Most members will have noticed by now that the RRC bay has undergone a bit of a transformation with new shiny racking and that many things are located in different places.
The clubs sculling oar sets are now located near the front stairwell door on the RRC labelled yellow oar holders and the red oar holders located in between the roller door and the main switchboard cabinet is where private members oars are now stored.
The majority of the clubs sweep oars are located in angled racks at the front of the shed whilst some are located at the rear of the old MLC bay care should be taken getting these items in and out of the racks.
The new rolling boat rack should be operated with care to prevent boats being damaged and also members will need to be extra careful removing boats from the racks at the rear of the shed as there can be some overlap of bows and sterns. For some reason all our boats are different lengths and so there will be a bit of moving around until the optimum locations are sorted.
Finally riggers are now stored at the rear of the sheds and should be returned there when not in use. Please don’t dump things on the floor as we are trying to keep the shed tidy and easy to clean with less stuff on the floor.
Members also need to be careful of the boats located in the hanging racks when carrying equipment in and out of the sheds and also the tops of the roller doors to avoid banging riggers on the lintel.
Some of our less used fleet items and our only quick release riggered boat are located on the new sliding rack and will need to be rigged and –derigged for each session. Whilst this is a minor inconvenience it will require a little fore-planning for sessions. It also means that you don’t have to re-rig a quad as a four and vice versa but can choose the configuration for the session.
If you don’t like rigging boats and would prefer the club to have more quick release boats then why not help us in our efforts by participating in our fundraising initiatives like the Christmas raffle to win a hamper full of hundreds of dollars worth of goodies. Tickets are on sale now and the winner will be drawn on the 16th December at the RRC Christmas party. Tickets are $4 each or 3 for $10 please email Cat at fundraising@richmondrowing.
Another huge upcoming fundraiser is our NYE party, get in quick to secure your ticket for $80, which will include food and the best view of the city’s new year fireworks. Bring your friends and family and purchase tickets here http://www.trybooking.com/
It’s a New Year…Time to Celebrate!
After last year’s roaring success as a fundraiser, we will be holding another New Year party for our members and their friends / family. What better way to see in New Year than on the balcony of one of the best venues in Melbourne and arguably the best place around to view the fireworks. Hurry though as tickets are strictly limited!
Tickets are $80 per person if you purchase before 15th December and $100 thereafter and will include finger food on the night. Tickets must be booked by Tuesday 29th December for security and catering purposes! Book your tickets online via trybooking here: http://www.trybooking.com/171743
The event will run from 7pm till 1am with last drinks being served at 12:30am. Drinks are at club prices for the night! However we do have some premium bubbles available for those who want to celebrate in style.
With the proceeds of the party assisting with the purchase of a couple of key fleet and equipment items last year, it’s now an important event in our fundraising calendar as well as predominantly being a social occasion for all our members to relax and enjoy after the busy head season.
So don’t delay and secure your tickets today!
Any questions, please direct them to [email protected]
Thanks
A little can go a long way!
Well we’re almost halfway through the year now and our fundraising efforts are about to be stepped up, but to really make that successful we really need your help…
Are you able to offer any prizes or services which we can Raffle or Auction this year (either at Christmas or at our Annual Trivia Night)? Some examples are:
- Unwanted gifts
- Things you no longer want or need
- Holiday homes
- Services – i.e. Group together with your buddy’s in the club and offer to do an hour of gardening or some other service
- High Value Donations – Are you able to reach out to your workplace or network to see if they can donate anything of value to a good cause
- Coaching or Coxing hours
If you have anything to donate or offer, or if you have any ideas for fundraising generally, please drop Cat an email on [email protected] or talk to her at the club.
So far this year we’ve raised over $1100 from Entertainment book sales and sweepstakes alone, which is great so let’s keep the momentum going and facilitate the purchase of new equipment which will really make a difference!
Look out shortly for news about New Year, which will be one of our key fundraising activities of the year!
Cat
RRC Christmas
It’s exactly one month until the RRC Christmas party!
Why not take advantage of our bargin early bird ticket prices and buy your ticket today for just $20 including a spit roast.
All details below and look out for the signs in the boathouse.
Head of Rowing
As many of you may be aware our Head of Rowing, Rochelle Stokes, has been away from the club over the last couple of months due to other understandable priorities. Unfortunately she is unable to commit the time required for the demanding role of overseeing the rowing program at the club and has resigned this role for the season. As a committee we would like to sincerely thank her for the immense amount of work she did in the role for the whole of last year and in the preparation for this season.
As we now look forward to the sprint season in discussion with both the coaching group and the committee we have taken the decision to fill the role and I am very pleased to announce that Tim Evans will be stepping into the position for the remainder of the season. Many of you will know Tim as the head coach of the men’s squad this season, but along with this he is a life member of the club due to his years of contribution and has the honour of a boat named after him in the shed.
