BUSA Regatta: This weekend sees 43 Universities descend on Strathclyde Park for what is the largest university students rowing regatta in Europe. Over 600 crews and over 2000 students will compete for a variety of individual and team events with points from each event contributing to the overall Victor Ludorum trophy. Scottish entrants include crews from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Heriot-Watt, Robert Gordon, St Andrews, Strathclyde, and one one of Scotland's newest universities, the University of the West of Scotland.
As well as BUSA medals and points to be won, selectors will also be reviewing performances with a view to nominating crews for BUSA and GB representation at the European Universities Rowing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in August and the FISU World University Rowing Championships in Serbia in September. Racing starts at approximately 9am each day with races every 8 minutes right through to approximately 5pm. Spectators are very welcome and admission to the Park is free of charge.
The draw and all the other relevant documents are now available on the
BUSA weekly mailout.
28 April
World Masters: St Andrew Boat Club are thinking about taking a trailer to this year’s FISA Masters Regatta in Trakai, Lithuania - if anybody is interested in putting boats on it, could they please contact either John Munro or Iain Wilson. Time is of the essence as they need to establish provisional numbers this week.
Strathclyde Park Regatta: This year's SPR was one of the biggest events in memory, with the first day's racing starting at 8.30am on a wet and windy Saturday morning and finishing right on time in good, tail-wind conditions at almost 8pm that evening. Sunday's conditions were excellent, with very little wind and enough sunshine to cause athletes and spectators to reach for the sunscreen. Full results are available in pdf format.
For possibly the first time ever, men's and women's novice fours ran to heats and semi-finals, with Edinburgh University victorious in both events after three rounds of racing. Top honours in the blue-riband Open Eights events went to Reading RC/Aberdeen University BC in the women's race and Belfast RC in the men's race.
It was encouraging to see so many visitors from across the water and south of the border, with Belfast RC and Galway RC racing in numbers as well as visitors from Reading, Berwick and Talkin Tarn clubs. In particular, congratulations to the Belfast pair who decided to take a dip in the lake prior to their race and then managed to win in a photo-finish against their Scottish opponents!
Photograph: Edinburgh University and Belfast RC battling for victory in Men's Open Eights. Photo courtesy of Roy Sinclair.
24 April
SPR Registration and Substitutions: All competitors are reminded that licences should be taken with them to registration at the Regatta Office. Any crew requiring to make a substitution must provide licences for ALL members of the crew when they check-in.
23 April
Wins Affecting Status: Following the North-East Regatta, the wins affecting status file (see right hand side) has been updated.
Wanted: Rented 1x for BUSA: Single sculler desperately looking for 50-65kg 1x in good condition. Wanted to rent for BUSA regatta at Strathclyde Park on the 4th May - any make considered. If you can help, contact Becky at beci_humps123[at]hotmail.co.uk.
21 April
Strathclyde Park Regatta: The provisional SPR draw is now available - pdf, xls along with a draw letter. There was a very large entry and the timetabling has once again been a huge challenge. The organisers recognise that some of the turnaround times will need competitors to be slick and organised in advance, but hope that everyone will work with us to keep to the regatta schedule. (Please note that race 176 is not an error and the race will be run from the 2k start to the 1k line.)
Applications for Boat Hire at SPR using the published form may now be made and should be submitted no later than 8pm on Wednesday 23 April.
BUSA Boat Hire: Could any clubs wishing to apply to hire NRA fleet boats at BUSA, please use the BUSA Boat Hire form.
SARA Team Manager: Any applications for the Team Manager should be sent to Jo Ramsay, SARA Administrator, by the end of this week.
SPR Boat Hire: There is a new excel format for the boat hire applications for SPR. The application form can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page. Applications may only be made AFTER the SPR draw is published and must be made on the published form. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible after the FINAL draw for the event is published, and no later than 8pm on Wednesday 23 April.
