BUCS Head 2019

BLBC men took a top boat and a novice boat to BUCS head for the first time in history. The novices raced on the Saturday and performed exceptionally well, considering they had to get up at 1am in order to catch the bus. They came 27 th out of 35 novice VIIIs from all over the country, despite an unfortunate error from the coxswain, which led them to plough into the bank at full speed, destroying their momentum and causing bowman’s shoes to become completely detached from the footplate, rendering him unable to row. Their captain was very proud of them.

Unfortunately, the event was cancelled before the top VIII could race.

Novice team

After a very early start and a long coach to Gloucestershire many of the guys were tired and a bit groggy although they took to the water on a clear day to cement their strength demonstrated in the previous UH head. Determined to veto their rivals in the QMUL fresher boat the boys attacked the course, leading to a close call with a tree just after the particularly challenging corner that caused so many crashes this year. Once again with a strong finish the boys once again demonstrated their prowess this year beating QMUL’s very strong fresher team.

Quintin Head 2019

From the Men’s Captain

On the 27th of February, the men of BLBC descended on the tideway for Quintin head. The annual race running from Chiswick bridge to just beyond Hammersmith, is 4.6km long. Conditions on the day were windy but with a tailwind for the majority of the course, the water was rowable and resulted in some fast times.

1v :

Cox - Jess

S - Chandler Durbidge

7 - Saad Habib

6 - Dylan Middleton

5 - James Sanderson

4 - Jonjo Miller

3 - Ben Johnson

2 - Sam Johnson

B - Ben Koetsier

2v including some novices (their first head race):

Cox - Mat Robathan

S - Alex Deighton

7 - Rob Good

6 - James Ogley

5 - Max Hentages

4 - Tomas Lappy

3 - Milo Simpson

2 - Jordan Kilbey

B - Andreas Andreou

The 1v finished with a time of 13:14 and finished 56th and our 2v finished 205th with a time of 15:41

From the Women’s Captain

Head racing on the Tideway this year kicked off with our Women’s First VIII at Quintin Head Race. After a long time spent marshalling we were eager to get moving, and set off under Chiswick Bridge fast-paced and energetic. We pushed on well through the rough waters around Hammersmith, and managed to stay ahead of an Oxford College VIII that was chasing us. There was strong rowing from every woman in the boat, and as usual kept pushing right to the end. A tough but promising Head Race that’s gotten us motivated for UH Head.

UH Winter Regatta 2019

From the Women’s Captain

A surprisingly bright and sunny day for this year’s Winter Regatta, followed by a successful day of racing for BLBC. As a club, we reached the final of every category we entered. The highlight of the day for the women was the tense Intermediate IVs Final between our girls and George’s. After racing down the course neck and neck almost the entire way, the Barts women pulled ahead just in time and got their well-fought first place. In an equally exciting race, the Senior VIII raced in a three-way final against ICSM and RUMS. We were three closely-matched crews and so stayed close together along the whole course, all clawing for the win. We kept our composure and edged ahead of ICSM at the end, however RUMS had us by half a length. A good end to the sprint-racing this winter, and chasing RUMs will continue to push us in our training.