Boat Club

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The Boat Club has once again had an active and successful year. We followed almost the same race schedule as last year (adding a few regattas) and achieved nine wins in Head races and twelve regatta wins.

The Head Race Season

Ancholme Head

St. Peter's raced twelve crews on the river Ancholme with most crews doubling up to race in two divisions. All the crews enjoyed the first Head of our season and we had wins in Mens' Senior 3 fours, Mens' Junior fours, Mens' Novice fours and Womens' Junior fours.

Womens' Junior fours: Louise Jackson, Lindsay Daniel, Lucy Sampson, Lucy Smith and, cox, Mathew Taylor.

Mens' Junior fours: Alistair Hall, Anthony Brooks, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Lyndsay Hoggard.

Mens' Novice fours: Alistair Hall, Tom Oakley, Andrew Farrow, Jack-Patrick Weatherall and, cox, Eleanor White.

Mens' Senior 3 fours: Jon Lacy-Colson, Marcus Buckle, James Fieldsend, Andrew Wallis and, cox, Claire Taylor.

York Small Boats Head

Twelve fours and four scullers competed on home water on 22nd November. We had a few illnesses and injuries and some substitutions had to be made at the last minute but most of the racing went well. We had wins in Mens' Junior Under 16 fours (an impressive 24th out of 329 crews overall) and Womens' Junior Under 16 fours.

Womens' Junior U. 16 fours: Penny Whiting, Ann Mulryne, Louise Jackson, Sarah Richards and, cox, Becki Cunningham.

Mens' Junior U. 16 fours: Anthony Brooks, Ryan Allworthy, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.

The Fours Head of the River

We took three crews down to London to race on the Tideway. It was an exciting experience as always, competing against the complete cross-section of British rowing from internationals down. It was good that the faster of our two boys' crews broke into the top 200. The other crew only eight seconds behind them. Our girls' crew also raced well and finished well in their class.

MSIII4 + MSIII4 + WSIII4 + Overall place (out of 500) 193 215 416 Time

21.23 21.31 23.54 Position in event 16th/70 19th/70 19th/49

The Rutherford Head

We were taken unawares by our river. It rose very suddenly overnight on the Thursday before the Rutherford Head. There was no safe way to get our boats out and our getting to the Rutherford looked problematic. However, York City Rowing Club bailed us out and were kind and trusting enough to lend us enough boats to race

some of our crews. "Bungarra" suffered in a clash but our lower sixth boys raced well with some assertive coxing from Carole and won Junior Under 16 fours.

Mens' Junior U. 16 fours: Anthony Brooks, Ryan Allworthy, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.

The Viking Longships

This year we entered two crews for this annual battle. Competition was fierce, not just on the water but also regarding fancy dress. Several Peterites were frightfully convincing as Vikings. There was some tremendously exciting racing and we came away with the trophy for the best junior crew again.

The Head of the Trent

In Nottingham two eights, one girls' and one boys' coped with some of the worst race conditions we have seen for a while. At times there were blizzard conditions and both coxing and rowing were challenging. Carole coxed both crews, spending hours in the freezing conditions and was either too brave or too cold to complain much! James also went over the course twice having been talent spotted by the Newcastle University first four (well, first three...).

It was on home water that we achieved the Easter terms wins. We entered one eight, seven fours and one single scull. The senior three eight did well and came second behind Leeds University. Both the Junior boys' four and the Junior girls' four won their respective categories.

Womens' Junior four: Penny Whiting, Ann Mulryne, Louise Jackson, Sarah Richards and, cox, Lindsay Hoggard.

Mens' Junior fours: Matthew Scholefield, Dominic Greeves, James Fieldsend, Andrew Wallis and, cox, Carole Tong.

The North of England Head

St. Peter's was represented by three eights in Chester; a senior boys' eight, a senior girls' eight and an enthusiastic boys' novice eight. They all achieved good results in a competitive field.

The Head of the River Race

Our senior boys' eight went down to race in this most prestigious Head race. They broke into the top 200 crews, improving by 70 places on last year's performance in a time of 19 minutes 24 seconds.

The Regatta Season

Hammersmith Regatta

The senior boys' managed to get together for some training in the Easter holidays and dived straight into the regatta season, heading south for Hammersmith regatta. They raced in senior 2 eights and senior 3 eights and were pleased to find themselves competitive with some wellknown crews.