Rowing "Howff" in Glasgow: Jim MacRitchie announces a new opportunity available for rowing people to meet socially in central Glasgow on a weekly basis, commencing on Tuesday 22nd April 2008. The venue is the Ingram Bar in Queen Street, just off George Square, and convenient to various stations. Best to arrive between 11am and noon, so that a 'corner' can be established. The Ingram does bar meals and carries a range of real ales and malt whiskies. Clearly the venture is aimed at those of a certain age, but those still under the cosh of employment would be welcome when free. There will be one simple house rule of our own, because of the transient nature of those attending - buy your own food/drink. Otherwise SAGA [or GAGA?] Rules will prevail.
10 April
North East Regatta: A reminder that entries for the North East Regatta close at 10am this Sunday, 13th April. Further information and entry forms on the CofD website
SPR: Entries for SPR close on Tuesday at 5pm. The organisers would like to remind everyone that it would be much appreciated if all clubs could type their entries using the downloadable forms (see right hand side of this page).
Castle Semple Regatta: Information for the Castle Semple Regatta on 17 May is now available on the Castle Semple RC website.
7 April
Licences: Competitors are reminded by Sandy Walker, Convenor of Racing Control, that a Racing Licence is required AT TIME OF ENTRY for Strathclyde Park Regatta or they will need to purchase a Day Ticket. Entries close on 15 April so he needs to have any outstanding licence applications now.
6 April
Wins affecting status: A list of regatta wins affecting statuses is now available on the right hand side navigation panel of this page and the Events and Results page - this will be updated as the regatta season progresses.
Glasgow Silver Regatta: The first regatta of the 2008 season took place on the River Clyde yesterday over a new course in beautifully sunny, if a little chilly, conditions. A short report of the day is available on the Glasgow Rowing Club website.
4 April
Team Manager: The SARA invite applications for a new Team Manager following the resignation of Lee Boucher due to his appointment as Performance Co-ordinator. This position is a voluntary, unpaid post. The Team Manager will be responsible for ensuring that athletes, coaches, voluntary helpers etc., together with boats, taking part at trials and regattas are available at the appropriate time and place ready for racing, and will liase with those concerned. The Team Manager will be a member of the Performance Planning Group and will report to the SARA Vice President, Performance Rowing. Applications should be sent to Jo Ramsay, SARA Administrator.
Glasgow Silver Regatta: An error in the provisional draw has required some re-drawing and re-scheduling. The events mostly affected are: Men's Vet 2x, Men's Nov 2x, Women's Res2 2x and Women's Nov 2x. Check your race times carefully if you / your club is competing in these events. Also check again if you are entered in 2 or more events, as your race times may well be a bit different. Even if you don't think you're affected - please check your race times. The final draw is now on the GRC website - any issues will be resolved on the day. Please speak to GRC as early as possible if you think you have a problem.
2 April
Glasgow Silver Regatta: Glasgow Rowing Club would like to thank everyone for their entries. The provisional draw for Saturday is now available - please let the organisers know ASAP if you think there are errors or problems. Crew instructions and course information will be available shortly.
1 April
GB Juniors: After four days of intensive trials at the GB Spring Assessments in Nottingham, Alistair Sarahs and Sean Dixon of George Watson's College Boat Club have been selected to row for Great Britain in the forthcoming Munich International Junior Regatta on 3rd and 4th May 2008. Congratulations to both athletes and their coach Jim Ferguson on this achievement.
HIR Selection: All athletes seeking selection for the Scotland 2008 HIR team should note the trial scheduled for April will no longer take place. Senior athletes are reminded that the Strathclyde Park Regatta will be a monitored regatta and they are encouraged to compete in Open 1x, for those seeking selection in sculling events, and Open 2-, for those seeking selection in sweep events. Junior athletes are also encouraged to enter 1x, 2- but performance will also be monitored in 2x. Questions regarding HIR selection should be directed to Graeme Cunningham.
Sales and Wants Page: An Empacher single scull is up for sale on the Sales and Wants page.
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Strathclyde Park Regatta: This year's SPR was one of the biggest events in memory, with the first day's racing starting at 8.30am on a wet and windy Saturday morning and finishing right on time in good, tail-wind conditions at almost 8pm that evening. Sunday's conditions were excellent, with very little wind and enough sunshine to cause athletes and spectators to reach for the sunscreen. 
