Boat naming Archives - Richmond Rowing Club

January 10, 2023January 9, 2023

2022 Club races and Christmas lunch

We had a big day on Sunday 11th December with club races, boat naming and the club Christmas lunch. Thankfully the weather was glorious for most of the day, only turning to showers at the very end.

Club races

3 Richmond eights were ready and keen for the splash and dash 300m course and the competition was fierce.
Ambush – coxed by Jack: Cynthia, James, Millie, Alex, Rohan, Pat, Allan, Tim E
D. Begg – coxed by Kathy: Caley, Keith, Pavel, Mikey G, Tom, Kim, Sep, John B
Minerva – coxed by Will: Rebecca, Emily B, Lily, Anthea, Andrew, Ben, Dennis and Justin, who also ended up winners! Well done to all participants.

Boat naming

Richmond RC is very lucky to have acquired a beautiful Hudson 8, graciously donated by the Sullivan family and sponsored by Leemark. Heartfelt thank you to Chris and Leigh Sullivan for their incredibly generous gift, which will no doubt be appreciated for many years to come.
The boat naming celebration was setup at the front of the club and the 8 has been christened the “Minerva”, roman goddess of wisdom and counterpart to the Greek deity Athena. She was the goddess of justice, strategic war and victory, who emerged fully formed and armoured from the head of her father Jupiter. More importantly, Minerva is also the name of one of Richmond RC’s very first boats in the 1863 original fleet. An apt name and a lovely throwback to the club’s origins.

Christine Sullivan and some exploding bubbles on the Minerva

Christmas lunch

All our squads came together to decorate the hall & make sure we were in full festive spirit for the afternoon. The food was delicious, crackers popping with terrible jokes enjoyed by all, along with spectacularly Christmassy music. But the best part as always was the company.

Thank yous

Helen Pearce – Event organisation, marketing & desserts
Christine Sullivan – Club race logistics & crews
Will Golding, Jack Hellerstedt & Kathy Macrow – Coxing for club races
Amy Catlin – Christmas lunch catering
Diana Vernon – Serving food
Anthea Amos, Kathy Macrow, Dennis Beck, Amy Catlin, Lily Innes-Irons, Kim Begelhole & Ally Dejaegher – Bar service
James Merrett & Jack Hellerstedt – Clean-up & dishes
All Women & Men’s squad on the day – Christmas decorations and set-up

May 2, 2021

Continued Expansion of RRC Fleet

Through the first half of this financial year the club expanded our fleet with some second hand purchases, adding 2 stern coxed quad/fours and a number of singles to assist with our socially distanced rowing.

The Committee has also recently purchased an ex National Training Centre Sykes women’s lightweight double. This is a top of the range boat to support our highly competitive crews and requires the captains permission to row it. This boat is to be named the Franzi Locher. Franzi was a club member, rower and coach for a number of years and was the architect of the most recent renovation of the club house. Given the funds we receive from hiring our venue has contributed to our fleet expansion in recent years it is fitting that we honour the architect in this way.

We have also purchased and received a new Sykes men’s double as we improve the quality of our fleet including our smaller boats which are seeing more use. Again, this boat is not a general use boat and it requires the captain’s permission to row it. This boat is to be named the Emma Catford. Emma is a past president of Richmond Rowing Club, serving for 5 years in the role to 2013. Significant work was done by the Committee over that time to plan the renovation including reaching agreements with Melbourne City Council and MLC such that the club has been able to grow significantly since then. Emma was also a very successful rower throughout her time at the club.

It is great to have an expanded and newer fleet in the shed, this has been achieved through careful management of our finances and the income we receive from our hall hires – thank you to everyone who contributed to this.

We plan to christen these boats at our upcoming club BBQ on May 16th. Look out for details soon.

It is also important we continue to safeguard our fleet to minimise damage both on the water and in the shed, any damage to our fleet takes them out of action and the repairs eat into our funds for new boats. Please continue to be careful in the shed with oars and riggers when moving around, don’t leave boats unattended on trestles and take appropriate safeguards on the water with lights when dark and paying attention to the increasing river traffic.

December 17, 2019

End of Year Regatta Recap and New Boats Named

It’s been a busy few months of regattas culminating with Melbourne Head, Head of the Yarra and Carrum Regatta just last weekend.
Congratulations to the 4 crews who represented Richmond at Head of the Yarra, a mixed masters crew, one female D grade crew and two male D grade crews. There were good performances by all following a large amount of training in the run up.
We made the trip to Carrum, for the Carrum regatta last Saturday for the final regatta of the year. Richmond was well represented at the regatta which saw a large amount of elite and school crews competing. A strong contingent competed in every category from Open to D Grade with crews in all boat classes except eights.
Competitive performances on the day saw wins for:

Dario Sportelli in the C-Single,
Lachlan Stewart, Richard Healy, Tom Brooks, Pavel Oborin coxed by Ainsley Raggatt in the D Grade Four
Kirstie Fergy in the D-Single
Amy Catlin and Lily Innes-Irons in the C-Pair
Dario and Ainsley in a composite mixed double
Thomas Brooks, Richard Healy, Lachlan Stewart, Pavel Oborin in the D Grade Quad
Kirsty Fergie, Aline Dejaegher, Jon Roberts, Allan Randall coxed by Rosie Dickson-Hoyle in the mixed quad

A day after Carrum we held our final club races for the year. Three eights took to the water to fight it out. Clearly the starter was not loud enough for one crew, with “attention” being the new “go”. Congratulations to the crew of Derek Begg (cox), Michael Gehling, Kim Begelhole, Jingyi (Alex) Huang, William Golding, Kathryn Spinnler-Jenkins, Lily Innes-Irons, Emily James and Red Skelton who took out the win.

