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August 2002
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June 2002


 
page visits since
1 January 2003

 

30 September

   
 
 

St Andrews University Sprint at Forfar cancelled: sadly, SAUBC have had to conclude that the number of crews entered is insufficient to cover the costs of running the regatta. Club president Anna Morton would like to thank the crews from the 3 clubs who did enter (Aberdeen BC, Dundee University and St Andrews Uni themselves). Maybe next year?

Asian Games get under way in Korea: why am I linking to this story on the FISA site? Well, isn't it strange that we can't seem to get that (allegedly) very 'western' sport of rowing in the Commonwealth Games, and yet there it is in the Asian Games. Hmm.

 
 

29 September

   
 
 

New club web sites to check out: one or two clubs have been moving or re-designing their web sites - good chance to check out what others are doing. In alphabetical order, Aberdeen BC have had a design overhaul, Glasgow RC has updated and moved address, Heriot Watt University BC have a very vibrant site (and new address) and Royal West of Scotland BC have moved their site.

Heriot Watt also have a new committee: time to update your records from the contacts page.

 
 

27 September

   
 
 

Rowing Champions to Meet in London for Mercedes-Benz World Rowing Sprints: an article/notice on the FISA site about the Sprint on the Serpentine (Hyde Park) on 5 October.

 
 

26 September

   
 
 

St Andrews University Sprint at Forfar: a reminder that entries close this Sunday at 5.00pm. The poster, events offered and entry form are all here. With the universities now returning, hopefully there will be a good entry. In addition to the postal route for entries, there is an e-mail address on the entry form at which entries will be accepted up to the official close at 5.00pm Sunday.

Faskally Coaching Weekend 19-20 October: applications for this need to be in within the next week and, with a limit on the number of places available, the sooner the better. The information notice and booking form are here. Please note that course organiser Liz Dawson is moving house so the new address to send forms to is Liz Dawson, c/o Aberdeen Boat Club, South Esplanade West, Aberdeen AB119AA.

 
 

25 September

   
 
 

Castle Semple draw: a pattern of post-Commonwealth exhaustion hitting the depth of entry for sprints may be emerging. Castle Semple is also a bit smaller than might have been hoped - but the 'smaller competitors' in the junior categories certainly seem to be enjoying themselves. Fingers crossed for the weather . . .

 
 

23 September

   
 
 

Unauthorised Discount! It appears I inadvertently discounted tickets for the St Andrew BC Garden Party when I advertised them in News on 18 September (scroll down for full details of the event): the correct price for adult tickets is £15.

Alan Sinclair, winner of J18 sculls, and Dick Ruane (Vet F) winner of men's veteran sculls at Aberdeen Sprint. The duo, both from Inverness RC, combined to win men's R2 double sculls. Photo: Roy Sinclair.
The 'Albyn Mares', winners of the women's novice challenge at the Aberdeen Sprint. Left to right: Wilma Tomb, Evelyn Baillie, Willie Drummond (coach), Tracy Scott and Jan Robertson. Apparently the name is to do with the road they all work in. Photo: W Drummond.
Good times had by all at the Aberdeen Sprint on Saturday. A largely local affair, but with welcome additions to add variety from Inverness, Strathclyde Park and Thames Tradesmen (yes, he actually did come all that way . . . ).

In parallel with the main sprint, there were local closed 'novice challenge' races for crews who had taken up rowing in the last 3 months.

 
 

20 September

   
 
 

Ones to watch in Seville tomorrow: for Scottish interest, look out or Kirsten McClelland-Brooks (ex Nithsdale) in the B final of LW1x, and for Peter Haining (ex Loch Lomond) and Stewart Bates (ex Clyde) in the final of LM8+.

Castle Semple Sprint: unfortunately I don't have event details or a link, but the posters are definitely with clubs. A reminder that entries for the Semple Sprint next Saturday (28th) close this weekend.

Club contacts update: Stirling University Boat Club have a new committee (and e-mail contact for the secretary). Time to update your records from the Contacts page.

 
 

19 September

   
 
 

Grainger's crew scramble through: link to Mike Haggerty's report (in the Herald) from the World Rowing Championships in Seville. And on a more local level, Christine coxed the best out of her team, a report from last weekend's Glasgow Sprint in the Paisley Daily Express

Pair wanted: Dundee Uni are in the market for a 2-; see the Buy and Sell page for details.

