Tyne United

BOOM! SMASH (unfortunately!) Mens IM3 quad looking strong and long (even with that shortie in the bow!)

Tyne Head – the ideal Tideway Tune-Up (apparently). Usually the scene of carnage as the Durham Colleges make their last minute rush to scramble novice crews onto a big river prior to letting them loose on the Thames in London, mix into this the usual foul weather which the river god normally blesses for the Tyne Head weekend and you have all the makings of a cracking race.

Given the insanity that was the blizzards and frozen weather at Rutherford Head, the Tyne god that adorns Tyne Rowing Club’s boathouse must have been in a generous mood as he allowed the weather to not only be calm but also warm.

Noticeable was thelack of the usual volume of novice Durham College eights (common sense had either prevailed or all the boats were broken…) so this made for a more sedate Tyne Head than in previous years.

As ever with Tyne Head, the call went out for volunteers to staff the kitchen, help boat people, marshal the trailers and cars and provide any last minute assistance required. True to form and as always those who normally perform these functions did so and did it spectacularly – THANK YOU! (you all know who you are!!)

On the racing front for Tyne United – it was a strictly adults-only event; the juniors were getting ready for the Inter-Regional Trials the next day soonly the men, women and masters would be racing this day.

In time honoured tradition, the Masters men decided that it would be rude not to do an eight and to put it together at last minutes notice with zero preparation. For once those fanatical scullers from the Masters Quad decided to find out just what life was like in a boat with one oar and not two.

Remember the Tideway Scullers Great 8 that won the Eights Head? Yep that one with the top eight scullers in the world all doing sweep? Well this was the somewhat older, slightly less technical and certainly more bearded (that’s just Chris Smith’s beard alone!) and more Geordie version of that eight.

Not to be outdone, the Novice Masters Scullers were back in their quad. Spurred on by their race in Durham, it was time to brave the Tyne again in anger – this time last year many of them got strange looks while racing in the C Class – this year no more C Class – fine boats all the way for them!

Also motivated to prove their mettle on the Tyne against all others, the Men’s Squad were racing coxless at IM3 level and determined to make up for the disappointment of Durham Small Boats Head.

The conditions were to prove fantastic for racing and the Masters 8 certainly made the most of it. As ever the only ones left surprised by how well they had done were themselves as they came home in 13th position, which given most of the other Masters 8′s out there were seasoned crews aiming for the Veteran’s Head of the River, wasn’t too bad at all.

However, as soon as they had finished, eaten and Jim had drunk at least a gallon of tea; it was time for them to prepare themselves for the second division and their next races…

The Masters Novice Quad were once again shifting water (out of the Tyne and onto the land) and while finishing towards the last of the pack (they did however beat four Women’s Novice 8′s which isn’t too bad), they once again showed their steely determination to compete which no-one could take away from them. Good effort guys.

The Men’s Quad had a solid row which was unfortunately interrupted by an altercation with a Durham School coxless four [reports vary as to what actually happened, all that can be said is no seals were harmed in the incident] however coming in 26th was no disgrace and shows that with a little bit more training (and steering Alex T!) there is a tidy crew in the making for regatta season.

And so onto Division Two. The Masters Quad, fresh from success at Durham Small Boats Head, were again determined to make their mark on their home stretch. While the crew had a solid row and a good performance, and despite being significantly faster in ‘real-time’ than their Masters opposition – the age adjustment meant that they lost out to Berwick and Tees.

The Women’s Squad took to the water with a composite TURC/Leeds quad and for special measure it was Bernie’s first competitive head race. As their usual quad was derigged and ready for trials the next day, DUBC had loaned out one of it’s Filippi’s (bit of an upgrade from a Swift!) for the women to use. There was some confusion as realisation hit in that the steering wasn’t in the bow seat (well it is a high performance racing boat!) which led to a slight seat order change, but other than that the majority of the crew said they had an enjoyable row.

And finally the IM3 eight… Having being led to believe that a mixed eight category existed and that it was a nice opportunity to revisit a bit of coxing against less intense crews, yours truly just about managed to get his backside into the coxes seat.

As it turned out we were actually racing IM3 and with nearly 50% of the crew having never done a race/raced sweep oar, this was going to be interesting! While not the fastest eight by any means, a good rhythm was settled into and the crew had an excellent first experience of racing – well done to Julie, Helen High and Hannah W for their first ever races/first sweep races!

