At Molesey Regatta, the Men’s Novice 8 entered the event having had just one late evening outing. It was the second time this composite crew (with the exception of stroke man Josh) had raced and was made up of the Novice 4 (Tony Gilbert, Nick Hallwood, Mike Trotman and Jonathan Cotterill) and half of the squad 8 which qualified for the Thames Challenge Cup at Henley this year (Josh Kerman, Tom Westcott, Neil Wands, Lee Turner and cox Bruno Hallwood).
With the whole crew doubling up for other events, this was to be hard day’s racing, not to mention a logistical nightmare!
The semi-final was against Twickenham and after a delay at the start due to the strong cross wind, we went off smoothly, gaining a lengths lead by the island. An intimidating push mid-way through the race gave us clear water and a chance to settle and conserve some energy for the races yet to come.
Immediately after the finish of the S2 8’s final, there was a controlled panic to get half of the crew out and the Novice 4 in. The boat was initially in a sombre mood, disappointed after the defeat just minutes earlier to the Molesey giants, yet as we approached the start, the mood changed to one of determination. Our final was against Granta (Cambridge), whose semi-final opponents had scratched and must have fancied their chances. Within 10 strokes of the start however, we were commanding the race. Although technically not as good as our semi-final (and with a lot of water coming from somewhere!), everyone was putting in maximum effort. Mid-way down the course and with Granta pulling back slightly, our pace increased, Westy started growling, and any encouragement Granta’s cox was giving them was instantly crushed. We crossed the finish line with a comfortable 2 length victory.
After handing over the boat to another Molesey crew anxious to make it to the start, we realised that we would not be losing our novice status just yet. But who cares about points? We all got very nice glass tankards, a congratulatory kiss from a very attractive sponsor and the biggest trophy of them all! Well done and thanks to all the crew... you never know, we might be defending the title next year.
