Ross News update

The month of pancakes and Valentines! ????????

Read all about what has been going on at our club below.

Junior Easter Camp

The Junior Easter camp will be running from Tuesday 2nd – Friday 5th April. We start with a capsize drill on Tuesday afternoon, and end on Friday with race day and BBQ.

Any help would be appreciated please – I will need a ratio of one experienced junior or senior to every new junior on Wednesday for the water sessions, and then Thursday and Friday, usually a lower ratio but any help you can offer would be much appreciated please.

If you are able to help, even with one session, please let me know and I will add you to the group on spond. You can then accept or decline the different sessions.

Thank you in advance.

Karen

RRC ‘100’ Club Year 2!

Once we have done this month’s draw, we will have already come to the end of our first year of the RRC ‘100’ club and so it is time to start thinking about renewing subscriptions.

Last year this event raised over £700 for club funds and hopefully we can match or beat this total this year!

We will reserve people’s current numbers for them (unless of course they wish to change numbers for this year) until one week before the first draw in March (Thursday 21st march).

As per last year, the cost is £1 per number per month paid as an annual £12 subscription. This will enter you into a draw once a month with the chance to win one of two prizes. There is also an additional Christmas bonus draw. There is no limit to the amount of numbers each person can buy so please support your club as much as you feel able to and give yourself the best chance of winning!

Please sign up now on webcollect or at the bar on a Friday night and let Greg Powell know once you have done so to sort your number(s).

Gym Re-build

Gladiators Ready!?…floor laying

After having to lift all of the floor tiles in the gym area to assist it in drying out after the flood, a kind group of volunteers have now put it all back together ready for all those gym and ergo sessions you all love so much!

George Gilbert has also done a fab job of re-arranging and organising the weights room. Thanks George!

From George:

Hi all, I’ve put the weights area back together the best way I can that maximises floor space for mat work/ free weight sessions and minimises trip hazards as much as possible. Tried to create space for the squat rack (new) so it can be easily walked around so there shouldn’t be much in the way of ducking and diving trying to load up the bar and of course hazards on the floor. Also placed it under the skylight for the taller gym goers!!! The old white squat rack is technically redundant now, the only difference between the two racks is the pull up bar on the white one. This can easily be replaced with a specific pull up bar that fixes to the RSJ in the gym area itself. The weighted bags have been organised – all 5kg on one shelf, 7.5kg on another shelf #OCD #alltheducksinaline

Dynamic Ergos

Dynamic Ergo

Most of you will know by now that I am a great fan of dynamic Ergos as a way of improving rowing style on land. I was asked today about, how to use them and best practice. There are few videos to there but here are a couple.

First the Concept company video which is fine although the commentary is not very ‘dynamic’. – Click here to view.

Second a YouTube video submitted by a user with no commentary. – Click here to view.

In both cases you can see how much closer the action is to rowing in a boat and particularly how it improves your core strength and body stability both vital for a good recovery phase in a rowing stroke.

Enjoy!!!

Clive

Club Fundraising Socials ????????

Bingo Night

Due to popular vote, this month’s fundraising social event will be Bingo!

Eyes down Friday 16th February 7:00pm with cards for each game just £1 each and cash prizes to be won!

This event is free to attend so come along, have a drink and enjoy!

Please be aware this is not a catered event.

P.S. Yes, please do ignore the gramatical error in the meme!

And Finally…

The Loch Ness Monster

Many of you may not realise that monsters enjoy holidays too, this time, Nessie has decided to see the delights that the River Wye has to offer.

(Also a very good reminder not to row on a rising river! Stay safe everyone).

For the live Webcam showing current river levels – hit the button below.

Ross Rowing Club welcomes new rowers, young and old, beginners, experienced or returners.
We welcome campers and visitors, and have occasional opportunities to hire our clubhouse and grounds.
Key contacts:

EDITOR

LEARN TO ROW, CAMPING VENUE HIRE ENQUIRIES FIND US
Rope Walk, Ross On Wye, Herefordshire HR9 7BU

Ross News update

Happy New Year!

Read all about what has been going on at our club below.

RRC Spud Head

Great Club Spirit and a Really Enjoyable Morning!

Sunday 17th December saw RRC host it’s first spud head in quite a number of years. Members from all club squads were in attendance with a total of 12 crews taking part over 2 divisions. Rowing from Backney down to regatta finish in singles, doubles, pairs, quads and fours.

Division 1 had some tough competition but the winners were Steve and George in their pair with a rather impressive time for such a small boat!

