Weybridge Ladies ARC

Congratulations to all those WLARC members who entered Weybridge Silver Sculls Head Race.

It was a great day and we had so many crews representing WLARC.

The Weybridge Silver Sculls is the oldest Head Race on the non tidal part of the Thames. The course is approximately 2 miles (or just over 3k). The first division saw Mags and Laurily, Caroline and Gilly, Laura and Angela (in their first official race) and Shirley and Lynn all race.

The second division was the turn of
the single scullers (a daunting prospect) but Alex and Ruby rose to the challenge and both put in sterling efforts.

The afternoon saw more juniors race ; Ellie and Amelia and Emily and Bronagh as well as another senior double with Tegwynne and Sarah.

Wow! What a fantastic racing weekend we had last week.

We had over twenty ladies and juniors racing over the two divisions for The Weybridge Head and loads of supporters on the banks cheering us on!

The first divison saw the first of WLARC’s VIII’s (IM3) take on the 3k race from Walton Boat Club up stream to Elmbridge Canoe Club. This was the first race of the year for this particular crew, in fact it was Jenny Field’s first race this millennium! The crew
consisted of Sarah Woodley at Stroke followed by Tegwynne, Jenny, Alex, Mags, Laurily the crew was completed by juniors Cesca and Ellie as the bow pair and coxed by a fantastic Lucia, who screamed us on from start to finish!!

The race was not easy as we were heading into a very strong wind and at one point stuck behind a large barge which decided to pull out right in front of us! However, the crew made a fantastic finish and completed the race in 13.43, a time to match that of the
IM1 crew!

The first divisions also saw the Vets Quad race, in their second race as a crew together (the first beingTeddington late last year). Gilly did a great job steering into the wind, and was supported by her crew Laura Bullard, Angela and Caroline, completing the course in 17.32

After a very quick break and a swapping of boats it was time for the second division…this time we were racing against the imminent rain!

The Vets VIII were the first to head off from WLARC in this division and looked incredibly together and classy as they took off from the start. You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking they had been a crew for years, not just a week and a half! Coxed by Val (who I think
slowly lost her voice from all the cheering), stroked by Libi, followed by Jane Winter (racing her first race), Bex Fuller, Gilly Dean, Viv Jackson, Shirley Williams, Jessica Nolan and in the bow seat Lynn Postle. They completed the course in 16.11.

The next crew in the second division was the IM3 quad of Laurily, Mags, Sarah Woodley and Alex, who pushedoff of Guildford all the way to win their category with a time of 14.15.

And last but by no means leastcame the WJ15’s in their coxed quad, who were racing against Weybridge BC and Staines and finished with a time of 15.50.

Sunday 11 September 2011

It was so lovely to see so many WLARC members past and present, families and friends celebrating
the Club’s 85th Birthday last Sunday.

The rain held off and we had a great Pimms Tea Party in the garden of the club. We had enough
cakes for an Army (not that I’m complaining, although may have to row harder for the next few
weeks to shed the ‘chocolate hips’), endless jugs of Pimms and bubbly!

The highlights for me were listening to some of the ex members reminiscing about their time as
rowers for WLARC then them flicking through the old photo albums and catching sight of
themselves many moons ago. Listening to their stories of Amy Gentry and what she was like.

Another highlight was the naming of the new VIII ‘Tom Dean’ and so many people cheering as the
boat was placed on the water!

We have had many kind words from those who attended…here are a few!

‘Well done for organising such a typically Weybridge Ladies do and carrying on a tradition of quirky
ladies! Look forward to the next one.’- Carol Beaumont

‘It was particularly wonderful for me to meet up with Christine Van der Mees who I had not seen
since my wedding in 1960! She was my bridesmaid – amazingly we recognised each other. I was
also able to re-unite with Pat Trice (nee Corby) who rowed at the same time as myself. Also to
spend time with Evelyn was great.
Thank you again for the lovely party.. So glad that the weather held out for us.’- Brenda Preskett

A whole trailer load of events were entered …   see the full results on the Staines Regatta site.

The weekend of the 9th July was Kingston Regatta, a two day event for both juniors and seniors. On the Saturday we entered one boat, the women’s four made up of Alex Browning, Laurily Adams, Sarah Woodley and Mags Johnson. This was our first regatta together so we were extremely nervous.

Our first race was against Molesy who, after a good start from us and a lot of encouragement and cheering from Adrian (who we have now nicknamed our lucky charm) on his bike, we ‘easily’ beat putting us through to the final with Twickenham.

Nerves were running high for the final – we knew Twickenham were a strong crew so we really had to keep it together to try and beat them. Our start wasn’t brilliant, I/Alex caught a crab a few strokes into the race and we zig zagged down the course which almost led us to be disqualified at the finish line. But despite all this we managed to get it back together and won the race by three lengths.

We were over the moon and were even more delighted when we saw the trophy tent and realised we were to be presented with a huge cup! (See picture above – sadly we didn’t get to keep it)

… full results on Kingston Regatta.

One of several local regattas, entered a WJ15 4X+ .. all the results are on the Egham Regatta pages.

Results of the finals for each event can be found here.

Results for all races can be found here.

Great food, great party. Well done to Laurily and Sarah who organised yet again another event!

You may have noticed a new addition to the boat club…. A wonderful Janousek VIII, soon to be named ‘Tom’.

‘Tom’ was kindly purchased for the club by Gilly Dean and has been named in memory of her Dad.

We are really hoping strengthen our sweep oar rowing and we are so lucky to have this brilliant VIII to train and race in.

So, what to do with our old VIII ?

You can’t miss ‘Amy’, a beautiful old wooden boat that unfortunately is just not practical to train or race in anymore.  As we hope to buy more boats this year we will need more space outside for storage, therefore we need some idea’s of what to do with ‘Amy’.

The committee has suggested using the Stern quarter to create a trophy cabinet to display all our pots and plaques we have accumulated over the years.

So what to do with the other three quarters.

If you have any ideas or suggestions please let Laurily know news@weybridgeladies.org.uk

On a warm Sunday afternoon in March, Eight Weybridge Ladies and one very brave Cox made their way (in matching hoodies) to Putney Embankment….their challenge….to race the 4.25 miles from Mortlake to Putney on the Tideway as part of the Women’s Head of the River Race.

Thankfully, the rowing gods were looking favourably upon the river; the wind was light and the water flowing nice and fast. We were boat number 259 of 303 crews that raced that day…we started so far down the order because we haven’t raced this particular head for a number of years.

After a very nervous paddle up the course to the start line, watching the other crews ahead of us turn and start their battle, we soon found we were at the start, and suddenly we were off!

Oh the pain was unbearable and we had only just set off! The whole crew moving as one, shifting the boat towards the finish line. Then came the shout from some of our supporters on Hammersmith Bridge which really spurred us on and we all perked up (even though we were probably only a quarter of the way down the course!)

As soon as it had started it was nearly over (well after 22 minutes anyway), the cheers for WLARC as we passed Fulham Football Club towards Putney Bridge and the finish really pushed us for home and out of the corner of our eye we saw all our supporters waving the WLARC flag and cheering us on, I don’t think we could have done it without them…and what makes it even better is that they had champagne waiting for us as we heaved ourselves out of the boat.

It was a great day and well worth all the aching the following day…I speak for all of us when I say we will definitely do it again next year!

Bow- Tracy Forward, Two- Rebecca Fuller, Three- Charlotte Watts, Four- Martina Schniepp, Five- Alex Browning, Six- Mags Johnson, Seven- Laurily Adams, Stroke- Sarah Woodley, Cox- Sophie Thean