So all in all, a mixed bag of racing for the club – no wins but by no means no disgrace. Plenty to work and improve upon and if nothing else, it made Gav stay off the flapjack (even if only for a day!)

Masters Quad storming past Elvet: Picture courtesy of Al Johnson

And so here we are… A winter of hard indoor training under the not-so tender guidance of Barbara had transformed the keener end of the Masters Men’s squad from years of poor posture and bent arms and not too bad ergos into – well slightly better posture, not so bent arms (when they were shouted at by Barbara) and somewhat improved ergos (due to the nagging).

Legend has it that the now “high-performance” vets quad of Martin High, Paul ‘straight-arms’ Armstrong, Kev Corker and Les Maccabe were even caught discussing weightloss and the merits of going lightweight and having a crack at the Prince of Wales Challenge at Henley, while in the kitchen one day (over a cuppa of course – no sugars for these svelte athletes now).

So Durham Small Boats Head loomed, got cancelled, and loomed again – these guys were not only keen, but bursting to show the Vet opposition just what they were capable of.

It was yet another glorious day in Durham on the River Wear: rain and cold, college crews who just about knew how to put an oar into their boat, and lest we forget the insanity of having Prebends Bridge closed to traffic [your race report writer refuses to start yet another rant about that bridge being closed...] on and the massive mound of debris stuck in the middle of the river. Yes Durham Small Boats Head was looking like it was going to be a classic…

For the uninitiated into the wonder that is the River Wear, about halfway down the river there is the bridge that is the nemesis of thousands of rowers who have trained and raced on this famous river – Elvet Bridge. For some excellent entertainment, the best place to stand is by the bridge to witness coxes and coxless boats fail spectacularly to get the angle right to make it through. Boats, blades and athletes have all at some point made ‘contact’ with the arches (some a little bit more violently than others!); so while this is a mere 1800m race, it’s not to be taken lightly.

Not only were the ‘Oarsome Foursome’ [artistic license used there...] racing but the Masters Novice Coxed Quad of Smark, Dodds, Ponente and Cartwright (ably coxed  by Smark Jr) were also strutting their stuff on the river. Added to this the Men’s Squad of Chris Barwick, Andrew ‘full-bladder’ Pennington, Ben Mitchell and Helen (honorary bloke) Edge, coxed again by Claire Smark were giving IM3 Coxed Quads a bash.

So to the racing… While it is said that you get no points for dressage in rowing and that rowing pretty doesn’t mean you’ll win, our Masters Novice Quad went out to disprove this fact. Sadly had they been in a dressage event, there was a distinct chance they may have been taken round the back and shot…

So style and technique may have gone out of the window, but determination certainly didn’t (those watching the race couldn’t work out whether the crew were soaked by the rain or by their own style of ‘splashback’). The crew had a solid race and the highlight was some excellent tactical coxing by Claire Smark – while neck and neck with a George Watsons College crew and coming up on Elvet Bridge, she made the sensible decision to drop back and slip in right behind the George Watsons Crew while coming through the bridge, which led to some very seasoned coxes and umpires from Durham ARC complimenting her on her coxing.

The Men’s Squad crew raced in one of the afternoon divisions, but came away more disappointed by their race – despite the strength in the crew, the boat didn’t quite have the rhythm that it needed to come away with a better place position in the overall results. Despite the disappointment, it was really encouraging to see a men’s crew out to race and be active out there on the local racing circuit.

And finally… The Masters Quad. Various words of surprise and shock [and expletives by myself] were uttered when the final results were released. By their own accounts, they had a ‘perfect’ race, holding off the Tees RC Masters quad with a smooth, calm but powerful row. Les steered a course through Elvet to perfection and the crew hammered it home on the racecourse straight.

The end result: 7th out of 267 crews. Third fastest quad of the day and they held off Tees to be the fastest Masters crew of the day. A fantastic row by the Masters and one that certainly puts them on track for the rest of the head season.

(Update: This is now also highlighted on the British Rowing web site)

Volunteers from Tyne United Rowing Club left the riverside to head to Saltwell Park in Gateshead to run an indoor rowing event for the Sport Relief Mile on Sunday 21^st March.

The club had been asked by Gateshead Council to help the Community Sports Coach in running an indoor rowing event as part of the activities happening at the Sport Relief Mile. The 2010 event was at Saltwell Park – Gateshead’s award winning Victorian era park – as ever with one eye on rowing on the water, Gav soon spotted the boating lake within the park and was deliberating as to whether he should ring up Chris to bring the trailer with one of the Learn to Row boats and put it in the lake, however he soon realised that this probably wouldn’t go down well with the Council events team, so he decided to stick to the ergos!

