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2006

INVERNESS FOURS AND SMALL BOATS HEADS - November 2006

Snapper Ron has dried out his camera and managed to resurrect some photographs from the gloom and lashing rain which fell during much of the racing at the Inverness Head of the River weekend. Other shots show fine sunshine and gleaming rainbows as the Scottish weather did its best to baffle us. The dedication of participants (especially coxes) has been captured in some of the images as the rain stotted off the canal into their faces. Everyone seemed to have a great time despite the weather and many smiley faces can also be seen. The meal in the golf club on Saturday evening must represent the bargain of the year - 10 for a three-course spread. Congratulations to everyone at Inverness RC for organising an extremely enjoyable weekend. Commiserations to Sandy Walker's clutch that got so excited that it expired half way round a roundabout leaving the GRC trailer as a (rather ineffective) speed-reducing chicane. Perhaps motorists in Inverness drive just like IRC members row ........ fast and taking no prisoners!

Pictures are available at Commitee of the Dee Website

Thanks to Ron Wallace - received 14th November 2006

INVERNESS FOURS AND SMALL BOATS HEADS

An record entry of 197 crews was received for the Inverness Fours and Small Boats Heads which took place in variable weather conditions on Saturday and Sunday, 11th and 12th November on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. The Fours Head took place on the Saturday in difficult blustery conditions whilst Sundays weather was kinder to the athletes in the Small Boats Head.
The Mens Open Fours was won in what is believed to be an excellent new record time of 15 minutes 15.6 seconds by the Aberdeen Boat Club crew of Misha Muller, Ross Cruikshank, Alan Sinclair (also Inverness RC), Andrew Crossland (stroke) and Meadbh Boyle (cox) whilst the Womens Open Fours went to Glasgow University Boat Club (Murphy stroke) in a time of 17 minutes 59.5 seconds.
The Mens Veteran Fours was a closely contested event with the Inverness crew of Neil Wallace, Alastair Duff, Ken Sinclair, Tom Baker (stroke) and Hazel Geddes (cox) being narrowly edged out of first place by a crew from St Andrew Boat Club. A second place was also achieved by Moira Baptie, Sally Moore, Mary Clouston, Jenny Ramsay(stroke) and Meghan Hunter (cox) in th Womens Novice Quad Sculls.
Inverness crews won five events in the Small Boats events on the Sunday. Fastest crew of the day was the Inverness Mens Open Double Scull of Alan Sinclair and Colin Sinclair(stroke) who recorded a fine time of 16 minutes 49.6 seconds over the 4500metre course. Alastair Duff and Tom Baker both sculled well in winning their respective Mens Veteran C and Veteran E Single Sculls. Hazel Geddes and Mandy Towrie (stroke) were fastest Womens Veteran C Double Scull, whilst Mary Clouston and Sally Moore (stroke) were fastest Womens Veteran D Double Scull

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 13th November 2006

Fours Head - 11th November 2006

Division One results
Division Two results

Small Boats Head - 12th November 2006

Division One results
Division Two results

Aberdeen Heads 4th and 5th November 2006

Last weekend at the Aberdeen Fours and Small Boats Head of the River Races on the River Dee, Inverness Rowing Club were represented by junior and senior athletes in the various events which took place over the two day regatta.
Fastest crew on Saturdays Fours Head was the Aberdeen Boat Clubs Mens Open Coxed Four of Misha Muller, Ross Cruikshank, Alan Sinclair (also Inverness RC), Andrew Crossland and Meadbh Boyle (cox) which was just outside the course record with an excellent time of 10 minutes 12 seconds over the 3000m course. Alans younger brother Colin recorded a good time of 13 minutes 9 seconds in his single scull in a timed row over the course in the Saturday event. Also on Saturday, Maeve Lewis was a member of an Aberdeen, Inverness, Glagow composite crew which recorded a quick time of 11 minutes 15 seconds in their Quadruple Scull.
Inverness athletes turned out in greater numbers for Sundays Small Boats Head in which Tom Baker and Alastair Duff sculled well in the Mens Veteran Single Sculls in which Baker just missed out on 1st place by a mere one second.
In the difficult windy conditions later in the day, Maeve Lewis and Hazel Smith recorded a fine time of 13 minutes 53 seconds in the Womens Open Double Sculls whilst the Mens Novice Single Sculls was won by Colin Sinclair with a time of 14 minutes 29 seconds.
This coming weekend sees a large entry of crews from throughout Scotland arriving in the Highland Capital for the two day Inverness Fours and Small Boats Head events on the Caledonian Canal when racing on Saturday starts at 12 noon and 2.30pm with Sunday racing starting at 11.02 am and 1.30pm.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 6th November 2006

GB Trial, The AGM etc....

A Great Britain Assessment Time Trial was held recently on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness in which many top athletes took part. Fastest down the 5000metre course was Glasgow University Boat Clubs Chris Logan in a fine time of 19 minutes 6.12 seconds followed closely in second place by his brother Jonny in a time of 19 minutes 11.08 seconds. Fran Jacob of Clydesdale ARC recorded the quickest Womens time of 21 minutes 2.65 seconds followed closely by Stephanie McDowall of Aberdeen University Boat Club less than a second behind Jacob. Andrew Barton of Strathclyde Park RC posted the fastest Mens Junior time of 20 minutes 56.05 seconds with Colin Sinclair of Inverness RC finishing in a time of 21 minutes 2.54 seconds. Fastest Womens Junior in a time of 22 minutes 58.86 seconds was Kayleigh Warwick of Strathclyde Park RC.
Two days later, Inverness Rowing Club held their Annual General Meeting in the Loch Ness House Hotel at which the following members were elected to serve as office bearers for the next 12 months:-
John Stevenson (Hon President), Paddy Walsh (President), Roy Sinclair (Vice President), Susanne Standish Hunter (Captain), Maeve Lewis (Secretary), Hazel Geddes (Treasurer), Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace, Hazel Smith, Dick Ruane and Tom Baker (Members of Management Committee). At this event, President Paddy Walsh presented the Southwell Stevenson Sculling Trophy to Colin Sinclair who was also the recipient of the Allan Garraway Sculling Trophy.
This coming weekend 4th and 5th November sees the two day Aberdeen Fours and Small Boats Heads events being held on the River Dee in which athletes from the Inverness club will compete in a number of sculling events as well as attending the Annual Scottish Amateur Association Awards Dinner being held on Saturday night in the Aberdeen Town House.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 30th October 2006

Garroway Trophy - 29th September 2006

The clubs own closed single sculling event was raced for the Allan Garraway Sculling Trophy over the 500 metre sprint course on the straight to the north of the Tomnahurich Swing Bridge. A total of 10 athletes, four women and six men, ranging in age from 16 to 63 took part in this event in brilliant sunny conditions with equalising handicaps being applied in favour of the older members who took part.
Those athletes who fought their way through to semi-final positions were in the first semi - final; Alastair Duff and Maeve Lewis, whilst Paddy Walsh and Colin Sinclair met in the second semi final. Sculling well in the calm conditions, Colin Sinclair and Alastair Duff progressed through to the final, which was won by approximately two lengths by the young Sinclair.
Supplementary cadet sculling events were also held that day in which Sarah Cameron won the closest of single sculling races by 2 feet from Megan Hunter with both girls combining well in the double sculls event in which they just edged out Shaun Hunter and Adam Geddes by half a length.
Event sponsor Allan Garraway, who was present at the event, heartily congratulated all competitors for their skill and performance in producing fine competitive racing in the excellent conditions.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 1st October 2006

Medals from both sides of the Atlantic

Inverness Rowing Club members achieved success at two separate regattas last weekend.
Hazel Smith took part in the World Masters Regatta which was this year held at Princeton in the USA.
She was a member of crews which took part in four events, winning gold medals in Veteran C Quadruple Sculls and Veteran D Coxed fours. In Veteran C Double Sculls and Veteran D Eights, her crews just missed out on gold in producing the tightest of finishes to claim second place in both these events.

Nearer to home, Colin Sinclair was the clubs representative at the Aberdeen Sprint where he won the Mens Novice Single Sculls and also took part in Mens R2 and Mens Junior 18 Single Sculls in which he produced one of the closest finishes of the day but just missed his second win by the a mere 2 feet against Lockhart of Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association.
Colins elder brother Alan, representing Aberdeen Boat Club, also had a successful day in winning three events, Mens Open Single Sculls, Mens Open Coxless Pairs and Mens Invitation Coxless Pairs.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 11th September 2006

HAWCO SPRINT 2006

An excellent entry was received for the HAWCO SPRINT 2006 when 78 races were contested by a fine representation of clubs from throughout Scotland, members of which all achieved success in the events offered. Senior, veteran and particularly junior members bravely excelled in the blustery, rainy conditions on Saturday 19th August on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Other Inverness crews were also involved in a number of extremely close finishes throughout a day of fine competitive racing in the difficult weather conditions.

Prizes were presented by George Hawco, Director of event sponsor Hawco of Inverness

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 20th August 2006

UK National Rowing Championships

Two Inverness Rowing Club members took part in the UK National Rowing Championships which were held over three days at the eight lane international course at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton.
Alan Sinclair was in the stroke seat of the Aberdeen Boat Club coxed four along with Colin Williamson, Lewis Carr, Ross Cruikshank and Rob Hamilton (cox) which took part in the Open Coxed Fours event.
In a tough opening race on Saturday morning, they just missed out on the direct route to Sundays final, but later in the day, produced a fine performance in their repechage to qualify for the final with a strong finishing burst to take second place behind a crew from Henley RC.
In the highly charged final of this event on Sunday, the Aberdeen crew challenged strongly throughout the 2000 metre course against a strong field which included several international oarsmen, narrowly missing out on a medal position. A fine performance which augers well for next weeks Home International regatta which also takes place at Strathclyde Park on Saturday 22nd July.
Also taking part in the Championships was Alans younger brother Colin who produced a personal best performance in the Open Junior 16 single sculls, just missing out on a qualifying place in the repechage to the final of this event by 0.86 seconds.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 17th July 2006

Henley Royal Regatta

Inverness Rowing Club oarsman Alan Sinclair was a member of the Aberdeen Boat Club coxed four along with Colin Williamson, Ross Cruikshank, Dave McNeill (stroke) and Meadbh Boyle (cox) which took part in the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last week.
Wednesdays first round race was against a crew from City of Oxford Rowing Club in which the Aberdeen crew had an extremely close encounter over the 2112 metre course. Trailing the faster starting Oxford crew for the first part of the course, the Aberdeen crew pressed on strongly to overtake their opponents by the mile post and then surge ahead to win by a comfortable margin of almost three lengths.
In their quarter final, they led their opponents from Lea Rowing Club by 1 lengths at the Barrier and increased their lead to 1 lengths at the finish post.
Their semi-final opponents from the Army Rowing took an early lead off the start and although Aberdeen challenged strongly all the way down the course, the Army emerged winners by just over one length and later won the final of the Britannia Challenge Cup on the Sunday beating York City Rowing Club by approximately two lengths.
The Aberdeen crew produced fine performances in all three of their races and now will concentrate their efforts on the coxed four event at the UK National Championships to be held at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton in just over a weeks time.
This coming weekend sees another three Inverness oarspeople competing at Henley when Hazel Smith is a member of Double Sculling crews at the Henley Masters Regatta with high hopes of achieving medal success.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 4th July 2006

Inverness Rowing Club at Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Masters Regatta

Inverness Rowing Club members are competing on the waters of the River Thames at Henley over the next two week period.
In the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, Alan Sinclair is a member of the Aberdeen Boat Clubs coxed four along with his fellow crew mates Colin Williamson, Ross Cruikshank, Dave McNeill (stroke) and Meadbh Boyle (cox), which tackles a crew from City of Oxford Rowing Club in their first round race and are confident of progressing to the quarter finals on Friday. Semi-finals and final are on Saturday and Sunday respectively and the small band of Inverness supporters will be on hand to give enthusiastic support to the Aberdeen crew in their determined attempt to become only the second Scottish crew to achieve success at Henley Royal Regatta.
The following weekend sees another Inverness oarsperson competing at Henley when Hazel Smith is a member of Double Sculling crews at the Henley Masters Regatta.
Last year the Inverness squad achieved success in the Veteran Quadruple Sculls and this years squad are keen to emulate that success and bring another crop of medals back home to Inverness.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 26th June 2006

Scottish Championships 2006

Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success at the two day Scottish Championship Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton last weekend in fine, dry generally blustery conditions in winning four events Mens Veteran Double Sculls, Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Veteran Double Sculls and Womens Novice Coxed Quadruple Sculls.
On Saturday, the Womens Veteran Coxed Four of Doreen Waterson (bow),Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke) and Meghan Hunter (cox) recording a most satisfying win over two crews from Aberdeen Boat Club. Also on Saturday the Womens Novice Double Scull of Hazel Geddes and Carole Wells thoroughly earned their silver medals after being beaten in their final by a mere 3 feet by St Andrews University Boat Club.
Sundays wins were recorded by the Womens Veteran Double Scull of Susanne Standish-Hunter and Mandy Towrie (stroke) who held off the strong challenge of the Inverness/ Strathclyde Park crew of Ailie Ord and Hazel Smith to win by one and one half lengths. Mandys husband Tom Baker teamed up with Alastair Duff in the Mens Veteran Double Sculls to overhaul the award of a 26 second handicap allowance given to the slightly older St Andrew Boat Club crew to win by half a length in one of the most exciting finishes of the regatta.
The other gold medals were well won by the Womens Novice Coxed Quadruple Scull of Hazel Geddes (bow), Carole Wells, Bea Wallace, Doreen Waterson (stroke), Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) which held off strong challenges from Heriot Watt University Boat Club to win by just over one length.
Other club members performed with distinction, earning a significant number of high place finishes, and in particular, special mention must be made of the determination of the Cadet Under 12 squad of Sarah Cameron, Rachael Wells, Meghan Hunter, Shaun Hunter and Adam Geddes which achieved several excellent second place finishes in the difficult windy conditions.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 11th June 2006