 
 

18 September

   
 
 

ARA Bronze Coaching Award course: SARA is not planning a Bronze course in Scotland this winter, but the ARA are running a residential Bronze course at Nottingham in January. Interested candidates would need to hold a SARA RIC qualification and should contact SARA Development Officer Callum MacDonald for further information.

St Andrew BC Garden Party: this year's SABC Garden Party is on Sunday 29th September from 3.00pm at 20 Mansionhouse Road, Edinburgh. Tickets (£15 adults, £5 children, under 5s free) are available from Jo Wherret.

 
 

17 September

   
 
 

St Andrews University Regatta at Forfar (October 5th): we now have full details of this (notice - events offered - entry form). The first event at Forfar Loch (v pretty venue) last year was mostly attended by clubs from the north east: people enjoyed the event, so hopefully they'll come back - and some more from the central belt will join in.

Corrected Aberdeen Sprint draw: there has been a correction to this draw to timetable the men's novice fours race omitted from the original.

 
 

16 September

   
 
 

FISA Congress News: the FISA Congress took place in Seville on Saturday. Check out the full report on the FISA site, but two items of particular interest here: the Worlds in 2006 are at Dorney (Eton, UK) after all, and Peter Morrison has been re-elected as Chairman of the FISA Masters Commission.

World Rowing Championships started in Seville yesterday. There is an excellent results service on the FISA site, including their race tracker which brings up intermediate times 'live' as races come down the course.

Aberdeen Sprint draw is now up. The fact that almost everybody seemed to enter the maximum number of events allowed has inevitably resulted in 'brisk' turn round times between races.

Woman's Lightweight Single Scull for sale: see Sales and Wants page for details.

 
 

13 September

   
 
 

SARA Annual General Meeting: formal notice of the AGM on 10th November has gone out to clubs and is also here. Note the closing dates for proposed changes to rules of racing, resolutions and nominations for posts on the Executive.

GB Winter Assessments: the current Regatta magazine has details of the senior and junior GB squad assessments. The dates (up to Christmas) have been added to the Events page, but anyone aspiring to selection needs to see the full version for details of registration requirements, ergo tests, etc.

 
 

12 September

   
 
 
From last Saturday's Nithsdale club championships, the mixed eights race was a junior vs seniors affair - very close, but the juniors won it. Photo: Mansour Gemie
Glasgow Sprint draw is now up. A healthy 63 races (which Glasgow RC captain Fergus Walker advises is an increase on last year) starting at mid-day.

Entries for the Aberdeen Sprint close this weekend - so a timely reminder on that one.

 
 

10 September

   
 
 

Chas's Angels 2nd in Great River Race: the crew I reported on late last week finished as the second fastest ladies crew in 2 hrs 28 min 20 - around 20 minutes behind the fastest crew overall.

Masters mystery solved: it transpires that the internet cafe at the Masters closed for the day before Jo Wherret finished her racing, which explains the absence of reports. I have now heard from Jo that the finishing party was excellent and that they have headed off to Prague for more beer.

Photographic evidence: last weekend's Millennium Canal rowers (McKellar and Barton) have been surprised to find their exploits documented in photographs on a web page set up for them by Ross Malone. I notice he has an 'official time' for the row different to the one passed to me informally earlier: 11 hours 38 minutes 27 seconds.

 
 

9 September

   
 
 

Union Canal obstruction: thanks to Jim Ferguson for this note. "The Ashley Bridge on the Union Canal (Edinburgh) is being painted over the next two weeks. Unfortunately no rowing boats will be able to pass through the bridge during that period as there is scaffolding obstructing the bridge. Clubs have not been warned about this work, which is being carried out by the council and not British Waterways, and should therefore take this into account when they plan their outings."

Scots at the Masters: the full results are now up. There were wins (that I have found or been told about) in WA4+ and WB4+ for a Clydesdale/St Andrew/Inverness composite and in WA 8 for a crew comprising most from the four(s) with friends from the Thames in other seats. In small boats, Ian Stanners and Gordon Day (Clyde Masters) won MG2- and came 2nd in MG2x. Ailie Ord (CARC) and Janeen Collier (SABC) won in WA2-. A further good 2nd place I spotted was for the SABC/CARC/IRC/+ friends crew in WA8+. If my trawl through the results has missed any winners I apologise now - and would be grateful to anyone who can point them out so I can recognise them properly in a follow-up report.

Unfortunately we didn't get any further reports from Jo Wherret at the course, but if she does manage to get something to me today I will put it up later.