Division 2 saw many people staying warm in the bar for refreshments, but three determined crews began their row up to Backney (apparently Charlie Pope believes 27 strokes per minute to be a casual row up!). This division brought some more fast paced action with the composite senior/junior crew of Charlie Pope, Annabel Pope, Fliss Cox and Greg Powell taking the overall win of the day in a time of 9:15! Lovely also to see father and son George and Ollie out in a double.

Results

Div 1

Dirty Duck 9.41

Sweet Charity 9.54

PGL 10.34

Doc Budd 10.34

Baynham Williams 10.40

Homewood Hall 10.43

Women of Ross 11.22

JPT 11.23

Beerfest 12.13

Div 2

Women of Ross 9.15 ????????

Nigel Shepherd 9.45

Beerfest 10.49

Rowers warming up in the bar

Name that elf competition?

Indoor Rowing Championships

RC Junior rowers, Jacob, Xander, Finn and Leah attended the British Indoor Rowing Championships in Birmingham recently.

All four competed in the Year 10 category – with a 5min ergo. Jacob and Leah also entered the 500m race.

In the boys category, there were 47 competitors and Jacob finished in 6th place, Finn 10th and Xander 22nd. An amazing achievement by all three boys.

Jacob then went onto finish in 4th place in the 500m race – missing a medal by 1.5 seconds. Leah competed against 60 competitors and finished in 12th place, which is an impressive performance.

RRC are proud of all of you. Well done!

Love Rowing MARS feature

Ross Rowing Club have been featured on the Love Rowing Instagram page for our work with Mixed Ability Rowing. Well done to all involved in providing this facility at Ross!

Love Rowing Said:

It’s Thursday which means it is time to share with you another grant projects feedback.

This time it’s Ross Rowing Club whose project works with disabled individuals.

“One in Six people live with a disability. Many rowers and non-rowing members have disabilities at RRC, and we are proud that everyone is welcome and enjoys our sport, our club and our environment”.

Ross Rowing Club have been able to raise their profile as an accessible and welcoming club plus so much more as a result of the grant from Love Rowing. We wish them continued success and look forward to seeing them to continue to grow.

Club Socials ????????

Christmas Party – Saturday 16th December

The Christmas party was well attended with some new faces, some that we haven’t seen for a while and of course those you wouldn’t expect to see anywhere else!

The evenings entertainment was… how do we say it… interesting with some rather unusual renditions of some normally well known songs but a good time was had all around and of course more funds raised for our club.

Quiz Night!

Would it even be a new year without a ‘general knowledge’ quiz from Greg?

In the words of one famous Admin Alice “Get revising ???? you never know what’s going to come up in one of Greg’s quizzes!”

With a total of 59 people present, this is the most attended social we have organised to date and saw a fantastic variety of members and their friends all scratching their heads and drinking (spot who the quizzers and who the drinkers are in the photos!)

Words from the quiz master himself:

“I would like to thank everyone so much who attended tonight, I have not seen the club room so full in a long time and the mix of people from juniors (and ex juniors) to members and non members alike. 57 people taking part in the quiz is more than I ever imagined and you helped to raise in excess of £300 for club funds in what was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I will start to get my thinking cap on ready for next year!”

Club Fundraisers

100 Club

It is almost time to start thinking about renewing subscriptions for the ‘100’ Club. Over the next few weeks we will be asking you to pick your numbers for the next 12 months. Each number will be £12 to cover the 12 month period and you are not limited to just one. Please encourage as many friends and family to join as you can. The more people join, the higher the prizes will be, and the more money our club will make.

Friday is Octo day!!!

All that was missing was a bottle of something bubbly to smash over the bow… It is so new and fresh, the toes of the shoes were still stuffed with paper. Makes a change from birds’ nests…

Flooding

January 2024 Flood!

Thanks to Torsten for keeping us up to date through this as always.

Flood clear up plan

As Jonathan has already mentioned we have got off very lightly with only a few centimetres of water getting into the club and boat house.

We have started using squeegees to push the water out of the Clubroom and entrance lobby. Kitchen extractors have been left on and internal doors left open to aid air circulation.

Tomorrow, if the club is accessible we will use the flood cleaning machine to clear water where trapped in kitchens, shower areas and toilets. Then set up the commercial dehumidifiers offered if we can get them there.

Flooding – final update

Great to see members rowing for the first time this year! Thank you to those who were able to stay down to continue the clear up and an even bigger thank you to those who only came down to work.

Retired to the Royal Hotel afterwards and can report that all is good at the club. The flood has done no noticeable damage and but we will be reviewing additional measures that could help with future flood events.

If you have any observations or comments please let us know.

The club has been cleaned, toilets are working, heating will remain on while the gym floor dry out and the car park is mud free.