Castle Semple Regatta 20th May

Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success and many good performances this time at the Castle Semple Regatta last weekend on Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire in changeable conditions with many heavy showers in winning five events, - .Womens Veteran and Novice Double Sculls, Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Womens Quadruple Sculls and Mens Veteran Double Sculls
Taking part in Junior 12 events in their third competitive regatta were six members of the clubs cadet squad, Sarah Cameron, Jennifer Warwick, Adam Geddes, Rachael Wells, Meghan Hunter and Shaun Hunter who competed in Coxed Quadruple Sculling, Double Sculling, Single Sculling and Aquajog events under the watchful eye of experienced senior coach Susanne Standish-Hunter. All competed with distinction, particularly the girls coxed quadruple scull which achieved an excellent third place behind a good Castle Semple RC crew and an all boys crew from Stirling RC. Meghan and Rachael later produced an oustanding finishing burst in their double sculling race to take them past a Strathclyde RC boys crew to achieve a silver medal placing behind another Stirling RC boys crew.
Senior members of the club took part in a variety of events and achieved excellent wins in five events.
Fine winning performances were recorded by Hazel Smith and Doreen Waterson in Womens Veteran Double Sculls, Doreen Waterson, Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke) and Meghan Hunter (cox) in Womens Veteran Coxed Fours and Hazel Geddes, Carole Wells, Bea Wallace, Bridget Senior (stroke) and Doreen Waterson (cox) in Womens Novice Quadruple Sculls. The Senior/Wallace and Wells/Geddes combinations both won their respective heats of the Novice Double Sculls and in the closest of finals, the Senior/Wallace crew just held off a strong challenge from the Wells/Geddes crew to win by just over one length.
In Mens Veteran Double Sculls, Alastair Duff and Tom Baker (stroke) produced a strong burst in the middle of their final to see off challenges from both Strathclyde Park RC and Nithsdale RC to record a fine three length winning margin.
In other events, satisfactory performances were produced by Neil Wallace with his second place in Mens Novice Sculls and third place in Mens Veteran B/D Sculls, Alastair Duff with a second place in Mens Veteran B/D Sculls and a final placing in Mens Restricted 2 Sculls, Ken Andrews with third place in Mens Veteran E/F Sculls, Colin Sinclair with a third and fourth place respectively in Junior 16 and Junior 18 Sculls. In the womens events, Bridget Senior recorded second place in Novice Sculls, Carolyn Ward and Doreen Waterson were third in Restricted 2 Double Sculls and Sally Moore and Mary Clouston were also third in Veteran Double Sculls.
The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Scottish Championships which takes place at Strathclyde Park near Hamiton on 10th and 11th June.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 22nd May 2006

Aberdeen North East Regatta - 13th and 14th May 2006

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success and many good performances at the two day Aberdeen North East Regatta last weekend on the River Dee in relatively calm but showery conditions but with only one win in Womens Veteran Double Sculls to show for their efforts.
On Saturday, Hazel Geddes and Carole Wells raced well in the Novice Double Sculls in beating their opponents from Aberdeen University Boat Club by two lengths but were unlucky in the final of this event to be beaten by a young crew representing Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association (ASRA)but were beaten by a faster crew from Aberdeen BC.
In the Womens Veteran Double Sculls event, the Geddes/Wells combination achieved their four length win in the final against another Inverness crew who were competing in their first regatta together (Sally Moore and Mary Clouston)
Success eluded all the Inverness single scullers. Alastair Duff recorded a fine three length win in his semi-final to be beaten by Wallace of ASRA in the final of the Restricted 2 event and in the final of his Veteran Single Sculls just lost out to by approximately one length to Thomson of Victoria Bridge Boat Club. Colin Sinclair had a good three length win in the semi-final of his Junior 16 Single Sculls but lost out to the fast finishing Lockhart of ASRA in a keenly contested final. Both Sinclair and Neil Wallace had close races in their Novice Single Sculls heats just losing out to the eventual finalists.
The Inverness Mens Restricted 2 Coxed Four of Duff, Sinclair, Duncan Alexander, Wallace (stroke) and Hazel Geddes (cox) raced well in the final of this event but were beaten by a highly competent Aberdeen University Boat Club crew which included Andrew Martin from Inverness.
On Sunday, Wallace and Alexander were narrowly beaten by ASRA in their Mens Novice Double Sculls final, whilst Wallace won through to the semi-final of the Restricted 2 Single Sculls to be narrowly beaten by the Wallace from ASARA in the final. Mary Clouston gallantly took on the younger Aitken of Aberdeen Boat Club in the final of the Veteran Single Sculls but did not have the pace to match the aspiring Scottish internationalist.
The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Castle Semple Regatta which takes place at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire on Saturday 20th May when some of the Inverness clubs youngest members will be keen to emulate their winning performances of last seasons visit to this regatta..

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 15th May 2006

North East Regatta - 13th & 14th May 2006.

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Aberdeen this weekend to take part in the two day Aberdeen North East Regatta on the River Dee.
Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Junior, Novice, Restricted 2 and Veteran Single Sculls, Novice, Restricted 2 and Veteran Double Sculls and Restricted 2 Coxed Fours at another of the significant main season regattas of 2006.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Thursday 10th May 2006

Ghent Regatta

Last weekend, Inverness member Alan Sinclair achieved success with his Aberdeen Boat Club Open Coxed Four in winning bronze medals in a photo finish for second and third places at the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Thursday 10th May 2006

Strathclyde Park Regatta 22nd/23rd April 2006

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success and many good performances at the two day Strathclyde Park Regatta in Hamilton last weekend in variable weather conditions in winning four events, - Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Womens Veteran Double Sculls, Mens Veteran Coxed Fours and Mens Veteran Single Sculls.
In the difficult windy conditions on Saturday, a number of fine performances were achieved by Inverness crews in both mens and womens events. Although not achieving first places, Ken Sinclair and Ken Andrews sculled well in their veteran sculling events as did Colin Sinclair in his junior 16 and junior 18 single sculling events. Hazel Geddes and Carole Wells qualified in third place in their semi-final in novice double sculls and went on to achieve a fine third place in the final of this event. The composite womens restricted 2 eights Inverness/Strathclyde Park RC crew had a fine row in the final of this event to be narrowly beaten into third place by two university crews. The Inverness/St Andrew BC composite crew of Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Mandy Towrie and Alison Hulme (St Andrew BC) was just pipped on the line by a Strathclyde Park RC crew in the veteran quad sculls final.

Inverness wins were achieved in the fairer conditions on the Sunday when the womens veteran coxed four of Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Susanne Standish-Hunter, Mandy Towrie and Laurence Edwards (cox) had a fine one length win over a Strathclyde Park RC crew. Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC) combined strongly to win the womens veteran double sculls by half a length from an experienced Durham ARC combination.
The Inverness mens veteran crews also performed well on the Sunday with the veteran coxed four of Alastair Duff, Neil Wallace, Ken Sinclair, Tom Baker and Adam Geddes (cox) winning this event by almost three lengths from crews representing Aberdeen BC and St Leonards.
In Single sculls, Tom Baker went on to win the veteran E event. Alastair Duff and Ken Sinclair came second and third respsectively in the veteran C event and Ken Andrews achieved third place in the Veteran F category.
Duff and Sinclair later combined to achieve a satisfactory third place in the final of the veteran double sculls event.
Inverness women scullers took part in a variety of sculling events on Sunday with the Hazel Geddes / Carole Wells and Carolyn Ward/ Bridget Senior combinations qualifying for the final of the restricted 2 double sculls in which the Geddes/Wells crew finished just ahead of the Ward/Senior crew but just outside the medal positions. Geddes, Senior and Mary Clouston also took part in novice and veteran single sculls events achieving fourth, third and second places respectively.
The Inverness younger junior squad members Meghan Hunter, Rachael Wells, Adam Geddes and Shaun Hunter excelled in an extremely close race in the final of the junior 12 coxed quad sculls just losing out by three feet to an all male crew from Stirling RC.
Meghan and Rachael also took part in junior 12 single and double sculling events with commendable performances in both events.
Inverness member Alan Sinclair (now rowing for Aberdeen University and Aberdeen Boat Club) won Scottish Universities Championship Single Sculls and was a member of the Aberdeen BC crew which achieved wins in mens restricted 1 and open coxed fours and open coxless fours.

The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Clydesdale ARC regatta in Glasgow on 6th May followed by the North Eastern Regatta which takes place on the River Dee in Aberdeen on 13th and 14th May.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 25th April 2006

SCOTTISH NATIONAL TIME TRIAL ASSESSMENTS

The third National Assessment Long Distance Time Trial to be held in Scotland this winter was held on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness on Saturday 25th February. Senior athletes from Scotland and some based in England took part with the favourable windless conditions of the Womens Division 1 allowing the women to produce satisfactory times on the 5000 metre course.
Difficult headwind conditions had a significant effect on times recorded in the Mens Division 2 event with times being over 2 minutes slower than anticipated as a result of the strong gusty wind which also had an effect on crews steering.
Times posted by the fastest crews in the event categories in the respective divisions are listed as follows:- The final National selection time trial for senior athletes takes place on the 2000 metre eight lane international course at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton on Saturday 1st April.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 26th February 2006

TENON LTD INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD

A good entry of 51 crews was received for the Tenon Ltd Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head which took place in cold but sunny calm conditions on Saturday 18th February on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. Rowed in two divisions, the first started at 11.30am with the second at 2.30pm.
Inverness crews featured in the winners lists. In Division 2, the Inverness womens crew of Doreen Waterson (bow), Ccaro;e Wells, Hazel Geddes, Carolyn Ward, Bridget Senior, Bea Wallace, Susanne Standish-Hunter, Mandy Towrie (stroke) and Meghan Hunter (cox) produced a fine performance in winning the Womes Restricted 2 Eights category in a fine time of 19 minutes 24.72 seconds, with Colin Sinclair in Division 2 also winning the Mens Junior 18 Single Sculls in a time of 22 minutes 23 seconds. Inverness member Alan Sinclair, rowing for Aberdeen Boat Club , also featured in the winners list with this Eights crew winning the Mens Open Eights in a time of 15 minutes 16.17 seconds and the Mens Restricted 1 Eights in 15 minutes 42.15 seconds.
Fastest womens crew of the day was the Womens Open Eight from Aberdeen Boat Club which recorded a fine time of 17 minutes 58.74 seconds in Division 2.

Results - Winners

Fastest Crews in Other Boat Categories

Prizes were presented to winning crews by Hazel Geddes representing event sponsor Tenon Ltd.

Next Saturday 25th February sees the Scottish Rowing Trials again being held on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness when the cream of Scottish oarsmen and women will be attempting to produce their best times over the 5000 metre time trial course in an effort to impress the national selectors in advance of the upcoming international selections for this seasons major regattas at home and abroad.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 19th February 2006

Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships 2006

The Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships took place in Wishaw Sports Centre on Sunday 5th February when Inverness were well represented by four members of Inverness Rowing Club who all achieved personal best performances to bring home one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze medals as a result of their efforts.
The Gold and Silver medals were won by two members of the Wells family, daughter Rachael winning Gold in the Womens Junior 12 event with a excellent distance of 489 metres achieved in the 2 minute race time in which she also beat the distance achieved by several athletes from older age categories. Her Mum Carole won her Silver medal with her personal best of 7 minutes 45.8 seconds in the Womens 30 plus category over the 2000 metre race distance.
Bronze medals were achieved in the Mens Junior 16 event by Colin Sinclair with a fine time of 7 minutes 13.1 seconds (after leading his event for fully 1000 metres) while Veteran Joe Wright in the Mens 40 plus event won his medal in an excellent time of 6 minutes 38.5 seconds.

On the water, the club continues with its training and preparation for the TENON Eights and Small Boats Head which takes place of the Caledonian Canal on Saturday 18th February.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 6th February 2006

Tenon Ltd. Inverness 8s and Small Boats Head - 18th February 2006

Division 1 results
Division 2 results

Aberdeen 8s Head - January 29th 2006

Following the Awards Night, two Inverness crews travelled to the Aberdeen Eights Head which took place on the River Dee on Sunday 28th January. These crews achieved two satisfactory second place positions, one in the Mens Open Category in Division 1 behind winners Aberdeen Boat Club and in the Mens Restricted 2 Category in Division 2 in which they just failed by 7 seconds to hold off the challenge of another crew from Aberdeen Boat Club.
The Inverness crew in the Division 1 Open event consisted of Dave Rothwell (bow), Ken Andrews, Ken Sinclair, Colin Sinclair, Roy Sinclair, Duncan Alexander, Neil Wallace, Jon Muir (stroke), Lawrence Edwards (cox).
All athletes also took part in the Restricted 2 event in Division 2, with the exception of Dave Rothwell and Roy Sinclair whose places were taken by Brian Bell and Tom Baker who had earlier raced their coxless pair in the Division 1 race.

Next weekend sees the staging of the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships in Wishaw Sports Centre on Sunday 5th February when Inverness Rowing Club will be represented by Joe Wright (Mens 40 plus event), Colin Sinclair (Mens Junior 16 event), Carole Wells (Women's "21 again" ? category) and Rachel Wells (Womens Junior 12).

Alan Sinclair represents Aberdeen Boat Club in the Mens under 23 event.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 30th January 2006

"Oarstars" Party - Jan 28th 2006

Members and friends of Inverness Rowing Club gathered together at the Loch Ness House Hotel last Saturday evening for their Awards Night, carefully organized by committee member Doreen Waterson. As well as a variety of awards to individual members, three principal awards were presented with the Waterson Trophy and the Allan Garraway Trophy being presented for the very first time.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 30th January 2006

IRC at Aberdeen Eights Head 2006

Last Saturdays Western Eights Head in Glasgow was unfortunately cancelled due to spate water conditions on the River Clyde which classified the course as unsafe to row. The Inverness crew were then quick to focus on next Saturdays event on the River Dee and conducted training sessions on the much more favourable rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Two crews will travel to the Aberdeen Eights Head which this year takes place on Sunday 28th January. Inverness crews will row in the Mens Open Category in Division 1 which starts at 11.45am and in the Mens Restricted 2 Category in Division 2 which starts at 1pm.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 23rd January 2006
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2005

Allan Garraway Trophy

On Sunday, the clubs own closed single sculling event was raced for the very first time for the Allan Garraway Sculling Trophy over the 500 metre sprint course on the straight to the north of the Tomnahurich Swing Bridge. A total of 12 athletes, three women and nine men, ranging in age from 15 to 62 took part in this event in very difficult windy conditions with equalising handicaps being applied in favour of the older members who took part.
Those athletes who fought their way through to semi-final positions were in the first semi - final; Ken Andrews and Ken Sinclair, whilst Neil Wallace and Mandy Towrie met in the second semi final.
Fighting hard into the strong, gusty winds, Ken Sinclair and Neil Wallace squeezed through to the final, which was won by approximately two lengths by the veteran Ken Sinclair.

