News & Events
Captain's Log: Issue 15
23rd March 2022
Good evening Cygnets, this is your Captain speaking
Spring is in the air at last! It’s good to be enjoying the lighter mornings and the evenings opening out – I hope you’ve been able to make the most of the warmer weather, on the water and off! With Spring comes the final races of the Heads Season and an exciting weekend ahead with Head of the River and Veterans Head of the River Races to round it off.
Look forward to seeing many of you at the Boathouse and on the hard for this weekend’s events. Thank you to all of you who will be lending a hand at different points during the weekend.
Cygnet Crews
Good luck to our two Cygnet crews racing this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, looking forward to capping off the Heads Season with a good showing in the fairway down the full Championship Course. Having missed the last two years' races due to restrictions, it has been a long time coming, with a lot of training and hard effort in the meantime.Head of the River Race, Saturday 26th March (10.00) Crew number 226 in the Noel Davidson.
Megan Eldred (cox), Matt Gutteridge, Cris Cabrera, Dominic Marshall, Pete Goldsworthy, Mustafa Ozyurt, Whit Mason, Rupert Bailey, Andy StrombergVeterans Head of the River, Sunday 27th March (12.30) Crew number 47 in the Noel Davidson.
Laurent Couacaud (cox), Paul Rawkins, Andy Rawkins, Richard Warne, Rhodri Walters, Mike Collier, Nick Wylie, Iain Golder, Brad BryantWelcome Back to RG Benrath
I know many of you will join me in offering a very warm welcome back to Mucha and our good friends from RG Benrath who will be arriving this week. Benrath are joining us for the race weekend and going off numbers 50 and 144 in Vets Head – please do give Benrath a good cheer and the warmest of welcomes back to the Boathouse. Looking forward to sharing many a beer and many a story in the clubhouse bar over the course of the weekend.Boat Race Social 03 April 2022
With the University Boat Races coming up on April 3rd we will be opening up the bar and firing up the BBQ on Boat Race day. BBQ goes live at 1300 and the first race is at 14:20, so please join to cheer your favourite Blue – friends and family welcome too. Please contact Social Secretary Megan for more details.Spring / Summer Training and Regatta Season
Final touches are being put on our summer season training plan and regatta racing, with much more detail to follow in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to building on the successes and commitment to winter training and seeing that pay off in our series of regatta on the Tideway, and off. Watch this space for updates on mid-week outings and the plan for summer racing.Save the Date: 24 September 2022 – Centenary Ball Social Secretary Megan will be in touch with very exciting news about the big celebration in September, please save the date in your diaries and find out more here.
Last but not least…
I am pleased to announce the arrival of our newest arrival to the Cygnet fleet, with our new Cygnet launch (accompanied by a very impressive looking trailer), which had its maiden voyage this weekend. We have enjoyed many hard years of service from our previous launch, it has seen better days and has now been retired to calmer, drier waters. As ever we’ll be supporting the marshalling effort this weekend, with thanks to our launch drivers assisting on race days.
Rupert
Dates for your diary:
- 26th March - HoRR
- 27th March - Vets Eights
- 6–10th April - Training Camp
- 24th September - Centenary Ball
- 26th March - HoRR
HoRR 2022 crew selection
10th March 2022
Good evening Cygnets
Hope you all are well and training all going to plan, let’s keep at it and keep the lights on the shed as we get towards the end of Heads Season and on to Regattas – that momentum and consistency is really key for maintaining and making the most of the excellent gains since September.
Please keep up with the ergs and weights programme as far as you can.
Head of the River Race (HoRR)
I am very pleased to announce the crew below which will form our entry for HoRR on Sat 26th March.
We are only able to field one entry for the race, which means crew selection has been competitive and based on performance and participation, as judged by a combination of strength, length and commitment during Heads season in recent months.
Even if not selected below, thank you for your efforts and work in training, these do not go unnoticed. There is a further opportunity to race at Vets Head, details below.
Cygnet 2022 Head of the River Race: Crew Selection
Noel Davidson 8+
Megan (Cox), Matt G, Cris, Dom, Pete, Mustafa, Whit, Rupert, AndersI am really pleased that we have a strong entry and delighted with the progress we have made, as demonstrated at Quintin and then Hammersmith head. Kudos to you all for keeping up the training and everyone who has remained active and engaged throughout the season. This sets us up well not just for HoRR but for the summer too.
