ULBC

UL first eight wins 3 from 3 against CUBC

ULBC — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:59:10 +0000

After a poor race at the United Hospitals Head on Saturday, the first eight knew that they needed to get it right if they wanted to challenge The Blue Boat. Earlier in the season a very similar crew were unable to beat a CUBC trial eight due to being far too sleepy off the start. They were not going to let this happen again.

Race one:

The first race began on an incoming tide between the mile post and Harrods, UL were on the Surrey station with CUBC on Middlesex. The UL eight were sharper of mind and effort off the start and quickly moved to a full length lead, while CUBC struggled in the very challenging conditions. While UL had the advantage of the Hammersmith bend it didn’t make any difference as by the time the bend came into play UL had clear water and the CUBC crew were following on the same course. The race was abandoned due to sailing boats outside St Pauls, finishing after 4min approx.

Race two:

The second race began at Chiswick Eyot with UL once again on the Surrey station. CUBC were far sharper at the beginning of the second piece but still lost half a length to the higher rating UL crew. The far bigger and lower rating Blue Boat looked to have a better rhythm and were pushing through coming towards their bend at Barnes Bridge. The UL cox was having the better of the duelling and while being called by the Umpire Martin Haycock he still did enough to keep the UL bow in front. Going under Barnes Bridge UL were clinging to a canvas lead and it appeared that CUBC were going to come out on top due to the bend, however, UL seemed to find more confidence and another gear for the last 90sec (Picture above). UL pulled away to a half length victory on the outside of the bend.

Race three:

The final race began at Chiswick steps with UL on Middlesex. UL once again showed greater intensity off the start and almost pulled out to a full length. CUBC really began to move well in this last piece and were edging on the UL for the first four minutes. With one minute to go UL’s bend was finished and CUBC looked odds on to finish well in front, but once again the UL crew showed huge nerve, skill and pride and would not relinquish the lead. Jamie Cook in the stroke seat had decided that “None shall pass” with 15 sec to go there was 2 feet in the difference and Jamie pushed the rating up to 40 spm, with this CUBC knew there was no way past and UL pulled out to just over a full canvas.

Cambridge have a very strong crew and I’m sure they have a lot of speed to gain and we wish them well. Our first crew can also gain in speed and with the IM2 eight only 10sec behind at UH head, the IM3 eight winning a bronze at BUCS head and our women’s eight collecting another pennant at Hammersmith head, things are looking up for some good results at the major heads.

UL crew: Bow Inigo Atkin, Mat Bedford, Rory Buffachi, Ollie Cook, Paul Bennet, Ertan Hazine, Dominic Meyrick-Cole, Jamie Cook, Cox Max Gander

Action Packed Weekend Ahead

ULBC — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:56:53 +0000

United Hospitals Head

The weekend’s racing begins on Saturday at 13:30 when 4 UL men’s eights will be taking part in the United Hospitals. Racing will start at the Pink Lodge and finish at Mortlake Aglican and Alpha Boat Club just up-stream of Chiswick Bridge. Last year saw a GB Under 23 eight win the Headship with our eight finishing a close second. This year we hope to put this right and there should also be some inter club competition. (A big thanks to Emanuel for lending us and eight to race in)

BUCS Head

On Sunday 9 brave competitors will make their way up the M1 to Peterborough to race the BUCS Head. The same crew will be racing the HORR as and this will be a good opportunity for them to test themselves against crews in the same category. The primary objective is to win, with the added carrot of pre-qualifying for BUCS regatta.

Hammersmith Head

Our women’s eight were victors at Quintin Head and hope to continue their winning form this Sunday. With 2 changes from the crew at Quintin we will see if they can re-assert their dominance and beat the new crews in their event. Start time 14:00 from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge.

