The 'Unofficial' Club prizes were awarded too - With Emma winning the Chunder Trophy, Danny winning the Style Award, Tim B winning the He Shoots he Scores Prize, Carolyn winning the Lucy Lastic Trophy and Toby winning the swimming prize.

The club came together to put the event on and a great deal of thanks are due to Lou, Rachel C, Laura C, Jo J & G, Phil, Rachel J, Emma, Liz, Danny and huge thanks to Becky Elliott and Chris Fawcett.

If any of you have photos from the night - let me know - I didn't have my camera!

Corporate Regatta - Laura has put up her photos of the 'Corporate Rowing Challenge' which include some shots of the capsize mentioned below. While I was there on the day, I was imprisoned at the bar, so only saw them after they had dried off. But I note that one of them was already dressed for a dip in the Dee - a strappy green top and a floral rubber swimming cap..... nice choice Toby! However, the best photo is of Margaret hoiking Sam out, with Carolyn's giant sumo wrestler bottom obscuring most of the shot..... strange!!

Corporate Regatta - After 6 weeks of coaching and crew bonding, the companies that entered this years Corporate Rowing Event raced today. The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' were the overall winners in a close final against the 'Sumo Warriors' (who won the award for best costumes).

Monkey See, Monkey Do, the team from Trading Standards, won the best supported crew.

However, the highlight of the day had to go to the Learn to Row crew. Shortly before they boated, commentator Lou announced to the spectators that maybe they should be called 'Learn to Swim'. Two minutes later they managed to capsize on the landing stage! However Tanith, Toby, Sam and Jenny got back in, raced and were soon dried off and by the bar enjoying the strange glory that is heaped on any capsizee.

I am hoping photos will follow soon as the costumes were great and I know there are some capsize photos around :-)

Press Reports - Our new Press secretary, Laura Champion, has emailed me a couple of links to coverage we have had in the papers over the last few weeks:

Table Top Sale - Mama Kaz (aka Karen Hough) has organised a sale at the club on SATURDAY 17th OCTOBER between 12 and 4pm. If any of you have good quality items that you would like to get rid off and donate to the sale they would be very much appreciated. You can bring them to the club now and they will be stored ready for the sale. And of course, please come to the sale too! There should be allsorts on offer.

Correction - As reported below about the Runcorn Autumn Head - only the afternoon division was called off. The morning division managed to race and..... star new members of the senior women's squad won at IM3 in their coxed four! Caroline Ealey, Laura Champion, Becky Maddison, Goranka Bosanac with Gemma coxing came home with medals. I am unsure how the veterans did (although I did hear that John McMahon managed to go swimming in his single with Mike Allwood stopping mid race in a double to check he was ok).

Runcorn Autumn Head - It seems that the race was abandoned due to the wind and rain. Crews were making their way up to the start and then were told the turn around as the race was being abandoned. Shame.

Let's hope conditions are good for the Dee Autumn Head on 31st October.... of course they will be - the sun always shines in Chester!

A very successful day for the club on Sunday with many good wins. The full results are up here.

Learn to Row - The next course is going to be starting on Saturday 24th October at 12.45pm

Ex Member News - We have had an email from a former member of the club who is getting ready to row the Atlantic!

Hello,

I learnt to row at Sir John Deanes in Northwich and then rowed at Grosvenor during my gap year in the 2000-2001 season. I was part of the womens four that went to Henley and also in the Tideway 8 that came around 50th, coached by Bruce Belcher and Richard Peckham. I also came back to Grosvenor during my summer holidays while at university.

I'm now a member of Jersey Rowing Club (via a few other clubs on the way) and have become part of a crew that are going to row across the Atlantic in the Woodvale Challenge, starting in December this year. We'll hopefully be the 5th womens four to compete the race and will be aiming to break the world record of 51 days! More realistically the race is likely to take around 10 weeks to complete the 3000 nautical miles from La Gomera to Antigua.

I was wondering whether Grosvenor would be able to support my by putting an article on your website and a link to our website www.atlanticwaterbabes.com please? I'd also be very grateful if you could make a mention of our challenge in the newsletter.

Aside from the Atlantic row it would also be great to get in touch with anyone there who remembers me!

Thank you,

Karen Radband.

Safety Warning - To all drivers - please be aware that Grace passed her driving test last week after umpteen attempts - so please take extra care on the roads.