Never ones to pass up an opportunity to get the unsuspecting public on an ergo, club volunteers came along and were soon swamped with people wanting to give rowing a go. We were fortunate to have a wide variety of volunteers to engage with different members of the public – Linz with the women, Melinda with the kids and parents, Paul Armstrong and Paul Dodds with the men and vets and Stuart with the cheerleaders…

The ergos were packed all day with people using the machines as an ideal way of warming up prior to their run and kids using it as a good excuse for a race.

A screen and projector were set up so everyone could watch the racing and get a good view of the races that were happening throughout the day. We even had a visit from BBC Radio Newcastle who covered the event (all attempts to try and get the radio presenter on the ergo sadly failed…)

For the club this was a fun day out helping a great cause, combined with an excellent way of raising awareness of the club and our Learn to Row courses happening from Easter 2010 onwards. As ever we were the last to leave and even when trying to pack the ergos away, people still wanted to give rowing a try.

Many thanks go to Gateshead Council and Sport Relief for inviting Tyne United RC to take part in the days’ events and as always, many thanks go to the club volunteers for their constant hard work on the day (Paul Armstrong, Linz Charlton, Paul Dodds and Stuart and Melinda McCluskey).

For those who haven’t been following the news reports on the Tyne United website (if not click the link!) a squad of school kids from Gateshead made the trip down to London to compete at the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships at Battersea Evolution Park on Tuesday 16^th March.

Throughout the school year, children all over Gateshead have been taking part in a schools virtual indoor rowing league, operated by the Gateshead and Whickham Schools Sports Partnership. From the results of the online league, schools have selected their best indoor rowers to take part in a number of competitions – starting from a Gateshead Schools competition, then a Tyne and Wear event, then up to a region wide event and finally the Nationals.

The Gateshead Schools Squad was selected from those athletes who competed at the Tyne and Wear finals as well as a number of Gateshead based athletes that Gavin Coates, Community Sports Coach for Rowing at Gateshead Council, has been working with. The National Junior Indoor Rowing Event (known as NJIRC!) is run by London Youth Rowing and has grown into the biggest junior indoor rowing competition in the world. The standard of competition ranges from school kids giving rowing a go to high performance athletes trialling for the GB Rowing Squad.

While Gateshead may not have been the only group from the North East heading down, we were certainly the biggest (nothing like being the trend setters…!) with a squad of 30 heading down to take part all day.

After the long trip down and later than expected arrival, the group had their meal (when we eventually found the place!) and headed back to the hotel for a good night’s rest (except for the room containing the Tyne United girls…). The staff remained vigilant for any crazy goings on, but the squad behaved well on their night in London.

The next day saw the squad up, ready and dressed and wide awake at breakfast – except for Hannah Herriot who seemed to be falling asleep into her cornflakes – ready for the days racing.

When we eventually turned up, having rebooted the satnav, we got all of the lanyards for the competitors (no lanyard no race!) and found a place to make our own and watch the days racing.

So what to say about the event? Massive! Very well organised and run and a hell of a lot of fun. Loads of support for those racing from the spectators and also the guests from the Cambridge and Oxford University Boat Club crews and more GB Rowing medallists than you can shake a stick at (Gav’s highlight was accidentally barging into Elise Laverick – oops!)

Hannah H supported by Molly, Jo, Hannah D and Katherine Grainger

So what of the results?

Well if people hadn’t heard of Gateshead Schools before, then they sure did afterwards! Amy McCarthy stormed to a Silver medal in the Year 8 girls’ event – leading for most of the way – she missed out on Gold by 1 metre!!! But still 2^nd out of 193 isn’t too bad…!John Cain came a whopping 8^th out of 176 in the Year 8 boys, Adam Kelly 22^nd out of 147 in the Year 9 boys, Chris Fleming coming 6^th and Liam Edwards 11^th out of 181 in the Year 10 boys, Amber Osbourne and Hannah Dean coming 9^th and 11^th in the Year 11 girls event.

All of the Gateshead Schools Squad did exceptionally well with everyone achieving personal bests on the ergos in their individual events. But proving just how much of a team they all were, they not only did their own events but the team relays as well with the boys’ Year 10 team coming 5^th out of 84 in the team relays and the girls 29^th out of 90. With some tripling up in events taking its toll on fitness both the boys and girls it was time to do the Boat Race relays – the finale of the event (some of the girls finished their individual events and then stayed on to do the relays). While the results weren’t as impressive as the sprint relays, the spirit and determination was still on show.