Match Racing versus Cambridge Blue Boat

The first eight will be taking on the CUBC Blue Boat for the first time in a number of years. The eight came off a close 2nd best against one of the CUBC trial eights but with some vast improvements we hope to see a tight race and come out on top. The racing will begin at the Boat Race Stone in Putney at 11:00 and race a series of 3 5min pieces.

Good luck to one and all

ULBC on iPad

Filip Ljubicic — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:21:46 +0000

You can now read the ULBC news articles in a fun and interactive way on your iPad.

Just visit www.ulbc.co.uk, there is no need to download an app.

The desktop version can still be viewed by pealing the page back.

Training location Change for this Weekend

ULBC — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:02:24 +0000

Due to the chilly weather Dorney will not be open. We will be training at the London Docklands Regatta Centre on Saturday and Sunday.

Quintin Head Report

ULBC — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:46:27 +0000

Quintin Head

Quintin Head last Saturday was the first opportunity of 2012 for UL to test ourselves against some of our local opposition. The head races over the Head of the River course from the start at Chiswick Bridge to Harrods depository. This was our first chance to race in eights since Wallingford Head and so was a good chance to show how much everyone has moved on since then.

First down the course was our top heavyweight eight racing in the senior category. Starting 3^rd we knew it was going to be a tight race all the way down the course with all the top crews starting at the front. This was backed up by split timings showing only seconds separating the top three crews. Durham University setting off 1^st were leading the way with Tideway Scullers coming down the course 2^nd. On the line it was too close to call with Max thinking they may have just had the edge over Tideway. When results came out it proved to be an extremely tight race making steering and any bad strokes all count. In fact it was the IM1 Imperial crew starting a few boats further back that came out on top finishing 1.3 seconds ahead of Tideway with UL in third 0.3 seconds back and Durham Uni a further 0.3 seconds back. This meant that UL missed out on the senior pennant by a mere 0.3 seconds showing how much every stroke counts.

The next UL boat down the course was the lightweight crew racing in the IM1 category. This was the first opportunity for the lightweight eight to race and they will have been happy with their performance. Finishing in 7^th place overall and 3^rd in IM1 behind Imperial they managed to move up the order and finish ahead of a number of strong eights. I am sure they will all be looking forward to their next chance to race and try and close the gap on the top few crews and especially the UL heavyweights.

The second heavyweight eight were racing as IM2 and starting 24^th they were starting behind Southampton who turned out to be their closest competition. Having a strong row they managed to finish in 9^th place overall and win the IM2 category coming in four seconds ahead of Southampton. I am sure that they will have had a slight eye on the lightweight boat who finished just four seconds ahead of them and I am sure when the next race comes around that they will want to try and turn around that result.

The third heavyweight eight were racing in IM3 and gave a solid performance. They came home in 33^rd place overall and 12 seconds off the IM3 winner. This shows a vast improvement over early season form and shows that the hard work they have been putting in is paying off. Lets hope that they can keep up the improvement and start challenging for seats in the second eight.

The women’s eight is looking like a completely different crew since the Wallingford Head and since Christmas training camp have made vast improvements. This led us to be cautiously optimistic ahead of Saturday and we were not disappointed. Racing as IM3 they managed to finish 6^th overall out of the women’s boats and not only win the IM3 category but they also finished ahead of all the IM2 crews. This helped highlight the improvement that the girls are making and hopefully over the next month they can keep up this improvement and close the gap on some of the top university crews.

These results were a good step forward on earlier season form and give us a much better place to build from post trials. Match racing was to follow on the Sunday with eight eights from UL, Durham and Molesey battling it out over 2k. The Quintin results meaning UL went into it being the fastest boat. Would this stay the same after Sunday?!