A particular thank you to Plum who dug a trench to allow water to drain away and another dug by Steve Randall that will help with future flood events.

After the Floods – a feature by British Rowing

British Rowing have updated their article on the Club flooding and being rebuilt to including our experience from last weeks floods. New members might find it interesting reading. You can read the article here.

Sir Colin Shepherd – RIP

Some members will know of Colin Shepherd – a Vice President of the club. Sadly Colin lost his fight with cancer this morning 17th January, aged 86. He had entered hospital for end of life care two days before and his family were at his bedside all day.

And Finally…

Club Coaching

I am sure many you have met Clive by now but let us formally welcome him and his help to the club. He is joining us to try to bring some modern coaching techniques to those crews looking to further and improve thir rowing. Below are his thoughts and aims:

I hope next weekend will be the start of the formal river work for the crew(s) hoping to compete at the Vesta Master’s Head or indeed any of the Putney races in March. I am expecting to be at the club at 7:30 on both Saturday and Sunday to coach and generally help in the preparation of the crews.

I would like to start in big sweep-oar boats if possible but that will depend on who turns-up and wants to participate.

Those of you who attended my presentation last Tuesday will know that I am a strong believer in the modern style that has been increasing adopted by most racing crews over the last 6 or so years. This is probably “situation normal” for most of you but I would like to reinforce all the basics before specifically preparing for head races.

I propose to start the coaching programme by working on the recovery, aiming to minimise any disruption to boat speed from the finish of one stroke to the start of the next one.

To start with I will ask for a definite pause at the finish as part of getting the crew to work together although that will almost disappear naturally well before we go to Putney. This week I want you all to think about the key elements of the recovery and if possible practice them during your land training sessions.

For the live Webcam showing current river levels – hit the button below.

Ross Rowing Club welcomes new rowers, young and old, beginners, experienced or returners.
We welcome campers and visitors, and have occasional opportunities to hire our clubhouse and grounds.
Key contacts:

EDITOR

LEARN TO ROW, CAMPING VENUE HIRE ENQUIRIES FIND US
Rope Walk, Ross On Wye, Herefordshire HR9 7BU

Ross News update

It’s nearly Christmas!

Read all about what has been going on at our club below.

Monmouth Head

A grand day out in the mud and rain!

Our trip to Monmouth Winter head was like stepping back in time to the days when the club entered heads and regattas en masse!

Having been unable to row for a few weeks it was good to get back on the water.

Ross had entries in Open 4x, Womens Mas 8, Womens Mas 4+, Mxd 4+, Mxd Mas 8 and two entries in Mxd Mas4x-.

No apologies for the splendidly long list of those crewing the boats: Georgie, Greg, Charlie, Tom, Jackie, Sara, Gill, Andrea, Sue, Kay, Chris, Nicky, Jessie, Sheron, Alison, Ellen, Alice, Sally, Annabel, Geraldine, Buffy, Mike, Bronia, George, Steve, Graham, Dave.

All crews arrived at the trailer just as it started raining, the trailer park was already soft underfoot. There was no let up in the rain and it didn’t take long for soft underfoot to turn into deep, slippery, gloopy mud. By the end of the day everyone was soaked and everything was covered in mud! The river was running fast and, with crews from 16 other clubs, everyone enjoyed some good, close racing with the Mxd Mas 8 winning their class and taking medals home.

Grateful thanks to George and Graham for towing there and back.

Juniors at Monmouth Head:

We had a J15 4x+ doing their first race together as a crew (Jacob, Max, Tom & Finn) and for some of the crew it was their first head race. They put in a strong performance placing third in their category. Four juniors, Dom (J18), Will (J17 and first ever race for Will), Faith (WJ16) & Leah (WJ15) rowed together in a mixed quad in the senior category and finished with an impressive time of 7.14, (the winning time across all the Ross boats) just losing to an experienced senior mixed crew from Stourport by just 2 seconds.

Mixed 8 (minus Steve and Dave) with their medals.

George bearing the weight of Steve and Dave’s medals.

The rainy conditions at ‘Mudmouth Head’ got some of us thinking about alternative names for the club:

We row, Wye?

Wye row?

Ross on why?

Any more suggestions? ????

New Additions to the Boat Club

Octo!

