With the demise of Coate Water Regatta we had looked around for a replacement and settled on Thames Ditton. It is many years since the school last went to the regatta, which is perhaps a shame because it has a charm of its own and the breathtaking backdrop of Hampton Court Palace. True to form the senior crews were required to race early in the morning and once again had to set off at first light. By the time the rest of us arrived at nine o’clock they were already getting ready for their second race.

Racing at Thames Ditton has an air of uncertainty because the course is narrow at the start and has a bend about a third of the way down. Theoretically there should be a staggered start, but this seemed to be an optional extra depending on the whim of the umpire. Nevertheless, there were some very exciting and close fought races. The J 15 B four had a dramatic crash in the enclosures, accompanied by much ringing of bells and waving of red flags. The commentator suggested that we should “settle scores on dry land” but thankfully the boys did not take him up on this suggestion. The J 14 octuple was lucky to get through its first round as once again a crab resulted in a broken blade. For two thirds of the race we managed to keep ahead of Bryanston, with only seven rowing. In the semi-final there was an excellent race against Dulwich College. They had parked their trailer and set up their tent next to our own rigging area so there was much lusty shouting. In the last few yards it looked as though Dulwich had managed to snatch victory but our final push saw us through to victory by 3 feet. In the final we were against Kingston Grammar School and were leading by about half a length when we were caught out by the bend and the narrow course. We clashed blades and were disqualified. This was a sad end to a gutsy day’s rowing but as the boys trudged back to the minibus they all agreed that they had improved enormously over the last two weeks and had greatly enjoyed the regatta.

The seniors had entered Intermediate 3 and Novice eights and had some success in both. We managed to beat St Georges before going down to our tenants at the river, St Johns, in Intermediate three. St Johns were the stronger crew but our cause was not helped by the staggered start disappearing because an official thought that too many crews were winning in one of the lanes. In Novice eights we were able to beat Kingston Rowing Club before meeting Eton in the final. Eton was the better crew and we were only able to hold a lead over them for the first part of the race - our start was marginally faster than theirs. The aim of the day had been to get some practice races before the National Schools’ Regatta and certainly this aim had been achieved.