The time had come yet again, for our favourite event in the calendar - The Great River Race in London. The concept is simple - 21 miles of rowing upstream with the incoming tide from Milwall in the docklands to Ham near Richmond - approx 330 rowing boats of all creeds churning the waters to froth as they vie for glory and a well earned post-race beer.
2013 would be the first time the RWYC rowers had entered 3 boats in the event - a fact made possible by the addition of Branwen to our fleet earlier in the year. This meant a record number of rowers taking part also - 18 rowing and 5 supporters - this included Barbara who travelled from Paris to row on Macsen and John and Mo who came to lend support and savour the apres rowing. Slightly later than anticipated, all rowers were complete at the campsite in Ham by 11pm on the Friday with all 3 boats having been delivered to Milwall in readiness for the race on Saturday.
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Martin, a model of rowing excellence and a proud
owner of 2 feet the morning of the race
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Having to bus all rowers from Ham in West London to Milwall in the East necessitates an early start just to beat the London traffic. So it was then that we were up for 6am to breakfast and ready ourselves before boarding the red double deckers which departed at 7.30am.
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| Elin and Barbara |
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| Brian and Cara |
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| Trevor and Is |
On arrival at Milwall we set about readying Elen, Macsen and Branwen for the race and also our bodies - bacon sandwiches, tea, coffee, cheese and onion pasties and homemade rock cross buns (courtesy of Pete).
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| Branwen & Elen being readied |
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| Macsen's crew prior to the race |
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| The queue to launch |
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The pre-race scene at Milwall appears chaotic in extremis but in reality, it is a well organised machine that queues the 330 boats and gets them into the water for their allotted start time. Not all 330 boats start at he same time - The Thames just isn't big enough for that. Instead, boats in classes are started simultaneously with each class having a different start time. We launched about 20 minutes prior to our 12.55 start time and care is required to fight the strong tide - a feat Macsen only just manages - having come very close to an angry looking buoy the size of a minibus!
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| Elen mills about before the start |
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| Neil coxing |
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| Rob.....ready to go! |
As the start approaches, excitement and anticipation become unbearable...almost. At last, we are away, rowing madly, working hard, whooping loudly. Great care is required as there are many other boats to collide with not to mention the bridges we must all squeeze beneath and the other river traffic plying their way up and down The Thames. Eventually the field does thin out and each boat conducts it's own race - against the clock, against perceived challenge and against themselves - all you can do is keep rowing as hard as you can manage.
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| Branwen ploughs on in the latter stages of the race |
Eventually the crews realise that the end at Ham is near as the river banks become more suburban in their outlook. And as soon as it began, it's all over and you slip into the mellee that is the gaggle waiting to be hauled out of the water and up the congested bank.
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| The busy scene at the race end in Ham |
Macsen manages 8th out of 17 mixed Celtic Longboats finishing in 2hrs 43min 05secs. Branwen manages 28th out of 36 Celtic Longboats in 2hrs 52mins 43secs and Elen, after a contretemps with a barge, comes in belatedly but unscathed in 3hrs 04mins 28secs. But timings and placings are transitory. What really matters are the participation, the rowing, the friendship, fun and teamwork. Roll on 2014!!
Thanks to Debbie for all the organisation, Pete and Martin for towing, Brian and Sarah for the kit portage, Rob for the transporting, Mark for stepping in at short notice, Mo, John, Meg for their kind support in London and all the rowers for their dedication.
Macsen - Mike, Angie, Neil, Barbara, Rhoswen & Pete
Elen - Martin, Rob, Brian, Sarah, Bethan & Isi
Branwen - Elin, Cara, Mark, Ian, Malcolm & Trevor
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