Event sponsor Allan Garraway, who was present at the event, heartily commended all competitors for their skill and performance in mastering the difficult conditions and congratulated the first ever winner of the trophy.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th December 2005

Scottish Trial Weekend

On Saturday, the club hosted the second National squad time trial in 8 weeks when approximately 100 male and female athletes took to the water in two divisions with athletes from throughout Scotland, from south of the border and from Northern Ireland taking part. Kind weather with a light following wind favoured the athletes over the 5 kilometre course from Dochgarroch to Tomnahurich.
Some excellent times were posted with the fastest crews in the event categories in the respective divisions listed as follows:-
Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th December 2005

Newsflash - 7th December 2005

This weekend sees another two days of hectic activity on the Caledonian Canal for Inverness Rowing Club.
On Saturday, the club is assisting again in the organization of the second national squad time trial in 8 weeks when approximately 100 male and female athletes take to the water over the excellent 5k stretch of water from Dochgarroch to Tomnahurich in their efforts to impress the national selectors. Racing this time in two divisions (with 11.30am and 1.30pm start times), athletes from throughout Scotland with some from south of the border and from Ireland will be aiming to better their times from the earlier GB time trial held in October in their bids for national team selection for next seasons international regattas.

On Sunday, the clubs own closed single sculling event is being raced for the very first time for the Allan Garraway Sculling Trophy over the 500 metre sprint course on the straight to the north of the Tomnahurich Swing Bridge. This trophy has been generously presented by one of the clubs senior members for annual single sculling competition and it is unique in that all single sculling members of the club (both male and female) are eligible to take part. An accurate system of fair handicapping is to be applied so that the various ages and abilities of competing members will result in close head to head racing over the course. Racing is due to commence at approximately 11am and some keen competition is expected.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 6th December 2005

The Inverness "Aberdeen Asset managment" Fours Head

Division 1 results
Division 2 results

The Inverness "Aberdeen Asset managment" Fours Head

This very popular event is to be held on the Caledonian Canal on Saturday the 19th November 2005. Click here for Full Details (PDF file.)
You can now also enter online.
Any queries to ASAP.
Also - coxes should check out our new Map of the Inverness Head Course.
Neil Wallace - 2nd Oct 2005

Winter 8+ Training Begins - Sunday 25th September 2005

Duncan Alexander falls at the first hurdle.
Click here for details.
Report cruelly submitted by Neil Wallace - 27th September 2005

FISA World Masters Regatta

Inverness Rowing Club travelled to Strathclyde Park near Hamilton with twenty athletes plus several supporters as part of a strong Scottish contingent for the 32nd FISA World Masters Regatta held on the eight lane championship course on Strathclyde Loch from 8th to 11th September.
Three of the Inverness athletes achieved the ultimate success as Gold Medallists. Hazel Smith won Veteran C Double Sculls partnered with Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC), winning by a convincing two length margin, whilst Mandy Towrie and Susanne Standish Hunter had an outstanding one length win in Veteran C Quadruple Sculls partnered by Ailie Ord and Alison Hulme (St Andrew BC)
Former Inverness member John Poland, now rowing for Greenbank Falmouth Rowing Club, won both Veteran D and Veteran E Single Sculls and achieved a fine win in Mixed Veteran C Double Sculls.
Other high placings were achieved by Tom Baker with a second place in Veteran D Single Sculls, Mandy Towrie, Susanne Standish Hunter, Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord with second place in Veteran C Coxed Fours, Neil Wallace and his Dutch sculling partner with a second place in Mixed Veteran B Double Sculls and Maeve Lewis with third place in Veteran B Single Sculls.
All in all, a most satisfactory performance by all Inverness athletes, particularly those less experienced competitors who achieved many personal best performances in their very first international regatta.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th September 2005

HAWCO SPRINT - SATURDAY 20th AUGUST 2005

Inverness Rowing Club is holding the Hawco Sprint Regatta on Saturday the 20th August. This years event is again being sponsored by Hawco Inverness.
The event is being held on the Caledonian Canal over a 500 metre course close to the Boathouse. The event is very popular and this year has attracted crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Universities as well as from the home club. A full race programme, which includes junior, senior and veteran events, is expected to start at 10.30am and be completed shortly after 4.00pm.
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing on a length of water which is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing. The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 13th August 2005

Home International Regatta 2005

At the Home International Regatta in Cardiff, Team Scotland finished third overall in the senior mens, senior womens and junior mens matches. The Scottish junior women had a terrific match, to finish equal on points with England and only lost out on the overall title on count-back, following a late disqualification of the Irish boat in the very first event.
During a day of terrific racing, with many close results over the Cardiff Bay 1500m course, Scotland had three wins in Womens Junior Coxless and Coxed Fours, and Mens Lightweight Doubles Sculls and second places in Womens Lightweight Coxless Pairs, Womens Junior Single Sculls , Mens Junior Double Sculls, Womens Coxed Fours, Womens Junior Quadruple Sculls and Mens Quadruple Sculls.
In the Mens Coxed Four event, Iarla Lewis, Alan Sinclair (Inverness Rowing Club), Ross Cruikshank, Colin Williamson (stroke) and Maedhbh Boyle (cox) - representing Scotland - had a most exciting race with a mere six seconds separating all four crews as they crossed the finishing line, with the verdict going to the English crew which won the UK National Championships the previous weekend.
Also taking place at Cardiff over the weekend were the European University Student Association Championships with the finals being raced on the Sunday where crews from Glasgow University, Strathclyde University and Glasgow Caledonian University reached finals. Imogen Walsh, daughter of Inverness Rowing Club President Paddy Walsh was a member of the Glasgow University Womens Lightweight Coxless Four which took part in this event.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 24th July 2005

Henley Masters Regatta 8th and 9th July 2005

Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success and many good performances at the two day Henley Masters Regatta last weekend on the River Thames in winning Womens Veteran C Quadruple Sculls.
The Womens Veteran C Quadruple sculled as a composite crew with Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC), Susanne Standish-Hunter, Mandy Towrie (both Inverness Rowing Club) and Alison Hulme (St Andrew BC) which won their Gold Medal by a margin of two lengths over Swansea Rowing Club.
In the Womens Veteran C Double Sculls event, Mandy Towrie and Alison Hulme were narrowly beaten in their semi final by a crew from Wycliffe Rowing Club which then won the closest of finals against the Inverness/Clydesdale composite crew of Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord.
A most satisfactory and encouraging performance in the clubs preparation for the World Masters Regatta being held this year at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton where approximately 8000 competitors are expected take part in the largest regatta in the world.
Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 11th July 2005

Report from Henley 2005

Inverness Rowing Club oarsman Alan Sinclair was a member of the Aberdeen Boat Club coxed four along with Colin Williamson, Ross Cruikshank, Irla Lewis and Maeve Boyle (cox) which took part in the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last week.
Wednesdays first round race was against a seeded crew from Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club in which the Aberdeen crew had an extremely close encounter over the 2112 metre course. Passing the halfway mark near Remenham Club 1/3rd of a length ahead, they pushed on to record a fine 1 length win.
In their quarter final, they led the heavier City of Oxford crew by 1 lengths at the Barrier and increased their lead to 1 lengths at the finish post.
Their semi-final opponents from the famous Leander Club weighed in at an average 2 stones heavier per man, and this weight advantage had a significant effect on the result.
Leander took an early lead off the start and although Aberdeen challenged strongly all the way down the course, Leander emerged winners by just over 3 lengths and later won the final of the Britannia Challenge Cup on the Sunday beating Thames Rowing Club by approximately 6 lengths.
The Aberdeen crew produced fine performances in all three of their races and now will concentrate their efforts on the coxed four event at the UK National Championships to be held at Nottingham in just over a weeks time.
This coming weekend sees another three Inverness oarspeople competing at Henley when Mandy Towrie, Susanne StandishHunter and Hazel Smith are members of Double Sculling and Quadruple Sculling crews at the Henley Masters Regatta with high hopes of achieving medal success.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 5th July 2005

Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Veteran Regatta 2005

Inverness Rowing Club members are competing on the waters of the River Thames at Henley over the next two week period.
In the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, Alan Sinclair is a member of the Aberdeen Boat Club coxed four which tackles a seeded crew from Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club in their first round and are confident of progressing to the quarter finals on Friday. Semi-finals and final are on Saturday and Sunday respectively and the small band of Inverness supporters will be on hand to give welcome encouragement to the Aberdeen crew in their attempt to become only the second Scottish crew to achieve success at Henley.
The following weekend sees another three Inverness oarspeople competing at Henley when Mandy Towrie, Susanne StandishHunter and Hazel Smith are members of Double Sculling and Quadruple Sculling crews at the Henley Masters Regatta.
Last year Mandy and Susanne won the Veteran C Double Sculls and this years squad are keen to emulate that success and bring another crop of medals back to Inverness.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 27th June 2005

Scottish Rowing Championships and Scottish Schools Rowing Championships 11/12th June 2005

Inverness Rowing Club achieved Gold and Silver Medal success at the two day Scottish Championship Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton last weekend in changeable weather conditions. Gold medals were won in Womens Veteran Quadruple Sculls and Womens Veteran Double Sculls with silver and other medal positions being achieved in a wide variety of other events.
On Saturday, the two Womens Novice Double Sculls of Hazel Geddes/Carole Wells and Bea Wallace/Doreen Waterson qualified in third and first positions respectively in each of the semi-finals to later contest a keenly fought final in which a photo-finish was required to confirm the Wallace/Waterson crew as silver medallists with the fast finishing Geddes/Wells crew less than a length behind. The Womens Veteran Quad sculled as a composite crew with Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC), Susanne Standish-Hunter, Mandy Towrie and Alison Hulme (St Andrew BC) which won their Gold Medal by a margin of two lengths over another Inverness composite crew containing Maeve Lewis, Bea Wallace, Elaine Davidson (Strathclyde Park RC) and Hazel Smith.
On Sunday, the Inverness womens crews again took the limelight with Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC) winning Gold in the Veteran Double Sculls producing a fine lengths win over another Inverness/St Andrew crew comprising Susanne Standish-Hunter and Alison Hulme(St Andrew BC) and the Inverness Novice Coxed Quadruple Scull of Carole Wells, Hazel Geddes, Bea Wallace, Doreen Waterson and Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) winning their Silver Medals a mere 1.4 second behind winners St Andrew BC, a magnificent achievement for a recently formed crew.
Inverness Mens crews also shone on Sunday with the Novice Coxed Four of Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace and Lawrence Edwards (cox) qualifying from their semi-final in second place to then win their Silver Medals just half a length behind winners Heriot-Watt University. Alistair Duff won a fine Silver Medal in his Veteran C Single Sculling event whilst Tom Baker and Roy Sinclair sculled well in achieving third places in their respective Veteran E and F Single Sculling events.
Neil Wallace and Tom Baker also achieved a fine third place in their Veteran Double Sculls event and Colin Sinclair, competing in two Junior events as an Inverness member and two Schoolboy Championship events representing Fortrose Academy produced fine performances, particularly in the Schoolboy Single Sculls event on the Sunday in which he achieved a second place position.
Colins elder brother Alan was strokeman of the Aberdeen Boat Clubs Coxed and Coxless fours which won Gold in the Coxless event on the Sunday and Silver in the Coxed event on Saturday.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 13th June 2005

Inverness RC at Scot Champs and Aberdeen BC at the Met

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Strathclyde Park near Hamilton to take part in this weekends two day Scottish Championships and Scottish Schools Championships Regatta.
Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Junior, Schoolboy and Veteran single sculls, Novice and Veteran Double Sculls, Novice Coxed Fours, and Veteran Quadruple Sculls at this most important main season regatta of 2005.

Last weekend, Inverness member Alan Sinclair was the stroke man of the Aberdeen Boat Clubs coxed and coxless fours which took part in the Metropolitan Regatta on the proposed 2012 Olympic rowing course at Dorney Lake near London. Against strong opposition from English clubs, fine performances were recorded in both categories of event with silver and bronze medal positions in Senior 2 and Senior 1 coxed four events respectively on the Saturday and a silver medal position in the Senior 1 coxless four event on the Sunday, just missing the top spot by a mere 0.7 of a second.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 6th June 2005

Castle Semple Regatta 21st May

Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success and many good performances this time at the Castle Semple Regatta last weekend on Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire in sunny but frequently blustery conditions in winning three events, - Mixed Junior 12 Coxed Quadruple Sculls, Womens Junior 12 Double Sculls and Mixed Junior 11 Aquajog.
Taking part in these Junior 12 events in their first ever competitive regatta were six members of the clubs cadet squad, Sarah Cameron, Fern Urquhart, Adam Geddes, Rachel Wells, Meghan and Shaun Hunter who competed in Coxed Quadruple Sculling, Double Sculling and Aquajog events under the watchful eye of experienced senior coach Susanne Standish-Hunter. All competed with distinction particularly those who won their events. Shaun, Adam, Rachel and Meghan won their Coxed Quadruple Sculls race by a convincing two lengths against Castle Semple RC after having been a length down with 250 metres to go, whilst Meghan and Rachel later had a fine win in their double sculling race. Adam also had an excellent second win in his Aquajog single sculling race in particularly windy conditions, whilst all four girls took part in the girls quadruple sculls but just missed out on gold medal place.
Senior members of the club took also part in a variety of events but could not match the success of their junior counterparts. Many close finishes were witnessed and some character building performances in the difficult conditions were demonstrated by all the Inverness contingent who took part.

