Monmouth Race Report
Added 17/12/2009 by Lucy Corfield
Here is the Novice crew’s report from Monmouth Christmas Head on Sunday. They won their race in a mixed 8 against a Monmouth crew - They were racing at IM3 as well as there was no Novice competition - Amazing! The reports are done from strokeside (Leander Clarke) on the first half of the day and bowside (Jenny Jansen) on the second half.
 - The mixed eight racing at Monmouth
From strokeside (by Leander Clarke)
The day started in a bit of a blind panic as I dragged myself out of bed and instantly regretted booking a race the day after the club's Christmas party! However, several pints of water, and a bacon and egg sandwich later we (Gavin, John C and myself) were off, headed for the beautiful town of Monmouth for the novice squad's first real competition since the Learn to Row course in September.
Lucy had been putting us through our paces for weeks, and we were privileged enough to have Lizzie Grose coxing us, so spirits were high and we were raring to get out on the water.
Monmouth is a beautiful stretch of river, but very, very fast, as we were to find out later, almost to our peril, when we got sandwiched between two Monmouth crews on the way up to the start.
We arrived at 12 to sort out the boat (and our hangovers!) Once the seats were in and the lucky tinsel on, the team made the most of the club's excellent facilities including ANOTHER bacon sandwich for me and lots of tea for all! As the boating hour approached, we stretched (some of us more inappropriately than others) and Lizzie gave us our last team pep talk.
We boated at 1:30 and once on the water it was clear we were going to have an interesting and exciting race. The current was flowing really fast and with so many boats on the river Lizzie had to use all her navigating experience to stop us crashing before we even started. However eventually we arrived at the start, turned and were ready to put the work on and hopefully win our first race.
 - The Victorious Crew
From Bowside (by Jenny Jansen)
Right, we’re all sat. Still putting all that effort in against the current, but for much longer. Thinking outside the box, or shall I say the boat, is hardly possible now, at least on my part. I am tightly in the ‘AND GO!’ frame of mind. Any previous horror scenarios about another ‘broken seat incident’ have vanished.
“GO!”. Our cox ups the rating and we literally go with the flow. A couple of mini crabs here and there but nothing that can stop us. The only actual crab caught is recovered well and quickly without bringing the boat to a halt. At this point credit should be given to the cheering crowd that starts appearing in the corner of our eyes.
From now on ‘goooo Bristol’ calls stay with us and the finish cannot be far. The tension becomes palpable when stroke starts adding power shouts to the final power strokes.
“Wind it down guys!”. We are past the finish line and hardly a minute to relax as we need to turn around quickly to avoid the bridge. Full crew performs a more or less acceptable spin. The concept of backing down is lost on me by now. Nevertheless, we approach the landing steps safely and even manage to turn our backs and wave our hands for a photo.
“To heads on three!”. Down to shoulders and mind the steps. Carrying the boat back up is much easier without having that notorious dog around and between the legs that kept us company on the steps prior to the launch.
Once the vessel is tied on and seats are tied together everyone heads back to Bristol. A hearty dinner at the Cottage and race recap later, the last men and women standing re-rigg the boat and eventually go home after a long but fabulous and victorious race day. Well done everyone!
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