Hey there Tigers!
The 25th Annual Flying Doctor Rowathon is being held on 8th October 2016, starting and finishing at the Wentworth Rowing Club on the NSW/Vic border. The Flying Doctor Rowathon is a world class event and you can be part of it.
The rowathon is an 82km in a day event along the Murray and the Darling rivers. Not up for rowing the 82kms in a day on your own? No problem! You can row one or more of the four legs (approx 20kms each). Singles, doubles, quads, fours, eights and octos are all permitted. There are trophies and prizes to be won including the new Wentworth Perpetual Trophy. For more information check out the rowathon website.
We are seeking expressions of interest from the tiger community in order to coordinate crews and accommodation for the event. Christine Sullivan is part of the organising committee for the rowathon, and has put up her hand to organise the event for RRC. With the event filling up early last year, we are keen to get our entries in early this year to avoid disappointment. Can you please email Christine ([email protected]) detailing your interest, including boat type, KMs you would like to row, crew preferences (if you have them) etc by the 20/6/2016
Want to know more about the royal flying doctors in the services they provide? Check out the website here: www.flyingdoctor.org.au. You may even see a fellow tiger if you click on the About the rfds > governance tab. All funds raised from this event go to supporting this awesome cause.
Victorian State Masters Championships, 14 – 15 May 2016
For most tigers, the Victorian State Masters Champs is the last regatta of the season. So, lucky for us it’s now a two-day event with so many races that you won’t start missing rowing for weeks. We had a contingent of nearly 40 tigers down at Nagambie and I think everyone enjoyed the last hurrah of the 2015/16 season, with medals a plenty. Having the regatta held over two days also meant that the regatta also doubled as a Eurovision themed sleepover! Go Dami! (but also props to Belgium – you were robbed).
Although the mornings were chilly, Nagambie put on its best Autumn weather in the afternoons and some of our Anglo-tigers even claimed that they were sunburnt.
Naturally, there were loads of successful crews. Gerri Goss won about eight gold medals, and a couple of silver too – well done Gerri on another ridiculously successful season.
Continue reading “Victorian State Masters Championships, 14 – 15 May 2016”
RRC Triumph at Albert Park Lake !!
Now, getting right down to the business end of this blog ……. RRC walked away from this regatta with ‘the inaugural Albert Park Masters Regatta Perpetual Trophy’. Not only is this extremely impressive, you should try saying this quickly after two Coronas at the awards ceremony. Seriously though, I know we’re all proud of this achievement and it shows the effort and commitment displayed by all.
I have a soft spot for the Albert Park Lake Regatta as it was my first regatta three years ago and with it being so close to home, it’s always an enjoyable event towards the end of the season. Another reason I like it is that the conditions can vary from being nice and calm to you and your crew being bounced around like you’re on the Spirit of Tasmania.
The first race I watched whilst sipping on a coffee was the male single sculler who smashed into the wall which was dangerously close to the finish line, or the finish line was dangerously close …you get the idea. Amazingly, he rowed off with no damage to himself and minimal damage to his boat. However, as I looked down the course I soon identified his anxiety and what had rattled him so …. Dave was hot on his heels in second place. This was a good omen for the day (for us at least) as RRC seemed to be there or thereabouts in all of the races that I watched and we were always competitive.
Now, I don’t think it could be said up to now that I have ever mentioned ‘gender inequality’ around the club in any format whatsoever. However, now is the time!! To say that the RRC Women’s squad ‘smashed it’ and pretty much singlehandedly brought home the trophy is not an exaggeration.
Michelle Joy led the way with her single scull win early on in the day and Geraldine Goss closely followed that with wins in a composite female quad and a composite mixed double.
The female novice coxed four comprising of: Catie Macdonald, Roslyn Snaauw, Karissa Charlton, Iluka Davidson, coxed by Kathy Macrow romped home in impressive style. Now, that would be enough for most crews but no ….this same crew backed this up with a win in the female novice coxed quad as well, with Sarah Houghton coxing this time. Well done Ladies, great work!!
