I'll be racing at Northwich Head on Easter Monday to see if I can still hack it. I'll be the oldest single sculler in the event, starting 15th in division one at 9.45am.
Come and jeer!
Well I spent much of the weekend cleaning and polishing my racing boat, which was in dire need of a good clean. It is part of my pre-race routine. Then on Monday I raced my arch rival, the great and good George Perrin from Runcorn Rowing Club and he beat me by the usual margin, 15 seconds. But this year I am in the age group above him and the rules gave me a 16 second handicap advantage over him so I beat him by 1 second and won the veteran's handicap event. So was it worth cleaning my boat? You bet. Full results of Northwich Head available here.
I am going to Wadebridge in Cornwall on the weekend of 8/9th April for a reunion with my old university rowing crew.
I shall be taking a Magnum 21 trimaran with me for demonstrations at Falmouth (because the tide will be out at Padstow) but I also intend to take a Turbo II Classic and a Yole Class double. These are for my old mates to have a row in if they want over the weekend. But there is also an opportunity for customers in the SW of England to have a trial in either of these boats.
If you want to take advantage of this opportunity please call me as soon as possible on 0870 770 2728 to make an arrangement in advance.
The North of England Head of the River Race takes place at Chester tomorrow, 12th March 2005. I shall be there with a YOLE CLASS and a TURBO II CLASSIC if anybody wants a trial.
If you've never seen a rowing race before this is a good one to watch. There are plenty of vantage points. The race is 3 & 1/4 miles from Eccleston village to Chester. Good places to watch are:
At the Start at 10.15 am.
From the Red House pub.
From Sandy Lane.
From the meadows.
Normally there would be about 150 to 200 crews, mainly eights but with youngsters racing in quad sculling boats and octuples. Usually the race is divided into a morning division and an afternoon division but this year because of the height and time of tide the race is restricted to one division of 110 boats.