Quintin Head Results

ULBC — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:38:22 +0000

1st eight 3rd .3 off winning senior Pennant

1st womens eight winners of IM3 Pennant 6th overall

Lwt weight eight 7th overall

2nd eight IM2 Penant winners 9th overall 4 sec off the lighweight eight

3rd eight 5th in IM3 eights 12 sec off the winners

Report to follow

1	7	Imperial College ((Rankin))	IM1	12	38.2		3	1	Imperial College	1 of 6	Overall & IM1
2	2	Tideway Scullers	S	12	39.5		2	2	Tideway Scullers	1 of 5	S
3	3	University of London	S	12	39.8		2	3	University of London	2 of 5
4	1	Durham University	E	12	40.1		1	4	Durham University	1 of 1
5	11	Imperial College ((Turkington))	IM1	12	45.2		3	5	Imperial College	2 of 6
6	4	Molesey	S	12	49.2		2	6	Molesey	3 of 5
7	12	University of London	IM1	13	03.1		3	7	University of London	3 of 6
8	10	Bedford Modern School	IM1	13	06.2		3	8	Bedford Modern School	4 of 6
9	24	University of London	IM2	13	07.3		4	9	University of London	1 of 15	IM2
10	23	Southampton University	IM2	13	10.1		4	10	Southampton University	2 of 15
11	35	Imperial College	IM2	13	12.0		4	11	Imperial College	3 of 15
12	22	Hampton School ((Lloyd))	J18	13	12.9		7	12	Hampton School	1 of 10	J18
13	5	Durham University	S	13	15.2		2	13	Durham University	4 of 5
14	36	Tideway Scullers	IM2	13	16.1		4	14	Tideway Scullers	4 of 15
15=	45	Quintin / Auriol Kensington	MasC	13	22.4		12	15=	Quintin / Auriol Kensington	1 of 3	MasC
15=	28	University of Bristol	IM2	13	22.4		4	15=	University of Bristol	5 of 15
17	9	Durham University	IM1	13	24.1		3	17	Durham University	5 of 6
18	18	King’s College School	J18	13	25.8		7	18	King’s College School	2 of 10
19	15	Hampton School ((Hallwood))	J18	13	27.5		7	19	Hampton School	3 of 10
20	21	Kingston Grammar School ((Montakab))	J18	13	33.6		7	20	Kingston Grammar School	4 of 10
21	26	St George’s College ((McCaffery))	IM2	13	34.3		4	21	St George’s College	6 of 15
22	48	University of Bristol	IM3	13	37.6		5	22	University of Bristol	1 of 15	IM3
23	8	Reading	IM1	13	38.2		3	23	Reading	6 of 6
24	6	Thames Tradesmen	S	13	39.3		2	24	Thames Tradesmen	5 of 5
25	47	Shiplake College	IM3	13	39.9		5	25	Shiplake College	2 of 15
26	66	Crabtree	MasD	13	42.2		13	26	Crabtree	1 of 2
27	38	Westminster School ((Kerr))	J16	13	42.5		8	27	Westminster School	1 of 5	J16
28	32	Vesta	IM2	13	43.5		4	28	Vesta	7 of 15
29	13	Kingston Grammar School ((Noble))	J18	13	46.9		7	29	Kingston Grammar School	5 of 10
30	39	St Paul’s School ((Hopkins-Powell))	J16	13	48.1		8	30	St Paul’s School	2 of 5
31	56	Southampton University	IM3	13	48.2		5	31	Southampton University	3 of 15
32	49	Sons of the Thames ((Haeata))	IM3	13	48.9		5	32	Sons of the Thames	4 of 15
33	51	University of London	IM3	13	49.6		5	33	University of London	5 of 15
34	29	Maidenhead	IM2	13	50.8		4	34	Maidenhead	8 of 15
35	31	Reading	IM2	13	52.4		4	35	Reading	9 of 15