The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Scottish Championships which takes place at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton on 11th and 12th June.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 22nd May 2005

Castle Semple Regatta

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club make the log journey to Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire to take part in this weekends Castle Semple Rowing Clubs Regatta.

Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Junior, Novice and Veteran single sculls, Novice and Veteran Double Sculls, Novice and Veteran Coxed Fours, Restricted 2 and Veteran Eights. Also taking part in Junior 12 events in their first ever competitive regatta are members of the clubs cadet squad comprising Sarah Cameron, Fern Urquhart, Adam Geddes, Rachel Wells, Meghan and Shaun Hunter who will compete in Coxed Quadruple Sculling, Double Sculling and Aquajog events under the watchful eye of experienced senior coach Susanne Standish-Hunter.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 17th May 2005

Aberdeen North East Regatta 7th and 8th May 2005

Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success and many good performances at the two day Aberdeen North East Regatta last weekend on the River Dee in occasionally stormy conditions in winning five events, - Mixed Novice Eights, Womens Restricted 2 Coxed Fours, Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs and Mens Novice Coxed Fours
On Saturday, the Mixed Novice Eight of Hazel Geddes, (bow) Carole Wells, Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace, Doreen Waterson, Bea Wallace, (stroke) and Carolyn Ward (cox) had an excellent win by one and half lengths over Aberdeen BC. Three members of this crew (Waterson, Bea Wallace, Hazel Smith and Ward with Susan McAskill as cox later contested the Womens Restricted 2 Coxed Fours final and had a resounding one and a half lengths win over Aberdeen BC after having comfortably disposed of another Aberdeen University BC crew in their semi-final.
The Inverness Mens Novice Coxed Four of Wright (bow), Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace (stroke), Bea Wallace (cox) enjoyed sound wins in their two preliminary rounds against Aberdeen BC and ASRA crews but lost out by a mere two feet to Aberdeen BC in a most exciting final of this event.
Similar disappointment befell the Womens Restricted 2 Eight of Hazel Geddes (bow), Carole Wells, Caroline Peeling, Mary Clouston, Hazel Smith, Carolyn Ward, Doreen Waterson, Bea Wallace (stroke), Aideen Lyons (cox) in a close race won by 1/3rd of a length by the host club.Hazel Geddes and Carole Wells raced well in the difficult conditions in the Veteran Double Sculls but were beaten by a faster crew from Aberdeen BC. In horrendous hailstorm conditions, Colin Sinclair raced well in the final of the Mens Junior 16 Single Sculls but was beaten by Dixon from George Watsons College, whilst in the Mens Novice Single Sculls, he was edged out of the winning position by Chalmers of ASRA. Club captain Roy Sinclair contested the Veteran Single Sculls event but lost out to the faster finishing event winner Davidson of the host club.

On Sunday, the Inverness Mens Novice Coxed Four of Joe Wright (bow), Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Bea Wallace (cox) won their first race beating Aberdeen BC by one length, their semi final by length from Aberdeen University BC and then sealed the event by winning their final by one length against another Aberdeen BC crew, a fine performance.
Claire Smith and Hazel Smith convincingly won Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs by three lengths from Aberdeen BC but although winning the Womens Restricted 1 event by a similar margin, were disqualified for faulty steering in the difficult windy conditions.
Bea Wallace and Doreen Waterson just missed out in the final of Womens Restricted 2 Double Sculls against a faster crew from Aberdeen University BC but later combined with Claire and Hazel Smith to clinch the Womens Veteran Coxed Four invitation event with a fine two length win over the host club.

Without doubt, a most satisfactory performance from the Inverness Club which earned them 3rd equal place in the Championship of the Dee.

At the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium, Alan Sinclair (now rowing for Aberdeen University) stroked the Aberdeen BC/Aberdeen University BC crew to first place in their semi-final of the Mens Open Coxed Fours event and later to a bronze medal in the final, chasing crews from Leander BC and Imperial College in an exciting close finish for the line.
The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Castle Semple Regatta which takes place at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire on 21st May when some of the Inverness clubs youngest members will start their competitive rowing careers.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 8th May 2005

Aberdeen North East Regatta

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Aberdeen this weekend to take part in the two day Aberdeen North East Regatta on the River Dee.
Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Junior, Novice and Veteran Single Sculls, Novice, Restricted 2 and Veteran Double Sculls, Restricted 2 and Veteran Coxless Pairs, Novice Coxed Fours, Mixed and Restricted 2 Eights at another of the significant main season regattas of 2005.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 4th May 2005

Strathclyde Park Regatta - 23/24th April 2005

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success and many good performances at the two day Strathclyde Park Regatta in Hamilton last weekend in sunny if sometimes windy conditions in winning four events, - Womens Restricted 2 Eights, Womens Veteran Double Sculls, Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs and Womens Veteran Quadruple Sculls.
On Saturday, the Womens Restricted 2 Eight of Doreen Waterson (bow) Carole Wells, Hazel Geddes , Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Bea Wallace, Mandy Towrie, Susanne Hunter (stroke) and Laurence Edwards (cox) had an excellent win by one length over crews from Heriot Watt University and Glasgow University.
Five members of this crew had earlier contested the Womens Veteran Double Sculls with the composite crew of Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC) achieving a good two length win over the Towrie/Standish-Hunter combination with the Wells/Geddes combination finishing closely behind. The Wallace/Waterson and Wells/Geddes combinations also competed in the Womens Novice Double Sculls event, both crews qualifying for the final where the Wallace/Waterson crew just missed out on a medal position.
Towrie, Standish-Hunter and Smith achieved further success on the Sunday when Towrie and Smith won the Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs with Towrie and Standish-Hunter later winning Womens Veteran Quads sculls in a composite crew with Ord (Clydesdale ARC) and Alison Hulme (St Andrew BC).
The Inverness Mens Novice Coxed Four of Joe Wright (bow), Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Lawrence Edwards (cox) qualified well in their semi final events on both the Saturday and Sunday and achieved bronze medal positions in both finals.
Wallace and Wright achieved third place in Mens Restricted 2 Coxless Pairs on Saturday with Wallace and Ken Sinclair combining in the Mens Novice Double Sculls on Sunday to achieve another good finish.
The Mens Restricted 2 Eight of Alastair Duff (bow), Colin Sinclair, Damian Ward, Ian Hunter, Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace and Dave Wright (cox) had an extremely quick race in this event although missing out on a medal placing.
Alastair Duff and Roy Sinclair sculled in separate Mens Veteran Single Sculls events, Alastair achieving fourth place and Roy second place, whilst Colin Sinclair produced fine performances in both Mens Junior 16 and Mens Junior 15 Single Sculling events.
Colin's elder brother Alan (now rowing for Aberdeen University) won Scottish Universities Championship Single Sculls and achieved an excellent second place in Mens Open Single Sculls behind reigning UK National Champion Alastair Warnock (Glasgow RC). Alan also won a silver medal in Scottish Universities Championship Coxless Pairs with Aberdeen University BC President Colin Williamson.
The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the North Eastern Regatta which takes place on the River Dee in Aberdeen on 7th and 8th May.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 25th April 2005

Strathclyde Park Regatta

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Strathclyde Park near Hamilton to take part in this weekends two day Strathclyde Park Regatta.
Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Junior, Novice and Veteran single sculls, Novice and Veteran Double Sculls, Novice Coxed Fours, Restricted 2 and Veteran Eights at one of the significant main season regattas of 2005.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 17th April 2005

Tideway "Head of the River" Eights Heads 2005

Inverness Rowing Club made the long trip to London last weekend to take part in two of the largest one day rowing events which take place annually of the River Thames.
On Saturday, the Inverness crew of Dave Howard (bow), Derek McMorrine, Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Andy Robb, Chris Gates, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Lawrence Edwards (cox) produced a fine performance to record a time of 21 minutes 9.20 seconds to claim 306th place in an international entry of 450 eights from throughout Britain and Europe. In doing so they improved 95 places on their performance of last year and moved up 23 positons from their starting order slot. A most satisfactory effort from this crew who have been in serious training since last September in preparation for this event under the critical eye of Chief Coach Ian Hunter.
Following recovery from their exploits on the Saturday, the crew took to the waters of the Thames on Sunday to compete in the Vesta Veterans Head in which they recorded a sound performance with a time of 22 minutes 12.78 seconds, achieving 79th place from an entry of 157 crews racing the same 4 mile stretch of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake which will be used in the historic Oxford Cambridge Boat Race on Sunday 26th March.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 20th March 2005

ABERDEEN EIGHTS HEAD

The Aberdeen Eights Head took place last Saturday 26th February in cold but relatively calm conditions on the River Dee when Inverness Rowing Club again achieved success with their Mens crew of Alastair Duff (bow), Colin Sinclair, Joe Wright, Ken Andrews, Brian Bell, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) rowing a powerful and confident race to win in a fine time of 10 minutes 19 seconds against stiff opposition from University crews from Aberdeen and St Andrews.
Also competing from Inverness were the Womens Restricted 2 crew of Doreen Waterson (bow), Carole Wells, Hazel Geddes, Catherine Morton, Hazel Smith, Caroline Ward, Susanne Standish-Hunter, Bea Wallace (stroke) and Neil Wallace (cox) who recorded an excellent time of 11 minutes 18 seconds to achieve second place in their event behind a very quick Aberdeen University crew.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 27th February 2005

TENON LTD INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD

An excellent entry of 87 crews was received for the Tenon Ltd Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head which took place in cold but relatively calm conditions on Saturday 19th February on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. Rowed in two divisions, the first started at 11.30am with the second at 2.30pm.
Inverness crews featured in the winners lists. In Division 1, the Inverness/St Andrew Boat Club composite of Dave Howard (bow), Colin Sinclair, Alastair Duff, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Andy Robb, Chris Gates, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Lawrence Edwards (cox) produced the fastest time of the day in winning the Mens Restricted 2 Eights category in a fine time of 16 minutes 40.1 seconds, with Alastair Duff in Division 2 also winning the Mens Veteran C Single Sculls by the narrowest margin of 0.6 of a second from Iain Morton also of Inverness.
Inverness member Alan Sinclair, rowing for Aberdeen University Boat Club with Ross Cruikshanks, also featured in the winners list with this crew winning the Mens Restricted 2 Double Sculls in a time of 18 minutes 1.2 seconds.
Fastest womens crew of the day was the Womens Restricted 1 Eight from Clydesdale ARC/St Andrew Boat Club which recorded a fine time of 17 minutes 01.9 seconds in Division 1, the fastest time in Division 2 being recorded by the Glasgow RC veteran D crew which achieved a time of 17 minutes 20.5 seconds/ adjusted to 16 minutes 12.5 seconds on application of handicap allowance. Results recorded by other Inverness Club crews were Womens R2 Eights (D Waterson, C Wallace, H Geddes, C Morton, H Smith, C Ward, M Towrie, B Wallace stroke, S Standich- Hunter - cox) -19.09 and Mens Veteran F Double Sculls ( D Ruane, I Hunter - stroke) - 22.05/19.32
Prizes were presented to winning crews by Hazel Geddes representing event sponsor Tenon Ltd.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 20th February 2005

The Tenon Ltd.s Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head

From the race committee - "Essential Information for competitors" added - please read thoroughly if you are attending on Saturday.

Neil Wallace - 16th Feb 2005

Press release 15th February 2005

Inverness Rowing Club is holding the TENON LTD INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD 2005 on SATURDAY 19th February on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal
The event is being held on a 4500 metre course between Dochgarroch and the clubs boathouse near Tomnahurich Swing Bridge The event is very popular and this year has attracted crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Universities as well as from the home club and crews challenging for selection to the National Squad.
This year the race is being supported by Tenon Ltd who have accountancy offices in Inverness and throughout the UK.
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing on a length of water which is regularly used by Scottish international crews for training and is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing. Racing will be in two divisions the first scheduled to start at 11.30am and the second at 2.30pm.
The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 15th February 2005

The Tenon Ltd.s Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head

Click here for the Provisional Draw (PDF file.)
Any queries to ASAP.

Neil Wallace - 11th Feb 2005

Western Eights Head

Last Saturday (29th January 2005) saw the Inverness Mens R2 crew of Dave Howard (bow), Derek McMorrine, Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Andy Robb, Chris Giles, Neil Wallace (stroke) and Lawrence Edwards (cox) taking part in the Western Eights Head on the twisting waters of the River Clyde. Competing in Division 2 in the afternoon, this crew recorded a fine time of 19 minutes 36 seconds to claim third place in the R2 section and 5th place overall. A most encouraging performance in their preparation for the forthcoming Tenon Ltd Inverness Eights Head on the Caledonian Canal on 19th February and the Tideway Eights Head in London in March.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 30th January 2005

Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships

On Saturday 22nd January, over 300 competitors took part in the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships which were held at Dalziel High School in Motherwell.
Competition was keen in the wide variety of age categories and some excellent performances were recorded, particularly in the younger age groups.
Inverness Rowing Club were represented by the two Sinclair brothers from Belmaduthy with Colin taking part in the Junior 14 section and Alan, now a student at Aberdeen University and a member also of Aberdeen University Boat Club, competing in the Under 23 Heavyweight section. Both athletes produced their personal best performances to date. Colin recorded a time of 7 minutes 33.4 seconds narrowly missing a Bronze medal with his strong finishing burst, whilst Alan also finished strongly in his event to secure Bronze in an excellent time of 6 minutes 32.4 seconds.
Also representing Inverness in the Mens over 40 section was Joe Wright who put up a sound performance in recording a time of 6 minutes 43.6 seconds against some highly competent opposition.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 30th January 2005
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2004

INVERNESS ROWING CLUB - ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT INVERNESS FOURS HEAD

Results by start order
Results by time
An excellent entry of 192 crews was received for the Aberdeen Asset Management Inverness Fours Head which took place in cold, fine, dry, almost windless conditions on Saturday 20th November on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Rowed in two divisions, the first started at approximately 12.15pm with the second at approximately 2.45pm.

Results


Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 21st November 2004

Essential safety reading

Common sense sculling by Ian Hunter.