St Andrews Uni Regatta at Forfar Loch: in a late addition to the regatta programme, St Andrews University are repeating last year's successful regatta at Forfar Loch. Only details I have so far are that it will be on 5th October, with more info expected this weekend.

 
 

7 September

   
 
 

The Millennium Link Canal Nutters have been at it again: we've had the 'rotating crew coxed quad' from St Andrew, and the 'rotating crew double scull' from Clydesdale. Now we have the first 'two men in a boat' 2x across the Link: enter Peter Barton (Strathclyde Park RC) and Quintin McKellar (Clydesdale RC who also coaches at Watson's) doing the distance today in a boat kindly lent to them for the occasion by Jim Ferguson at George Watson's College.

One SLIGHT adventure at Dullatur while lifting the boat out of the water: the knackered crew stumbled and called in assistance from 'cycling support member' Ross Malone who rushed to their aid. It was it this point that Peter and Quintin lost it completely and (with boat) fell in the canal and Ross - a loyal supporter to the last - felt compelled to fall in after them. Two men in a boat, but three in the water. Still, the time of 11 hours 49 mins joins the others in the record book.

 
 

6 September

   
 
 
RaciceReport

Jo Wherret, our 'roving reporter' at the FISA Masters Regatta, has found an internet cafe at the course at Racice, Czech Republic: here's the first of her reports on Friday's racing.

Racing today has been excellent - the forecast storms have held off and the weather has been great. The first Scottish win was in Women's C8+ with Janeen Collier, Ailie Ord, Lesley Stewart and Hazel Smith in the powerhouse seats of a composite with friends from the Thames. Around the same time the Clyde Masters/ Clydesdale four had a good row, but came in third.

Other wins today have been from Ian Stanners and Gordon Day (Clyde Masters) in the G 2- and, in the women's A4+, from Ailie Ord, Alison Hulme, Janeen Collier, Hazel Smith and Jo Wherrett (SABC/ CARC/ IRC composite). This won fairly convincingly, although the crew were an age group older than the opposition (the other half of the women's A8+).

There's been a couple of close races for the coxes (losing by a canvas each while racing for crews from other nations) - otherwise the crews are doing well but no other wins today.

No mishaps so far, and everyone is having a good time. We're staying on site, which is much easier than travelling from Prague. We've not seen much damage from the floods, other than some of the land around rivers on the drive up here, and the floods don't appear to have affected the regatta at all. Everything is running very well, and to time (races every 3 minutes).

No more races for Scottish rowers today, and everyone is now enjoying a cold Czech beer!

Glasgow Sprint: a reminder that entries for the Glasgow Sprint (event next weekend) close at 6.00pm this Monday (9th). Don't forget to read the explanatory letter in conjunction with the poster, as it explains the thinking behind the 'intermediate' 6-point crew-average events.

Nithsdale Corporate Challenge and Club Championships: ten crews of 'absolute beginners' have been training for 6 weeks at Nithsdale ARC to compete in tomorrow's Nithsdale Corporate Challenge at Dumfries. In addition to the rowing (corporate and club), there is an 'open invitation' ergo challenge and the club is offering discounted membership incentives on the day. Given that Nithsdale has recruited 10 crews from a population of 32,000, and that the UK's largest inter-company event in Aberdeen recruits 40 crews from a population of over 200,000, I reckon that's a pretty remarkable performance!

Safety at Strathclyde Park: a circulation map and circulation rules for Strathclyde Park have been added to the National Rowing Academy section. Well worth reading if planning to row at the Park - with rowing, sailing and motorised craft the full safety rules are not as simple as 'up the side and down the lanes'.

Diamond Geezer: a piece about a certain Clydesdale vet in this week's East Kilbride News.

 
 

4 September

   
 
 

FISA Masters Regatta starts tomorrow in the Czech Republic: thanks to those who did 'tip me a wink' about Scots to look out for, and here are the entries I know of.