36	19	Reading Bluecoat School ((Lancashire))	J18	13	56.1		7	36	Reading Bluecoat School	6 of 10
37	50	University College London ((Harrison))	IM3	13	57.3		5	37	University College London	6 of 15
38	59	HSBC	IM2	13	59.9		4	38	HSBC	(time only)
39	84	Quintin	MasE	14	01.1		14	39	Quintin	1 of 4	MasE
40	14	St Paul’s School	J18	14	01.7		7	40	St Paul’s School	7 of 10
41	63	Vesta ((Brock))	WS	14	04.3		18	41	Vesta	1 of 3	Fastest women & WS
42	16	Reading Bluecoat School ((Andrews))	J18	14	05.3		7	42	Reading Bluecoat School	8 of 10
43	34	St George’s College ((Mandolfo))	IM2	14	06.2		4	43	St George’s College	10 of 15
44	25	Parr’s Priory	IM2	14	08.5		4	44	Parr’s Priory	11 of 15
45	53	London School of Economics	IM3	14	09.3		5	45	London School of Economics	7 of 15
46	42	Westminster School ((Frost))	J16	14	09.4		8	46	Westminster School	3 of 5
47	33	Putney Town	IM2	14	10.1	P	4	47	Putney Town	12 of 15
48	17	Emanuel School ((Gillingwater))	J18	14	10.5		7	48	Emanuel School	9 of 10
49	97	Lincoln College Oxford	N	14	11.0		6	49	Lincoln College Oxford	1 of 17	N
50	77	St Paul’s School ((Hughes))	J15	14	11.3		9	50	St Paul’s School	1 of 10	J15
51	61	University of East Anglia	IM3	14	11.8		5	51	University of East Anglia	8 of 15
52	60	Maidenhead	IM3	14	18.1		5	52	Maidenhead	9 of 15
53	85	Tideway Scullers	MasE	14	21.2		14	53	Tideway Scullers	2 of 4
54	91	King’s College London ((Jenkins))	N	14	22.4		6	54	King’s College London	2 of 17
55	69	Imperial College / Sport Imperial	WIM1	14	23.8		19	55	Imperial College / Sport Imperial	1 of 5	WIM1
56	43	Thames	MasC	14	24.3		12	56	Thames	2 of 3
57	64	Barnes Bridge Ladies	WS	14	25.5		18	57	Barnes Bridge Ladies	2 of 3
58	62	Durham University	WE	14	26.5		17	58	Durham University	1 of 1
59	65	Vesta ((Kelly))	WS	14	26.6		18	59	Vesta	3 of 3
60	83	Thames	MasE	14	27.6		14	60	Thames	3 of 4
61	89	London Oratory School	N	14	27.8		6	61	London Oratory School	3 of 17
62	30	Quintin	IM2	14	28.6		4	62	Quintin	13 of 15
63	27	Twickenham	IM2	14	30.2		4	63	Twickenham	14 of 15
64	57	Putney Town	IM3	14	38.8		5	64	Putney Town	10 of 15
65	96	Thames	N	14	45.3		6	65	Thames	4 of 17
66	58	University College London ((Swain))	IM3	14	46.8		5	66	University College London	11 of 15
67	94	Kingston ((Gilchrist))	N	14	48.1		6	67	Kingston	5 of 17
68	92	University of Bristol ((Browning))	N	14	49.1		6	68	University of Bristol	6 of 17
69	122	University of London	WIM3	14	49.7		21	69	University of London	1 of 12	WIM3
70	55	Sons of the Thames ((Rutterford))	IM3	14	50.5		5	70	Sons of the Thames	12 of 15
71	54	Parr’s Priory	IM3	14	53.0		5	71	Parr’s Priory	13 of 15
72	78	King’s College School	J15	14	53.2		9	72	King’s College School	2 of 10
73	72	Durham University	WIM1	14	53.6		19	73	Durham University	2 of 5
74	124	University of Bristol	WIM3	14	53.7		21	74	University of Bristol	2 of 12
75	108	City of Oxford	WIM2	14	56.5		20	75	City of Oxford	1 of 11	WIM2
