bbq Archives - Richmond Rowing Club

March 18, 2023May 8, 2023

2023 Australian Henley Regatta

After the recent regattas in regional Victoria, it was a lovely change to have a racing day right on our doorstep on the Yarra. Melbourne put on a great show and the atmosphere was both festive and electric.
On the racing front, it was one of the most successful Henley regattas Richmond has had in many years, with both the men and women’s squads winning in key events.
The 71 year drought (’51 annual report, page 7) came to an end for the men’s 8, with their dramatic victory in the MB8+ event, beating Mercantile in the semis and Banks in the nail-biting final.
The women also came up with the goods, with 2 Richmond quads making it to the final of the FB4x+ and guaranteeing a victory for the club!
This is a great opportunity to thank our coaches who have been doing such a great job getting our rowers in top shape: Will Golding (who was recently awarded Coach of the Year by RV, a huge achievement!) and Ainsley Raggatt for the Men’s squad; Roy Zhang, Lucci Maegher and Stuart McShane for the women’s squad. Thanks for the hard work.

Winners

MB8+ Pavel Oborin, Jack Hellerstedt, Jon Roberts, Alex Pupko, Ben Wardle, Tim Foster, Pat Cook, Isaac Balemi, Coxed by D.Begg
FM4X+ T.Nishibata [MELB], P.Whiting [MUBC], Geraldine Goss [RCHMD], Helen Pearce [RCHMD], Cox: C.Lawrence [BANKS]
FB4X+ Caley Manzie, Emily Rouse, Kat Spinnler-Jenkins, Beth Rosenberg, Coxed by Sarah Houghton
FM8+ Kate Dyball [RCHMD], Helen Pearce [RCHMD], Amy Catlin [RCHMD], Geraldine Goss [RCHMD], C.Carr [YARRA], M.Ringersma [YARRA], Christine Sullivan [RCHMD], L.Rodriquez [POWR], Coxed by Ally Dejaegher [RCHMD]

Thank you to our volunteers

Sue-Virginia O’Hanlon and Emily Bourke – BRO duties
Helen Pearce – Organising the post-racing event and buying food
Cynthia Masters and Gabriella Bekir Fuente – BBQ chefs
John C, Gerry G, Amy C, Lily I, Dennis B, Jack H and Ally D – Bar service and BBQ dishes
Lily Innes-Irons – Making sure the bar is stocked and beer is cold for each event!

For more photos, check out the link below

January 20, 2023January 20, 2023

2023 Rutherglen Regatta

After a few weeks of uncertainty, Rutherglen Regatta 2023 was confirmed to actually take place on Lake Moodemere, to everyone’s relief and delight. The recent Murray River flooding carved out a lovely little cliff on the river bank, which made launching boats a tad more challenging, but nothing could stop the good vibes and enthusiasm of participants. The contingent from RRC was strong this year, with over 30 members attending and 60 races entered over the weekend. Armed with Will’s spreadsheet, RRC was an unstoppable tsunami of boats and coxes on and off the water both days.

After the stifling heat on Saturday, it was deliciously refreshing to jump in the pool at the Lydoun Motel, our home away from home in Chiltern. This was followed by a lovely BBQ, expertly cooked by our team of volunteers and coordinated by Richie Healy.
It also gave us an opportunity to say farewell to Sep Tolboom, who has now returned to his native Netherlands after spending some time in Melbourne. He’s been a great addition to the men’s coaching team and a wonderful person to have around the club. Best of luck on your new adventures Sep!

Race of the weekend?

Big ups to Richie for catching the footage of the absolute barnstormer of a finish for the Sunday MB4x+ “too close to call”.

Wins

Saturday
MC8+ Will Golding, Allan Randall, Isaac Balemi, Pat Cook, Ben Wardle, Alex Pupko, Dennis Beck, Jack Hellerstedt, coxed by Ally Dejaegher
X2X Jack Hellerstedt & Ally Dejaegher
MB4X+ Pat Cook, Isaac Balemi, Ben Wardle, Will Golding, coxed by Jack Hellerstedt
FM4X+ Christine Sullivan, Cynthia Masters, Sarah Hardy, Diana Vernon, coxed by Stef Dudzig
FB2- Amy Catlin & Lily Innes-Irons
MC4X+ Emil Limansyah, James Merrett, Will Golding, Pat Cook, coxed by Jack Hellerstedt
FB4+ Caley Manzie, Kat Spinnler-Jenkins, Stef Dudzig, Gabriella Bekir-Fuente, coxed by Wan Emptage
FC4+ Emily Bourke, Dana Hill, Caley Manzie, Kat Spinnler-Jenkins, coxed by Christine Sullivan