Boat Naming Ceremony - The club's new eight will officially be named 'Duke of Westminster' in a ceremony at 11am on Saturday 7th November. His Grace will be naming the boat personally. So there will be no second outings that Saturday - we all need to get changed into our Jackets & Frocks (think Sherry Party) for the ceremony with accompanying drinks, buffet and photos.

140th Anniversary Ball - Tickets are now on sale for the ball - for facebookers the event page is here.

The event is taking place in the boathouse on the new first floor and will be black tie. Tickets are keenly priced at £39 and are likely to go fast as space is limited. For tickets contact Stoz, Becky Elliott or Rachel Jones

Raffle - Sarah Armstrong has emailed to give the results of the raflle that took place on Saturday 26th August. The winners are:

In total we raised £893.31, big thank you to everyone who sold tickets and also to Brian Chapman, Jerry Poupard and Chris Fawcett for donating the prizes.

World Masters - Grosvenor's veteran women trooped off to Vienna this week. After a cracking season they decided to go up against the international crews. I have just been looking at the results on the Masters website to see how they did. Unfortunately it looks like they didn't win any medals this time, but their trophy cabinets are already growning anyway ;-)

I had a telephone call a couple of weeks ago regarding the poll about the name of the veteran women's squad. While the results over completely irrelevant and they can do what they wish (are you going to argue with Rachel?) they are over-whelmingly in favour of the entrenched 'Old Bags' tags. However, the 'un-named telephoner' has suggested that the squad have two levels..... the old school, die hard 'Old Bags' and the shiny new, glamourous 'Baguettes'. Well I think that is brilliant.

Quote of the Month - Tonight we had 34 people start the latest learn to row course and they all seem to enjoy the first session....."This is a boat, etc"

When we all sat down to have a chat and get to know everyone afterwards, one of the new athletes introduced himself to the group.... "Hi, I am XXXXX and I have never done any watersports, I don't like them and I don't like water". While another chap, when asked why he decided to join the club said "I was walking in Grosvenor Park a while ago and looked down and thought, ooh, there is a canal, so went to have a look and decided to row on it".

For the people who were on the last Learn to Row course, there is a meeting at the club on Saturday 22nd at 10am.

Some advance notice for you too - Club circuits start again on Tuesday 15th September at 7pm in the Clubhouse - people on the learn to row courses are welcome to come to those to (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm)

Stourport Regatta - Grosvenor brought home another haul of pots at the weekend, this time from Stourport Regatta. The Novice Men, Tim Goldsborough, John McMahon and Grace Neal were the worthy victors.

20 days to go!! - With less than 20 days to go the prize draw date is looming, so you need to return tickets stubs and cash ASAP. Give them to Sarah A who will be at the club on Tuesday (11th) and Wednesday (12th) or to Chris Hudson. Anyone who has yet to buy/sell tickets and would like some should e-mail raffle@rocketmail.com or see Sarah A at the club.

1st Prize - Olympic shirt signed by Redgrave & Pinsent 2nd Prize - Digital Camera 3rd Prize- £100 cash 4th Prize - MP4 player

(PS - It looks like Peterborough Regatta went with a swing - but I haven't heard anything about it yet - so someone tell me! All I have seen is a tent pole and a bra coming off.....)

Learn to Row Tournament - Last night the club saw the end of the latest Learn to Row course and we rounded it off in style with a tournament that mixed the learn to rowers with the novice squads. Four eights raced and the eventual winners were congratulated by the Captain. -

The Winning crew was Paul, Becky M, Steve, Laura, Kevin, Karen, Lisa and Emma (who was called away to drink - so was ably replaced by Becky E for the final races).

Danny provided us with a BBQ and Jo kept us hydrated at the bar. There are lots of photos up in the gallery now.

The learn to rowers who would like to do some more rowing have been asked to come down on Saturday 22nd August (in the morning I think) - Chris will send an email out with exact details shortly.

Poll - Well I know it isn't actually open for debate, and democracy doesn't really apply to the readers of this website as a whole, but it has been suggested to have a poll on what you all think they should be branded.....

Race Report - Rachel Jones has written an adrenaline pumping race report telling the story of the Old Bags Eight and the gold medal winning four from Veterans Henley. Now up in the results section.

