Happily for all competitors, the weather forecasts were wrong and the 5th of November offered excellent racing conditions for the Fours Head of the River Race.  The weather was dry and mild (handy when you’re marshalling in the 400s) with a gentle breeze, and the water conditions as good as you’ll find on the tideway. Following the sprinkling of GB squad members racing in the pairs head, there was a large contingent of the current GB squad out competing for their respective clubs and picking up more silverware for their groaning trophy cabinets. (Unlike in training outings I believe they all made it home in one piece as well.)  The Hor4s twitter account disclosed that the race committee run a sweepstake on the number of crews in the top 100 who hit the buoy at Chiswick Pier – and true to form, the crews marshalling in that area enjoyed the sight of crew after non-tideway crew beat up the Chiswick pier buoy.

Fortunately this isn’t a “key target” race for the club, so we had a mere ten crews from Vesta competing across men’s and women’s, scull and sweep, among the 455 crews that completed the course. With some sub-tastic entries, three of the Vesta crews raced for time only. The event saw the usual mixed experiences whereby some crews had an open fairway for about 4 miles – a steering experience never enjoyed during training! – while others fought for space with competitors either side.

There were no wins for the club but good racing throughout, and some notable performances. The men’s IM1 4- finished eighth out of 36, including as it did the winning IM2 pair combination from the pairs head (Richard Lear and Simon Woodfine). The women’s IM1 4x came third in a large, and at the top end very pacy, field of 38 boats. Meanwhile there were two second places, for the women’s senior 4- and the women’s IM1 4-, the latter fighting off a fellow Vesta crew in the same category. Their pace must have had something to do with coach Jamie Low’s advice that as lightweights they should keep it “fast and loose” – probably not the first time such advice has been successful. (Ahem.)

Given the shortage of boats for the vast (in number) senior women’s squad, both the senior and IM2 women’s boats had to be returned to Hammersmith post-race, meaning their crews had a Putney-Chiswick warm up, followed by a Putney-Hammersmith warm down followed by a long walk back to the club. All crews had limited training time in their racing formats, with the luckier crews getting more than one outing before Saturday. The IM2 crew tried to fit in some last minute practise, and so gathered at 5.45am on Friday morning amid heavy rain, thunder and lightning,  only to find that some especially secure locking of the boatshed (Captain, please note) meant a quick borrow of incorrectly geared blades from KCS. Getting up early is such a good idea in theory…

All crews enjoyed taking local scalps, in addition to visitors who may not be so familiar with the stream. However, perhaps the greatest achievement of the day was that of our Communications Officer Aga Siemiginowska (IM1 4+). If anyone deserves a medal, it’s her, for managing to complete the race for the first time out of four (yes, four) attempts, having been defeated in previous years by crew injury, weather and broken steering. Well done Aga!

Well done also and thank you to the efforts in the bar and the kitchen, as marshalled by Ailsa Tremayne, for providing bacon baguettes, cakes, hot drinks and the odd pint or two to many a competitor and spectator over the course of the day.

- Martha K

• The women’s development squad followed up a fantastic season with a win at Richmond Regatta in W.IM3 8+ (crew:  A. van Den Berg, S. Schorm, S. Barton, S. Head, S. Schlosser, V. Harvey, R. Withers, T. Hudson, V. Taylor (cox)).
• CORRECTION: Kingston Regatta passed with a few entries and at least TWO wins:
• o    Mas C 4- Peter Simpson, James Weatherstone, Fred Beaud, Bryan Williams beat Kingston GS Associates
• o    Nov 2x James Ulner and Nico Russman
• … Fortunately we were back on winning form at a rainy Molesey Regatta, with no less than four wins – all in sculling:
• o   Gianni Galavotti finally popped his novice sculling cherry in style, with wins at both Nov 1x and IM3 1x
• o   Athene McGregor-Macdonald and Natalie “Red” Demblon also lost their novice status, in the W.Nov 2x
• o   Martha Kelly notched up a win in W.IM3 1x
• Back in Henley-on-Thames (for Henley Town and Vistitors) Vesta claimed more silverware, this time with some help from our friends:
• o   Emi Furuhata lost her novice status in the W.Nov 4+ in conjunction with HSBC RC
• o   Kat Hedges defended her quad title in the W.IM2 4x with alma mater club Eton Excelsior.
• And last but not least, in the Barnes and Mortlake Regatta, Mas C 2x was won by Peter Simpson and Frederic Beaud who beat Putney Town in the semi-final and Cygnet in the Final to win.