Nairn Harbour Festival 19th September 2004

The Nairn Harbour Festival hosted a series of invitation rowing events in the harbour area in which crews from the Inverness club took part in a series of demonstration events as part in the three day Harbour Festival.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 19th September 2004

Aberdeen Sprint 18th September 2004

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success at the Aberdeen Boat Clubs Sprint Regatta in sunny but challenging windy conditions on the River Dee last Saturday.
In Womens Novice Coxed Fours, the Inverness crew of Hazel Geddes (bow), Mary Clouston, Doreen Waterson, Bea Wallace (stroke), Mandy Towrie (cox) had a sound one length win over Aberdeen Boat Club in their semi-final and went on to record a fine two length win in the final against Dundee University Boat Club.
This crew in Wallace/Waterson and Clouston/Geddes combinations also took part in the Womens Restricted 2 Double Sculls event with good performances although just missing out on places in the final of this event.
Other Inverness members, Mandy Towrie and Tom Baker took part in the Mixed Double Sculls narrowly being beaten in their semi-final, whilst in Veteran Single Sculls, Baker won his semi-final against Wallace of Aberdeen BC but was just edged out in the final by Newton of Aberdeen BC who had earlier beaten Roy Sinclair of Inverness by two lengths. Baker also won his Novice Single Sculls semi-final against Grundy of Aberdeen BC but in the final was beaten by the narrowest of margins by Ellis of Dundee University Boat Club. Doreen Waterson also put up a fine performance in the difficult, windy conditions in Womens Novice Single Sculls being pipped on the line in the final of this event by Archibald of Aberdeen BC.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 19th September 2004

Loch Laggan Weekend.

Inverness Rowing Club recently held what has become a regular training weekend camp with almost twenty members enjoying the spectacular Monarch of the Glen waters of Loch Laggan. A most satisfactory weekend was held with a number of recently joined members taking part along with three visiting members from Aberdeen University Boat Club.
Conditions were breezy to say the least on the Saturday, but calmer, sunny conditions on the Sunday permitted some very useful coaching sessions under the watchful eye of Senior Coach Ian Hunter.

This coming weekend sees two events in which Inverness members are taking part.
On Saturday, male and female athletes travel to Aberdeen to compete in the Aberdeen Boat Clubs Sprint regatta on the River Dee whilst on Sunday afternoon, the Nairn Harbour Festival hosts a series of invitation rowing events in the harbour area in which crews from the Inverness club and Aberdeen Boat Club compete as part of a comprehensive programme of activities in the three day Harbour Festival. Rowing events are scheduled to take place from 3pm till approximately 4.15pm on the Sunday afternoon.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 13th September 2004

HAWCO SPRINT 2004

An good entry was received for the HAWCO SPRINT 2004 which took place in calm, sunny conditions on Saturday 21st August on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Other Inverness crews were also involved in a number of extremely close finishes throughout a day of fine competitive racing.
Prizes were presented by President Paddy Walsh on behalf event sponsor Hawco of Inverness.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 22nd August 2004

HAWCO SPRINT 2004 - SATURDAY 21st AUGUST 2004

Inverness Rowing Club is holding the HAWCO SPRINT REGATTA on Saturday the 21st August. This years event is again being sponsored by Hawco Inverness.
The event is being held on the Caledonian Canal over a 500 metre course close to the Boathouse. The event is very popular and this year has attracted crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Universities as well as from the home club. A full race programme starts at 11.15am and is expected to finish at around 4.00pm.
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing on a length of water which is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing. The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Sunday 15th August 2004

Inverness Hawco Sprint - Saturday 21st August 2004

Details of this event can be downloaded HERE

INVERNESS DOUBLE WINS VETERAN HENLEY AGAIN

Inverness Rowing Club scullers, Mandy Towrie and Susanne Standish-Hunter, successfully defended their title as winners of the women's Vet C (43-49yrs) double sculls in the Veteran Henley Regatta over the weekend. Their two length win over Bewdley RC in the final followed two decisive earlier races over Norwich RC and Berda RC from the Netherlands. Racing was hampered by very wet, windy weather with occasional hail. The Inverness crew won the same event last year over a fancied double from Boston, USA.
Tom Baker, also from Inverness RC, teamed up with Peter Wells from Itchen Imperial R.C. in their first race together, to compete in the men's Vet D (50-55yrs) double sculls. Their first round opposition, Dart Totnes RC of Devon, struggled to maintain a straight course, but managed to pull away from the Inverness composite. Good steering is essential at Henley as the wooden booms on the edge of the course are very unforgiving, and the race umpires do not tolerate crews which stray out of their station.
Mandy Towrie and Susanne Standish-Hunter also competed in the women's Vet C coxed fours event, together with Ailie Ord of Clydesdale RC and Alison Hulme of St Andrew BC. Unfortunately they were beaten by a length in their semi final against the eventual winners, a Sons of the Thames Composite crew.

Report submitted by - Tom Baker - 14th July 2004

Scottish Championships 12/13th June

The MacRae and Dick Discovery squad from Inverness Rowing Club achieved success at the two day Scottish Championship Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton last weekend in fine, dry but sometimes windy conditions in winning two events Mens Novice Eights, and Womens Veteran Double Sculls.
On Saturday, the Mens Novice Eight with Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair and Neil Wallace in a composite crew with St Andrew Boat Club had a convincing win over crews from Edinburgh and Glasgow University Boat Clubs in an exciting race for the finishing line. Shortly after, the Inverness Womens Intermediate Eight of Anne MacDonald, Carole Wells, Doreen Waterson, Catherine Morton, Helen Wallace, Bea Wallace, Mandy Towrie, Susanne Standish-Hunter(Stroke) and Jo Wherret (cox) had the closest finish of the regatta in losing the Gold Medal on a photo-finish against a Glasgow University crew stroked by Imogen Walsh (daughter of the Inverness Clubs President Paddy). The Mens Intermediate Eight of Dave Rothwell, Duncan Alexander, Joe Wright, Neil Wallace, Roy Sinclair, Ian hunter, Ken Sinclair, Tom Baker (stroke) and Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) had a fine race against younger university opposition and achieved a satisfactory third place in this final
Neil Wallace and Tom Baker sculled well in their heats of Mens Novice Single Sculls whilst the Womens Novice Double Scull of Doreen Waterson and Bea Wallace also had a satisfactory third place in the final of this event. The Womens Novice Four of Helen Wallace, Carole Wells, Doreen Waterson, Bea Wallace (stroke) and Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) had a challenging race in the final of this event just losing out on first place to a crew from St Andrews University Boat Club.
On Sunday, the Inverness Womens crews took the limelight with Susanne Standish-Hunter and Mandy Towrie winning Gold in the Veteran Double Sculls producing a fine three lengths win over a Strathclyde Park RC crew and the Inverness double of Bea and Helen Wallace who claimed the Bronze Medal position.
The Inverness Womens Novice Coxed Four again raced in the final of this event on Sunday and achieved a sound third position, despite suffering equipment failure during their race. The Inverness Mens Novice Four of Joe Wright, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Neil wallace (stroke) and Susanne Standish-Hunter (cox) had a fine three length win in their semi-final but just missed out on a top three place in an extremely close final.
Other Inverness Mens crews also shone on Sunday although just missing out on the top places. The composite Inverness/ St Andrew Boat Club Veteran Eight with Roy Sinclair, Tom Baker and Alistair Duff on board produced one a the most exciting finishes of the day in clawing back 11 of the 15 second handicap awarded to the older Clydesdale ARC Eight. Alistair Duff, Tom Baker and Roy Sinclair sculled well but without Gold Medal success in their respective Veteran B, D and F Single Sculling events, whilst Doreen Waterson achieved third place in her very first Womens Novice Sculling event. The Mens Novice Double Scull of Neil Wallace and Ken Sinclair also achieved third place in final of this event.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Tuesday 15th June 2004

Scottish championships - 12/13th June 2004

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Strathclyde Park near Hamilton to take part in this weekends two day Scottish Championships Regatta.
Inverness oarsmen and women have entered a wide variety of events including Novice and Veteran single sculls, Novice and Veteran Double Sculls, Novice Coxed Fours, Novice, Intermediate and Veteran Eights at the most significant main season regatta of 2004.
Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 7th June 2004

Strathclyde Park Regatta - 24/25th April 2004

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success and many good performances at the two day Strathclyde Park Regatta in Hamilton last weekend in sunny if sometimes windy conditions in winning two events, - Womens Veteran Double Sculls and Mens Veteran D Single Sculls.
On Saturday, the Mens Novice Double Sculls combinations of Neil Wallace and Ken Sinclair achieved an excellent second place whilst Joe Wright and Duncan Alexander sculled well in their first competitive sculling race together.
Neils wife Bea and her sister in law Helen also achieved a most satisfactory second place in their Novice Double Sculls event. Also competing on Saturday were Mandy Towrie and Susanne Hunter in Womens Restricted 1 Double Sculls in which they challenged much younger athletes in producing a fine performance over the shorter 1000 metre course. Neil Wallace gave a sound performance in the final of the Mens Novice Single sculls but just missed out on a top three placing. In the secong last race of the day the Womens Restricted 2 Eight of Anne Macdonald (bow) Carole Wells, Doreen Waterson, Mandy Towrie, Helen wallace, Bea Wallace, Hazel Smith, Susanne Hunter (stroke) and Jo Wherret (cox) had a most exciting race in which all six crews could barely be separated until the last 250 metres with the Inverness crew finishing in fifth place ahead of the St Andrew BC crew.
On Sunday, the Inverness Womens Veteran Double Sculls crew of Towrie and Hunter had an outstanding four lengths win with the other Inverness crew of Doreen Waterson and Bea Wallace producing a fine performance in their first race together in claiming fourth place against some very competent opposition. Tom Baker won the Veteran D Single Sculls in fine style, whilst Alastair Duff claimed second place in the Veteran B/C Single Sculls. The Womens Restricted 2 Eight with Catherine Morton in board had yet another excellent perfomance but just missed a top three spot, which also just eluded the Mens Restricted 2 Eight of Dave Rothwell (bow), Duncan Alexander, Joe Wright, Ian Hunter, Roy Sinclair, Ken Sinclair, Neil Wallace, Tom Baker (stroke) and David Watt (cox). A terrific last finishing burst by the Mens Novice Coxed Four of Neil Wallace (bow) Duncan Alexander, Joe Wright, Ken Sinclair (stroke) and Helen Wallace (cox) saw them push past three crews to claim third place in the final, a fine performance.

Also taking part in the regatta was Alan Sinclair (now a student at Aberdeen University) who competed in a variety of sculling and sweep oared boats, achieving well deserved success in the Mens Open Coxed Fours in which a photo-finish confirmed the Aberdeen University crews victory over Strathclyde Univerity by the narrowest of margins.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 26th April 2004

Sinclair Success (and not the usual one)!!

Last weekend, crews from Inverness Rowing Club travelled to Aberdeen to take part in the Aberdeen Boat Clubs North East Regatta on the River Dee.
Windy conditions prevailed on the Saturday when the father and son combine of Colin and Roy Sinclair took part in the Restricted 2 Double Sculls being narrowly beaten by just half a length by an Aberdeen Boat Cub crew. Later that day the elder Sinclair had an exciting row in final of the Veteran Single sculls but just lost out by one length to Bob Newton of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Sunday weather conditions were wet but slightly less windy, when the Sinclair combination again took to the water, this time in the Generation Double Sculls. A comfortable win in the semi-final preceded a most satisfactory three lengths win in the final (young Colins first ever win), with both opposition crews being from Aberdeen Boat Club. Next weekend sees a large representation of Inverness oarsmen and oarswomen taking part in the popular two day Strathclyde Park Regatta at Hamilton.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 19th April 2004

Main Season Racing

The main Scottish regatta season starts this weekend when the two day North-East regatta is held on the River Dee on 17th and 18th April.
This event normally attracts a good entry with clubs from Edinburgh, Glasgow and the central belt competing for honours against the strong entries traditionally submitted by the significant memberships of the Aberdeen clubs and from Inverness Rowing Club.
The Inverness entry is somewhat smaller than last year, but nevertheless of high calibre. Current Scottish Champions Tom Baker and Brian Bell compete in Restricted 1 and Veteran Coxless Pairs with the new Sinclair combination of Colin and his father taking part in Generation and Restricted 2 Double Sculls with the elder sculler also taking part in Veteran Single Sculls.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th April 2004

Caberfeidh Motors SAAB INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD

The results are now available HERE
Submitted by Dave Rothwell.

Caberfeidh Motors SAAB INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD
SATURDAY 14TH FEBRUARY 2004.

The draw has been made, and is available HERE Latest version 10.50am 13th Feb
Also some Details from Captain Roy Sinclair on parking, boating etc..
Any queries to Regatta sec - Ken Sinclair.

ABERDEEN EIGHTS HEAD - 7th February 2004.

Inverness Rowing Club were represented at the Aberdeen Eights Head on the River Dee last Saturday by two new crew formations, both using the recently acquired (but as yet unnamed) club "8".
In the first division the women's crew had first taste of the changeable conditions. They put in a spirited performance to complete the 3000m course in 12minutes 56 seconds.
In the second division, the men's crew rowed through a blustery headwind in a smooth and relaxed fashion to achieve a very respectable time of 12minutes 15seconds, a time which suggests that a win can not be far away for the newly formed line-up.
Special mention must go to stalwart Coxswain Thomas Prag who expertly steered and encouraged both crews. He was "on the water" for almost 3 hours! Highlight of his day in the cold was the ceremonial hip flask making it's way bow-ward as the snow began to fall shortly after reaching the finish line for the second time.
Both crews seemed satisfied with their placings and performances. However, they hope to build on the experience and plant to have a slightly more aggresive row this coming Saturday when Inverness Rowing Club hosts arguably Scotland's best head race.......The 4500m "Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head"
John Mckenzie, Managing Director of event sponsor Caberfeidh Motors, said- "I'm delighted to support this growing sport which shares the same attributes as our cars - power with precision"
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing.
The Caledonian Canal is now regularly used by Scottish International crews for training and is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing.
Over 90 entries have been accepted. There will be two Divisions (races) the first starting at 12:00noon and the second at 2:30pm.
The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.

