News & Events
Cygnet Weekly News
19th April 2016
Hello one and all.
Highlight of the weekend if not the year was Sculling Camp at our fab bungalow on its sleepy backwater in Weybridge. The river levels were just low enough for us to go ahead and give a bunch of Cygnets and Barnes Bridge ladies their first strokes in a single sculling We got all our novices out in a single with the swim/don't swim ratio exactly 50:50. Those who didn't swim will have to try harder next time. And everyone had a go in a double and a change to explore more of the Thames. Shooting the rapids at the Shepperton Weir never lost its excitement however many times you did it. And a birthday party for Will on Saturday/Sunday wee small hours. Thanks to all those involved in the organisation, loading, unloading, coaching and, catering. Sunday was a beautiful day and it was all very much worth the effort.
So....
This week
Tuesday: 40 min erg 4 x 10 mins of 4min @ 20, 3 @ 22, 2 @ 24, 1 @ 26
Thursday: Start of evening outings. 7pm at club, 7:15 on the water. The number of people we get on the water depends on the number of steersmen available. So far its Cris and myself so we should be able to get at least a 4- and 2x on the water. I'll put a message out about crews on Wednesday, in the meantime if there are any more coxes or steers available please sign up on the spreadsheet
Weekend: Saturday outings at 8am, Sunday at 8:30. I'd like to get everyone out in 4s, we do need the coxes/steers to make that happen. More work on starts and race pieces for regattas
Upcoming regattas:
Sat 30th April Chiswick Regatta
Sat 7th May Bourne @ Chiswick
Both local regattas, let's make sure we are represented. We can also do mixed racing with BBL at Bourne. Please fill in your availability.And use your diplomatic skills to persuade a suitable cox to get you down the course.
That's all for now, see you on Thursday at the club
Jez
Cygnet Weekly News
11th April 2016
Evening all,
Excellent outings on the Tideway this weekend. Two 4- crews were practicing their racing starts and getting from 0 to 60 in 16 strokes followed up with a sprint erg session in the tank. And an array of pairs, doubles, singles and a 4- out today in choppy conditions but hey the spring sunshine more than makes up for a few waves...
The regatta season gets underway in a couple of weeks with Hammersmith regatta on the 24th. Following last week's squad meeting I've created a new page for the online availability spreadsheet listing the local regattas and the ones further afield that we are usually represented at. All those who want to race, can you look at the sheet and mark up those regattas you can make and want to race in. The captaincy can plan our training and the logistics to get to those regattas. With the number of people on the water and training we should aim for a minimum of two novices fours at our target regattas doubling up as a novice 8. Can the seniors let me know what there plans/wishes are. We can put together some high quality masters crews, we just need to pick the regattas where we have enough availability. And can those wanting to race in singles also please mark on the spreadsheet the events they want to go for.
Next weekend is Sculling Camp. River levels upstream have been falling and with this week's forecast I'm confident it wont be disrupted by the conditions. We will load the trailer on Thursday evening so need a team of people to help with de rigging and loading.
So this week...
Tues Erg: 30 mins r 20 feet out
Thursday: Squad erg, 4 x 1000m r 26, 28, 30, 32 4 mins rest followed by boat loading. Bring rigger jiggers if you have one.
Weekend: Sculling Camp at Hamhaugh Island. Rowing proceedings start at 10:30am on Saturday. There's been a good response and it should be a great weekend on and off the water. There will be no squad outings on the Tideway next weekend.
Further Ahead
Hammersmith Regatta 24th April,
Chiswick Regatta 30th April
Crews wanting to enter either of these races can they let me know asap so I can get entries in and make sure we've coxes lined up.
That's all for now
See you at Cygnets bungalow,
Jez
Cygnet Weekly News
8th April 2016
I hope everyone had a enjoyable and relaxing Easter and those who went afloat stayed afloat in the windy conditions. Lovely morning on Friday for the sculling pod who went up to the Pink House and beyond. Well done to the Oxford women and grudging not a bad effort to the Cambridge Men.
So the Head Season is over, Easter off and we are quickly into the regatta season. Let's keep the momentum we have going and get good club representation at the local regattas in April, May, June and some pewterware, points and de novicing. The good news is that regatta races down require hours of marshalling and are over and done in 4-6 minutes. Racing starts and side by side racing is a great adrenalin rush. But to win pots you going to have to race a heat, semi final and final. So on land we'll be focus on shorter sharper erg sessions, on the water we'll be working on racing starts and short high rate pieces to get up to sprint speed.
To plan which regattas we want to enter and find out who wants to race we will have a squad meeting after the erg session on Thursday 7th April.
Here's a list of some of the local regattas and some more distant ones that we generally compete in:
Sun 24th April Hammersmith Regatta
Sat 30th April Chiswick Regatta
Sat 14th May Putney Town Regatta
Sat 28th May Twickenham Regatta
Sat/Sun 4/5th June Met @ Dorney
Sat 11th June Barnes & Mortlake International
Sat 18th Marlow @ Dorney
Sat 25th Richmond Regatta
Thursday 29th June - Saturday 2nd July Henley Royals
Fri/Sat 8/9th July Henley Masters
Sat/Sun 23/24th July St Neots
Sat 30th July Henley Town and Visitors
Sat/Sun 20/21 August City of Oxford
We will prioritise our regatta entry at the squad meeting.
This week:
Tuesday Erg: 30 mins feet out R20
Thursday Squad Erg 4 x 1 k @ r 26, 28, 30, 32, 4 mins rest
Weekend: Please get your availability up to date please, it looks pretty sparse at the moment.
Further Ahead:
Sculling Camp 15-17th April. First chance to master the dark arts of single sculling. Also we want to get people out of 8s and into smaller boats - 2-, 2x and getting experience of steering. It is important to increase the pool of signed off steers to maximise the outings we get on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Sculling camp gives people an opportunity to bow steer in quieter conditions.
And everybody should read up on the Tideway Code in preparation for taking the steering test!!!
Have a good week, I'm not around this weekend but will catch up with everyone at the Squad Meeting
Jez