76	46	Furnivall	IM3	14	56.7		5	76	Furnivall	14 of 15
77	68	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha ((Dickinson))	WIM1	15	01.5		19	77	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	3 of 5
78	115	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	WIM2	15	02.0		20	78	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	2 of 11
79	110	Thames	WIM2	15	03.1		20	79	Thames	3 of 11
80	82	St Paul’s School ((Carrabino))	J15	15	05.1		9	80	St Paul’s School	3 of 10
81	67	Tideway Scullers	MasD	15	06.2		13	81	Tideway Scullers	2 of 2
82	52	Cygnet	IM3	15	09.3		5	82	Cygnet	15 of 15
83	118	University of East Anglia / Norwich RC	WIM3	15	09.4		21	83	University of East Anglia / Norwich RC	3 of 12
84	126	Vesta ((Demblon))	WIM3	15	09.6		21	84	Vesta	4 of 12
85	88	London	MasF	15	13.2		15	85	London	1 of 1
86	106	Putney Town ((Bartlett))	WIM2	15	14.1		20	86	Putney Town	4 of 11
87	99	University of Bristol ((King))	N	15	18.7		6	87	University of Bristol	7 of 17
88	104	Putney Town	N	15	20.2		6	88	Putney Town	8 of 17
89	74	Kingston Grammar School ((Nicholds))	J15	15	20.9		9	89	Kingston Grammar School	4 of 10
90	103	St Barts & Royal London Hospitals	N	15	23.1		6	90	St Barts & Royal London Hospitals	9 of 17
91	81	Emanuel School ((Artibani))	J15	15	23.8		9	91	Emanuel School	5 of 10
92	114	University College London	WIM2	15	23.9		20	92	University College London	5 of 11
93	123	Furnivall	WIM3	15	24.3		21	93	Furnivall	5 of 12
94	44	Vesta	MasC	15	24.5		12	94	Vesta	3 of 3
95	111	Barnes Bridge Ladies	WIM2	15	24.6		20	95	Barnes Bridge Ladies	6 of 11
96	75	London Oratory School	J15	15	25.9		9	96	London Oratory School	6 of 10
97	80	Reading Bluecoat School ((Schroeder))	J15	15	27.6		9	97	Reading Bluecoat School	7 of 10
98	101	University College London	N	15	30.2		6	98	University College London	10 of 17
99	90	Twickenham ((Boston))	N	15	31.2		6	99	Twickenham	11 of 17
100	109	Durham University	WIM2	15	33.1		20	100	Durham University	7 of 11
101	87	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	WMasB	15	34.2		27	101	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	1 of 1
102	93	Sons of the Thames	N	15	46.9		6	102	Sons of the Thames	12 of 17
103	86	Putney Town	MasE	15	47.4		14	103	Putney Town	4 of 4
104	73	Reading Bluecoat School ((Howell))	J15	15	48.8		9	104	Reading Bluecoat School	8 of 10
105	79	Kingston Grammar School ((Boulter))	J15	15	50.5		9	105	Kingston Grammar School	9 of 10
106	130	St George’s College	WJ18	15	53.7		23	106	St George’s College	1 of 2
107	107	Twickenham	WIM2	15	53.8		20	107	Twickenham	8 of 11
108	129	HSBC	WIM3	15	54.7		21	108	HSBC	6 of 12
109	100	Twickenham ((Blanke))	N	15	56.9		6	109	Twickenham	13 of 17
110	70	Burway	WIM1	16	02.2		19	110	Burway	4 of 5
111	127	City of Oxford	WIM3	16	02.5		21	111	City of Oxford	7 of 12
112	98	King’s College London ((Pickering))	N	16	03.9		6	112	King’s College London	14 of 17