Event 102, E4- (SABC: Lowe, Morrice, Littleboy, Duffy); Event 116, E1x, (SABC: Duffy); Event 117, C4+, (SABC: Wilson, Scott, Munro, Boyle); Event 128, E2- (SABC: Scott, Munro); Event 129, C1x, (SABC: Morrice); Event 207, B2- (SABC: Wilson, Boyle); Event 221, F1x (SABC: Duffy and SABC: Lowe); Event 236, E4+ (SABC: Lowe, Morrice, Littleboy, Duffy); Event 237, C4- (SABC: Wilson, Elwin, Munro, Boyle); Event WC8+ (SABC/CARC/IRC and freinds from the Thames); Event 136, WA8 (SABC/CARC and friends from the Thames); Event 111, WB2- (CARC/SABC and SABC/IRC); Event 120, WA4+ (SABC/CARC/IRC); Event 222, WB4- (CARC/SABC/IRC); Event 229, WA2- (CARC/SABC); Event 124, WB4x (SABC/IRC); Event 105, WA2x (SABC/TRC). CARC Entries (men): F1x G.Simpson Event 221; B2- K.Munro, K.Diamond 207; C2- K. Munro K.Diamond 141; D4- D.Paterson, G. Simpson, K.Munro, K. Diamond 137; F2- O. McGhee, D. Paterson. CARC/CMRC: G4+ I. Stanners, G.Day, O. McGhee, D. Paterson, M.Darrel 106. CMRC: G2x I. Stanners, G.Day 228 G2- I. Stanners, G.Day 119.

One of the Scottish competitors hopes to blag access to a modem and file reports to the web site from the regatta: obviously great if it works, but I shan't put her under pressure by mentioning names yet in case it doesn't come off.

Compulsory passenger? An unusual 'coxed 6 with passenger' - containing some weel kent names, a few of them with Scottish connections - is to compete in the Great River Race on Saturday on the Thames from Richmond (1530 start) to Greenwich (first finishers expected from 1845).

The Chas's Angels crew (name derived from sponsor, Chas Newens) comprises rowers Guin Batten, Ali Barnes, Katrine McPherson, Polly Gough, Nicola Dale and Louise Engel, coxed by Abbie Chapman and with passenger Rachel Haining. The boat, a fixed-seat Thames waterman cutter is being loaned by Chas Newens.

 
 

3 September

   
 
 

Sprints update: with having archived August's news (the file was getting large due to all the pix from the Commonwealths), reminders about some of the forthcoming sprints have gone also (though links remain on the events page.

No events in Scotland this weekend (FISA Masters), but entries for Glasgow Sprint (and letter) close this weekend (event 14 September), and Aberdeen Sprint entries close the week following (for the event on 21 September).

Also, can anyone from Castle Semple e-mail me a copy of their event poster so I can promote details of that on the SARA site too?

 
 

2 September

   
 
 
Semi-final of Men's R2 Coxed Fours with Inverness RC (from bow) Alex Townsend, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace and Suzanne Hunter (cox) on left bank against the eventual winners from Aberdeen BC, Nick Beaumont-Smith, James Duncan, Mark Lowe and Fred Stalin (cox Graham Wright).
Final of Women's R1 2-; Aberdeen University BC (Ruth Hobson)/ Aberdeen Schools (Jill Beck) on the left bank against St Andrew BC (Janeen Collier)/ Inverness RC (Hazel Smith). SABC/Inverness won by one length.
Semi-final of Men's Veteran 1x; Inverness RC (Iain Morton) on the left bank against Strathclyde Park RC (Tom Hewitt). SPRC won by one length but was beaten in the final by Inverness RC (Dick Ruane) by two lengths.
Inverness 'Morrison' Sprint: the full list of winners is up, and also some photos from the event as you can see (thanks to Roy Sinclair for those).

Faskally Coaching Weekend: a clarification note from the organisers. You do NOT have to be R2 to attend, but you must have at least one year's rowing experience. In other words the course is definitely not for beginners. The booking form is here.

Also an appeal for coaches and launch drivers to staff the Faskally course. Anyone who's done it before will confirm it's a most enjoyable weekend to be part of: if you would like to volunteer as a coach or as a launch driver, please contact the organiser, Liz Dawson.

 
 

30 August

   
 
 

Weather to Row? I've been checking out weather links and have now put what seems to be a reliable one for 4-day forecasts for Strathclyde Park onto the National Rowing Academy page. It includes wind speed and direction, which many don't. If you follow the link, you can ask it for forecasts for other centres (by town) in Scottish rowing.

FISA Masters 2005: many in the Scottish rowing community will know that Scotland put forward a strong bid to host the 2005 FISA Masters Regatta at Strathclyde Park. We now know that the regatta will be in Denmark that year, but SARA's bid for major events will carry on undiminished. As SARA President Ronnie Goldie says: "It is very unusual to get these major events at the first bid. We will most definitely be continuing with the bidding process for Masters 2006 and indeed other major events that we want to bring to our outstanding venue "

Wanted: GUBC are hoping someone can help them move a boat home from repair, and someone's in the market for a Speedcoach: see the Sales and Wants page for details

 
 


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