Its been over 5 years now, since Tim Ball rescued this boat from Corpus Christi College Boathouse in Cambridge. It was just a bare shell and foot stretchers and looking a little unloved since the riggers and seats had been stolen some years before. Under the grime it was in relatively good condition and it had potential. So finally after some ‘BH fairy dust’ focus this Summer, it has emerged as a Octo with new riggers, a new CoxOrb speaker system, new seat tracks, refurbished seats, most importantly new shoes, some minor shell repairs and a good cut and polish, and is ready for a new life on the River Wye. The boat will be racked outside on the lawn

Wintech 2x/-

As part of our ongoing investment in the boat fleet, we took delivery of a freshly refurbished Wintech 2x/-, named ‘Wilton’ in recognition of the bridge that destroyed its predecessor… The boat is essentially like new with new shoes, steering, fin, rudder, slides and seat wheels along with fresh ‘scratch free’ shiny paint in the new Wintech style but using the Ross RC colour scheme… looks pretty snazzy.. The boat has pairs of Quick Release Sweep and Sculling Riggers and has been racked inside the Boathouse, without riggers so as to reduce the damage caused to itself & other boats when racking. Fitting the riggers is straightforward once you have been shown how to and only takes a minute or two, riggers live on the new rack (see below…). The shell is rated at 80-90kgs. Please gain your Squad Captains permission before using the boat, and please look after it as if it were your own.

Wing Rigger Rack

Since the introduction of wing riggers and dual discipline 2x/-, 4x/-boats at Ross, we have had the challenge of what to do with the Wing Riggers when they are removed from the boat. This has been a particular challenge with the wing rigged singles that are racked indoors where space is limited when they need to be removed each time. With a bit of head scratching, a few attempts at hand drawn CAD sketches and engineering genius in Boathouse Narnia, plus some help from ‘Big Tim Davies’ this morning, we have today gone some way to solving the challenge and installed a moveable Wing Rigger Rack/Stand. The racks are set at varying widths (narrowest at the top) to accommodate the numerous sizes of riggers, with sculling riggers hanging in pairs/boat sets on the outside and sweep riggers racked on the internal racks. There are still a few sets of riggers hanging on wall hooks around the boathouse but there are no longer piles of riggers dumped on the floor causing a trip hazards and leading to damage to the riggers etc. Please take care when removing and re racking the riggers that you use, to ensure they are all safely/securely racked.

Steps Update

Thanks to all who helped move scalpings. We now have a new beach to boat from when the river is at the right height. Work was supervised by our resident kingfisher.

Club Socials ????????

Christmas Party – Saturday 16th December

Friday 15th December was the overwhelming winner in the re-scheduling of the Fundraising Christmas Party for 2023. Apologies to those who can only make the Saturday, we will miss you! Tickets are on webcollect and will be available to purchase until Sunday 10th Dec. Please buy promptly to allow us to prepare the catering etc ???????? Tickets are £10 and will include food, Christmas desserts and…. Christmas Karaoke ???? (but only if you want to, no forced participation here ✨) Juniors, Seniors, new members all welcome, please bring along friends and family and everyone you like! Looking forward to seeing you there!! Ticket Link here: https://webcollect.org.uk/rossrc/event/rrc-christmas-party-2023

Festive Fun – Friday 15th December

Following on from our normal Friday morning row on 15th December, why not join us for some festive nibbles and carfting? There will be the opportunity to make seasonal table centres or a door swag. This is entirely optional and you are welcome to come just for the row and / or food. Spaces are limited, so please contact Diane Lancaster via spond if you are interested in participating in the following craft activities: 4 spaces for small round, single candle centres – £5 3 spaces for rectangular 3 candle centres – £ 7 5 door swags with bells and cones – £7 Pictures are a rough representation of what is on offer. Items will vary. Should you wish to join in, please bring secateurs! Pliers would be useful for those wishing to do the swags.

Club Fundraisers

100 Club

There are still lots of numbers available for the 100 club, and this month has the bonus Christmas draw in addition to the usual 1st and 2nd prizes. If no more tickets are bought, this currently stands at £150 but will increase with every additional number purchased!

https://webcollect.org.uk/rossrc/event/rrc-100-club

Above is the link for webcollect, please make your purchase (please only use the 3 month option not the 12 month) and message me with what number(s) you would like.

Remember, there is no limit to the amount of numbers one person can have and with only 3 months remaining on the subscription, each one now only costs £3!

Good luck!

Christmas Raffle

Raffle tickets (£1 each) are now on sale at the bar for this years Christmas hamper worth £150! We also have a few Christmas cards left from last year which are also on sale at £5 per pack.

@rossrowingclub

Mousey – Marc Russell – has done a great job of uniting our social media under one tag. Wherever you are you can tag Ross Rowing Club or search for what we’re doing using @rossrowingclub

We are active on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter

And Finally…

Well done to the ladies at the club (Diane Lancaster, Julie smith for creating life rings, senior ladies for Pom Pom hats and Jan for the flyer) who created this beautiful Ross Rowing Club inspired Christmas Tree for the tree festival at St Mary’s church. You all did such a wonderful job! If you missed the tree at the festival, you can see it in the club house ????