Sunday
MB8+ Pat Cook, Jack Hellerstedt, Jon Roberts, Alex Pupko, Tom McKay, Ben Wardle, Will Golding, Isaac Balemi, coxed by Ally Dejaegher
FC4X+ Gabriella Bekir-Fuente, Marie Bergmann, Caley Manzie, Emily Bourke coxed by Amy Catlin
FB4+ Caley Manzie, Kat Spinnler-Jenkins, Stef Dudzig, Gabriella Bekir-Fuente, coxed by James Merrett
MC4X+ Emil Limansyah, James Merrett, Allan Randall, Dmitri Maksoutov, coxed by Geraldine Goss

Thank yous

Huge thanks to our team of volunteers for making this event possible:
• Fiona Morrison for organising accommodation at Lydoun Motel
• Christine & Leigh Sullivan, for towing the trailer to and from Rutherglen
• Leigh Sullivan for BRO duty on Saturday
• Richie Healy for organising food logistics and planning the Saturday BBQ
• Pat Cook, Gerry Goss, Will Golding, Jon Roberts & Dennis Beck for cooking up a storm on Saturday night and making sure everything gets cleaned up
• Jack Hellerstedt for crisis re-booking the pub, creating the photo album, picking up BBQ food and double checking boats were tied down properly
• Kim Begelhole for the boatloading plan
• All members who coxed, helped to get boats on and off water, boatloaded/unloaded and generally helped out over the weekend. Your assistance is really appreciated!

Link to album

March 23, 2022April 6, 2022

Boat naming ceremony for the Kathy Macrow & the Derek Begg

On 24/2/22 we formalised two new members of our fleet.

Our new Sykes 4/x+ has been formally christened the Kathy Macrow, for our current treasurer and long-serving committee member who has been a member since 2009. In addition to all her high-level administration for the club, she runs the Tiger social rowing program, a key cornerstone of our goal to make rowing accessible to a broad spectrum of commitment levels and ability.

Hail, Poseidon,
Holder of the Earth
dark-haired lord
O blessed one
be kindly in heart and help those who voyage in ships!

Let it be known
From this day hence
This boat of ours
Is properly named
The Kathy Macrow
The Captain

We doubled down on our off-cycle opportunistic purchase by de-naming the TBFKDB, to christen our new Empacher 8+ (‘The Glendalough’) the Derek Begg. A member since 2004, Derek has served in many capacities on & especially off the committee, and is presently coaching & coxing for the men in their ’21-’22 seasonal incarnation as a big boat squad.

Lifetime member Dennis Beck (left) introducing Derek (middle) with John Carey (right) listening intently.

Across the faraway ocean
Across the faraway sea
Across the land
And across the waters
Poseidon, hear my plea

Divine ruler heed my call
Answer me true
In the light of day
Or in the dark of night
Lend me your strength
Your power
And your will to fight

Let it be known
From this day hence
The boat that was
The Derek Begg
Shall no longer hold this name

Let it be known
From this day hence
This is the boat
That shall carry that name
The Captain

Derek after coxing the MB8+ to victory at state champs in Ballarat

September 18, 2019

2019 RRC GRAND FINAL PIE DAY – TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW

All RRC members, friends and family are invited to join us to celebrate a great Melbourne tradition, The AFL Grand Final!

Why not cheer on the teams from our amazing balcony, just down the road from the MCG.
Pies and Nibbles are included in your $18 ticket price.

Drinks at bar prices

Saturday 28 September 2019 at 1pm

LOCATION

Richmond Rowing Club
7 Boathouse Drive, Melbourne

BOOKING LINK

https://www.trybooking.com/BFKVE

July 17, 2019

AGM's and Boat Namings!!

