Vesta Rowing Club

8 men, 2 coxes, 2 coaches, 14 pots. Not a bad result for the crews! — with Scott Ellis, Luke Martin, Michael Bartrop, Becs Packer, Thea Hudson, Matthew Pierpoint, Matthew Ladds, Elliott Bachmann, Adrian Turner and George Wallas and Ali McCormick.

The novice boys arrived for a showdown on home turf with a point to prove, after an aborted assault for the Novice Club pennant at HORR and a disappointing result at Hammersmith Amateur, where the eight was beaten by a canvas by AK and the coxed four lost a frantic final to London after the TRC cox adopted ramming tactics.  Despite some recent crew changes (due to rowing proving too manly for some) confidence was high.

The first race of the day was at a rather antisocial 9am in the eight against UCL. Fresh with memories of cruising past the exact same crew in the first few hundred metres of Quintin Head in January, confidence was brimming. After a fairly even start, Vesta settled into a solid rhythm and moved into a healthy lead by Barn Elms, with Thea steering the perfect course using the stream and UCL veering off towards Fulham. Vesta went on to win by a comfortable margin of three or more lengths, progressing to the final, despite half the crew suffering from early morning lethargy and an overly ambitious breakfast.

Two hours later and with everyone fully awake, and on a sugar high after too many Eric the Elephants, the 4+ set out to face the unknown quantity of school boys from Kings College Wimbledon. With a lengthy delay at the start, due to a booze cruise going past, there was plenty of time to eye up the opposition. The crew staring back at us looked on the weedy side (even in comparison to our own noodle sitting at bow for Vesta) and extremely young.  Fortunately our blushes were saved and, although Vesta were on the sluggish side out of the blocks, we quickly overtook the school boys and cruised to a victory by 3 or 4 lengths.

Within minutes it was straight back out for the final in the eight against our local rivals from HSBC. We had not seen this crew during the head season so it was hard to know what to expect, although their stroke man did appear to have come straight out of a Head and Shoulders ad. After another even start, Vesta pushed out to a huge lead.  Egged on with calls from Thea such as “embarrass them” and the Vesta roar, the crew raced for the line – failing to ease up despite half the crew having the 4+ final to still race – and achieved a verdict of “easily”. It was very satisfying to hear later that HSBC felt “there was no way they were novices!”

With the novice cherry well and truly popped, the 4+ went out to face Sons of Thames in the final full of confidence. In the last race before the tide turned, the umpire was keen to get things going, but despite the rush Vesta nailed the best start of the day and were a length clear within the first 30 seconds. The totally impartial race umpire later reported in the bar that the race was won after the first 10 strokes. Vesta went on to win in another “easily” verdict, rowing with a chunky rhythm and a punchy stroke rate of 35.

Cheered home by a packed Vesta balcony, with frequent calls of “get on Barty”, the squad went round to collect all 14 pots and preceded to consume vast quantities of alcohol out of them, including some cheeky cava!  All in all a great day for the Novice boys with 12 points to show for it! Next stop Met…

This weekend sees Vesta crews racing on our home stretch of the Tideway for Putney Town ‘International-Local-Olympic’ Regatta 2013 and a club sculler racing in the British masters champs at the National Water Sports Centre.

Vesta kicks off racing at 9am on Saturday in the women’s novice coxed fours versus Parrs Priory and at 9:10 we have our men’s novice eight racing University College London BC, so get down to the club early if you want to cheer! Fear not if you can’t get out of bed, we also have our men’s novice four at 11:55 and Jenny Cann is making her debut in the W.IM.3 1x at 16:40. Good luck! The full timetable of racing is here. I very much hope that our crews get a successful first taste of ‘summer’ pot-hunting!

On Sunday Fred Beaud competes in the MasC IM.3 1x in a straight final at the Masters Champs at Holme Pierrpoint in Nottingham. His race is at 15:20 in a full six lane line up, including RAF, Bristol and Birmingham scullers. The timetable is here. Good luck and I hope there will be some good racing conditions there!

The senior squads are now preparing for the final few weeks before respective ‘Henleys’ and you can see the Upcoming Events in the right column of big and small local regattas. There was some good racing at Wallingford, the men’s coxless four showing particular promise, with times comparing favourably with some excellent crews. (At Ghent last weekend that Pangborne crew posted the fastest time in 4- notably.) Unfortunately Poplar was cancelled, which the senior women were hoping to go to. Next competition is now likely to be the Met in two weeks for the seniors.

A few points regarding upcoming events to note: there is a new one-off “Coronation Regatta” in the calendar this year at Windsor to celebrate the anniversary of 60 years since the Queen was crowned, which is the week before Henley Women’s.  Marlow Regatta at Dorney is ALSO a week before so it will not clash with HWR this year.  Thus the girls can take their pick if they fancy (more side by side racing practice at Windsor I guess)…. AND there is the Rowing World Cup at Dorney over the same weekend as Henley Women’s Regatta from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd.  A veritable feast of rowing for avid supporters to manage. I say if you go to Dorney one day for the World Cup, you ought to get down to Henley to support our ladies on another!

A message from Peter, Vesta’s Water Safety Adviser:

Refurbishment works have started on Battersea Railway Bridge and that the bridge will be closed for three months with immediate effect.  Only boats with a VHF radio who first ask the PLA can go through the bridge for the duration of the work.

This means that no rowing boats may proceed through Battersea Bridge. If you go downstream of Putney Bridge you must spin before the heliport.

A reminder of what Battersea Bridge looks like… it’s the one down from Putney Rail.

I would also like to remind crews that you should take great care if you go downstream of Putney Bridge. The club has had three incidents this season below the bridge which have been caused by a lack of familarity with the hazards and not keeping a proper look out.

Only go below Putney Bridge in good conditions, not within two hours of high tide and never at night. Do not stop or marshall near the recycling centre where there is commercial traffic. Keep a look out over both sides of the boat for bridges, moored craft and other river traffic. Remember there is no speed limit below Wandsworth Bridge so other boats can travel quickly and cause significant wash.

Thank you.

It’s been noticed that the Thames Clippers arriving and departing from Putney Pier have not been using the appropriate sound signals. If you see this happening, please report the instance to the PLA.

Remember (these in my words):

One short blast means “I am altering my course to starboard”

Two short blasts means “I am altering my course to port”

Three short blasts means “I am operating astern propulsion” AKA going in reverse

Four short blasts mean “I am turning around in the fairway”  one more short blast “to starboard” or two more short blasts “to port”

Five short blasts means “I am about to crash into you if you don’t do something” – generally move out of the way of the big boat NOW

One long blast means “I am coming around a corner or blind spot. Beware I am here.”

I hope this helps. The Rowing Code gives you the full details.