For the live Webcam showing current river levels – hit the button below.

Ross Rowing Club welcomes new rowers, young and old, beginners, experienced or returners.
We welcome campers and visitors, and have occasional opportunities to hire our clubhouse and grounds.
Key contacts:

EDITOR

LEARN TO ROW, CAMPING VENUE HIRE ENQUIRIES FIND US
Rope Walk, Ross On Wye, Herefordshire HR9 7BU

Ross News update

Quite a lot has happened since the last Ross newsletter two months ago!

Read all about what has been going on at our club below.

Gloucester Head

4 years on from the Clubhouse Flooding in 2019, and some very last minute crew changes, 5 crews headed to Gloucester for the Autumn Head in the sunshine (a bit of a novelty for this event!!).

Jacob flying the flag for the Junior Squad in the OpJ15 1x 1750m event, coming second to a Gloucester A Sculler but gallantly holding off opposition from Gloucester B and Hereford Cathedral School ????.

Pam, George, Bron & Buffy took on opposition from Upton and Gloucester on the 5 km course and held there position in the starting order despite several overtaking attempts (and check in’s with canal side wildlife ????) but unfortunately couldn’t take the podium finish they aimed for, finishing within 25secs of winners Upton.

Graham, TimB, TimD & Dave coxed by Jessie chased opposition from Monmouth over the 5km course finishing just under a minute behind them, not bad for a crew that has only rowed a handful of times over last few weeks… but as the school report said “could do better!” So watch this space ????.

Mike & Buffy took on a Bridgenorth Crew over the 5km course in the afternoon, but the 29spm for 5km in the morning must of taken its toll…

Our stars ???? of the day were our LowCRI Womens Coxed Quad of Sue, Bianca, Andrea & Rowena coxed by Rachel, who had to compete against a men’s crew from Gloucester but accepted the challenge and pushed their way to a 26secs lead over the 1750m course..absolutely fantastic ???? achievement with Bianca (who starting rowing this Summer) and Rachel (who started coxing this Summer) competing in and winning their first Head event… ‘Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those doing it’…#thesegirlscan ????.

A big thank you to Captain Graham for towing ????????.

MARS – Turin Regatta!

Ross were superstars at the Turin mixed ability regatta. See all the fabulous photos below:

Day 1: Winners of mixed ability coxed fours, and mixed ability quads.

Day 2: Gold for Dan and brother Josh (last row as a junior at Ross!) in mixed quad with Shandon (from Cork) and Stratford.

Silver for Nicky, Sue Blue and Sally in mixed four with Jackie from Stratford.

Bronze for Sue and Rowena.

Followed by amazing silver for Sally and Nicky in a mixed 8. Sally stroking an Empacher! Rowed from behind to win silver and very pleased with that.

Ross were presented with a commemorative plaque in a red velvet box to recognise our work in inclusive rowing, and then were awarded the President’s Award for the club that they recognised for the greatest achievement in mixed ability rowing.

Go Ross!!!

Avon Bluefriars

A Win for RRC at Avon Bluefriars Small boats Head – Saturday 7th October.

Greg and Georgie’s race report:

Thank you everyone for all your support. We have had a great day and are very pleased with the result! We have been training hard and it’s nice to see it paying off!

First of all a big thank you must go to Mike Jones, who provided a huge amount of help and advice to us for this event. He also worked his magic to get us a boat (called Debbie) to borrow ????‍♀️.

Even though it didn’t have a rudder, Greg was a superstar and steered a fantastic line down the 3250m course today. We managed to overtake our oppo after 1000m, navigate a tight bend under a bridge, (the advice given in the course briefing video for this section of the course gave us such confidence; ‘remember it is better and safer to get through the bridge than to hit the large concrete bridge support at full pressure’) and finish strong on the final 1250m straight to the finish line. We had encouragement from our friends at Avon County as we went along, and boating on and off support from our very own George Smith. Thanks again to everyone who has helped us ????‍♀️.

Raft Race

Annual raft race ending at the club. Popular event and loads of prizes!

Steps Update

Unfortunately, despite best endeavours a combination of poor weather, unpredictable river levels, contractor availability and the EA permit window closing have meant that the planned reconstruction of the river access steps will now be postponed until next year.

Today has seen the removal of the temporary fencing and pump to mitigate ongoing hire costs.