Later on, Michelle was back for some more glory with Karen with a win in the doubles.
Not to be left behind, the Female Masters coxed four of: Judith Hayes, Sue Powell, Hannah Harborow, Karin Bouvin, coxed by Derek picked up a very handy win towards the end of the regatta.
Now, huh-hmmmm, we come to the medal contribution made by the Men’s Squad. Fortunately Ray Dennis led the way with a win in a composite eight and……errr. Seriously though, it was a great effort by the Men’s Squad with a lot of close seconds and lots of commitment.
All in all it was a great day. Here’s to next year’s Albert Park Lake Regatta and the retention of ‘our’ trophy.
Cheers!!
Raymond O’Shea
RV States Masters Boat Loading: date and time change
As many rowers have indicated they will be driving up to Nagambie on Friday the thirteenth (queue spooky music) Boat loading has been moved to Thursday the 12th and later to 7.30 pm to accommodate one last training row.
To make this a fast load after training could those arriving at 6 pm help push the trailer down to the club so we can start loading as soon as possible.
The Nagambie weather forecast looks a pleasant 19-21 degrees Sat and Sun.
Thanks all
Boathouse Drive lawn works
The more observant among us may have noticed some disturbances in the lawn in front of the clubhouse leading down to the river.
We have been informed by City of Melbourne and the parks department that following the preliminary investigations works to improve this area are due to begin next week. A document detailing the stages of the work can be found here.
Stage 3 ie. directly in front of RRC will be completed first, starting next Monday 9 May and then stage 1 and 2 thereafter. The works will only take one day and then be roped off for 5 weeks before proceeding to the next area. This should still allow access for rowers to the water without too much inconvenience but please be aware of the notices and restrictions and as always take care when transporting boats to and from the shed to the water.
Living on the Edge….of our Fundraising Goal!
I know a number of you have been eager to know how much was raised by the quiz night a few weeks ago. Well the cash has been counted and debts are being called in and we’re pleased to announce that the quiz night has raised a whopping $8.9K for the club. Well done to everybody who was involved in making the night so successful and lots of fun by all accounts!
That brings us ever closer to our total for this year which we are looking to put toward the purchase of a new stern coxed racing 4+ / 4x+. So far our fundraising total sits around the $17.5K mark with some key events, bar openings and other donations still to be included – so we’re well on the way to achieving what was set out at the start of the year.
Don’t forget to buy your tickets and purchase lots of drinks / have a great time celebrating the successes of 2015/16 season at Presentation night on 28th May.
Also we still need volunteers for the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle being held on Sunday 5th June – Please contact Shern Timmins on [email protected] if you can help!
Lastly as we approach the end of financial year if anybody would like to make a donation to the club through our fundraising partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation, donations to our equipment fund are tax deductible and can be done simply via https://asf.org.au/project/rrc-fleet-renewal-appeal/
Thanks and look forward to telling you all the good news about how much we’ve raised this year at the AGM in July!
Cat B
2016 Winter Sculling Series
As we head into Winter don’t despair that rowing will not be an option to keep you fit and active. The Victorian Sculling Association run a series of single sculling events in Melbourne which are very popular, to find out more about Winter Sculling visit their website.
If you are interested in competing in one, multiple or all of the available events listed in the attached document below we need to know as single sculls are a limited resource but we will work hard to ensure anyone who wants to compete has the opportunity.
RRC Fleet available
Tubs
Ray Dennis
Karen Azinger
Tracers 1x
Flying Tiger 55-65kg
Julia Avis 55-65kg
Jonathan Cantwell 80kg+
Tiger Shark 85kg+
Red JR Tracer 70-80kg Clogs
Black JR Tracer 70-80kg Clogs
Racing 1x
Punt Road 60-70kg
We also have potential access to boats from LURC and MLC as they are stored by us.
Geordie (LURC tub)
MLC Wintech Tracer 55-65kg (Clogs)
The organisers do attempt to schedule racing where rowers are sharing boats so we can work around resource limitations. However to help with planning if you would like to compete in any of the events involved in this series please contact Barry to request a boat allocation [email protected]
If you have any other questions about the competition some of our experienced single scullers have competed in previous years so please ask for advice.