The final question really was this – was it worth it? Yes… All of the Gateshead competitors had a fantastic time and this really proved how the indoor rowing in Gateshead can work by starting off with indoor rowing in your school and eventually making it to a national event. Many of those who took part now want to prove their fitness on the water so it’s going to be an interesting summer term for the kids in Gateshead!

Finally, a lot of hard work went on behind the scenes to make this trip happen so special thanks has to go to the Sport and Physical Activity and Development Team (Lewis and Liane) at Gateshead Council, the Gateshead and Whickham Schools Sports Partnership, members of the Tyne United committee and some others who shall remain nameless but most certainly aren’t forgotten for their part in getting this off the ground.

For the full set of results, you can go to the London Youth Rowing website and all of this years NJIRC results and photos will be on there.

Sunday 7^th March saw the culmination of a lot of blood (knuckles), sweat (just about everywhere), tears (1500m tests) and sick (Josh…) with the Northern Regions trials for the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. It would be a day of excitement, drama and some crashes – but more about the trailer later…!

The Junior Inter-Regional Regatta is a national event in the rowing calendar and is seen as an ideal test for those wishing to compete at the National Schools Regatta, the National Rowing Championships or those getting onto the first rung of the GB Junior Rowing team ladder. In a unique way, the JIRR is the only event where you find athletes representing their region and not their club so competition for the places on the regional teams is always high.

This year was no exception at the JIRR trials, held at Cambois Rowing Club near Morpeth.

For Tyne United, this was our first attempt at the trials and hopes were high. At the start of the year, Gav had set an ambitious target for the junior athletes and the coaches in wanting a crew from Tyne United representing the North East at the JIRR.

The coaches have taken to working their athletes to the limit with some relish. Andrew, fully embracing Gav’s philosophy of “If they aren’t ready to be sick by the end of a 1500m test then they haven’t worked hard enough”, has fostered a serious sense of competition in the boys with athletes fighting for their seats (not literally we would like to add…). Alex, meanwhile, has ensured that the technical accuracy and boat speed has been present on the water by chasing the juniors up and down the Newburn straight with his orange launch.

In the end the competition for seats was tight and after a serious amount of deliberation the coaches selected Sam Pearson and Patrick Cree for the J15 2x, Sam Pearson, Patrick Cree, Leon Lofthouse and Josh Pringle for the J16 4x-, and Luke Dixon for the J16 1x and a J16 4+ composite with Durham School and Cambois.

First up on the day was Luke in the J16 1x. Luke had been giving everyone the inside knowledge of the Wansbeck, when not rowing for Tyne United, Luke was also a member of Cambois, so the athletes soaked up the info on where best to steer…

Luke’s main opposition was Kessell from Yarm School and it would come down to a duel between them. Luke had a near flawless race other than the fact he clipped the bridge (there would be some ribbing of his “tactical” knowledge later by the other juniors…) In the end the difference was three seconds with Kessell coming in first and Luke in second.

Luke: J16 Single

Now hears where it all gets complicated. As Kessell had also won in the J16 2x he had the choice of racing in his double or single. As he chose the double, that meant Luke had the option of taking the single’s slot. So we had our first boat in for the JIRR – but we would wait to see how Luke’s four went first.

So over to the boys double. For Sam and Patrick, this was a bit of payback. The previous year they had competed at the JIRR trials and found the whole process not exactly thrilling. Gav had promised them that this wouldn’t be repeated at Tyne United. The boys were ready for this, a serious amount of training had gone in to make this boat fast and all the coaches were quietly confident of a win.

Sam and Patrick saw off Yarm with ease and then moved in for the kill with QEHS and Chester-le-Street in front – the aim being to close the gap enough to come out with a faster time. Sam and Patrick not only closed on the QEHS double but rowed through them, forcing them wide as they pushed hard through the bridge. Patrick took a perfect steering line while Sam kicked up the power and the rate.

Pat & Sam: J15 Double

All the coaches needed to know was whether they had done enough to beat the very high rating Chester-le-Street double. “I think you’ll want to have a look at this”, the Coaching Commissioner grinned as she passed the doubles results to Gav. A win for Tyne United by 13 seconds! Sam and Patrick had not only won their event but stormed through with a massive margin. There were cheers all around for the boys – two crews through to the JIRR!