Report submitted by Neil Wallace on behalf of Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 9th February 2004

Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships

Last Saturday, over 200 competitors took part in the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships which were held at Dalziel High School in Motherwell.
Competition was keen in the wide variety of age categories and some excellent performances were recorded, particularly in the younger age groups.
Inverness Rowing Club were represented by the two Sinclair brothers from Belmaduthy with Colin taking part in the Junior 13 section and Alan, now a student at Aberdeen University and a member also of Aberdeen University Boat Club, competing in the Junior 18 section.Both athletes produced their personal best performances to date.
Colin recorded a time of 8 minutes 1.1 seconds in clinching a Bronze medal with his strong finishing burst, whilst Alan strongly pulled past the initial leader in his event to win Gold in an excellent time of 6 minutes 46.0 seconds
The club currently has both womens and mens squads in training for the forthcoming Eights Head races, the first being the Aberdeen Head on Saturday 7th February followed by the clubs own Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head on Saturday 14th February on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 26th January 2004

Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness 8s and Small Boats Head - SATURDAY 14TH FEBRUARY 2004

Details of this event can be downloaded on the events page now.
For the first time, we are encouraging Online Entries!
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2003

ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT INVERNESS FOURS HEAD

An excellent entry of 138 crews was received for the Aberdeen Asset Management Inverness Fours Head which took place in fine dry almost windless conditions on Saturday 15th November on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. Rowed in two divisions, the first started at 12 noon with the second at 2.45pm.
Results recorded by other Inverness club crews were Mens Veteran Fours (Morton) - 17.30 and Mens Veteran Single Scull (Rothwell) - 22.04

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 16th November 2003

ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT INVERNESS FOURS HEAD - SATURDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2003

Inverness Rowing Club is holding the Aberdeen Asset Management Inverness Fours Head on Saturday the 15th November on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
The event is being held on the canal between Dochgarroch and the Boathouse near Tomnahurich Swing Bridge - a distance is of over 4500 metres. The event is very popular and has attracted a total of over 140 crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and many of the Scottish Universities as well as the home club and crews challenging for selection to the national squad.
This year the race is being supported by Aberdeen Asset Management, sponsor of The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race over the last three years. Aberdeen Asset Managements Head of Sponsorship and Corporate Affairs, Douglas Connon said - "I'm delighted to support this growing sport at a local level which compliments our involvement at significantly higher levels".
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing. The Caledonian Canal is now regularly used by Scottish International crews for training and is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing. There will be two Divisions (races) the first starting at 12:00noon and the second at 2:45pm.
The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.
Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 10th November 2003

The Novice Sculler's Grudge Match (Round 2) - 25th October 2003

Last Saturday, Neil "fat boy McSpanner" Wallace and Tom "the groin" Baker went head to head in single sculls over 4km on the Clyde.
The two, well known for their mutual admiration of one another, gave the mass of umpires and spectators plenty to talk about.

Wallace (who had a distinct advantage with the draw) set off like a bullet out of a gun, building up a nice lead on Baker before being warned by the umpire that he was about to hit a bridge buttress.
Gap closed, and no drama until sewage works corner, where again Wallace showed a distinct lack of navigation skills. Narrowly missing the helpful "concrete post" on the North Bank with his bow side oar, he then proceeded into a near collision with the bushes on the South Bank.
Meanwhile, "tripod" Baker was tapping along nicely, all the time eating into the 10m gap between the 2 boats. When asked how he took such a fine course around the sewage bend he replied "I just followed my nose!"
Wallace was getting desparate, he realised his (much) older and wiser adversity was getting the better of him. While pondering this, he again received a call from an umpire, this time on the steps of Glasgow rowing club "you don't want to go that way son!" 20 one handed strokes later and the bend was finished.

Baker seized the opportunity, once again taking the "tiger line". He looked set to take Wallace, but had tried to be too cute and got his commupence. He nearly capsized as his bowside oar lifted several kilograms of duck weed, 3 condoms and a shopping trolley from the North Bank.
His chance to take Wallace had gone, and with 1km to go both scullers found a rhythm taking them sailing through the J15 scullers, nicely laid on by the events commitee as a useful distraction.
An 8m gap re-established, a shout from fellow fatboy Duncan "hair care products" Alexander situated on the overhead footbridge of "come on Neil" gave Wallace the strength to sit tall and concentrate on his stroke. Enough infact to cause a series of mini-crabs and a few expletives (a technique he learned from Baker in a previous encounter). Sportingly Duncan gave similar support to arch-enemy Baker, resulting in a similar technique vacuum for "the groin".
500m to go, it is straight but a large headwind begins, where is the finish line? Lungs bursting, bladework faltering, Wallace picks it up to 28 in a valiant struggle to re-establish the starting advantage he was given..............

.............was it to be enough???????????

Sadly no.
Baker beats Wallace by a clear 2 seconds.

Tom said on hearing the result "na na na naa na"
Neil said "boo hoo!"

it's 1:1 the story continues......................

humourous, unbiased and factually misleading report submitted by yours truly, Neil Wallace, 26th October 2003

Inverness "Fat Boys" show their metal on the Clyde. - 4th October 2003

Last weekend saw another leap forward for the rapidly improving Men's Novice Crew of Inverness Rowing Club. Equipped with the new club boat "Dochfour", Ken Sinclair(stroke), Joe Wright, Neil Wallace, Duncan Alexander (bow) and Helen Wallace (Cox) travelled to Glasgow Rowing Clubs Three Heads Event on the River Clyde last weekend.
Whilst the rest of Glasgow seemed pre-occupied with football, a new rowing event was being contested.

The racing was in the form of time trials over 3000metres which the "fat boys" (so called because they are possibly the heaviest crew in Scottish Rowing) completed no less than 3 times. In each of the 3 divisions, Inverness were the fastest crew in their category. Indeed, several more experienced crews couldn't match their performances.
Cox Helen Wallace said "Their best performance was during the 3rd piece. Into a stiffening head wind the boys managed to build on their earlier times and finish 8th fastest out of 30 crews. I thought they would have been exhausted by the end but they proved me wrong. The last 500m of the day was awesome."

The crew have trained together for 18 months, under the experienced guidance of Ian Hunter, formerly national coach for the Zimbabwe Rowing Association.

Inverness Rowing Club are actively seeking new members. If you would like to try the ultimate fitness sport on Scotland's best rowing water then why not examine the Clubs website at invernessrowingclub.co.uk for more information or contact the Captain, Roy Sinclair, on .
Report prepared by Neil Wallace and submitted by Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club ) - Monday 6th October 2003

World Masters Regatta

Inverness Rowing Club travelled to central France with ten athletes plus several supporters as part of a strong Scottish contingent for the 30th FISA World Masters Regatta held on the seven lane championship course on the spectacular River Allier in Vichy from 4th to 7th September.
Mandy Towrie and Susanne Standish-Hunter pulled off a shock win over last years gold medallists in the Veteran C double sculls with their winning time of 3 minutes 53.23 seconds being the fastest of all six heats making them the fastest crew out of a huge entry of 42 crews.
Mandy and Susanne had a terrific start and led the race throughout and responded to strong challenges from the Fredensborg crew from Denmark who fought hard to retain their world title.
The Inverness crew resisted all these challenges to win their Gold Medals by 2/3rds of a length to the great delight of both the Inverness and Scottish support teams. A magnificent achievement for the Inverness double scullers who earlier this season won a number of races in this event, including the Scottish Championships and Womens Henley Regatta.
Hazel Smith was the clubs other Gold Medallist winning her two medals in Veteran C Eights and Veteran B Coxless Fours and also gaining some other good second and third places all in composite crews with other Scottish club athletes.
Former Inverness member John Poland, now rowing for Dart and Totness Rowing Club, won both Veteran D and Veteran E Single Sculls and achieved a very good second place in Veteran D Double Sculls with Iain Morton from Inverness on board.
The Inverness crew of Catherine Morton, Hazel Smith, Susanne Standish-Hunter and Mandy Towrie were just beaten to the line by the winning French crew from Charleville Meziares in their Veteran C Coxed Four race. This crew in combination with other Scottish athletes just missed another gold medal by a mere 0.53 seconds in their Veteran B Eights race behind the London club UK Gold.
In their Veteran C Coxless Fours race, Catherine Morton, Ailie Ord (Clydesdale ARC), Mandy Towrie and Susanne Standish-Hunter achieved an excellent third place just one length behind the winning Czechoslovakian crew.
A number of other very good results were achieved in extremely close racing. In a composite crew with Warwick Rowing Club, Brian Bell and Tom Baker missed gold by less than one length in Veteran C Coxless Fours. They were just pipped on the line in their Veteran C Coxless Pairs race and achieved third place in the Veteran D Coxless Pairs. Joined by Iain Morton and Alastair Duff , they gained an excellent second place in the Veteran C Coxed Fours and with Ian Hunter and Roy Sinclair on board just missed out on a top three place in Veteran E Coxed Fours. Iain Morton raced in Veteran B and Veteran C Single Sculls whilst Alastair Duff raced in Veteran A and Veteran B Single Sculls, both on the pace but just out of the top three places in each of their events. Roy Sinclair combined with Ian Hunter in Veteran E and later with Iain Morton in Veteran D Coxless Pairs events in each event just missing out on top three places. In the Mixed D Eights on the Sunday, Ian Hunter and Roy Sinclair accepted an invitation to race with the Gwelph Rowing Club from Toronto in Canada and achieved a satisfactory 4th place in a most exciting race.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Captain-Inverness Rowing Club ) - 14th September 2003

World Masters Championships

Ten athletes plus several supporters from Inverness Rowing Club travel as part of a strong Scottish contingent to Vichy in central France for the 30th FISA World Masters Championship Regatta being held on the seven lane championship course on the spectacular River Allier from 4th to 7th September.
The Inverness party of Catherine and Iain Morton, Ian and Susanne Hunter, Mandy Towrie, Hazel Smith, Tom Baker, Brian Bell, Alastair Duff and Roy Sinclair are competing in a full range of events which include eights, coxed fours, coxless pairs, double and single sculls as well as some mixed events on the final day of the regatta.
Some of the party have attended many of these annual regattas over the past fifteen years with considerable success and it is with great enthusiasm and dedication that this group of athletes have trained over the past few months to meet the challenge from other international athletes with high hopes of bringing home more medals from this years event

Report submitted by Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club ) Thursday 28th August 2003

HAWCO SPRINT 2003

An excellent entry was received for the HAWCO SPRINT 2003 which took place in calm, sunny conditions on Saturday 23rd August on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Full results Here.


Prizes were presented by Mr George Hawco, Director of Event Sponsor Hawco.

Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Hawco Sprint - The Draw.

Brian Bell has made the draw for the Hawco Sprint.
It is available as a summaried web (HTML) document HERE
Or in it's original format as an excel spreadsheet HERE
Webmasters note - if you can't open the .xls file, you can download a useful free spreadsheet viewer from Microsoft themselves. This is a neat little program which can be used on it's own. It also integrates nicely with Internet explorer. Here is the Direct link.

Report by Brian Bell

HAWCO SPRINT 2003 - pre event press release

Inverness Rowing Club is holding the HAWCO SPRINT REGATTA on Saturday the 23rd August. This years event is being sponsored by Hawco Inverness.
The event is being held on the Caledonian Canal over a 500 metre course close to the Boathouse. The event is very popular and attracts crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and many of the Scottish Universities as well as the home club. Over forty races are on the race programme which starts at 11.15am and is expected to finish at around 4.30pm.
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing on a length of water which is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing. The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.
Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Scratch Regatta 16th August 2003

Last Saturday, the club held a most successful Club Scratch Regatta over the same 500 metre course on the Caledonian Canal in which Inverness club members were selected in four crews to race against each other in matched coxed fours. Several recently joined members took part in this event and it is most encouraging that two of those new members, Carole Wells and Doreen Waterson, were part of the crew which won the A final of this event.
In the first semi-final, the crew of Sally Moore, Ken Andrews, Iain Morton and Bea Wallace(stroke) with Thomas Prag (cox) were beaten by a margin of three lengths by Doreen Waterson, Carole Wells, Neil Wallace and Tom Baker(stroke) with Dave Rothwell(cox). The second semi-final saw a most exciting race between the crew of Thomas Prag, Ian Hunter, Mary Clouston, Many Towrie(stroke) and Iain Morton(cox) who despite some steering difficulties finished about three lengths down on the crew of Angela MacKenzie, Roy Sinclair, Dave Rothwell, Janeen Collier(stroke) and Tom Baker(cox).
The B final, contested by the crews stoked by Bea Wallace and Mandy Towrie, resulted in a two and a half lengths win for the Wallace crew whilst the A final was a much closer affair with the crew stroked by Tom baker just managing to cross the finish line half a length in front of the Collier crew. Prizes for the winning crew were presented by Vice President Dave Rothwell at the post regatta barbeque.

Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Minister for Sport visits I.R.C. - 11th Aug 2003

The Scottish Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Frank MacAveety, visited Inverness Rowing Club on 11th August and named the clubs new Sims Coxed IV - Dochfour.
In welcoming the Minister, I.R.C. President Paddy Walsh noted the determination of the Club to provide adequate facilities for the increasing numbers of the local community who are taking up rowing and thanked Inverness and Nairn Enterprise and Awards for All for their assistance with the purchase of the new boat.
The Minister met many of the clubs members including Alan Sinclair, who represented Scotland in the recent Home International Regatta and discussed the clubs plans for a new boat-house with architect Jessica Wolff.

Report submitted by Dick Ruane

Job Vacancies

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Hawco Sprint August 23rd 2003

Details of this event can be downloaded on the events page now.

