Race Reports
Bumps 2014
Bumps 2014 came around within a flurry activity this year with both the Men and Women's 1st VIII's looking to hold onto head for a third year running.
The Women's 1st VIII raced strongly and held off a GKT crew that had looked very good earlier on in the year. GKT made their predictable push at Kew Road Bridge in each race managing to come close in the first race, however after that they never moved up again. The Women's 1st VIII crowned off a good weekend with an emphatic row in the 3rd race to hold on to head. The Women's 2nd VIII also had a very successful bumps. After rowing over in the first race two good bumps left them in 7th place going into next year, in doing so they bumped a 1st crew down. The Women's 3rds had a mixed weekend with a row over and 2 bump downs to end 13th, still doing enough to mantain the 2nd highest 3rd crew spot.
The Men's 1st VIII was being chased by an Imperial crew that had been the most successful crew all year. Both crews went off hard however the Imperial crew were just to strong and just before Kew Road bridge they made one move to many and bumped our 1st VIII down. The following two races George's went off hard to try and get back to them however it was not enough and the Men's 1st VIII stay 2nd. The men's 2nd VIII managed to bump up in the first race leaving them chasing ICSM 2nds; the next two races didnt go to plan though and ended up being bumped down twice. The men's 3rd VIII will go down in George's history after winning the first wooden spoon for a while after being bumped down 3 times. Oh well.
Bring on next year, lets hope for more bumps than ever before
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Henley Qualifiers 2013
Before this year no one can remember the last time St George's tried to qualify for Henley but this year we thought it was worth a go. After a few months of hard training following on from Bumps the Mens 1st's found themselves at the start of probably the most historic piece of water anywhere on the planet; 2.2km seperated them from a place in the oldest rowing regatta. Starting in the 3rd wave of crews from the far end of Temple Island, they went of hard. The strategy was simple row hard for the first half then step it up again and again to the finish. The plan was going well when 1/2 way into the race they were approaching the crew in front and leaving the crew behind trailing. After 1.5 km they overtook the crew ahead and starting gaining ground on the next. The mens 1sts kept pushing right to the end before collapsing after the finish. Even after such a good piece unfortunately qualification was not achieved, finishing 25th of the 42 crews and missing out by 9 places and 8 seconds. However they had beaten crews that they had lost to at BUCS this year and had made giant leaps forward. Even with a couple of big personnel changes to the 1st's crew this summer hopefully next year qualification can be achieved.
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Bumps 2013
SGHBC managed to peak at the right time for BUMPS this year with a good set of results for all.
The Womens 1st's managed to retain their headship strongly with GKT falling away quickly behind them in all 3 races. The Womens 2nd's were unfortunate to loose 1 place, having rowed well over the first two races coming close to bumping both times. The Womens 3rd's were again unlucky to loose a place when ICSM 3rd's found a sudden boost in the last race of the weekend.
The Mens 1st's also managed to retain their headship coming under pressure from ICSM 1st's in all races, however they kept calm, rowed hard pulling away in the latter stages. The Mens 2nd's managed to break the 2/3 bump curse from the last 4 years by easily bumping the 3 crews ahead of them within 500m of each race starting to finally win blades. The Mens 3rd's after having a difficult year managed to bump the 3 crews ahead of them to also win blades, and in doing so managed to become the highest ranked 3rd's crew. The men now have all 3 crews within the top 10 UH ranked crews.
Bring on next year!
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BUCS 2013
For our 3rd trip up to BUCS everyone wanted to try and improve on the results from the previous year. With the men sending only the 1st and 3rd VIII this year it was a slightly smaller contingent than previously.
The Men's 1st's looked strong in the time trial on Saturday and did well to contend with such a strong headwind that troubled other crews. After hours of waiting from the race umpire for the results the C final had been achieved narrowly missing out on the A/B semi's which had been the goal. In the C final they started well moving away from the pack with St Mary's College. By the 1km point St Mary's had gained a length on St George's with St George's also gaining a length on the following crews. Not much changed until close to the finish when the 4 chasing crews had done enough to regain overlap with St George's, but it was too little too late and they had cemented 2nd place, 1 1/4 lengths behind St Mary's.