Next up was the boys J16 quad. The coaches had decided to make a last minute substitution with Finn replacing Patrick in the quad. Testament to the spirit in the boys’ squad Patrick was there with them all the way helping the boat onto the water. This would always be a difficult race. For Leon and Josh, this was their first competitive race so a real baptism of fire into one of the most competitive categories. The boys found themselves rowed down by Yarm School and in the process experienced some technical difficulties (a bit of the red mist descended in the crew and technique was replaced by brute force and aggression). Unfortunately there was a few choice words said between the Yarm boys and the Tyne United crew and a re-row for the quads was needed later.

Finn, Josh Leon & Sam: J16 Quad

For the boys’ quad, this was a harsh lesson on needing to keep your cool when the racing gets exciting. Andrew ensured that some apologies were given. Gav was quick to chalk it down to experience that the boys could use for the forthcoming season.

So finally, back to Luke. The day was getting late and it was time for his J16 4+. Gav hadn’t seen the boat row (they had only had one practice paddle together), however with the boat being coached by John Williamson from Durham School, there was a feeling that it would be a serious contender. Luke’s four stormed down the course and won the event by 10 seconds, meaning that a choice had to be made; the J16 1x or J16 4+. After a bit of a chat between Gav and Luke, the decision was made: the four it would be. So Tyne United would be racing in the J15 2x and the J16 4+.

So at the end of the day, it was a huge success for the boys’ squad at Tyne United. They had come away with two wins and some lessons learned for the forthcoming regatta season:

1. Churchillian salutes to Yarm School are best not done in front of umpires…
2. Don’t park your car near the Tyne United trailer unless you want a repair bill…

It was that time of year again for the finale of serious head racing on the Tyne with the annual Tyne Head. This year it was being described on the poster as the “ideal Tideway tune up” – well Tyne United had decided not to play out on the Tideway this year but it didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be some fun on the Tyne…

As previously reported on the website, the site was more akin to Glastonbury than a rowing club due to site maintenance, however this wasn’t going to stop the masses from Durham (and a Bradford ARC quad) boating from the club.

Race day was a mixed bag for the club with both women’s crews having to scratch due to illness and the junior boys quad not racing due to lack of opposition, so it was down to the vets and the men to fly the flag for the club.

The eights were always going to be the hotly contested and talked about event for both the men and the vets – Gav had already been over at Tyne in the morning collecting race numbers and was feeling rather queasy after Guy Clack had explained how the Tyne 1^st VIII would be doing the course at rate 36+ (this stomach sickening sensation may have had something to do with Gav remembering his last encounter with a piece of high rate work on the ergos involving Mr Pennington Snr and a 1 minute burst of rate 47 after doing a 60 minute ergo…) – would the Tyne United men’s squad and vet’s be able to match this prowess?

The TURC vet VIII was untested, unrehearsed but full of enthusiasm – a last minute crew change due to injury led to Kev Corker being asked (or should that be Jim Pitt telling him) to be in the crew.

Chris had decided on the strategy of all-or-nothing so out went the nice warm up in fours up to the start and it was warming up full crew and just going for it. The crew’s cox, Scott from St Aidan’s College drilled the crew hard up to the start and there was a feeling in the crew that this would be a surprise. Off the start, Chris Smith stroked the boat to rate 29 – the other seven guys were happily waiting for that rate to drop to 26, and they waited, and waited and realised by the Blaydon straight that the rate wasn’t dropping but going up! A call of “we’re at rate 32 and we’ve got Tees in our sight” somehow managed to shock but motivate the eight into keeping the pressure on and pushing harder.

Scott kept the crew disciplined and the TURC vet VIII rowed through Tees’ vet VIII with style on the Newburn straight and the crew, spurred on by this, looked for their next victims.

The Newcastle University Elite 4+ looked in some shock when they saw the Tyne United vet VIII making a push off them past Newburn Bridge (we are yet to confirm that it was the shock of being challenged by some old men in a wooden boat or whether they were concerned that they may have to provide medical assistance to the crew…) Sadly this push didn’t last for too long as Newcastle wound up for the finish and rowed off into the distance but the TURC vets maintained their average rate of 31 and powered over the finish.

An excellent race from the crew – everyone was very surprised by how good it was and even more so when the results came out and the VIII placed 21^st/55 crews, being less than a minute behind Tyne’s vet VIII and less than two minutes behind Tees’ top vet VIII.

