Town boat club secures the ‘Head of the River’ title
A LOUGHBOROUGH Boat Club crew rowed the overall fastest time and claimed the title of ‘Head of the River’ in the Great Ouse Marathon.
Ruaraidh Little and Tom Schofield teamed up in the Open Senior Double Sculls category and completed the 22 kilometre course between Downham Market and Ely in just one hour 35 minutes, more than five minutes ahead of the next quickest boat. This was a huge achievement against a field of 112 boats entered by 33 different rowing clubs from across the UK.
A strong southerly headwind wind blowing straight down the course produced challenging conditions for all the crews and overall times were significantly slower than previous years; however, it is highly likely that in still air conditions Ruaraidh and Tom’s time would have been the fastest ever in the history of the event.
Four other Double Sculls from Loughborough had also entered the race, with Cathy and Annie Beaumont at Masters ‘A’ (1hr 57), Tilda Haines and Hannah Ferris at Intermediate 2 (2hrs 03), Mike Targett and Scott Ferris at Masters ‘C’ (2hrs 15), and Emily Senior and Beth Henry at Womens Senior (2hrs 23). All four crews fought bravely to finish the course, with the wind conditions being particularly disadvantageous for the lighter crews.
Tim Ives competed in a single scull, perhaps the most difficult of boats under these circumstances, and finished in 2hrs 10 minutes in spite of being hampered by floating weed.
The Masters D Coxless Four (Keith Hudson, Charlie Henry, Andy Martin and Jerry Heygate) fared somewhat better in their more stable wooden boat which rode easily through the wind and waves. Their time of 1hr 45 minutes put them in a very creditable eighth place overall. Club Captain Keith Hudson said: “All our crews put in a huge effort over the entire course. It was disappointing that the wind precluded any chance of a course record but hopefully we’ll all be back for another attempt next year.”