Veterans Head of the River Race
If you’re not listed above, there is still an opportunity to race, with our second entry of the weekend in Vets Head on 27th March, action required.
We have an 8+ entered for Vets Head, which will race alongside our Veterans crew, if we have enough people to enter a raceable squad boat. Please can I therefore ask, that if you have not been selected for the Saturday but still want to race, to sign up for Sunday 27th on Fitclub. There is an age requirement that you must be 27 or older or turn 27 this year.
I need this by noon on Saturday, as entries close on Monday – if we don’t have a crew to field we will need to withdraw the VHoRR entry.
Well done to the HoRR Crew, please put yourself forward for Vets Head if you are interested in racing, well done for keeping up the training. As a squad and a club we’ve got much to take pride in, all of which is down to you and the efforts of our excellent coaching team.
Any questions or thoughts, please do get in touch with me or with Beth.
On we row Cygnet.
Rupert
Captain's Log: Issue 14
6th March 2022
Good evening Cygnets, this is your Captain speaking
I am very pleased to report a cracking day of racing at Hammersmith Head on Sunday 27thFebruary, great to see two Cygnet boats out on form and performing well in the tideway, more on this below. Whilst spring hasn’t yet sprung it is a relief that the days are now rapidly getting longer meaning lighter evenings and most importantly early outings no longer quite pre-dawn!
We are in the final weeks of Heads season now, building towards the bumper weekend of Head of the River and Veterans Head of the River 26th – 27th March. Training is continuing in earnest and we’re seeing the results pay off – a few more weeks of hard graft (keep up that commitment to your land training crews) to see us through to the sprinty summer season – I know for many of us Regatta season can’t come soon enough.
HAMMERSMITH HEAD – 27 February 2022 – Race Report
I am pleased to report another successful outing at Hammersmith Head, this time with both a Veterans and a Seniors Open 8+ entry, both crews doing us proud and competing well in respective categories. Despite some challenging (and cold) winds during marshalling, both crews got off without a hitch from Middlesex and performed well in the Fairway. Full results here.
The Coach was particularly pleased with the gains made by the senior crew, making some real improvements on the last race at Quintin and finishing in a strong position in the division ahead of a good number of tideway clubs and a competitive time in the category. The crew were tidy, rowing well and kept a good, strong pace down the course to Hammersmith Bridge, serving as good preparation for the main event in a few weeks’ time. The Vets crew also had a good run out, with a little help from some friends at Guildford, in a competitive Master D/E category and was great to see both VIIIs racing again. Well done to both crews and a big thank you to our Coxes Megan and Laurent for keeping us sharp and motivated.
The next few weeks we will be stepping up the training and rating so we’re ready to take it up a couple of pips for the long run down to Putney. Crews for Head of the River and Vets Head will be announced shortly.
Noel Davidson #268. VIII+ Open: 12.56.9
Megan Eldred (cox), Dominic Marshall, Pete Goldsworthy, Martin Drage,Whit Mason, Matt Byrne, Mustafa Ozyurt, Rupert Bailey, Andy Stromberg.Marj Israël #250. VIII+ Masters E, CYG/GUI Composite: 13.30.3
Laurent Couacaud (cox), Paul Rawkins, Steve Reeves, Paul Woowat, Richard Warne, Rhodri Walters, Nick Wylie, Iain Golder, Brad BryantCLUB HOSTING AND BOATING: ALL HANDS ON DECK – Please Sign Up
A big thank you to everyone who has helped with Boating this Heads season and to those who have driven launches or found other ways to pitch in.With Hammersmith behind us, we now have the two biggest racing weekends ahead of us in the form of WeHORR and HoRR/VHoRR.
We are expecting a full complement of visiting crews which means we will need all hands on deck across both weekends, to make sure the event runs smoothly and all crews arrive, boat and depart safely. It is a big part of racing and the rowing community and without our services, the Head Races just couldn’t run (and nor would we be able to raise the substantial funds that we do for the club from boating fees).
Please sign up for slots here to assist on Saturday 12th March for WeHORR. Any questions to Henrik.
Save the Date: 24 September 2022 – Centenary Ball
Social Secretary Megan will be in touch with very exciting news about the big celebration in September, please save the date in your diaries and find out more here: cygnet-rc.org.uk/100ballDates for your diary:
- 12th March - WeHoRR
- 26th March - HoRR
- 27th March - Vets Eights
- 6-10th April 2021 - Training Camp