Peterswalk '93

The route for Peterswalk '93 lay along the Rivers Ure and Ouse and it seemed a good idea to have some activity taking place on the water. In an attempt to spread their blisters from their feet to their hands as well, two teams rowed a Viking Longship. Each rower spent half the "walk" rowing and half walking. Arthur Ellis-Davies steered with great confidence waiting until he had a huge audience at Linton Lock before he chose to drive the longship onto a sand-bank! We were very indebted to the Jorvik Viking Centre for sponsoring the event and lending us the longship.

York Spring Regatta

There was a good entry at York Spring Regatta and many crews settled into their first regatta race for a year. Our senior boys' eight raced in two events, winning the senior three competition by beating Sheffield University/Poly in the final. Our girls' novice crew looked

strong as they worked their way through several rounds to win the final comfortably.

Mens' Senior 3 eights: Dugan Jackson, Ryan Allworthy, David Suttill, Dominic Greeves, Matthew Scholefield, James Fieldsend, Andrew Wallis, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.

Womens' Novice fours: Jessie Miller, Fiona Burnett, Hannah Fieldsend, Sue Stenson and, cox, Eleanor White.

Nottingham City Regatta

We went down to Nottingham to give some of the rowers a taste of multi-lane racing. It was a strong head wind throughout the day and at one stage racing had to be stopped because crews were sinking amongst some impressive waves! They re-started on a shortened course. The boys raced competitively in both senior 3 and senior 2 eights beating many old adversaries but just failing to make the finals. The girls' senior 3 crew excelled themselves by getting through their heat convincingly and beating a couple of crews in the final. However, the real stamina and commitment prizes of the day have to go to Carole Tong and Trevor Mulryne. They started their day with the early bus at 5.30 a.m. and then stayed down to watch the girls race which meant getting back to York at 1.30 a.m. the following morning! (T. M. seems to have been awfully busy every time I've asked him to go to a regatta since!) girls' four, a boys' four, a girls' pair, a boys' pair and a mixed four! Our girls' senior 3 four won several rounds convincingly, outclassing all the opposition. This crew split into coxed pairs and met each other in the final of that event, stern pair just having the edge. There was a fiercely contested mixed fours event which we won and the two boys then went on to also win the mens senior 3 coxed pairs. Having won two of their three finals Andy and Dom then raced in their junior four against the other St. Peter's crew. There was absolutely nothing between the crews as they came down and they were awarded a re-row. The Lower Sixth boys then came through to win another very close race. The winning crews were:

Womens' Senior 3 fours: Penny Whiting, Ann Mulryne, Louise Jackson, Sarah Richards and, cox, Claire Taylor.

Mixed Senior 3 coxed pairs: Louise Jackson, Sarah Richards and, cox, Kathy Hook.

Mixed Senior 3 fours: Andy Wallis, Dominic Greeves, Lucy Sampson, Lucy Smith and, cox, John Moran.

Mens'Junior fours: Anthony Brooks, Ryan Allworthy, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Mathew Taylor.

Mens' Senior 3 coxed pairs: Andy Wallis, Dominic Greeves and, cox, Kathy Hook.

National Schools' Regatta

We entered this regatta for the first time, Holme Pierrepont was at its most festive and the atmosphere along the bank was tremendous. We entered the Child-Beale Cup for first eights and were drawn in the most competitive of the two semi-finals. The crew raced well coming through the field convincingly in the middle 500m but failing to make the final.

Durham Regatta

At Durham Regatta we were unable to put out a full strength eight and the boys' squad stayed in York to train. A small St. Peter's representation did travel north. Lucy Smith got back into her sculling boat and had a spirited go in Womens' Junior Sculls. Our Lower Sixth girls' crew raced hard against a very competent St. Leonard's crew who eventually won by a length. The fifth year boys had a very good day and really got the idea of winning races. They looked quite small compared with some very large opposition and had comments such as "Does your mother know you're out?" thrown from the bank (all the more satisfying when they beat the crew!). They won three races before they went out and came back determined to win a novice pot before the end of term.