We want to thank Tim for volunteering to take this role and ask everyone to support him as we move into the very busy part of the season with the Yarra based head races in the next few weeks and then the sprint season following on straight after.
Head of the Goulburn – A race to a winery
As with all rowing regattas, the alarm went off far too early and the sun was nowhere near up as we all made our way up to Nagambie for the Head of the Goulburn race.
I was pretty excited about donning the Richmond Zootie for the fist time and tried hard to quell the accompanying ball of nerves; a mixture of fear and anticipation of my first race in years!
The drive up to Nagambie was pretty quick allowing time for a desperately needed coffee. It was opening up to be a cracker of a day, the sun promised to beat down hard and strong. Coffee was followed by the boat unloading and rigging ritual, lots of standing about waiting, “stretching”, a couple of nervous pees and the application of several litres of sunblock by all.
We finally got on the water and everyone seemed to be in mode. It finally felt like we had it together, we were a proper crew. It felt amazing heading into our first race knowing we had improved so much and this was our chance to prove it, if not to everyone else, but at least to ourselves.
Derek was cracking jokes about the starting official out in a tinny with his dog and then boom we were off and there was no time to think it was just one stroke into the next building to a steady rhythm.
I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that the most appealing reason and subsequent motivator for the Head of the Goulburn was the fact it ended at a winery. Apparently it is the only such regatta in the world!
We only had one other competitor in our Womens D grade 8 and with a rolling start it was a challenge to catch them. We passed a men’s 8 and a men’s four which was really motivating.
I freaked out when I saw the 3km sign thinking “What?!? Seriously?!? We’ve only gone 3km?!” followed by a mental sigh and stern words to push through it! I almost felt like doing a lay down Sally. I pulled myself together and kept pushing. The 2km sign came up and I simultaneously felt incredibly silly and awfully relieved that it was the home stretch. Optimism crept in, Derek’s calls kept us going and we finished strong.
We hadn’t really trained much together as a crew so all things considered we did really well and finished on a tired high!
RRC had lots of crews in the race and everyone did Richmond proud!
Carolyn was asked to row with a Masters E Quad only one week before the race. They were the fastest Masters female quad on raw time and were faster than theMelbourne female quad crew who won in C grade, so a great result! And, they had only been on one training row as a crew with Tom prior to the race.
A special mention to the Mens D four with Robert in bow seat, Ben in two, Raymond in three, Devindhe as stroke, and Sarah R as the coxwain. This crew performed exceptionally well, winning their race.
Congratulations to the winning crews and a great effort all round by all who participated. Bring on next years Head of Goulburn!
By Sarah Houghton
Camp Video Feedback Session
Thanks to everyone who helped clear out the boat bay to assist with the new racking install today. Whilst we have limited access to boats this week we will be using the time wisely to get some good theory and land session training.
All rowers are advised this Wednesday, 4th November at 6.30pm we have a camp video feedback session which we would like as many people to attend as possible. It doesn’t matter if you went to camp or not, if you are competing this season or not, anyone who is interested in learning more and improving their rowing skills and knowledge should come along.
Our coach mentor, Sue and other coaches will be in attendance to critically review some of the recent video footage of training crews to help people see practical examples of what what we are hoping to achieve or improve upon through training.
Hopefully see you all there.
Melbourne Cup Sweep
Don’t miss the Richmond Rowing Club Melbourne Cup sweep!
First prize (pictured) includes champagne, chocolates, cash and RRC embossed glasses…second and third receive cash and RRC glasses too. $20 per horse, talk to Gerry or Barry.
Funds raised will go towards a new boat 🙂
Racking works and helpers needed
As indicated in last months EasyOar newsletter the exciting next phase of the boathouse redevelopment is about to get underway.
The new racking for the RRC boat bay will be installed next week and to facilitate this we need to make space by de-rigging and sectioning some of our boats and storing them safely on the trailer.
As a result a limited number of boats will be accessible in the MLC bay over the next week to allow some training sessions to occur but please co-ordinate with your coaches and the captain to organise access to equipment and be aware we may need to alter training plans to include land sessions for next week.
The boats will again be available for you to rig and set the following weekend or earlier if everything goes to plan.
We will need crews to de-rig fleet after training sessions this week and on the weekend and move onto the RRC trailer for a few days.
Pleas bring your spanners and bear with us during these brief interruptions..
Empty the shed for Melbourne Head
Already looking forward to the next regatta? Well don’t forget this one is local (that means no boat loading and unloading!) and will be followed by a celebration at the club.
We’ll be naming some boats and then opening up the bar and the balcony for a bbq so we’d love to have lots of people around to join in the fun. Make sure you put it in your diaries and let us know if you can help out 🙂