Rachel has also asked me to talk about the 'rebrand' of the aforementioned Old Bags to the 'Grosvenor Goddesses'. This is to reflect the influx of new, thrusting athletes into the squad. So GGs it is from now on!

AGM News - A record seems to have been set.... the AGM all done in less than an hour tonight. No unusual proposals, all members happy. A few new members on the committee - Rick Anderson is to be Vice Captain, Laura Champion the Press Officer, Liz Jervis the Treasurer, Becky Elliot is the committee member in charge of 'housekeeping standards'. Facilities manager is unfilled, and the committee member in charge of gym equipment was unfilled, but Kirk Chester got his arm twisted after the meeting to do that one.

Madame Grosvenor (AKA Chris Fawcett) remains as Chairman, Phil Hill as Vice Chairman, Chris Hudson as Captain, Mike Allwood as Secretary, Stoz as Social Secretary, Jo Jones as Bar Manager, Colin Morris as Membership Secretary and Mike Allwood also heading up the Veteran Men in charge of the Dee Autumn Head.

Chris Fawcett announced as part of her report that the Duke of Westminster has given permission for the new eight to be names after him and His Grace will be coming to the club to officially name the boat one weekend in September or October... date to be confirmed.

The 140th Anniversary Dinner and Ball has been set to take place on Saturday 24th October. Tickets will be on sale soon at £39.

Bewdley Regatta - STOP PRESS........Goranka, stalwart of the women's novice squad for the last 6 years is no longer a novice! How she will cope with this elevation of status we are not sure.... but WELL DONE GORANKA!!

I haven't heard Sunday's results, but on Saturday the Novice Women did very well and ended up in a Grosvenor vs Grosvenor final in the coxed fours. Goranks, Becky Elliott, Becky Madison and Laura Champion were in the winning crew. Grace Neal also won her novice pot in single sculls.

Ben Dickinson and Tim Goldsborough had some 'steering issues' apparently in their singles and the double. The novice men did very well for their first regatta - getting through to the final on Saturday.

The Old Bags didn't race (they found out before going down) as there was no opposition.

There are plenty of photos to choose from courtesy of Kathy, Grace, John and Chris - links are up in the gallery.

Learn to Row - The current learn to row course is coming to an end soon, and we have a had a great set of athletes. There are some photos up in the gallery of one of the sessions.

To round off this course we are going to hold a tournament on Wednesday 5th August (from 6.30pm) where the learn to row athletes will be racing. The Novice men and women have been invited to come and get involved and it would be great if the rest of the club could come down and support, help and meet them all. The BBQ will be on and the bar open!

Scratch Regatta - Despite my dithering over the weather, and last minute decision to postpone the event, I was persuaded by the novice women that the sun would shine on Sunday and we should go ahead. So we did, and everyone got soaked! However, the racing was great fun, Danny did a very welcome BBQ and Jo, Rob & Victoria keeping the bar running for all the honed athletes.

The winning crew was made up of Tim Betteridge, Roxi Parkinson, Becky Elliot and Sarah Armstrong, coxed by Chris Fawcett and Chris Hudson presented them all with glass tankards. Well done!

Scratch Regatta - It's on! Well subject to the weather - but all is set for Sunday after normal rowing - so from 12.30pm. The bar will be open (necessary to drink between races....) and there will be a BBQ on the balcony.

So come down, put your name in the hat and you never know who you could be racing with! The racing will be in coxed fours from the Bandstand to the Clubhouse .

Even if you don't want to race - come and cheer the crews on and veg out in the bar.

Veterans Henley - Old bags do it again! The coxed four of Karen Hough, Rachel Jones, Fiona Claymore and Janet Vorberg, coxed by Sarah Armstrong won their even yesterday in Henley. The Old Bags 8 did well, but were knocked out. The Veteran Men were also knocked out. Jo and Iwan raced in singles but unfortunately didn't bring any medals home - but Iwan did bring a broken boat home after 'someone' fell on top of it on the trailer. Oops.

While wondering if we should refer to the veteran men as the 'Old Farts' to match the women's much prized 'Old Bags' tag, I have been informed that there are moves afoot to rename them 'Grosvenor Goddesses'. Hmmmmm - think I still prefer the self effacement of the old name.

