BOAT CLUB
Dee Autumn Head A few crews spent the first Saturday of half-term travelling across to Chester to race. Matthew and Marcus performed very well in their first race in a pair, losing by only a few seconds despite running into a tree halfway down the course. The girls' four was a scratch combination due to illness and they did well to come second in a competitive Senior 3 class. Ruth raced well again in her sculling boat.
It is only when I come to write the Peterite report each year that I realise how much the Boat Club continues to change year by year. We have had a lot of support this year. First we had the tremendously generous gift of an Empacher eight bought from Bryanston School which arrived in November. It is a beautiful boat to row and having two good eights in the boathouse has opened up many new possibilities. We have been able to properly establish a girls' eight this year as well as a Junior Under 16 eight and a second eight. The new eight, known at the moment as "Bomber", has already raced in Nottingham three times, on the Tideway twice, at Henley twice and in Strathclyde, York, Durham, Bradford and Leeds. Having thus increased our fleet we found ourselves short of blades. Sarah Richards, Hannah Fieldsend and Ruth Peacock set about fund-raising and made a big effort to get a Boat Club Fashion Show off the ground. It was very disappointing when the Show had to be postponed and then cancelled because of the lack of tickets sold. However, the Friends of St. Peter's and the Swap-Shop saw our plight and made generous donations that enabled us to buy eight new blades. We were able to buy the latest in blade technology, ultra-light Cleaver blades, and they gave our crews a great boost when we took delivery of them in early June. We are very grateful to the Friends and the Swap-Shop. Now to this year's racing:
Fours Head of the River We entered two boys' crews and a girls' crew for the fours head in London. All crews raced hard and were competitive. Overall Place (out of 500) 206 286 368
Time (mins) 23.03 24.07 25.24
Position in event 15th/57 36th/57 12th/49
York Small Boats Head St. Peter's was well represented with twenty of our crews racing in snowy conditions, including a parents' crew. The girls' Senior 3 crew was particularly competitive but lost the event by just 0.2 seconds! We won three events: Women's Novice four: Sophie Pearson-Hill, Sally Batty, Cherry Alton, Cenan Erkut and, cox, Richard Collier. Men's Junior four: Anthony Brooks, David Suttill, James Fieldsend (sub for Matthew Scholefield), Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong. Men's Senior II pair: Matthew Scholefield and Marcus Buckle.
The Head Season Ancholme Head Thirty-five rowers and coxes took to the water for our first head of the year. We had seven wins; Senior 3, Junior and Novice fours in both men's and women's events and women's novice sculls. Our two fastest combinations came second and third overall. Our women's Novice four won despite a broken rigger sustained on the way to the start which meant that stroke's gate flew half-way down the course. The winning crews were: Men's Senior 3 four: Mathew Taylor, Adam Gill, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong. Men's Junior four: Alistair Hall, Steve Clegg, Matthew Scholefield, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Cathy Hook. Men's Novice four: Alex Bailes, Alistair Hall, David Lyons, Steve Clegg and, cox, Lynsay Hoggard. Women's Senior 3 four: Lynsay Hoggard, Rebecca Day, Hannah Fieldsend, Lucy Smith and, cox, Ruth Peacock. Women's Junior four: Hannah Fieldsend, Penny Whiting, Louise Jackson, Lucy Smith and, cox, Richard Collier. Women's Novice four: Sophie Pearson-Hill, Cherry Alton, Sally Batty, Cenan Erkut and, cox, Becki Day. Women's Novice sculls: Ruth Peacock.
Rutherford Head We took just two boys' fours up to race on the River Tyne. The girls' eight had to be scratched due to illness. The conditions were very good although it was cold and both crews had a good row. The boys' junior crew came a close second in their event. Viking Longships Challenge We entered two School crews in the Viking Longships Challenge in February. More effort than ever went into the Viking costumes and our crews looked quite formidable. They both raced well and the more senior crew made the semi-final and won the trophy for the best junior crew. The newly-formed Guy Fawkes Rowing Club, consisting of parents and friends, made its debut on the water and raced with good spirit! Trent Head The first head race of the Easter Term was the Trent Head. Conditions were difficult but our girls' eight and boys' eight coped well. 65