Bradford Regatta

Bradford Regatta was as friendly and well run as ever (they even get the weather each year). We entered a complicated list of eighteen crews with almost everyone entering two events. The sexual equality of the Boat Club was emphasised by the symmetry of our list of wins; a

York Summer Regatta

At York Summer Regatta we entered eleven crews and there was some fine racing. Possibly the most wellsupported crew of the day was the parents' crew. They were still glowing from their glorious victory over a staff crew when they decided to enter Novice fours. We were

impressed by the way that their continuous pressure eventually ground their first round opposition to a standstill and look forward to their next race.

Mens' Senior eights events were a little thin on the ground this summer regatta so we had a handicap challenge against the York City Henley crew. Our crew started with two lengths advantage, the much heavier York crew ate into this lead quickly and were expecting to go through our eight at the corner. Just before the corner our eight pushed and the York challenge faded. Our crew won by half a length. In Mens' Senior 2 eights we raced with determination against Leeds University and won by a canvas. (This crew combination was subsequently chosen as our Henley eight.) There was a close final in Mixed Senior 3 fours that St. Peter's managed to clinch gaining a very popular win for five leavers who very much deserved a final pot. There was an all-St.-Peter's final in Senior Two fours, which we won last year. The Senior eight split into two fours who met in the final, the more familiar combination of Lower Sixth coming through to win. The winning crews were:

Senior 2 eights: Andrew Wallis, Ryan Allworthy, David Suttill, Dominic Greeves, Matthew Scholefield, James Fieldsend, Jon Lacy-Colson, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.

Challenge eights: Anthony Brooks, Marcus Buckle, Andrew Wallis, Dominic Greeves, David Suttill, James Fieldsend, Matthew Scholefield, Jon Lacy-Colson and, cox, Carole Tong.

Senior 2 fours: Anthony Brooks, Ryan Allworthy, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Mathew Taylor.

Mixed Senior 3 fours: Lucy Sampson, Lindsay Daniel, Jack-Patrick Weatherall, Dugan Jackson and, cox, John Moran.

Leeds Regatta

St. Peter's entered eleven crews at a very different Leeds Regatta. Leeds Regatta has previously been held at either Roundhay Park or on the River Aire at Shipley. Both of these venues make for relaxed events where it is easy to watch and support. The new Leeds venue was on the waterfront in the centre of Leeds and there were one or two teething problems. The course itself was rather interesting for coxes and tested their skills and adaptability considerably! The two very novice crews, one girls' and one boys', who were racing for the first time performed creditably after only seven weeks of rowing. Our girls' senior crew performed remarkably well for a scratch combination of four "bow-side" rowers and only just lost by a quarter of a length in the final. The senior boys' split into fours and each crew doubled up. They both met stiff opposition in the Championship Fours events and "Bungarra" lost by just three-quarters of a length in the final of Junior Fours. Our main success of the day was in Novice Fours. We had an exciting all-St.-Peter's final between the Lower Sixth boys and the Fifth year boys crews. The younger crew showed tremendous determination and came through to win the event. In some ways winning is the easy bit and the Lower Sixth took the defeat in a spirit that did them much credit. The winning crew was:

Mens' Novice fours: Adam Gill, Mathew Taylor, Giles Best, Daniel Perry and, cox, Becki Cunningham.

Henley Royal Regatta

Our boys' senior squad had been racing consistently well in eights all season and we were delighted when we were not required to qualify for the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. The crew selection for Henley was a hard one. We had been working on a squad often throughout the exam period and could not have kept an eight going otherwise. There was incredibly little between them but a selection had to be made. It is much to their credit that Dugan and Anthony coped so well with the disappointment, continuing to help and sub and generally being totally supportive right up to the race when they were able to follow and support in the umpires' launch. We travelled down on the Tuesday, James and Andy having exams up until the last minute. The draw had us racing Canford whose form seemed a mystery. A coach load of well-dressed and enthusiastic supporters came down from Yorkshire. The boys raced very hard, rating over 40 on the start and never dropping below 35 or letting the pressure of Canford bother them. However, Canford turned out to be very strong and powered down to win by 3% of a length. It is hard to race the Henley course from behind but the St. Peter's crew looked good and gave 100%. They were a credit to their coach, John Ward. The fact that there was a slight feeling of despondency afterwards shows that we have moved on from two years ago when we were just elated to be there. This year we had faint hopes of winning a race. We were, however, delighted to hear that Canford had a fine race against St. Edward's, the favourites to win the P.E., and won by

2h of a length. The whole spirit of the few days in Henley was a pleasure to be part of and a memorable experience.