Gong nomination - Sarah Armstrong has let me know that Senior Men's coach. Paul Turner, has been nominated for 'Sporting Champion of the Year'.......

BALLS - A lot of people have been asking about the Summer Ball. Unfortunately the venue we wanted couldn't do it for the price we wanted (Red House). However, plans are still afoot to hold a 'posh frock' event..... but I would like your help.

Robin Witter has again been very generous in offering use of his River Garden which is a fantastic venue with the pool, jacuzzi and the general setting. However, due to the cost of marquees (upwards of £4000!) once the food and band/disco are added in, the ticket prices get rather expensive - I would estimate around £60 each. So, another option would be using a function rooms in one of the city centre hotels (or race course) which would bring the cost down. Finally we could hold a dinner in the club - (without the smart marquee lining as at the last dinner) and have a DJ afterwards.

Remember, we don't aim to make any profit from these events, just to cover costs and for you to have a good time. So - could you vote in this poll? And could you get everyone else who may not check the site regularly to vote too?!

Raft Race - It would be a good idea to avoid being anywhere near the land stage on Sunday morning (12/7/9) as it is the annual Chester Raft Race. The race starts at about 10am (the start line is usually outside the Boathouse Pub) and the rafters have to go downstream over the weir to the finish line before paddling back up to the meadows.

Anyone on the river when the rafts are about is liable to be pelted with flour bombs, rotting fruit and be asked to 'show us your cox'.

Prize giving (for fastest and best presented raft takes place on the meadows at around 12.30pm, so the river should be fairly clear by then. There are usually BBQs going on on the meadows after the race until late.

Henley Royal Regatta - Sarah Armstrong has sent in a race report which is now up in the results section.

Henley Royal Regatta - Ben Dickinson tells me that it was so hot at Henley yesterday that gentlemen were allowed to take their jackets off in the Stewards enclosure. Crikey - what next? They will be letting women in wearing boob tubes soon.

Anyway, unfortunately the Grosvenor 8+ that was pre-selected to race in the Thames Cup were beaten in the first round by 2 1/4 lengths. However, this was against the Molesey A crew who have been seeded and was the fastest race of the day by some margin. I notice from the HRR results page that Agecroft were also knocked out as was one of the Royals crews.

Swimming - I suppose if you are going to capsize, this week is the week to do it. Not so good if your coach has their mobile phone at the ready to send me a photo of it though........

However, true to form, it was done in style (what would you expect from the girl who came to the barn dance, not in a mere cowboy hat and checked shirt - oh no - full on cow complete with udders is the way to do it).

"um well... i pretty much pushed off from the landing stage and capsized the first time... the second time i managed to get in a few strokes so i could capsize right in front of the Boat House pub so all the diners could see... i am very considerate like that you see"

Quote of the Month - The new learn to row course has kicked off with a huge number of new rowers - this week there were two eights and a four out. Of course with any new rower, there is an element of worry (what number am I?, why does this seat keep rolling around?, does my bum look big in this lycra?) but Chris Fawcett told me about one of the eights where the coach was heard saying,

"Three....... THREE! If you could just stop screaming then maybe the rest of the crew would be able to stop panicking....."

Prize Raffle - Sarah Armstrong has emailed to say that the tickets for the raffle are now on sale. There are some great prizes (ie ones that you would actually want to win!):

First Prize Signed (by Redgrave & Pinsent) GB Olympic Shirt
2nd Prize Digital Camera
3rd Prize £100
4th Prize MP4 Player (photo's, video player etc.).

Certainly rather better than cheap bottle of wines or last years 'cute kittens' calendars that seem to be the staple for a lot of raffles ;-)

The tickets are available from Chris Fawcett, Chris Hudson & Sarah Armstrong (email raffle@rocketmail.com). If you could help by selling tickets to your family, friends and work colleagues it would be great. Just think of all the times you have had to buy tickets from people at work... turn the tables! Most members should have been given tickets to sell, but if you haven't, please contact Chris, Chris or Sarah.

Marlow Regatta 2 - Oops - the videos were actually from last year's regatta - but I will leave them up as it is still amusing to see Paul Turner racing in a big floppy hat.

Chris Hudson has sent in some results.... Neither the 4- or 8 made the final. However the 8 was quick and was good enough to pre-qualify for Henley. The 4- will have to qualify though - but they have a good chance.