The 13th and 14th of January were the dates this year for the much liked and well attended Rutherglen regatta, with more than 700 competitors contesting 340 races across the weekend. This was the 153rd running of this regatta, making it the oldest rowing regatta in Australia.
The 800m course on the Saturday and a short 500m sprint on Sunday leaves you with short, sharp, shocks of excitement over a fun packed weekend thanks to the quick race starts and the tricky boomerang bend.
Outstanding performances included Morgan Chandler and Lindsey Brown in the Female D grade pair on Saturday (800m) and Female open pair on Sunday (500m).
On Saturday, Michelle Joy was victorious in the Female B Grade single scull, with Sarah Houghton taking silver. Sliver was also the colour for Zoe Maxwell and Michelle Joy in the female open double scull (800m).
The newly formed mixed coxed eight enjoyed the second spot on both days, not a bad effort for a bunch of folks that had never set foot in a boat together prior to rowing to the start.
Stefanie Dudczig and Allan Randall were heroic in the Mixed Double scull on the Sunday picking up silver after a fantastic start – pipped at the post thanks to some pesky buoys and a reedy finish.
Praise too for the Wentworth Richmond composite Male Masters Eight who won on both days thanks to their great efforts and huge long and lanky Wentworth rowers. Our all Richmond masters eight gave it all they had, but a 6 sec handicap over 800m and 4 seconds over the 500m run made the race for a medal just out of reach.
There was lots of “in-boat” video footage taken over the weekend, and we can confirm the number of actual strokes it takes to complete the course. Over 500m the pair of Morgan and Lindsey took 64 strokes, the double of Dave and Charlie did it in 59 strokes, the men’s D grade coxed four took 58 and the mixed eight 54. Our male masters eight took only 49 strokes over the same distance. Loving the stats!
In addition there was the christening of a new member owned boat – the Hobbit. The name has nothing to do with the height and furry feet of the crew – and any gossip is ‘fake news’. Denis Henry also proved that he is still a wizard at Rock-Paper-Scissors (to keep Leigh and Christine’s daughter entertained).
Off the water – Freshly made bacon and egg rolls for lunch and awesome chicken parmies’ later in the pub, all washed down with plenty of coffee and beer. Mostly beer.
Chiltern – our host for the night is an idyllic, charming and historic town with plenty of laughs in the numerous bars. We visited most of them in search of the best table and the coldest beer.
All up it was an awesome trip, the weather was especially kind to us with day time temps hovering around the 27 deg mark. Many thanks must go to those that worked behind the scenes organising accommodation and boat transport. You all know who you are, and know that we could not have done it without you, and we can’t forget our effervescent Yash who volunteered as our BRO for the weekend. This is definitely one regatta we should all make an effort to attend. Bring on 2019.
Kim B. and Alex R.