The Head of the River Race was abandoned on Saturday at 2:55pm after about 75 crews had passed the finish line (Curlew 1 were off 80th and were coming under Hammersmith by the time the race was “red flagged”).
The organisers faced the difficult decision as to whether water conditions were sufficiently safe to start the race. The tide turned 20 minutes late, and whilst most of the course enjoyed near perfect conditions, gusting winds made the finish marshalling area very difficult for rowing.
After a 15 mins delay to the start, and a reduced wind, the decision was made to start divisions 1 & 2. However, it soon became clear that as crews in these divisions were struggling to cope beyond the finish line, the decision was taken to abandon the race. A number of times had been taken before the abandonment and these are now published for information only purposes (view here). As the Race was not completed, the times have no official bearing.
Clearly this was very disappointing for the two Curlew crews, who have only managed one head race this entire season. However, I suppose that does mean that Curlew RC had an unbeaten head season for 2014. Its not very often you can say that about your club (generally that is reserved to crews like Leander or Molesey)…So the hope is to bottle up this frustration and release it on the start line of our first regatta…next stop Worcester Training Camp…
Curlew A: Stroke: J. Sunderland, I. Strawhorne, J. Monahan, M. Murdoch, S. Mc, S. Bramley, D. Rampulla, C. Garrett. Cox: K. Prescott
Coach: Nick Jupe
Curlew A+: Stroke: J. Hasler, M. Richardson, N. Jupe, J. Bellinger, M. Demircan, N. Druiff, J. Queijas, K. Fitzgibbon. Cox: I. Tovey
Coach: Class of Ray Cassidy 02-13