Boat Club

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Women's Eights Head

In March we entered the women's eight head in London for the first time ever. The eight performed well and came 92nd out of 205 crews.

Yorkshire Head

On the same weekend the rest of the Boat Club raced at home in the Yorkshire Head. We entered two eights, four fours and a sculling boat. The boys' first eight raced very competitively and came fifth overall (crews took part). The women's novice four overtook seven crews to win their event and the boys' junior four also out-powered their opposition. The winning crews were:

Women's Novice four: Lynsay Hoggard, Becki Day, Sally Batty, Cherry Alton and, cox, Adam Hudson.

Men's Junior four: Giles Best, Mark Benson, Alex Bailes, Mathew Taylor and, cox, Becky Cunningham.

North of England Head

A boys' eight and a girls' eight both raced well in competitive classes in Chester.

The Head of the River Race

The boys' first eight travelled down to London on the first Saturday of the holidays and raced in the Tideway Head.

The Regatta Season

Strathclyde Regatta

On the Saturday before term started we took a bus north and raced several girls' and boys' crews on the multi-lane course at Strathclyde Regatta. We had no St. Peter's wins but Sally Batty won with the York City Restricted II eight and Sarah Richards coxed a Strathclyde Novice four to victory! Useful experience was gained by all and it was a good start to the regatta season.

York Spring Regatta

The first regatta wins of the season were achieved on home water in York. Our women's Novice four and our mixed Senior III four both outclassed their opposition and a fifth year crew won a challenge race against Bradford Grammar School The winning crews were:

Women's Novice four: Lynsay Hoggard, Becki Day, Sophie Pearson-Hill, Cherry Alton and, cox, Adam Hudson.

Mixed Senior III four: Cenan Erkut, Hannah Fieldsend, David Suttill, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.

Junior Under 16 four: James Mee, James Griffiths, Jonathan Jacques, James De Boer and, cox, Cathy Hook.

Nottingham City Regatta

We raced both the girls' eight and the boys' eight and both put up pleasing performances and got another taste of multi-lane racing.

Inter-House Rowing Competition

All the crews raced with good spirit. In the girls' event The Rise won an exciting final: 1st The Rise 2nd Temple 3rd Clifton 4th The Grove

In the boys' event, School House out-powered the opposition: 1st School 2nd The Manor 3rd Clifton 4th The Grove

Bradford Regatta

Many crews raced competitively at Bradford Regatta a fortnight ago. Four crews won their events. The winning crews were:

Men's Junior four: Anthony Brooks, Ryan Allworthy, David Suttill, Dominic Greeves and, cox, Carole Tong.

Women's Senior 3 Coxed pair: Ann Mulryne, Louise Jackson and, cox, Robin Jackson.

Men's Senior 3 eight: Alex Bailes, Alistair Hall, Mathew Taylor, Adam Gill, Steve Clegg, David Lyons, Giles Best, Daniel Perry and, cox, Carole Tong.

National Schools' Regatta

We entered three eights and a pair in the National Schools' Regatta in Nottingham. The senior boys' eight raced there last year but it is the first time we have entered a Junior Under 16 eight, a girls' eight and a pair. The competition was of a very high standard. The girls' eight made the final of Championship Eights and proved themselves to be of a calibre to be entered for Henley Women's Regatta this year.

Durham Regatta

The boys' eight put up a fine performance, beating University College and then racing hard against the eventual winners of Senior Open Eights, Durham Amateur Rowing Club.

York Summer Regatta

We had three wins at York. Matthew and Marcus won in a fine race in their pair. The fifth year girls had a well deserved win in their Novice Four, winning four races and coming from behind in a thrilling final. The first eight produced another excellent performance, outclassing their Senior 2 opposition by seven lengths!

Senior 2 pair: Matthew Scholefield and Marcus Buckle.

Women's Novice four: Rachel Milne, Claire Taylor, Fiona Wallace, Ginny Mackie and, cox, Becky Cunningham.

Senior 2 eight: Anthony Brooks, Daniel Perry, Matthew Scholefield, David Suttill, David Lyons, Dominic Greeves, Ryan Allworthy, Marcus Buckle and, cox, Carole Tong.