113	132	Thames/BBL/Burway/Maidenhead	WMasE	16	09.0		30	113	Thames/BBL/Burway/Maidenhead	1 of 1
114	117	Vesta ((Ibbett))	WIM3	16	11.9		21	114	Vesta	8 of 12
115	116	Furnivall	WIM2	16	14.3		20	115	Furnivall	9 of 11
116	105	Poplar Blackwall	N	16	14.6		6	116	Poplar Blackwall	15 of 17
117	143	University College London	WN	16	15.7		22	117	University College London	1 of 14	WN
118	131	Kingston Grammar School	WJ18	16	20.5		23	118	Kingston Grammar School	2 of 2
119	144	U of East Anglia / Norwich RC / Norwich Sch	WN	16	22.4		22	119	U of East Anglia / Norwich RC / Norwich Sch	2 of 14
120	134	University of Bristol ((Wall))	WN	16	26.7		22	120	University of Bristol	3 of 14
121	112	Putney Town ((Swanton))	WIM2	16	28.1		20	121	Putney Town	10 of 11
122	148	Godolphin & Latymer School	WJ15	16	28.4		25	122	Godolphin & Latymer School	1 of 3	WJ15
123	141	Royal Veterinary College	WN	16	34.9		22	123	Royal Veterinary College	4 of 14
124	146	Thames	WN	16	35.5		22	124	Thames	5 of 14
125	119	Emanuel School	WIM3	16	37.2		21	125	Emanuel School	9 of 12
126	149	Kingston Grammar School	WJ15	16	38.2		25	126	Kingston Grammar School	2 of 3
127	138	St Barts & Royal London Hospitals	WN	16	41.9		22	127	St Barts & Royal London Hospitals	6 of 14
128	95	Roehampton University	N	16	45.9		6	128	Roehampton University	16 of 17
129	139	Twickenham	WN	16	50.0		22	129	Twickenham	7 of 14
130	150	Emanuel School	WJ15	17	04.6		25	130	Emanuel School	3 of 3
131	133	King’s College London	WN	17	12.7		22	131	King’s College London	8 of 14
132	135	Putney High School	WN	17	19.8		22	132	Putney High School	9 of 14
133	145	Putney Town	WN	17	25.0		22	133	Putney Town	10 of 14
134	121	Thames	WIM3	17	28.7		21	134	Thames	10 of 12
135	128	Barnes Bridge Ladies	WN	17	32.7		22	135	Barnes Bridge Ladies	(time only)
136	136	Roehampton University	WN	17	33.3		22	136	Roehampton University	11 of 14
137	137	Kingston	WN	17	34.0		22	137	Kingston	12 of 14
138	125	University College London	WIM3	17	41.5		21	138	University College London	11 of 12
139	140	Emanuel School	WN	17	42.6		22	139	Emanuel School	13 of 14
140	76	Emanuel School ((Green))	J15	17	43.7		9	140	Emanuel School	10 of 10
141	147	University of Bristol ((Qamar))	WIM3	18	07.0		21	141	University of Bristol	(time only)
142	142	Sons of the Thames	WN	18	39.8	P	22	142	Sons of the Thames	14 of 14
	20	Emanuel School ((Ikezue-Clifford))	J18	DNS			7	999	Emanuel School	10 of 10
	37	Molesey	IM2	DNS			4	999	Molesey	15 of 15
	40	King’s College School	J16	DNS			8	999	King’s College School	4 of 5
	41	St Paul’s School ((Howes))	J16	DNS			8	999	St Paul’s School	5 of 5
	71	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha ((Richardson))	WIM1	DNS			19	999	Mortlake Anglian & Alpha	5 of 5
	102	Kingston ((Hembry))	N	DNS			6	999	Kingston	17 of 17
	113	Vesta	WIM2	DNS			20	999	Vesta	11 of 11
	120	King’s College London	WIM3	DNS			21	999	King’s College London	12 of 12