The Mens 3rd's had to wait till Sunday to prove themselves in the Beginner 8 category. With some last minute injuries Ashley and Joe had to be recruited to sub in for the time trial and lane race respectively. The time trial did not go as well as they had wanted over rating and struggling with the still dominate headwind, this lead to them only making the G final. The only benefit of making the G final was the chance of a derby race with local (same boathouse) rivals UCL novices. The 3rd's managed a strong start and were quickly moved a canvas up on UCL and the rest of the field. However disaster struck 40 seconds into the race when a seat came off reducing the boat to 6 rowers, near stationary for 30 seconds and losing nearly 3-4 lengths on the leaders (UCL) and 1 on last place Southampton. They fought on bravely and by the 1km point had moved back into 4th place only a length behind UCL. They kept pushing and with 500m to go were 1/2 length behind the new leaders Liverpool, although all the effort through the middle 1km had left little for the finish with UCL managing to secure victory by 1/4 length from Essex, with St George's 3/4 back in 4th. A very close race given everything that had happened early on.
Watch the exciting comeback on youtube
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HORR 2013
CANCELLED!!!
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Hammersmith Head 2013
It is safe to say that Hammersmith Head 2013 will go down in SGHBC history as one of the best and worst head races that has ever been entered.
The men entered all 3 crews into this race even having to borrow a cox from our veterinary friends.
The 3rd's were in there first major head race after UH head in the build up to HORR and did well to handle the conditions. Let me remind you of the conditions on Sunday, they were terrible. Cold, wet and windy 3 things that make for an uncomfortable race. They raced hard and went well managing to come 4th out of the UL colleges that entered novice crews but not very high up in the overall standings. However after taking on lots of water at the end of the race Simon had to be pulled out of the boat with Hypothermia, but what to do with the boat? In the end it had to be towed back with a launch not the best start to the crews.
Although it did get worse for the 2nds. With a substitute filled crew and very few outings due to illness, injury and poor conditions it was certainly not the best row that could have been achieved. It was stopped early though as the chiswick steps bend what was blocking the river but class IV vessel the Queen Elizabeth. Hold it hard was the call but with the Queen turning fast a collision with its stern and the 2nd's bow was inevitable. Luckily the accident did not cause enough damage to start taking on water but the race was over. The crew slowly limped home.
Things went a lot better for the 1st's though as they battled through the headwind that ran down the Thames. They managed to row the course so strongly dealing with the conditions so well that they won the IM3+ pennant, well done guys. In the process they also beat close rivals ICSM 1st's by a considerable time, hopefully an indication that they can beat them again this year at Bumps.
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WeHORR 2013
This year the women made two boat club firsts. The Womens 1st's achieved their highest ranking in WeHORR to date and the 2nd's completed the race for the first time.
Both crews rowed strongly. The womens 1sts managed to overtake a number of crews on the way to the finish impressing everyone watching on the bank with some very technical rowing. They had dealt with crew substitutions and a new stroke in the weeks leading up to the race well. Overall they finished in 128th place making up 50 on the starting position and 35 from last year.
The womens 2nd's also dealt well with last minute (the night before) crew substitutions including drafting in the mens 1st team cox Jojo. The crew had developed well over the year with a couple of freshers and a couple of experienced ex 1sts. They finished 265th overall making up a 13 places on the start position and doing well within the category. We look forward to seeing how well they can progress next year.
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UH Head 2013
Womens 1st's, 15.36 3rd in Category
Womens 2nd's, 17.01 2nd in Category
Womens 3rd's, 18.16 4th in Category
Mens 1st's, 12.53 2nd in Category
Mens 2nd's, 13.45 2nd in Category
Mens 3rd's, 14.56 4th in Category
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UH Regatta 2013
Mens 1st's beat ICSM and GKT by 1 and 1 1/2 lengths respectively to win the senior category.
Womens 1st's beat RUMs by a canvas to win the senior category.
Mens 2nd's lost to ICSM 2nd's by 3/4 length in the final of the intermediate category.
Womens 3rd's reached the semi final and lost to Royal Vets Novice 1st's.
Men's 3st's lost in the first round to RUMS.
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Allom Cup 2012
Mens 1st's beat UCL by a canvas to win the senior category.
Mens 2nd IV lost to RUMS 1st IV by a 1/2 length in the semi final of the senior category.
Mens 3rd's lost to ICSM Novice 1st's in the first round of the novice category.
Womens 1st's lost to RUMs by 2 feet in the final of the senior category.
Womens 2nd's lost to UCL 2nd's by 1 length in the semi final of the intermediate category.
Womens 3rd's lost to Royal Vets Novice 1st's by 1 1/2 lengths in the first round of the novice category.
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UH Novice Regatta 2012
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Cambridge Winter Head 2012
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