Monarch Rowing Club
Low Cost rowing for associates of Monarch Airlines

NEWS BLOG

Most recent first: (read up from bottom of page for progressive date order).

May 2013. The decision is made to suspend the Club for the time being: the boat was sitting unused at Northampton and it has been too difficult to get a crew together. Work and family committments have had to be put before our Olymipc Dream!

'Dickon' has been sold back to Northampton RC, who were keen to keep their old boat for use with their Novices, so a working future with boathouse storage for this fine wooden boat is hopefully assured for a bit longer yet.

The Club still owns its own Coxless Four, 'Speedy M', which is in dry storage and can still be used if required. Northampton RC have offered us the opportunity to borrow 'Dickon' if ever we want to row in the Northampton Head Race; and Jerry can arrange a boat at Loughborough Boat Club should anyone want an outing. (LBC is positioned near Kegworth just a few miles from East Midlands Airport so might suit anybody based there). So hopefully one day the Club will resurrect itself and race again......!

15 Sep 2012. A busy summer has meant almost no opportunity to train at Northampton (sorry to all new members!). The bad weather during the season has caused many regattas to be cancelled due to high river levels and sodden ground. However, Gavin and Jerry managed to row in this year's 'Great River Race' - 21 Miles up the Thames through central London - in Jerry's converted GP14 dinghy. Another brilliant day in hot sunshine with the crowds out in force lining the river and cheering 'The Monarch Masters' to a respectable finishing position of 251 out of 309, in 4hrs 9 minutes. (Bear in mind we were competing against some very fast cutters, dragonboats, surfboats and skiffs etc)

Our application to row in the Jubilee River Pageant was sadly unsuccessful in spite of the appropriateness of the 'Monarch' name. However, it transpires that no fine boats were selected (presumeably due to risk of swamping) and anyway it was such a miserable day that many crews suffered (genuine) hypothermia whilst waiting to land after the row, so we did not miss much!.

28 Jan 2012 - OUR FIRST RACE! Calm winds, smooth water, and sunny sky makes for a fantastic occasion at Northampton, with more than150 crews racing over the 1800m course. The first race is entered as a Novice boat, a good introduction to the racing experience and atmosphere and timed at 8.03 in spite of a few small 'upsets' on the way down when we were startled by the unexpected roar of the crowds lining the banks (or was a certain person distracted by eyeing up the talent shoreside...?)

Second race is entered as IM3, just one other boat to beat in that category, from Bedford School. We take the silver medal....but a clean run down the course and an improvement on our first time which is shortened to a respectable 7.42. Jerry's pride is retained since for this race he has swapped seats with his Better Half between coxing and rowing. Gavin performs admirably - to be racing cleanly after just 4 outings is a rare achievement. Ed sets a superb tempo but maybe not quite so good with dress sense, and Fred's family cheer him on from the finish line albeit taking the precaution of hiding behind a bush in case they needed to disown us! Scalps: the Northampton University Eight. Humiliators: Stratford-on-Avon Under 15 girls. (Yes but you should have seen them.....)

23 Jan 2012 - We are entered for the Northampton Head Race so this is the dress rehersal: JT roped in to cox today, great course, lovely weather, all looking good for Saturday.

17 Jan 2012 - Rowing cancelled on discovering river completely frozen up with thick pack ice. Is someone trying to tell us something?

03 Jan 2012 - Rowing cancelled due to winds gusting 49 knots

05 December 2011: Once again a new (one-handed) cox, Rob, and Gavin's first outing on strokeside. Just add freezing temperature, gusty headwind, and clownsized shoes. Net result - another fun outing! Photographs later prove it was actually a balmy summer's day with blue skies and boat perfectly balanced. (When stationary...!). Fantastic steering by Rob on his first attempt allowed us to avoid the bank, overtake some swans, and detour instinctively up the small channel that leads to the pub.

07 October 2011: Thoroughly enjoyable outing at Northampton with two new members, Gavin and 'Big' Ed, neither of whom had set foot in a boat before....and who both were rowing really well as full crew by the end of the day. Not forgetting Fred's first appearance as a cox, (due to having hurt his hand...) also very succesful.

Great River Race 2011: "Are we nearly there yet?" (The answer is No!)

17 September 2011: Two club members row in the 'Great River Race' on the Thames upstream from Millwall Docks to Richmond. 22 miles in a heavy but beautiful Drascombe Lugger, taking 4 hrs 20 mins. What a spectacular occcasion, we got the opportunity to examine in detail almost every one of the other 350 assorted boats (as they came past us...!) before receiving the salute from a Civil War cannon at the finish line. Superb!

14 July 2011: Jerry brings home another 'pot' with the Loughborough Boat Club Masters' D Eight at the Stourport Regatta after a dead heat and three medical emergencies. The attractions of Crown Green Bowling suddenly start to loom.

June 2011: Publicity campaign to recruit new members. Suneil is 'headhunted' by BA who are concerned that our boat was getting too fast for their comfort!

11 June 2011: East Midlands Regatta at the national Watersports Centre produces Jerry's first win for 25 years!

It wasn't really that dark, honest...

28 April 2011: Tricky conditions today, with the second outing of 'Speedy M' fighting some awkward crosswinds. Fred finally has a lightbulb moment realising that rowing is 'just like golf' in terms of complexity, balance, timing, and accuracy etc. Not wanting to dishearten him further, the crew refrained from telling him that it is indeed just like golf, but with 8 separate hands on the club simultaneously!

23rd March 2011: Another historic first, our first female crewmember - who showed the lads how it should be done! 1800m time narrowly fails to beat previous record but still a good performance. Fortunately for the absent Suneil, the experiment confirmed that he is slightly stronger than a fortysomething year old lady (but not by much..)!

17 February 2011: For the first time, a serious row with consistent power being available. Northampton Head course of 1800m covered upstream in 7.12 giving a respectable average in excess of of 4.17mps still water. Room for further improvement but at least now capable of competing.

12th January 2011: Succesful outing in new 4- hearafter named 'Speedy M'. Warm welcome to new member TP who since he stopping rowing after Uni has had to do it by himself in his garage (with the help of an ergo and some slide oil). The practise pays off and there is almost a hint of balance in the boat. Scared? No more. Straight line? No way!! Speedy? No doubt!

9th December: The trouble with owning a trailer is that you can use it to collect very long items....like a new coxless four that somehow appears today, ex Oundle School. It's in superb condition but the schoolboys refused to row it because it was wooden. Ed has a better excuse for not wanting to row it: "too scary"!

23rd November: Growing confidence in the boat and the river enable us to enlist a novice cox, thus freeing up Jerry to practise what he has been preaching. (He can't! - but claims he has never rowed on that side before). Racing Starts are coming on well - but was it half half threequarter full or threequarter half half full or why is there so much maths....?

12th November: Somewhat unintentionally, the Club acquires it's own Trailer. Trouble is, we don't need to go anywhere yet. But when we do........

3rd November: First outing with complete Monarch crew - all we need now is a few more strokeside! Chris bravely swaps to The Dark Side to show he can swing both ways.

5th October 2010: Inaugural outing of Monarch Rowing Club - with the help of John from the Northampton Club who kindly jumps in at short notice to cover for last minute sickness (or did Suneil get cold feet?). Fred's blister rapidly approaches Millenium Dome size - obviously he must have girly hands but he claims it was because he was the only one pulling.

9th September 2010: Purchase is agreed for our first 'Spotty M' boat, currently named 'Dickon' and hereafter known as 'Spotty Dickon'. What a beauty - 45 feet of precise German engineering. But does it float? We will either sink or swim (and possibly both).

"Low Cost - High Speed"