Quintin Head

ULBC — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:21:14 +0000

This weekend sees ULBC take on strong opposition at Quintin Head. The entire squad completed their 5k erg tests yesterday which should make Quintin feel like a walk in the park. The 1st eight will be starting 3rd behind Durham and Tideway and being chased by Molesey. The eight has been making significant progress under the tutelage of Rusty. The crew has 2 under 23 medal winners but more significantly has 3 oarsmen who started their rowing at UL. One of whom has only been rowing for 16 months.

Our mighty lighties will have there first race of the season and will be up against formidable opposition in the tough IM1 event. The crew has gelled well and has a strong turn of pace.

UL women’s squad will be fielding one eight which showed good progress in trial eights and with many fiery lightweights in it will be fight every stroke down the course.

Our 2nd heavyweight eight has a lot of hungry lads looking for seats in the 1st eight so they should be chopping at the bit to stake their claim.

The Development eight has been moving on in leaps and bounds with David Sprague coaching them to greater and greater things. So lets see if these new oarsmen can put up a big fight against the more experienced oarsmen.
A full draw can be found here: http://www.quintinboatclub.org/quintinhead/2012/startorder.html

Trial Eights Report

ULBC — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:08:42 +0000

Trial Eights

Sunday saw ULBC hold its annual Trial Eights Race held between the Hog’s Hole and the Pink Lodge and this year saw both the men’s and women’s squads put out competitive crews.

The men’s squad were the first to race with two semi finals between Osama, KimJong Il, Berlusconi and Gaddafi. This year was shaping up to be one of the hottest contested trial eights of recent times with four quality eights.

The first semi final saw Osama drawn against Berlusconi. Due to the tides this first race was done from the Pink Lodge down to the Hogs Hole. It was the much fancied Osama that took the early lead in the first few strokes off the start. By the first bend Berlusconi drawn on the Sion station had clawed back the deficit and then managed to use the inside of the bend to open up a half a length lead. Osama drawn on the Kew Gardens station seemed happy to let this happen knowing they had the bend in their favour before the finish. Berlusconi stroked by the ferocious George Turner had different ideas and were not going to leave it till the last bend to decide the race and caught Osama napping with a push down towards Brentford Dock. This took them out to a length lead and once they came to the last few hundred metres were confident that they had done enough for victory even though Osama managed to claw half a length back round the last bend. The closest victory of the day saw a win by half a length to Berlusconi.

The second semi final saw KimJong Il on the Kew Gardens station drawn against Gaddafi on the Sion station. After the first race this was expected to be another close contest however from the very first stroke there was only going to be one winner. Kim Jong Il had a slight advantage at the start of the race due to the bend but they did not need it striding out to over a length lead by Brentford Dock. Coxed by Clarissa Coveney, KimJong Il obviously wanted to put the race out of reach of Gaddafi and continued to move further ahead with a much higher stroke rate than their opponents. By the crossover point KimJong Il were three lengths ahead and started to conserve energy for the final. With Gaddafi fancied by many to take the overall title prior to the race this will have hit the bookmakers hard.

Race three saw the women’s title decider between Ponies and Unicorns, Brod only knows who picked these questionable names.

The girls race this year saw the current crop of ULBC women take on a crew of ULBC alumni hoping to live up to their crew name’s reputation of fable creatures impossible to catch. There was much debate as to which crew would come out victorious and the Unicorn crew seemed like they wanted to use their experience to help their cause by false starting. This may have worked if it were not for Ponies holding fast and not giving any excuse for umpire Young to allow the race to carry on. Unicorns were brought back to the line and then a very quick starting sequence allowed the prepared Ponies to take an early lead. A higher stroke rate then allowed Ponies to move out to just over a length lead as they moved down the barges. At the crossing point Unicorns put in a push to try and get back round the inside of the bend but Ponies had held their position perfectly and as the bend unfolded put their own push in to move away as they approached the line. The result saw Ponies win by just over two lengths to show the step forward that the girls are making this year. Congratulations go to the winning crew of Emily Craig, Simone Dutreux, Aimee Broadbent, Helen Van Kempen, Connie Rowell, Anna McSweeney, Alice Sephton, Matilda Horn and cox Anna Turner.