We then gathered to name our three newest boats. Firstly, a double named Morpheus by Ally Dejaegher as part of our recent raffle to name a boat at Melbourne head.

Then Yass Queen, a new mid weight single named by Dana Hill, also as part of our recent naming raffle.

And finally the Riverboat Jasper, a single kindly donated by captain Barry Campbell.

Following the smashing of bottles we retreated to the club for our annual Christmas lunch to celebrate the year gone. We also wished Kathy Macrow a happy 60th birthday on the day!!!

Happy Christmas and don’t forget your New Years Eve party tickets!!!

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.

August 15, 2016

Season 2016-17

The AGM on Saturday 30th July saw the official completion of the 2015-16 season. I thank all those who attended the event and acknowledged the work of the committee over the past year. We were able to present very healthy financial statements for the association and a thorough report on the activities of the year (can be downloaded at the bottom of this blog).
I was very pleased to be able to announce due to the success of our fundraising efforts of the past year we have placed an order for a new stern coxed four/quad for the club which will be a great benefit to the club particularly to assist in our Development squad coaching where it is not always possible to have a coach on the bank as well as a cox in the boat. With a grand total of $23,500 from fundraising we also had some extra cash to invest in a new set of mens quad sculling oars and two new model ergos to replace our oldest ones. With our fundraising coordinator of this year, Cat Bower, stepping down from the committee as she begins to build her family we can thank her for her amazing work this year.
We also saw two further members of our committee step down and they will be both be sorely missed. Derek Begg has served on the committee for 12 years in the roles of Secretary, Head of Rowing, Head of Club Development and general member. His time and effort during this period should not be underestimated and we appreciate all his hardwork. Similarly, Vikki Brennan has fulfilled the role of general member and Treasurer whilst serving on the committee for the past four years and has invested much time in ensuring we are in the good financial position we are in today. I thank all our committee and members who have contributed to the club for the past year.
The new committee for the 2016-17 season was formed consisting of:
President – Karen Doggett
Vice-President – Geraldine Goss
Secretary – Shern Timmins
Treasurer – Kathy Macrow
Captain of Boats – Barry Campbell
Head of Rowing – Tim Evans
Facilities Coordinator – Lucy Crunden
Two ordinary members – Jon Roberts, Nic Forte
Fundraising Coordinator – vacant

However, I am very glad to report that since the meeting David Micallef has stepped up and volunteered to fill the role of Fundraising Coordinator and so I would like to congratulate and welcome him, Jon Roberts and Nic Forte our three new committee members.
Following the conclusion of the AGM we celebrated the newest addition to our fleet, the Remigando Fortis (Rowing Strong), our secondhand Sykes double/pair, with our National Masters winning single sculler, Michelle Joy, stepping up to the boat with a trusted hammer to perform the official naming. Thanks to everyone who then helped out with the bbq and bar as we celebrated the end of one season and the start of the next.

July 5, 2016

Saturday 30 July – midday – BBQ & Drinks, Boat Naming and AGM

Keeping a rowing club in operation requires attention to financial, administrative and legal responsibilities, as well as the rowing and social activities. Our Annual General Meeting is a statutory requirement and a review of activities and financial situation is presented by your current committee members.
All committee positions are declared vacant and your new committee is elected to take on the running of the club for the next year.
NOTICE OF MEETING
The RRC Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday 30 July 2016 at 12 midday in the clubhouse – 7 Boathouse Drive, Melbourne 3004.
The business of the AGM includes:

to confirm the minutes of the preceding annual general meeting; and
to receive and consider:
the annual report of the Committee on the activities of the Association during the preceding financial year; and
the financial statements by the Association for the preceding financial year submitted by the Committee in accordance with Part 7 of the Act; and
to elect the members of the Committee; and
to confirm or vary the amounts of the annual subscription.

Continue reading “Saturday 30 July – midday – BBQ & Drinks, Boat Naming and AGM”

July 28, 2015

AGM Boat Naming Celebrations

Thanks to everyone who joined us this Saturday for the RRC Annual General Meeting. When the official business was completed our attention turned to celebrating the naming of three new additions to our fleet and enjoying a good catch up after the Winter break, with thanks to our bar and bbq volunteers Lynn May, Karin Bouvin, Dennis Beck and Tim Evans.
Following our call out to members to nominate names for our new singles we celebrated two new creative names to the tiger fleet – Tiger Shark, previously fondly known as ‘Martin’s single’ and Flying Tiger, one of a pair of singles purchased through this years fundraising efforts.

We also took the opportunity to name a third single in honour of Julia Avis. Julia joined the club in 2001 and over many years served on the clubs committee as vice president and in the role of president from 2006-7. One of her great contributions to the club was the amazing amount of work she and others put in to the hugely successful ergothons of 2003 and 2004 which raised funds to enable the purchase of our current trailer. After completing her learn to row at Richmond she went on to win two state championships in the W8+ and Head of the Yarra in 2003. These are just a couple of her achievements and we were delighted to recognise her contribution with the naming of a single.
The 2015-16 RRC committee with one nomination per position was confirmed at the AGM.
President – Karen Doggett
Vice President – Geraldine Goss
Secretary – Kathryn Macrow
Treasurer – Vicki Brennan
Captain of Boats – Barry Campbell
Head of Rowing – Rochelle Stokes
Facilities Coordinator – Lucy Crunden
Fundraising Coordinator – Cat Hardie
2 Ordinary Members – Derek Begg & Shern Timmins