I have also had alterations made to the temporary bridge which hopefully will make it easier for members to carry boats across at shoulder height without injury.

I’m keeping a close eye on the ever unpredictable weather (it was forecast heavy rain today ???? but it’s be a nice dry Autumn day ???? ) to find a opportunity to move the stockpile of stone off the steps into the lower step area so that the steps can be used when the river level makes using the ‘boats off’ beach in accessible, which will probably become more often as we progress through winter.

I’ll update again when steps can be used for launching and what level the river needs to be to allow it.

Rowers not rowing

Greg and Georgie:

On a wet and drizzly Saturday morning in Pembrokeshire, what better way to start the day than with a Parkrun when you can’t go rowing? That’s exactly what Greg and I had planned, however when we arrived at Colby Woodland Garden, there were only a few cars around. It soon transpired that the recent rain had washed part of the path away so the event was cancelled. As we wondered what to do next, the people behind us noted our Ross Rowing club racing tops and introduced themselves as Sarah and Jez from Stourport boat club! We both decided to head off for a (not) parkrun 5k along Amroth Seafront and ended up having a nice chat post run. So, even when on holiday, you never know where you might meet a fellow rower!

Club Socials ????????

November Social – Friday 24th November: Wine and cheese.

Back due to popular demand!

November’s social will be wine and cheese night, this time we will be focusing on white and sparkling wines.

Tickets will be £15 per head and only available up to 1 week before the event due to the need to order the wine and cheese.

Price will include generous tastes of 6 wines along with a selection of cheeses, bread and crackers!

Hopefully we can make this as successful as last year!

Purchase tickets here:

https://webcollect.org.uk/rossrc/event/wine-and-cheese-2023

Please make sure you get your ticket no later than Sunday 19th November at 21:00 to allow us to purchase the correct amount of cheese and wine.

__________

Christmas Party – Saturday 16th December

More details to follow but please save the date. Will be fairly low key and we are planning to include awards night.

Tickets will be no more than £15 (we are hoping it may be cheaper than this, but we will confirm once we have worked out the costings of food etc).

All members, seniors, juniors, parents, newbies, family and friends welcome.

@rossrowingclub

Mousey – Marc Russell – has done a great job of uniting our social media under one tag. Wherever you are you can tag Ross Rowing Club or search for what we’re doing using @rossrowingclub

We are active on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter

And Finally… we know how to celebrate at Ross!

#birthdaysarethebestdays

For the live Webcam showing current river levels – hit the button below.

Ross Rowing Club welcomes new rowers, young and old, beginners, experienced or returners.
We welcome campers and visitors, and have occasional opportunities to hire our clubhouse and grounds.
Key contacts:

EDITOR

LEARN TO ROW, CAMPING VENUE HIRE ENQUIRIES FIND US
Rope Walk, Ross On Wye, Herefordshire HR9 7BU

Ross Regatta 2023

The highlight of our year!

Welcoming visitors from near and far, rowers and spectators, campers and residents.

A huge THANK YOU to sponsors, competitors, umpires, volunteers and visitors. We loved it, and hope you did too.

Dragon Boats

The club kicked off the weekend with the annual dragon boat racing on Saturday.

Fancy dress and festival atmosphere, thank you all for coming.

Regatta Prep

It takes a lot of planning and people to get the regatta ready. Its a miracle really…

A huge round of applause to everyone and thank you again.

And they’re off…

In full swing, Sunday and Monday, under cloudy but mostly dry skies, saw a fantastic display of racing, eating, drinking, camping, chatting and generally having a great time.

The Boatles

Our fabulously named band played a brilliant set and got everyone jumping.

The Tea Tent

Always a highlight, the amazing baking and cooking done by club volunteers kept our visitors full and happy.

The Barbecue

Over 750 luxury burgers from Hanks Meat and Game, our award winning local butchers, cooked to perfection by the barbecue team under the expert supervision of Jack, our Barbecue Supremo. Apologies for no live photos – people too busy cooking or eating to take photos!!

But burgers carry on on Friday evenings at the club and here is a view from there…

And the winners are…

Winners had the option of a traditional “pot” or a new reusable cooler bottle.

Full list of RRC winners below and thanks to Nick H, soon to feature in the Ross Gazette too.

Wins for Ross

Women
Competing on Sunday at Ross Regatta (W Mas D 4+), the crew of Sheron Dean-Lucas, Nicky Wild, Ellen Phelps and Alice Simon, coxed by Bryn Hughes (kindly stepping in for Sally Pettipher who caught Covid at the last minute) won against a very strong Worcester crew. Competing on Monday in the W Mas B/C 4+, crew of Sheron Dean-Lucas, Alison Barker, Ellen Phelps and Alice Simon (again coxed by Bryn Hughes) won the semi final against a strong Bristol Ariel B crew, and then won the final against a good Llandaff B crew, by 1 3/4 lengths.