It was back to the men for the next race and to the B final which saw Osama and Gaddafi face off against each other. These two crews had been fancied to contest the A final and so it was to umpires Young and Gray’s surprise that they were racing off for 3^rd place. From the very first stroke the result was clear with Osama showing their anger at narrowly losing out to Berlusconi in the first semi final. They set off on a mission and very quickly moved out to a length lead. Gaddafi were obviously still feeling despondent from their large semi final loss and quickly let their heads drop. Osama stroked by Ben Reilly-O’Donnell were not in any mood to let their opposition come back through them again and kept up their early pace to push further ahead. At the end the victory was over three lengths and Osama had gone some way to make amends for their semi final defeat.

The last race of the day saw the two black Vespoli’s race off for the title of Trial Eights Champions. KimJong Il on the Sion station and Berlusconi on the Kew Gardens station both benefitted from strong starts in their semi finals but it was Berlusconi that got the slightly better start and used the inside of the first bend to move out to a half a length lead by Brentford dock. Both crews really showed why they had made the A final with both strokemen keeping the rating high and a lot of power going down from the big men in the middle of the boats. Coming up to the crossover point and Berlusconi had moved out to just a length lead but with the bend moving in the favour of KimJong Il. The supporters obviously wanted a close final and screams could be heard from the following armada of launches for KimJong Il to make a move. It came and Ollie “the animal” Cook let roar from the five seat. KimJong Il started to move and pulled back a quarter of a length but Berlusconi still had some life left in him and Jo called one last push to hold off the opposition. Coming up to the line and the lads had put it all on the line with victory going to Berlusconi by a length. A somewhat boatrace style celebration ensued with screams and lots of water being thrown around by the victorious crew. Congratulations go to the crew of Neale Marlow, Sam Knight, Will Burch, Tom Chung, Jamie Cook, Dom Meyrick-Cole, Jo John, George Turner and cox Jo Street.

Post racing it was back to the clubhouse for some refreshments courtesy of David and Pawel with some very tasty donations from Mrs Rowell, Mrs Street and Mrs Cook. Thank you to Tyrian and Mortlake for the use of their boats. A solid day of racing with six good crews showed that the club is moving forward and the standard is going up and we hope that the club can take this forward into the heads over the coming months.

ULBC Trial Eights

ULBC — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:13:15 +0000

This Sunday sees the cream of UL rowing racing for bragging rights for the rest of the season. There will be 4 men’s eights made up entirely of athletes training on a daily basis, while our 2 women’s eights will have a few super subs from trial eights past. The women have hit on probably the worst trial eights names in history, “Ponies” Vs “Unicorns”. While the men will be racing to show their appreciation for some of the worlds great leaders, “Gaddafi” this crew doesn’t understand the meaning of the word surrender. “Kim Jong Il” this crew will try to emulate the staying power of the Supreme Leader. “Osama” this sporting giant was Hide and Seek World Champion 2001-2011. “Berlusconi” the only great leader still with us this crew will be emulating his work hard, play hard ethos.

Racing takes the following format:

2.45 pm Mens semi final 1

3.00 pm mens semi final 2

3.15 pm womens race

3.30 pm mens “b” final

3.45 pm mens “a” final

Racing will be on the flood tide to from the Hogs Hole, upstream from Kew Bridge and the finish will be before the Pink Lodge. There will be refreshments available before and after racing. Friends and family are welcome to come down. There is a lovely walk the entire length of the race if you want to bring your dog. Spaces in launches are very limited please contact David Townsend dghtownsend@googlemail.com if you are interested. If you are a culinary star, I’m sure the athletes would appreciate something sweet after racing.

2012 ULBC Calendar

ULBC — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:50:47 +0000

This weekend is your last chance to buy the 2012 ULBC Calendar. They are available to buy at the UL office this weekend. So if you don’t know what to get Granny this is the answer. 10£ for one and the bargain price of £20 for two.