Home International Regatta Saturday 26th July 2003 - Cork

The weekend started off with a long bus/ferry journey on Thursday leaving from Strathclyde Country Park at 12 noon and arriving in Cork, Ireland at roughly 2 am the following morning. The long journey was followed by a Friday rest day, which consisted of a short outing on the spectacular Regatta Lake and an early night at the hotel.
The Saturday an early departure from the hotel for the team was necessary to allow for the weigh-in of the lightweight crews, 2 hours before their event.
The weather proved most forecasts wrong and was a generally sunny and sometimes very hot day with only the odd gentle shower. The wind was to be a tail wind down the course, making for very fast times.
The junior doubles race involving Inverness Rowing Clubs, Alan Sinclair and Glasgow Rowing Clubs Jonathan Stevenson, proved to be a challenging one. The experienced Nottingham Rowing Club double representing England were looking very strong after their comfortable victory in the National Championships the week before and unsurprisingly took an early lead which they held throughout the race. Both Welsh and Irish crews were also very competent and their longer time training in the boat together, showed over the Scottish double and in the middle/end part of the race they were the more composed crews. Scotland made a great effort as a fairly scratch crew never giving up, always digging and finishing strongly but missed out on a medal position.
The team moral for Scotland was very good and crews who had just finished their races were almost immediately up cheering their fellow competitors on to a team total of two victories and several good second placed finishes in very exciting and close racing.
All in all, the Scottish team produced very encouraging results making for a most satisfactory and enjoyable weekend for all concerned.

This report prepared by Alan Sinclair Inverness Rowing Club - Tuesday 29th July 2003

National Championships - 19/20 July 2003 Official Website

Last weekend the National Championships of Great Britain were held at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton. Inverness were represented by Alan Sinclair who took part in Junior Single and Double Sculls.
In his race in the Single Scull on the Friday, Alan had a good race against stiff opposition, narrowly missing out on a semi-final place by less than one second.
With his double sculling partner Jonathan Stevenson from Glasgow Rowing Club, this composite crew qualified into the semi-final via a repechage on the Saturday. They produced a most encouraging row in Sundays semi-final to challenge all the way down the course but were thwarted on the line, just missing out on a third place which would have allowed passage to the final; nevertheless a fine performance from this young crew.
This crew will travel to Cork next weekend to represent Scotland in the Home Countries International. Also competing in Cork will be another Fortrose Academy former pupil, Ruth Hobson from Munlochy, who will row in the womens lightweight coxless four which won a silver medal at the National Championships last weekend. The Scottish team, led by team manager Tom Baker also from Inverness Rowing Club, leaves on Thursday for the long bus and ferry journey to Ireland.

Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Henley Vets 12/13th July 2003

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success at the Henley Veterans Regatta last weekend on the River Thames in fine, dry and generally calm conditions in winning Veteran Double Sculls where they struck Gold and Veteran Coxless Pairs with Silver.
The Mens Veteran Coxless Pair of Tom Baker and Brian Bell had a convincing win in their semi final and led by 1/3rd of a length coming to the finish line in the final but struck the perimeter boom alongside the course and had to settle for the silver medal position nevertheless a fine performance indeed.
The Inverness Womens crew later took the limelight with Susanne Hunter and Mandy Towrie combining in the Veteran Double Sculls to win a close fought semi final by 2/3rds of a length before taking on a much fancied experienced American double in the final in which they had a brilliant one length win for the Gold medal.
These results bring great success to the determined athletes from the Inverness club which augers well for the forthcoming World Masters Championships which take place in Vichy, France early in September.

Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Scottish Championships - 14/15 June 2003

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success at the two day Scottish Championship Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton last weekend in fine, dry and generally calm conditions in winning six events Mens Veteran Coxless Pairs and Veteran Single Sculls, Womens Veteran Eights, Veteran Coxed Fours, Veteran Double Sculls and Veteran Single Sculls.
On Saturday, the Mens Veteran Coxless Pair of Tom Baker and Brian Bell had a convincing win over Clydesdale ARC with the other Inverness Pair of Roy Sinclair and Iain Morton in third place. Later on Saturday the Womens Veteran Coxed Four of Catherine Morton (bow), Hazel Smith, Susanne Hunter, Mandy Towrie (stroke) and Kate Wright (cox) recording a most satisfying one length win over a George Watsons/StAndrew BC/Strathclyde Park RC composite crew. Alan Sinclair also took part in the Mens Junior 18 Single Sculls final gaining a satisafactory third place result behind Logan of George Watsons and Stevenson of Glasgow RC.
The Mens Veteran E Coxed Four of Ian Hunter (bow), Roy Sinclair, Tom Baker, Brian Bell (stroke) and Susanne Hunter (cox) had a good third place finish in their event, which was followed shortly afterwards by another good performance by the Veteran C crew of Iain Morton (bow), Alastair Duff, Tom Baker, Brian Bell (stroke) and Ruth Hobson (cox) in gaining second place. The improving Mens Novice Coxed of Neil Wallace (bow), Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, Joe Wright (stroke) and Helen Wallace (cox) produced a good showing in their event but just missed out on a place in the final.
Neil Wallace and Damian Wright sculled well in their heats of Mens Novice Single Sculls with Neil qualifying for a final place in which had claimed a creditable fifth place in his first Championship sculling event. The Womens Novice Double Scull of Helen and Bea Wallace also had a satisfactory scull in their first event.
On Sunday, the Inverness Womens crews took the limelight with the Composite Veteran Eight with Catherine Morton , Hazel Smith, Susanne Hunter, Mandy Towrie combining with Geoge Watsons/St Andrew/Strathclyde Park in recording a most satisfying four lengths win over Aberdeen BC. Hunter and Towrie then combined in the Veteran Double Sculls to produce a fine three lengths win over a George Watsons/St Andrew BC crew. Both Susanne Hunter and Alastair Duff achieved success in winning their respective Veteran Single Sculling events.
The Inverness Womens Novice Coxed Four of Helen Wallace (bow), Angela Mackenzie, Bea Wallace, Chris Mackintosh (stroke), Rachel Falla (cox) produced fine performances in both their races with third places in both their semi-final and final.
Other Inverness Mens crews also shone on Sunday although just missing out on the top places. The Veteran Eight of Roy Sinclair (bow), Alastair Duff, Dave Rothwell, Ian Hunter, Brian Bell, Tom Baker, Bob Newton (Aberdeen BC), Iain Morton, (stroke), Sussane Hunter (cox) had an extremely close and exciting race with crews from Clydesdale ARC, St Andrew BC and Glasgow RC but just missed out on a medal placing. Dave Rothwell/ Alastair Duff and Iain Morton/ Roy Sinclair sculled well in their Veteran Double Sculls event achieving third and second places respectively whilst Iain Morton and Roy Sinclair sculled well but without medal success in their respective Veteran C and F Single Sculling events. The Mens Novice Double Scull of Neil Wallace and Ken Sinclair also achieved a fine second place in their first competitive event.
In the Scottish Schools Single Sculls event, Alan Sinclair (Fortrose Academy), in the very last event of the Championships, achieved a most satisfactory third place behind Logan (George Watsons) and Middleton (St Josephs College) just missing out on second place after an oustanding finishing burst to close up four lengths on his opposition over the final 250 metres of the 2000 metre course.

Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

Castle Semple regatta

This Saturday 31st May, crews from Inverness Rowing Club make the long journey to Renfrewshire to take part in the Castle Semple RC regatta on the 1000 metre straight buoyed course on Castle Semple Loch at Lochwinnoch.
Both mens and womens crews will take part in a full range of sculling and rowing events in the penultimate regatta before the Scottish Championships which take place two weeks later at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton.

Report submitted by:- Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club ) - 25th May 2003

Loch Laggan Weekend 2003

Last weekend saw a squad of keen Inverness oarspersons taking part in a training weekend on the spectacular waters of Loch Laggan in Monarch of the Glen country. Saturday saw the members out in variable wind and water conditions in four separate sessions under the critical eyes of coaches Ian Hunter and Peter Cook, whilst the sessions on Sunday were unfortunately curtailed in the afternoon due to the onset of extremely wet and windy weather. A most worthwhile camp was enjoyed by all who took part.

This Saturday, crews from Inverness Rowing Club travel to Glasgow to take part in the Clydesdale ARC regatta on the River Clyde at Glasgow Green. Alastair Duff is entered in Mens Restricted 2 and Veteran B Single Sculls whilst father and son Roy and Colin Sinclair enter in the Generation Double Sculls with the old man also taking part in Veteran F Single Sculls.
Also on Saturday, Alan Sinclair is involved in Squad Training at Strathclyde Park with the Scottish Junior squad in preparation for selection for the Home Countries International to be held this coming July in Cork, Southern Ireland.

Report submitted by:- Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club ) - 5th May 2003

GLASGOW SMALL BOATS HEAD 22ND MARCH 2003

Crews from Inverness Rowing Club travelled to take part in the Glasgow Rowing Clubs Small Boats Head on the River Clyde on Saturday 22nd March.
Brian Bell and Tom Baker had a comprehensive win in the Mens Veteran Coxless Pairs beating their nearest opponents a much younger St Andrew Boat Club crew by a full minute with a time of 22 minutes 22 seconds and in doing so finished in fourth place overall, the higher placed crews also being of Open and younger categories.
Taking part in Mens R2 Single Sculls, Alistair Duff produced a fine performance to claim second place in this category with a time of 23 minutes 36 seconds.
Dave Rothwell and Alan MacDiarmid sculled well in the Mens Veteran Double Sculls and recorded a creditable time of 25 minutes 48 seconds over the twisty Clyde course.

On Sunday morning, Alan Sinclair travelled to Strathclyde Park to take part in the Scottish Junior time trial in which he recorded some of his best times to date over the 2000 metre international course which should see him being invited to take part in the next series of trials for selection of the Scottish Junior team for the forthcoming Home International regatta in Cork, Ireland

The Inverness Mens Novice squad had their final water based training outings on the Caledonian Canal at the weekend in preparation for the Tideway Head of the River Race on the River Thames in London on Saturday 29th March.
The Inverness crew lines up as follows:- Damian Ward (bow), Alex Townshend (2), Duncan Alexander (3), Richard Caddis (4), Joe Wright (5), Stuart Smith (6), Ken Sinclair (7), Neil Wallace (stroke), Helen Wallace (cox)

Report by Roy R Sinclair - Captain : Inverness Rowing Club

ABERDEEN EIGHTS HEAD - 1ST MARCH 2003

Inverness Rowing Club were represented at the Aberdeen Eights Head on the River Dee last Saturday by Mens and Womens Novice crews in Divisions 1 and 2 respectively at this event, which was rowed in fine dry, sunny conditions.
Fast times were recorded by the most successful club of the day, Aberdeen University Boat Club who won four events; the Mens Open and Restricted 2 Eights while their Womens team were successful in both their Open and Restricted 2 events, in which former Scottish Junior Internationalist, Ruth Hobson from Munlochy rowed in both crews.
The Inverness Mens Novice crew recorded a positive performance in a time of 12 minutes 8 seconds, some 28 seconds behind Dundee University Boat Club who won this event category. The Inverness Womens Novice crew performed very well with their new line-up and despite a collision with another boat whilst shooting one of the arches of the many bridges on the course, recovered well to record a satisfactory time of 15 minutes.
The Inverness Mens Novice squad now continue with their training schedule in preparation for the Tideway Head of the River Race on the River Thames in London on Saturday 29th March.

Report by Roy R Sinclair - Captain : Inverness Rowing Club

ABERDEEN EIGHTS HEAD - Saturday 1st March 2003

Inverness Rowing Club is taking part in the Aberdeen Eights Head on the River Dee on Saturday the 1st March.
The Inverness Mens and Womens Novice Eights which took part in the recent Caberfeidh Motors Saab event in Inverness will take to the waters of the river Dee, the men in Division 1 and the women in Division 2 with the aim of improving on their recent positive performances.
Also taking part in both divisions will be the Inverness Veteran Coxless Pair of Brian Bell and Tom Baker
Last Sunday's Scottish Junior Time Trial at Strathclyde Park at which Inverness junior sculler Alan Sinclair was due to have taken part was postponed at the last minute due to icing conditions at the park.

Press release 24.02.2003 by Roy R Sinclair - Captain : Inverness Rowing Club

Fast times in Inverness races

Caberfeidh Motors SAAB Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head - Saturday 15th February 2003

Saturdays Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head fulfilled all expectations by producing close racing in most classes especially among the small boats trialling for selection to represent Scotland at this years Home International Regatta in Cork in southern Ireland.
The fastest mens eight of the day came from Aberdeen University Boat Club, covering the course in 15 minutes 5 seconds. The Aberdeen Boat Club/Castle Semple Rowing Club composite provided the fastest womens crew of the day, finishing in 17 minutes 18 seconds whilst other Scottish cities represented among winners in the eights included Glasgow Rowing Club (mens veteran) who produced the fastest time in Division 2 with an adjusted time of 15 minutes 15 seconds.
Fastest womens crew in the Open Coxless Pairs trial was George Watsons in a time of 19 minutes 17 seconds
In the mens Double Sculling trial, Castle Semple Rowing Club won in a time of 16 minutes 46 seconds with Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club 21 seconds behind.
Glasgow Rowing Clubs sculler Warnock won the mens Single Sculling trial in 18 minutes 5 seconds from clubmates Thompson (18:54) and Graveling (19:12).
A fresh tailwind and perfect overhead conditions made for fast times overall, with lightweights in particular benefiting from the conditions.
Inverness Rowing Club crews achieved success in winning several of the sculling events with Iain Morton (Veteran C Single Sculls 19:13); Alastair Duff (Veteran B Single Sculls 20:21); Alan Sinclair (Junior 18 Single Sculls - 21.01) and Dave Rothwell/Alan McDiarmid (Veteran B Double Sculls 20:09)
Both Inverness Rowing Clubs mens and womens Novice Eights produced competitive performances although just off the pace to win their events, whilst the Inverness womens Veteran C Double Scull of Mandy Towrie and Suzanne Hunter were 18 seconds behind winners St Andrew Boat Club in this event.
Winning results are HERE
Full results are HERE

Report by Roy R Sinclair - Captain : Inverness Rowing Club

INVERNESS ROWING CLUB - Press Release 10.2.2003

Caberfeidh Motors SAAB INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD - SATURDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2003
SCOTTISH SENIOR ROWING TRIALS TO BE HELD IN INVERNESS
Inverness Rowing Club is holding the Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head on Saturday the 15th February which will incorporate the Scottish Amateur Rowing Associations national senior trials at the event.
The Inverness Clubs captain, Roy Sinclair said - "the decision by S.A.R.A. to hold their senior trial on our stretch of water reflects the growing awareness among the national rowing community of the excellence of the Caledonian Canal as a tide free and sheltered venue for important rowing events."
The event is being held on the canal between Dochgarroch and the Boathouse near Tomnahurich Swing Bridge - a distance is of over 4500 metres.
The event is very popular and attracts crews from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and many of the Scottish Universities as well as the home club and crews challenging for selection to the national squad.
This year the race is being supported by Caberfeidh Motors, Saab distributor for the Highlands. John Mckenzie, Caberfeidh's Managing Director, said- "I'm delighted to support this growing sport which shares the same attributes as our cars - power with precision"
Spectators are welcome to come and witness the tremendous spectacle of top Scottish crews racing.
The Caledonian Canal is now regularly used by Scottish International crews for training and is acknowledged by such as Peter Haining, Scotland's World Champion sculler, as the best in Scotland for rowing.
There will be two Divisions (races) the first starting at 12:00noon and the second at 2:30pm.
The Boathouse is located two hundred metres beyond the Jacobite Cruises Office on the Torvean golf course side of the canal.

Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships 26 Jan 2003

A most successful Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships took place last Sunday 26th January at the David Lloyd Club in Renfrew with well over 240 competitors taking part using Concept II ergometer rowing machines.
Inverness Rowing Club achieved medal success in two events with Joe Wright recording an impressive time of 6 minutes 42.3 seconds to lift the silver medal in the 2000 metre Mens Veteran B event whilst Colin Sinclair, taking part in his first competition, won bronze in the 1000 metre Mens Junior 12 event with a time of 4 minutes 16.9 seconds in a most exciting race in which he steadily overtook his nearest opponent to clinch his first medal. Colin's elder brother Alan also performed well recording a personal best time of 7 minutes 10.6 seconds in the 2000 metre Mens Junior 18 event narrowly missing third place in his race by one tenth of a second.
The Club now looks forward to the Caberfeidh Motors Saab Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head in just over two weeks time when the waters of the Caledonian Canal are expected to be a busy place on Saturday 15th February with this event which will include rowers challenging for Senior team positions in the Scottish Rowing teams at this season's international regattas.

Report by Roy R Sinclair - Captain : Inverness Rowing Club
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2002

Nutrition Advice ONLINE

Click HERE for Ian Hunter's advice on nutrition. Newly added to coaching section.

Westminster Healthcare Inverness Fours Head 9/11/02

The results from this very well attended event can be found HERE
thanks to Dave Rothwell

Westminster Healthcare Inverness Fours Head

Brian Bell has made the draw for this event to be held on Saturday 9/11/02. It is available HERE
Report by Brian Bell/Roy Sinclair

AGM PRESS RELEASE - Monday 21st October 2002

Inverness Rowing Club held it's Annual General Meeting in the Loch Ness House Hotel, Inverness on Thursday 17th October.
At this meeting, Club President Paddy Walsh presented Honorary Member Allan Garraway with a commemorative inscribed Quaich to mark his outstanding contributions to the Club and to rowing in the North over a period of 12 years.
The Southwell Stevenson Sculling Trophy (for most improved sculler) was also presented at the meeting to single sculler Alan J Sinclair.
Ten members of the Club travelled to Loch Faskally last weekend to take part in a coaching/training weekend in preparation for the forthcoming winter series of Head of The River Races which start on Saturday 9th November with the Inverness Fours Head on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
Report submitted by:- Roy R Sinclair (Captain-Inverness Rowing Club)

COACHING DEVELOPMENT 24/9/2002

Under the leadership of Mandy Towrie and Susanne Hunter and with financial help from Gael Force Ten, we shall be running a series of Coaching Courses which will be open to all members of the Club. These will range from the Basic Instructors Course, through the Rowing Instructors Course to the S.A.R.A./A.R.A. Bronze level course.
Participants do not have to be brilliant or experienced rowers to join the courses and the more people we have with coaching knowledge the better the overall standard and the better we will be able to help new members. If you want to join or just know more have a chat to Mandy or Susanne. Although rowing is not one of Gael Force Ten's core sports we have had great encouragement from Alan Hoseason, GFT's Coaching Development Officer and the funding support will greatly assist the delivery of the programmes.
Alan said - " Gael Force Ten are delighted to be able to support the development of coaching within rowing. Thanks to increased investment into the development of Coaching Networks by sportscotland (following the Scottish Executive's Comprehensive Spending Review), GFT has been able to assist coach development outwith our core sports. This is an exciting time for coaching in the Highlands with the Highland Coaching Strategy about to be launched. This will lead to new areas of development such as Coach Mentoring, Coach Resource Centres, a Coaching Audit and the establishment of a Highland Coaches Forum longer term. I wish Inverness Rowing Club well with their plans and look forward to working with you to assist in developing a junior section for your club following our Coach Scholarship support.
Report by Dick Ruane

North Scullers Double Double 23/9/2002

The oldest and the youngest members of Inverness Rowing Club's Sculling Squad pulled off a remarkable double at last Saturday's Aberdeen Sprint Regatta on the River Dee.
Having won the Veteran Single Sculls and the Under 18 Single Sculls, Dick Ruane (60, from Nairn) and Alan Sinclair (16, from Munlochy) then got together to win the Double Sculls event in a borrowed boat.
Dick Ruane said after the race "We had a very comfortable race and I am very grateful to Alan for pulling me along when I got a bit tired !"

Other events in which crews from Inverness Rowing Club rowed were the Novice Coxed Fours, Restricted Coxed Fours, Veteran Double Sculls and Novice Single Sculls. Close racing against strong crews from Strathclyde Park RC and Aberdeen BC did not result in any more medals for Inverness but Alan Sinclair came within inches of making it a treble when he was narrowly beaten in the final of the Novice Single Sculls.

Report submitted by:- Roy R Sinclair (Captain-Inverness Rowing Club)

Inverness Strike Gold at World Masters Championships (press release 17/9/2002)

At the World Masters Rowing Championships held recently at Prague in Czechoslovakia, Inverness Rowing Clubs Hazel Smith recorded a magificent achievement in winning Gold medals in three separate events. Teaming up with members from various other Scottish and English clubs, she won her medals in the Womens Veteran C Eights, the Womens Veteran A Coxed Fours and the Womens Veteran B Coxless Fours in events against strong internatonal competition from Europe and beyond. Events took place on the International Championship course at Racice near Prague in near perfect conditions although the heat was an unaccoustomed handicap for the Scottish contingent.
This Saturday 21st September sees a strong contingent of Veteran and Junior oarsmen and scullers from Inverness RC travelling to take part in the Aberdeen Sprint Regatta on the River Dee in Aberdeen.
Report by Roy Sinclair (Hazel's own words directly below)

Hazel at the World Masters in Racice, Czech Rep 5-8 September 2002

The wins were as follows - Friday WC8 with a composite from Clydesdale, St Andrew, Sons of Thames, and others. The Scottish contingent providing the power in the middle of the boat! This got the weekend off to a good start as this was won by 0830am! the next race that was wo was the WA+ with Clydesdale, ans St Andrews. The pair was directly after the 8s race and neither jannine and i felt able to give it our all. We knew that in order to win the event we needed to lead from the start, which we didnt manage to do - despite having had blistering starts in practice and at Inverness. Instead we took the decosion to save ourselves for the A4+ a decision that we felt paid off. although on different days the time for the coxed 4 is only slightly slower (0.21s) than that of the coxless on the Saturday indicating the speed and power of the crew. The last race on friday was the 4x, but I'd rather not comment on that!
Friday saw us taking the B4- in an extremely tight race in which we won by a little over 1 second, I think. From the times on the FISA results, we were in second at 500m and came through to win on the line. It was pretty tough!
The WB8 was also a superb race, although an extremely tidy German composite led from the start, we had an exciting toustle with a determeine crew from Leipzig (if thats how its spelled) for second place. The dresden crew that we were all fearing came to nothing!
Overall a superb regatta, in near perfect rowing conditions although the heat was an unaccustomed handicap for the scottish contingent!

Report by Hazel Smith

Sports relief row by Inverness Rowing Club on 13/7/02 - the results in perspective

For the sad people who like the ergo - the "golden mile" results are now up on the Concept ii website HERE
Highlights are......... Not a bad result and about a few hundred quid to charity

Report by Ken Sinclair

Morrison Sprint Results 31/8/2002

The results of this event are available HERE
Report by Roy Sinclair

Morrison Sprint Draw

Brian Bell has made the draw for the Morrison Sprint to be held on Saturday 31/8/02. It is available HERE
Report by Brian Bell/Roy Sinclair

Rowing Machine 12/8/2002

The Club has aquired a used Concept 2 Model C. Read Ian Hunter's advice on how to use it HERE

Report submitted by webmaster

Club meeting

August 20th 7.30pm General Meeting (Venue Loch Ness House Hotel -opposite Torvean Golf Club)

IRC purchases "Holy Smokes" 1/8/2002

The Club has bought "Holy Smokes" from Tom Baker. A welcome addition to the fleet. Currently a "bow rigged" Coxless Pair, steered by the strokeside bowman (if you follow me....)
Report submitted by Neil Wallace

IRC in the press 25/7/2002

Inverness Rowing Club members and Sir Steve Redgrave in the Highland News today.
Report submitted by Neil Wallace

Ruth Hobson into Scottish Team - Wednesday 24th July 2002

Inverness Rowing Club member Ruth Hobson gains her Scottish team colours this weekend as part of the Scottish Junior team competing in the Home International Regatta on Saturday at Strathclyde Park,near Hamilton.
Strong teams of Junior and Senior athletes from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland compete in this annual competition in Eights, Fours, Coxless Pairs, Quadruple Sculls, Double Sculls and Single.
Sculls. Ruth, who has been competing with her colleagues from Aberdeen University in regattas this season, has been selected to take part in two events, the Eights and Coxed Fours
Report submitted by --Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

NO MEDALS AT HENLEY VETS. 13/7/02

After their massive medal haul at the Scottish Championships (see below) the "old men" went to the Henley Veterans Regatta full of enthusiasm but found that international competition is tough. Thanks to the encouragment of Coaching Team Hunter, Tom Baker and Brain Bell (MVC2-), Iain Morton(MVC1x) and Dick Ruane(MVF1x) all did personal bests but fell to some serious oarsmen from America, Germany and England. Ex Inverness stalwart John Poland(MVE1x) reached his final but was beaten by a large gentleman from Pagosa, U.S.A. Compensation was found in a re-acquaintance with the wonderful Henley atmosphere and Mr Brakespeare's fine product.

report by Dick Ruane.

INVERNESS STRONG MEN PULL FOR "SPORT RELIEF" 13/7/02

Ken Sinclair, Duncan Alexander and Neil Wallace raced their ergo's to great GOLDEN MILE times (5.27, 5.43 and 5.29 respectively) and raised nearly 500 for the national campaign. Sponsors please send Neil and Ken your cash!

report by Dick Ruane

Scottish Championships June 2002

Last weekend, Inverness Rowing Club achieved outstanding success at the Scottish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre at Strathclyde Park in winning Gold medals in five separate events over the two day regatta.
On the Saturday, current Scottish Champions Brian Bell and Tom Baker produced their best form in defeating rivals St Andrew Boat Club by three lengths in the final of the Mens Veteran C Coxless Pairs event. Shortly afterwards they combined with Iain Morton , James McLardy and Suzanne Hunter (cox) to lift a second Gold medal in the Mens Veteran C Coxed Fours event where they recorded a two length win over another crew from St Andrew Boat Club.
Other Inverness crews performed well in later events on the Saturday with Iain Morton and Roy Sinclair combining well in third place in the final of the Mens Veteran D Coxless Pairs and Alan Sinclair who just missed out on a medal by three seconds in the Schoolboys Under 16 Single Sculls.
On Sunday, both Iain Morton and Alastair Duff had resounding wins in their respective finals of Mens Veteran C and B Single Sculls, Morton producing one of the most exciting finishes of the championships in winning his race from Ken Brown of Glasgow Rowing Club. Dick Ruane, James McLardy and Roy Sinclair took part in the Mens Veteran D to G Single Sculls, Ruane finishing a close second behind Internationist Willie Brown (Stirling Rowing Club) with McLardy in third place.
Ruane later had a highly exciting race in Mens Veteran D to F Double Sculls in company with Roy Sinclair when despite the choppy conditions came a close second behind the winning crew from Glasgow Rowing Club. The other, younger Veteran B Double Scullers Duff and McLardy however achieved a convincing three lengths win over fancied opponents Munro and Diamond from Clydesdale Rowing Club. Alan Sinclair raced in Mens Junior Quadruple Sculls in a George Watsons /Inverness composite crew finishing second behind another Watsons crew and later narrowly missed third place in the Mens Junior Under 16 Single Sculls.
Another Inverness club member Ruth Hobson from Munlochy also won three Gold Medals as a member of Aberdeen University Boat Club's successful Womens Intermediate 2 Eights, Womens Novice Eights and Womens Novice Coxed Fours.
The Inverness Womens Novice Coxed Four of Ann-Marie Bexley, Angela MacKenzie, Nicola Forbes, Sharon MacKenzie (stroke) and Kimberley le Brocq (cox) performed very well in their first regatta and will undoubtedly gain from this significant experience in future competitions.

From press release by Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )

UK National Veteran Rowing Championships (June 2002)

At the UK National Veteran Rowing Championships held last weekend in windy conditions at Nottingham, Inverness Rowing Club's Tom Baker and Brian Bell won Gold Medals in the Veteran C Coxless Pairs beating City of Oxford Rowing Club by one and a half lengths in a six boat final, a magnificent achievement.
After an impressive win in their heat, the Inverness pair shot into the lead after a good start in the final, consolidating their lead at 250 metres when they moved to two lengths ahead of Nottingham and Union RC. City of Oxford RC took up the challenge from halfway but Baker and Bell held off this challenge at 750 metres and maintained their winning lead to the finishing line.
Former Inverness RC sculler John Poland (now living in Wales) also achieved success at Nottingham in Veteran E Single Sculls to lift a Silver Medal in second place in the final of his event.

Report submitted by--Roy R Sinclair ( Captain--Inverness Rowing Club )


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