That crew pictured above Competing on Monday in the W Mas E4x crew of Karen Thorpe Williams , Sarah Sykes , Nicky Wild & Chris Crowhurst won the semi final against Monmouth going on to Win the final against Evesham

.

On Monday a Quad of older junior women raced as adults in a Open Women’s race, Sumayya Alalami, Imogen Bell, Annabel Pope and Fliss Cox beat Hereford by 1 1/2 lengths.

Pictured earlier.

Men
The men entered several events. There was some close and thrilling racing, often going right down to the wire. However there was only one win, the Masters D 4+ of George Smith, Steve Randall, Graham Watling and Dave Sykes, coxed superbly by Lucy Burden. The race was so close for most of the course that Lucy and the opposing cox were level eye to eye!

Juniors

On Sunday – Fliss Cox in her U16 W1x beat Staines in her heat, Stratford in the semi-final and Liverpool Victoria in the final. Great work Fliss!

In Band 2 of the J14 2x Jacob Fitzpatrick and Milo Russell beat City of Bristol.

Pictured earlier

On Monday Jacob and Milo teamed up with Ollie Stevens and Finn Clatworthy and cox Lilly McLead to compete as a J14 4x+ beating Evesham by 4 lengths

The WJ15 2x of Leah Cotton and Faith Thorpe-Williams beat Evesham by 5 lengths

and finally, Ollie Smith, beat Bewdley in the U15 semi-final

Starting Well

Over the last 2 to 4 months the club’s beginner rowers have shown exceptional dedication and remarkable progress in their journey to master the art of rowing. Despite starting with little to no experience, their determination and hard work have led to significant achievements that deserve recognition.

In just a short span of time, these novice rowers have learned the basics of rowing technique, boat handling, and teamwork. During practice sessions and on-the-water drills, it has been inspiring to witness their growth.

Congratulations to George Gilbert , Bronia Bendall, Pam Manwaring & Sara West coxed by Chris Crowhurst, pictured below.

Sam Purton , Michelle Sterry , Bianca Briasc , & Gill White , coxed by Beth Morris, pictured earlier.

Adaptive Racing

Our newest adaptive rowers, Sue Wheeler and Rowena Pollock, lost out to a stronger crew from Stratford, but recorded a huge victory for Ross in being able to showcase people with disabilities to row, compete and have a great time.

Both crews pictured below

More #rossregatta pics

So many great photos sent through that are not featured already so here is a montage of the rest. Some crackers in there.

@rossrowingclub

Mousey – Marc Russell – has done a great job of uniting our social media under one tag. Wherever you are you can tag Ross Rowing Club or search for what we’re doing using @rossrowingclub

We are active on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter

Friday Night Evenings

OMG how beautiful is our club …

This a Friday evening from the bank while enjoying bar and burgers.

Juniors at Gloucester

Earlier in August there were great races from RRC at other regattas. Gloucester was the day before Ross so a busy weekend for our juniors who raced there.

Well done to Milo and Jacob who raced Hereford in the J14 2x semi-final and finished in a dead heat. They had to row back to the beginning and do it all over again, feeling pretty shattered. Sadly they lost out in the re-row but we all take our hats off to them, a rowers worst nightmare a dead heat. Next up was Milo and Max in the J14 1x (Band 2). Milo beat his oppo from Glos by 4 lengths to set up a Ross v Ross final against Max. It was Max’s first ever singles event. Milo got a good start and kept the pressure on until the finish line, winning by 2 lengths. Good rowing from the boys. It was now Jacob’s turn in the J14 1x (Band 1). Jacob was awesome in his 1/4 final and won by 1.5 lengths against one of the Hereford boys who had beaten him and Milo earlier. This set up a semi-final v Glos. Sadly it proved a little too far this time and Jacob didn’t make the final – but he can be very proud of himself for his herculean efforts.

Stourport

Earlier in August a number of Ross crews competed at Stourport.

The best news was George Smith winning his first pot in decades – yes DECADES – along with Steve Randall in their pair.

An older pair of Dave Sykes and Graham Watling won in their race too on Sunday.

Ollie Smith, son of George, nearly made it a double, by winning his semi-final in a single scull but sadly lost in the final.

Greg Powell and Georgie Lockham lost a contentious mixed doubles, needing a lot of discussion by the umpires before that decision that the opposition hadn’t unfairly impeded them was made. Not sure Greg and Georgie agreed but, the umpire is always right !

