Nottingham Trent Head 2015
In the first division the women's IM3 8+ came 2nd out of 12 crews in their category, beating the men's IM3 8+. Although this was a fantastic achievement, they were a little disappointed not to have come in first! Congratulations!
The men's IM3 8+ put in a sterling effort. For many this was only their second race in a sweep boat and was a marked improvement upon the South Yorkshire Head only 2 weeks previous. The men's IM2 8+ had a fairly rough outing. After the race their crew had to console themselves with cake back at the boathouse. Some claim not to remember the experience at all...
Unfortunately the second division was cancelled due to high winds. This meant that some of the novice crews and juniors were unable to compete. The Nottingham organising committee were decisive and kept the clubs well informed, choosing to focus on the execution of the third division.
It was during this intermission that Piers and myself headed back to the Nottingham boathouse to stock up on tea and cake. Whilst there we made friends with a group camping out by the fire from Northampton Rowing Club. They gladly shared their fire with us and we bonded over numerous cups of tea.
The recreational coxless four had an enjoyable time in the third division and although they came in wet and cold, they had smiles on their faces. Members of the club were waiting to take their blades and help them off the water as they landed.
Following the end of division 3, Cat McDougall surprised Captain Piers with a spectacular homemade birthday cake. Unfortunately this was to be our only chance to celebrate his birthday due to a prior engagement - something to do with flying to Australia.
Later that evening the club reconvened at Pizza Express in Sheffield to celebrate all the cake we ate.
The club would like to say a huge thanks to Chris Whitehead for trailering and to Liz Brown and the squad leaders for organising entries. Further thanks to everyone that turned up to boat unloading and those helped other crews getting on and off the water. All in all it was an amazing experience and we're looking forward to going back!