We are continuing our fleet renewal program and will be naming our new Women’s Eight after the RRC AGM which starts at 10am on Saturday, 27 July. We look forward to seeing as many members present as possible, the running order for the day will be:
10am – AGM
10.30am – Boat naming
11am – club races
12 onwards – BBQ and bar
As part of our fleet renewal program to make space for newer boats we donated one of our older single sculls to the Bendigo Rowing Club last year. We have received many thanks for Bendigo for this donation and they have in turn spent time refurbishing the boat.
I was pleased to receive a letter from the Bendigo Rowing Club, thanking us for this donation and also letting me know that they intend to name the boat after our current Head of Rowing Tim Evans.
As most of you will know Tim has a deep connection with both clubs, having been introduced to rowing in Bendigo by one of their life members Denis Nihill. Tim has also rowed successfully for Richmond for a number of years, served on our Committee in multiple roles and is a Life Member of Richmond Rowing Club.
The Tim Evans will be formally named following the BRC AGM to be held at 11am, Sunday 28 July at Lake Weeroona, Bendigo. Tim will be present and I will also attend to represent the club. The Bendigo Rowing Club has also invited any members of Richmond Rowing Club who would like to attend. Please let me know and I will pass on the details.
In their correspondence with me the Bendigo Rowing Club has also recognised our participation in the annual Bendigo Sprint Regatta and they look forward to seeing us this year again. Highlighting the number of former Bendigo rowers who have continued their rowing on relocation to Melbourne by joining our club, they also hope that the naming of the boat will further strengthen the connection that exists between our clubs.
Congratulations to Tim on this honour from his hometown club!!

April 21, 2019

Club races and our latest boat naming

Club Races
Fast and furious – with lots of splash – is how four eights competed in Sunday’s Club Races. Around 20% of the competitors were in their first club races and it was great to see our DS members joining in and experiencing some racing. After the heats, crews competed in an A Final and B Final.
The winning team of the A Final was Andrew Yuile, John Carey. Alan Randall, Leigh Sullivan, Kim Begelhole, Cristian Udovicich, Imogen Aitken and Kate Riley, coxed by Stef Dudczig.
Our selectors of crews did a pretty good job, but then tried to outfox us with the use of French on the starter’s line! Derek managed to video the finals so if you want to see your form check out the Facebook posts.
BBQ
It was great to see lots of our current Learn to Row group enjoying the BBQ and deck with the rest of the club. It won’t be too long before they’re rowing in the next Club Races!
The Development Squad under the leadership of Sarah Hardy organized a fabulous BBQ. And Sarah even co-opted Matt (hubby) and Bridgette (daughter) to help out on the BBQ while we were all racing. Thanks to the salad providers… Pavel, Alysia, Emma & Matt, Amy and Sarah Hardy. Sarah even provided homemade vege/vegan burgers – yummy! The DS (including Oliver & Mikey G) also did a great job setting up the tables and cleaning up afterwards and photographing the day.
Bar server thanks go to Ally, Kathy, Dennis, Gypsy, John C, Amy and Kim B. And thanks to Gypsy for coordinating the bar.
Boat Naming
We were pleased to name the latest acquisition to our fleet – a secondhand midweight single. (It’s a Wintech 2016 Club Trainer 75-85kg ACW honeycomb kevlar/fiberglass – for those interested in the technical details).

The committee has discussed over the past year the possibility of acknowledging and honoring the traditional owners of land on which our boathouse stands and the waterways on which we row.
What better way than naming a boat which is regularly in view of our members and other river users as well as to visitors to Melbourne.
The Boonwurrung elders have given us permission to use the word “Gurrong” – which means canoe in Boonwurrung language – on this, our newest fleet acquisition.
Kathy Macrow

November 20, 2018

Shiny new boats with deserving names

Thank you to everyone who made it down to the club on Saturday for our Melbourne Head BBQ. It was great to see so many people on water in the glorious weather and all those who came to support.
The great weather allowed us to show off and enjoy our great deck – thank you to everyone who helped organise the BBQ, prepared and cooked the food, served being the bar and generally helped out.

Once all the racing was over we celebrated with the naming of our three brand new boats. As announced at the recent AGM the Committee has purchased a coxless quad/four and a men’s and women’s double/pair. This continues our focus on expanding our fleet with new top of the range boats for our most competitive crews.
To name the boats the Committee sought the input of our members, from all the fantastic ideas it was clear there were three standout names to be recognised. All three have been involved with the club for many years as committee members, volunteers, coaches and rowers.
Our first boat to be named was the men’s double/pair. This boat is named after Anthea Amos. Anthea has been a member for 17 years, joining the club through our learn to row program. She has been an active rower for a number of year and always helps out at our ongoing learn to row sessions to pass on her wisdom. Anthea has also been a Committee member for 7 years, serving as Secretary for 6 years.

The next boat to names was the women’s double/pair named after Geraldine Goss. Geraldine has been a member for over 10 years. She is well-known as an accomplished rower, there is unlikely to be a regatta she hasn’t won and her name is well represented on the clubs honour boards. Whenever possible she also provides coaching to our single scullers to improve their skills. In addition she has been a committee member for 4 years, serving as Fundraising Coordinator and Vice President.

