Small Boats Head Season (4's Head) 2019

It proved to be one of the most frustrating small boats head season's at City of Sheffield rowing club in recent years. In August the race calendar was set with target races aimed to put the club in a strong position for Fours Head, the last big race of the 2019 and the springboard for the 2020 season.

Due to an act of vandalism at the club, all boats entered into Ancholme Head were scratched. This was as a result of the wheels being stolen off both the clubs trailers two days prior to the race. While the heavy rains this autumn/winter have ensured that our home rowing water at Damflask is providing a 2km stretch of rowing water, it also led to cancellations at both Dee and York Heads.

Fours head is a challenging 4.25mile (circa 7km) race from Mortlake to Putney, representing the exact course of the famous "Boat Race", but in the reverse direction. This is a great chance for crews to test themselves at the national level against clubs they would not normally race during the regular season.

The weather further tried to squash CSRC's racing ambitions with a amber flag being issued in the week leading up to fours head. While the women's 4+ decided to scratch as a result of the forcast poor conditions, the newly formed men's 4-, with only one remaining member from last year's crew making the boat, put in a strong performance.

The men finished 15th out of the 31 crews that entered their category. With a time of 20:24, within a very tight field, only a few seconds faster would have seen them in the top 5.