Well done Vesta! Now back to the ergos to prep for the new season ahead!!

- Martha and Aga

The women’s squad entered WIM3 and won the category convincingly with a time of 12.59.4.  Moreover, they were the fastest women’s crew of the day, beating 30 other women’s crews and a few men’s crews along the way!   The crew, from stroke to bow, consisted of:  Tammy Bernard, Helen Edwards, Nell Pascall, Aga Siemiginowska, Vicky Brock, Liane Higgins, Natalie Demblon, Sandy Kurek and Ro Thompson (cox).

The men’s squad entered IM1 and came third out of 7 in this category, with a finish time of 11.42.7.  The crew, from stroke to bow, consisted of Daniel O’Dowd, Robert Shaw, Samuel McCarthy, Michael Hughes, Nicholas Neveling, Jonathan Brown, Alister Campbell, Gianni Galavotti and Helen Gray, (cox).

- Tammy Bernard

(Photos copyright Birdman Photography)

The senior women’s squad entered both the Women’s Elite and the Women’s Intermediate.  The Elite crew, from stroke to bow, consisted of: Alex Johnson, Lara Brock, Ailsa Tremayne, Aga Siemiginowska, Nell Pascall, Susan Atkinson, Ellie Dorman, Kat Hedges and Julia Hedley (cox).  The Intermediate crew, from stroke to bow, consisted of:  Tammy Bernard, Sandy Kurek, Caroline Newbury, Helen Edwards, Vicky Brock, Liane Higgins, Liz Crighton, Kitty Lowings and Ro Thompson (cox).  The Intermediate crew won their category with a time of 12.58.27, narrowly beating the Elite crew who finished with a time of 12.59.54.

Winners of Women’s Intermediate: from left to right, Caroline Newbury, Tammy Bernard, Liane Higgins, Kitty Lowings, Helen Edwards, Vicky Brock, Sandy Kurek and Liz Crighton

Women's Elite Crew

The women’s development squad gamely entered Women’s Intermediate category.  The crew, from stroke to bow, consisted of:  Anna Vandenberg, Sybille Schorm, Sarah Head, Marie-Elena Nilsback, Sian Withers, Thea Hudsen, Deborah Croshaw, Emi Furuhata and Victoria Taylor (Cox).  For some of the crew, this was their first ever race, so despite the shaky start their coach, James Unler, was delighted that they finished only about a minute and a half off the top boats in their category, with a time of 14.23.87.

Women's Intermediate Crew

The Men’s Elite A crew finished in 11:46.97, the Men’s Intermediate crew finished in 12:25.44, the Masters A crew (Jamie Halliday, George Fieldhouse, Barry Clarke, Ariel Perez, Matt Gilliver, James Watts, Angry Vinny McGovern, Colm Hardiman and Andrew Macmillan (cox)) finished in 12:39.12 and the Masters B in 12:57.47.

Men's Masters Crew

Men's Intermediate Crew

- Tammy Bernard

Michael Hughes and Jon Brown raced in the IM2 1x and IM3 1x respectively, Big Jon qualified for the final after an impressive heat but lost to a strong Bewl/Exeter Uni sculler. They teamed up for the IM2 2x and after winning the heat, the gunship won a closely fought final.

Peter Simpson convincing won the Masters C 1x against Erith before doubling up with Janet Simpson in the mixed masters B 2x where they lost to a powerful local crew.

Paul Mew beat David Wright from UTRC in a heat of the Masters F 1x only to be disqualified for steering and therefore missing out on a certain pot in the final. He then teamed up with David in a VRC/UTRC composite to defend the Lea Autumn Masters E 2x but they were unfortunately out-gunned in a close race by the national champions from Poplar.