Ballarat Masters
I can’t really think of a new and original way to write “the alarm went off at the crack of dawn and I questioned my sanity in choosing the sport of rowing” but it did. And I did.
Once again the water at Lake Wendouree was calm, as seems to have been a pleasant trend this season, contrary to the whitecaps and seven seas esq swells and waves I was told to prepare for.
Generally speaking it was a day of strong seconds and tough thirds. A few highlights:
The first races were the entire fleet of quads, in mixed races. Our Black and Yellow dominated colour wise and there was a close second, alas perhaps we scared the opposition into winning. Good form and spirit shown by all. We had Chris, Jen, Leigh and Guy (2nd); and Theresa, Morgan, Barry and Andrew (4th); and Karin, Rob, Hannah and Evert. Laurent and Derek have some competition with up and coming coxes Shern and Erin.
Michelle and Sarah faced off in their singles with Michelle gracefully taking the lead with exceptional technique and a one second headstart. She won by around 200m.
The “novice” boys had a win- Laurent, Guy, Ray, and Allan, Coxed by Shern showed all the other novice crews how it’s done. No prior rowing experience of course just naturally gifted athletes!
The Mens pair of Matt and Jon were off 26 seconds. They gracefully finished the race. To be fair they had it rough, competing against a bronze medal Olympian.
The side wind pick up and despite best efforts it’s not surprising when waiting for 14 seconds, or even 3 seconds the boats drift across and even less surprising/ expected is the grumpy official carry on. Tap it forward once. Now back it. Get in your lane. Check it there. Back it up. Line up. All the coxwains did a brilliant job navigating the start line up and manoeuvring us in relatively straight lines down the course
Special thanks to Leigh for towing the trailer up and Christine for organising us all with bow numbers and Barry for organising the boats
We missed our mighty president and head of rowing
Sarah Houghton
You're invited to enter the Richmond Rowing Club Time Trial Challenge 2016
Start Now!
All Richmond rowers are invited to take part in our annual time trails, in either a Quad or Single. These time trials are open to male & female crews, and must following the following rules:
Must be conducted in TUB boats.
- The start is from the light pole outside the front of the club, and may be a running start.
- The Single is under Swan Street Bridge and back. Consult your coach about the safe turning zone.
- The Quad is around Herring Island, and must be coxed by an accredited coxswain.
- Finish line is the start line.
- All crews must be accompanied by someone from the bank to oversee safety.
- This person does not need to be a coach, but should be an experienced rower who can alert crews on any potential problems.
- Times are to be submitted to Head of Rowing (Tim Evans, [email protected]).
- Last day for times to be submitted is the Sunday before presentation night, Sunday 22nd May 2016.
- You may make multiple attempts at the time trail, with multiple crews.
Four prizes are awarded at our Presentation night, being for the fastest male & female single scull, and for the fastest male & female quad scull.
For assistance with boats, please refer to the Captain of Boats. Other queries can be directed to your coach or the Head of Rowing
.
Season 2015-16 Celebrations
With masters season flying by it’s time to think about celebrating our achievements for the last year and look back on another bumper season at RRC.
Our boathouse will be the venue for us to gather on Saturday May 28th from 7pm to celebrate the year and to say thanks to all our coaches and volunteers that make RRC the club it is. Friends and family are invited to enjoy the evening too with a spit roast dinner and drinks available at bar prices.
Tickets are $30 each – please buy your tickets by 20th May so we know numbers for caterers (it’s pretty hard otherwise).
Please pay for your tickets using the RRC bank account:
Richmond Rowing Club, Bendigo Bank
BSB: 633 000
Account Number: 117078238
Ref: Pres Night <surname>
Contact [email protected] if you have any dietary requirements or questions.
One of the highlights of the night is always a little slide show of photos and movie clips gathered throughout the season, so if you have any you would like to share please put them on the Facebook page or send them through to me, thanks.
Look forward to seeing and celebrating with you all.