Greg, Georgie, Alice Simon and Tom Willis also raced in a mixed quad, losing out this time.

Elsa Sykes and Annabel Pope won a good heat but lost in the semi-final.

Mike Jones was as stylish as ever but lost out in his single. The Women’s 4+ of Alice Simon, Ellen Phelps, Alison Barker, Sheron Dean-Lucas and cox Sally Pettipher won against Bewdley in a very close and tough race. Three of that crew went on to win against Worcester in a Quad, well done Ellen, Sarah Sykes, Alison and Sheron.

Steps Progress

‘Tim the Rubble Rouser’ taking two steps at a time!

Junior Summer Camp

It was the last week in July so a while ago now, but a great week as ever, and thanks to all the volunteer coaches and launch drivers.

Here are a few photos from race day and a photo of the older boys 4+ with Elliot Ball ( a much older boy!), Ollie Smith, Tom Clatworthy and Dom Gabb coxed by Gracie Jones.

Thanks to Imogen Bell for her photography.

Great Ouse Marathon

This has just happened Sunday 3rd September, and was a fantastic success. Well done to all the Ross crews who competed, and special congratulation to the women’s quad that WON. Great time of 1hr 48min.

Go Girls – Go Ross

Five crews from the Senior section departed from the club on Saturday afternoon, all geared up for Great Ouse Marathon, with their boats carefully loaded and ready for the long journey ahead. Fortunately, with wonderful weather conditions, setting the stage for an enjoyable experience.

In the evening, the crews gathered to prepare themselves both mentally and physically for the challenging day of racing ahead. Proper nourishment and hydration were essential, and they made sure to fuel up adequately in the local pub which was a short walk away in the village .

The food was so incredible that they wondered how they would ever fit back into their racing gear on Sunday!Back at their hotel, a few of the crew members engaged in various fun activities. However, George fulfilled a dare during this time, but the details of the dare are left to George to explain.

After a hearty breakfast, fueled and ready for the day ahead the crews headed off into the crisp morning, indicative of a day full of promise. However, the initial chill was soon dispelled by the warm embrace of the sun, closely followed by the sun cream There was no wasting time , the crews were boated and they were off !

This Marathon was not without its challenges.During the race, all the crews had to make an unexpected stop. Weeds had clung to their rudders, slowing down their progress. These pit stops required swift action and teamwork to remove the impediments and get back on course.

Results

Ladies Masters C Quad stroked by Geraldine , supported by two beginner ladies , Bronia Bendall & George Gilbert , steered by Buffy emerged victorious in their group. They faced formidable competition from Bedford and the Isle of Ely, but their outstanding performance resulted in a triumphant finish with a remarkable time of 1 hour and 48 minutes

This achievement is a testament to their dedication and team work , absolutely fabulous contribution from our Beginners, ( George could try just a bit harder ???? ) having only been rowing for 4 months. OUTSTANDING Well done Ladies

Men’s 2- Graham & Dave In the men’s category, the competition was fierce, and the team performed exceptionally well, securing a second-place finish. They closely trailed behind the formidable Star Club in a time of 1.50

Loughborough took the third Woman’s Masters E Quad Crew Pam , Sarah , Nicky & Chris completed the course in 2.00 raising approximately £1,000 for their chosen charities .

The Big Tims completed course time only,1.55

Composite crew of Mike & Mel completed the course in 2.13 .

What a fabulous weekend! Congratulations to all the participants for their remarkable achievements in this challenging event .We look forward to the blisters next year and more crews joining us !!

And all that after crashing a wedding party the night before.

Ross 10k

Delighted to host the annual Ross 10k run last weekend. Looked like a great success.

As a Facebook post said: “It’s a fabulous day at the RRC today for the annual Ross 10k, 5k and fun run (with or without dogs).”

Club Socials ????????

Friday evenings are Barbecue at the club from 6pm

__________

GREG’s 30th – this Friday but normal crowd very welcome, its not private

Farewell Annabel and Sally

This is your editorial team of Annabel and Sally, and this is our last edition.

Actually we have a far wider team sending photos and updates and we just amass, plug a few holes, and send out to the club newsletter circulation.

If a guest editor could step in for a monthly round up, or a weekly snapshot, we would be delighted – contact either of us in person, on Spond or by emailing weeklynews@rossrowingclub.co.uk

Thank you ❤️

And Finally… Mike on a Bike

Stylish and Poetic

For the live Webcam showing current river levels – hit the button below.

Ross Rowing Club welcomes new rowers, young and old, beginners, experienced or returners.
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