Finally, our new coxless quad/four was name for Barry Campbell. What can I say about Barry, as Captain he tirelessly works to maintain our fleet, source new equipment and improve the rowing shed. Whenever there is a problem with equipment he is there to provide advice. He is now in his 9th year as captain so far and continues to excel in the role. Also a competitive rower in his day, he has been seen on the water more frequently of late, possibly due to newer boats requiring less maintenance…..

Congratulations to Anthea, Geraldine and Barry. It is a well deserved honour for all of you, thank you for all your hard work on behalf of Richmond Rowing Club.

July 28, 2018

Further fleet investment announced at the 2018 AGM

The Richmond Rowing Club Annual General Meeting was held at the club on Saturday 28^th July 2017. It was an opportunity for club members to come together, hear from the Committee about the clubs operations over the past year. It was great to see so many members present on the day.
Thank you to all Committee members for their significant contributions through the year. A brief summary of the year’s activities is provided below; the full Annual Report including all Committee member reports is attached RRC Annual Report 2017/18
Membership Growth – During the year, we increased the number of our financial members from 125 to 142 at 31 May 2018, a 14% increase. This achievement was through a combination of attracting new members and retaining existing members.
In particular, we increased the number of Learn to Row courses to four and scheduled three courses on summer evenings resulting in increased retention of Learn to Row participants. Our Development Squad is maintaining good numbers with dedicated coaching focused on improving their skill levels. We plan to continue this in 2018/19, continuing our Learn to Row program and transitioning Development Squad rowers into the competitive and social rowing squads.
Demonstrate Club Success on the Water – As a major step forward for the club, we engaged our first paid head coach resulting in focused training programs, squad structure, selection criteria and focused coaching. This has contributed to some excellent regatta performances through the year. Although Basil has returned to the UK, we have appointed Matt Wilson as our Head Coach for the coming year – he will be starting with us in early August.
Member Engagement – The club runs a number of events to bring club members together, from our Training Camp and regular circuit sessions, to social events like Quiz Night and New Years Eve. In 2017/18 we held 6 successful major events at the club and a number of smaller events.
The Committee plans to continue this level of events in the current year. This takes a significant effort to arrange and we are always looking for volunteers to assist. Our club would not be able to operate without all of our members who volunteer their time in so many ways. As we look towards the coming year, we will be asking for more help and creating more volunteer roles to take some of the pressure of the usual suspects. If you have a special skill or would like to help regularly, please reach out to the Committee as we would love your support.
Governance and Finance – The clubs finances remain strong, underpinned by income from hiring our amazing venue. This allows us to invest in the rowing program, but we must also continue to invest in our facilities, to generate this revenue. This year we refurbished the bar and kitchen to bringing it up to the standard of the rest of the club.
During the year, we also invested heavily in our fleet and equipment, christening both a men’s and women’s brand new top of the line Sykes quad/four and investing significantly in our refurbished gym. We were also able to purchase a new set of oars for the men’s eight and pair, whilst benefiting from a VicHealth Active Club Grant for a set of sculling oars.
In addition, the Committee is pleased to announce we have ordered 3 more brand new boats to improve our fleet with a men’s and women’s double/pair and a coxless quad for our most competitive crews. These additions will also allow other crews greater access to better quality boats as we replace our oldest boats in our fleet.
A major part of the AGM is to elect a new Committee and saying farewell to any departing members from the Committee.
Geraldine Goss, our outgoing Vice-President has been a member of the Committee for four years, the last three years as Vice-President and Fundraising Coordinator before that. During this time, she has supported two different Presidents and numerous Committee members. She has been active within the Fleet subcommittee and in considering Richmond’s licensing requirements. Whilst at the same time she has been incredibly successful as a rower. Thank you for all your assistance.
Laurent Demay steps down from the position of ordinary member having contributed strongly over the past year with new member communications and fundraising activities.
The new committee for the 2018-19 season consists of:
President – Jon Roberts
Vice-President – Aline Dejaeger
Secretary – Kim Begelhole
Treasurer – Kathy Macrow
Captain of Boats – Barry Campbell
Head of Rowing – Tim Evans
Facilities Coordinator – Lucy Crunden
Fundraising Coordinator – Christine Sullivan
Two ordinary members – Yashwini Vegi, Stefanie Dudczig
Congratulations and welcome to our newest Committee members, Kim Belgelhole and Stefanie Dudczig.
Following the conclusion of the AGM we took to the water for some fun with club races. With a change in formal to get us ready for Head Season, the races were a time trial format from the Island to the Club. Congratulations to all those who took part.
Thank you to everyone who helped with the bbq and bar afterwards, especially Gypsy, John and Laurent for preparing the food and Karin and Dennis for looking after the BBQ.