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Just to qualify for this regatta is an achievement in itself. Thumbs are always held at the time of the draw in the hope that our opposition will give us a chance to make a good race out of the occasion. Sadly, we clearly needed something stronger than thumb holding because we had the misfortune of drawing Belmont Hill from America who was one of the top seeds. It did mean that there was little pressure because there was the certain knowledge that no matter what we did there was no chance that we would win this encounter. For Henley we hired an Empacher eight from Latymer Upper because both of our top eights are beginning to show their age and have lost much of their rigidity. The boat had the "wow" factor and in the race the crew certainly performed better than at any other time over the season. Before the barrier we wound up the rating in an attempt to keep in touch with the rather large Americans in front of us but were unable to make any significant impact. Belmont Hill was not going to expend unnecessary energy so they charitably kept two lengths in front of us giving a rather flattering judges' verdict. Thankfully our race was at 7.10 - we had asked for a late race because the Head Master had been busy in a governors' meeting during the day - so by the time we took to the water some of the blazing heat of Henley 2009 had diminished. By 10.30 that morning gentlemen had been allowed to remove their jackets in the Stewards' Enclosure which if nothing else makes the regatta memorable.
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Summer Regattas