The second division would prove to be no less memorable with two vet quads and the men’s VIII.

The men’s squad was struck down with injuries leading to a number of substitutions from their regular crew so again this would be a bit of an unknown variable as to how they would perform. Despite a kamikaze attempt to wipe out St Mary’s VIII in the start area (again we do apologise and we are very aware that we could have been disqualified!), the VIII had a solid row and came away feeling that it was a job well done. Jonny was waiting in anticipation as to whether he would have the honour of finding out he had won IM3 VIII’s and then being told that he was disqualified… However neither of these happened and the crew settled for 3^rd in the IM3 VIII’s behind University College, Durham and Cambois RC. Overall the crew placed 8^th/62 crews in the second division – an excellent overall result.

So back to the vets… the vet coxless quad was the lead boat for the veteran squad: Jim, Kev, Les and Martin were disciplined, motivated and had spent the previous season developing into one of the top veteran coxless quads in the North of England. Today was their first run out for Tyne United and they were ready to prove their mettle. They were confident of their sculling but uncertain whether they could take the Berwick veteran quad.

Sometimes a race is won on tactics and this was no exception – Les Maccabe’s steering “I had to be a bit cheeky at times, but then you have to be to win” was to prove the winner with the rest of the crew full of praise for taking some excellent racing lines.

No-one knew whether the quad had won until Kev Corker came over Newburn Bridge holding some tankards in his hands – winners of Veteran D/E 4x- coming 33^rd/62 crews and beating Berwick’s quad by just over a second!

The final boat of the day was the Veteran D coxed quad. They were a new crew and keen to get stuck into some racing, for Dave Smark and Rick Evans, this was their first taste of a competitive head race and they wanted to show that the weekend outings and evening ergos were paying off. With their usual stroke away, Chris Smith had happily volunteered to jump into this one.

As ever at Tyne United, we don’t like to do things the “traditional” way and decided that the best way to race this event was in one of our C Class coxed quads which we use for Learn to Row courses – the rules of the event did not stipulate that it had to be a fine boat so amid looks of bewilderment and confusion from the students on the Tyne United and Newcastle University steps the coxed quad of Evans (bow), Dodds (2), Smark (3), Smith (4) and Coates (cox) set forth…

The quad had a solid technical paddle down to the start (which for the quad felt like Millennium Bridge given how far we were from the marshalling area!) and spirits on the very cold and wet start were kept high with Paul Dodds descriptions of the nearest takeaways to where we were positioned… There was a moment where the crew nearly did paddle into a slipway and head off for a cup of tea and a bag of chips given how long it was taking to get the second division going…

But all talk of kebabs and well, kebabs were ended when the crew were told to start racing. Chris kept a solid (and thankfully slower!) rate for the race which enabled Dave and Paul to power the boat along. Rick was as focused as ever in the bows keeping the boat in time and showing his excellent sculling technique (honed through a combination of nagging from various people!) The aim of this race was truly to give these guys a taste of competitive rowing and they rose to the challenge, when the boat speed dropped, Gav would call for the crew to sharpen and it would, when a push on the legs was needed, it was delivered.

An excellent row from the newest competitive vets in the club and hopefully the start of some great things to come!

As ever, while the racing took front stage and for Tyne United it was a very good day with some excellent races and our first win of 2010, we never want to forget those who support in the background. Sincere thanks go to those who staffed the kitchen all day providing a full food service from breakfast until late afternoon (food was being served at a rate that would put the Army Catering Corps to shame!). The constant hot food and drinks that were available were just what was needed after the afternoons racing in the cold and wet!

Thanks go to those club members who volunteered on the steps – despite having the majority of the boats for the head, the Tyne United volunteers managed to get all crews boated and were late by only six minutes! We are happy to hire out Claire Smark to any club needing a boating coordinator – at one point she seemed to be coordinating boating for both steps the second division and putting the fear of God into crews who weren’t ready to boat at the correct time – including her dad, not bad for a J15!

And finally thanks to all those who braved the cold, wind, wet (and mud!) to come support those racing (even those who had travelled from as far away as Washington (that’s DC, USA and not the place near Chester-le-Street…)

But the person with the most to smile about on the day seemed to be Alex Pattinson. The boatman’s shed was looking fairly empty in the morning, by the end of the day it seemed to be rather full – “I like race days, you can all come again – it keeps me in profit…”

Nothing like Tyne Head to help keep the repair bills up!