Photo: Vesta’s entry to Lea Autumn regatta, won IM2 2x and Masters C 1x

Here is a roundup of the Summer 2010 Vesta wins so far:

• Jamie Wooller won Novice Singles at Richmond Regatta

• Bevan Goulden, Laurence Manning, Nick Nevelling, Harry Bond, Alister Campbell, Chris Clements, Chris Burnell and Jamie Wooller, coxed by Sophy Fuchs won Intermediate 2 Eights at Kingston Regatta

• Jamie Halliday won Senior Coxless Pairs as part of a Vesta/Burton Leander composite at Burton Regatta

• Lara Brock and Vics Mcleod-Moore won Intermediate 3 Doubles at Molesey Regatta

• Hilary Blandy won Novice Singles at Molesey Regatta

• Alister Campbell and Laurence Manning won Elite Coxless Pairs and Intermediate 1 Coxless Pairs at Henley Town & Visitors Regatta

• Kitty Lowings, Vics Mcleod-Moore, Kat Hedges and Kate Tilbury won Intermediate 2 Quadruple Sculls as a Vesta/Mortlake composite at Henley Town & Visitors Regatta

• Kat Hedges won Masters B Quadruple Sculls as part of a Vesta/Eton Excelsior Composite at Maidenhead Regatta

More wins to follow at Peterborough and Oxford City I’m sure…!

So it was that they disappeared off to Mulhouse for a week long training camp (noticeably without the distraction of the Men’s Squad) where they plotted their takeover of the world of women’s club rowing.

Winning their heat comfortably at Wallingford Regatta, the IM2 8+ of cox: Julia Hedley, Emily Trant, Helen Edwards, Vicks McLeod-More, Aga Siemiginowska, Hillary Blandy, Kat Hedges, Alex Johnson and Rahma Barclay caught the scent of blood when they lined up for the final. Alongside them at the start were old Putney embankment rivals Thames RC and the club that had denied Vesta a HWR ’09 Medal, York City RC – the scene was set for payback.

In a blanket finish, mighty Vesta pulled out all the stops to beat Thames and York City into 2^nd and 3^rd in a time of 07:02.20.

It was about 7°C, and they do say revenge is a dish best served cold.

Other notable performances on the day came from Kitty Lowings and Alex Johnson coming in a very respectable 2nd in their IM1.2- final and the Vesta Men’s Senior 4- of Rob Shaw, Nick Nevelling, Harry Bond and Jamie Halliday, who despite illness in their boat managed to qualify for their final in a very tough field.

With entries in the IM1, IM2, WIM1, WIM2, WIM3, N and WN categories, the club was thoroughly represented at all levels of racing and with seven crews entered, Vesta had the largest amount of entries for any club on the day.

After decent performances in the Remenham Head the previous week, expectations were high for the Senior Men and Senior Women and in true Vesta fashion, they did not disappoint.

The Men’s IM1 crew of Cox: Liz Head, Laurence Manning, Christoph Schrader, Rob Shaw, Nick Neveling, Michael Hughes, Alister Campbell, Nick Ireland and Bevan Goulden won their category pennant in a time of 12:18.8.

The Women’s IM1 crew of Cox: Julia Hedley, Emily Trant, Sarah Wood, Lara Brock, Charlie Dempster, Vics McLeod-More, Kat Hedges, Mary Francis and Rahma Barclay was the Fastest Women’s Crew with a time of 13:28.6.

The Women’s IM2 crew of Cox: Katy Hinks, Hilary Blandy, Kitty Lowings, Athene McGregor-McDonald, Aga Siemiginovska, Jenny Douglas, Helen Edwards, Alex Johnson and Vicky Brock won their category pennant in a time of 13:50.7.

For the rest of the Vesta Results, please visit the results page.
Photographs used with kind permission of Birdman Photography, please visit their site for more images.

There were two crews representing Vesta taking part this year, both coming away with good results.

A VetD.4x- comprising of Paul Mew, Robin Purkiss, Michael Hughes & Peter Simpson did well placing 6th out of 11 in their category and 37th overall despite getting over-friendly with a Tyrian coxed four (pictures here).

Vesta/Auriol Kensington had a win in the VetB.4x- category, coming second overall. Starting second, they overtook the crew in front of them quite soon after the start leaving them clear water and perfect conditions all the way to the finish.

A veritable flotilla of Vesta scullers was out representing their club at this year’s Scullers Head.

There were some very positive results from members of all the squads despite many of the participants recovering from the recent illness that had swept through the club.

As per the norm for a Vesta event everything went smoothly and thanks go out to all who helped out with the organisation and running of the event.

Full Results