The weekend 5-7th May was pretty eventful for QMULBC. For the first time in an unknown number of years Queen Mary headed up to the exotic National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham for the 2012 BUCS Regatta.
Holme Pierrepont; renowned for calm waters and 40+ temperatures, seemed to be suffering from some uncharacteristic weather. On Saturday Beginner races were cancelled due to high winds, meaning the only Queen Mary crew competing was the Women’s Intermediate Coxless Pair of Leah Kindleyside and Kate Ryde. Their first heat saw them finish 3rd, thus qualifying for the Repechage, although a 5th place finish unfortunately did not see them through into the final.
Sunday saw the Men’s Intermediate Coxed Four of Oliver Ramsay, Dustin Mackay, Nick ‘Batman’ Charman & Jack Thornton (Leah Kindleyside cox) unfortunately not making it through the time trials.
Monday saw the most eventful of the three days, with heavy fog in the morning causing both terrifying driving conditions for President Dom coming in from Doncaster, but more importantly delaying morning time trials. BUCS officials decided that all events would be time trialed with no seeded crews. The Women’s Intermediate Coxed Four of Leah Kindleyside, Kate Ryde, Sinead Kennedy Krebs & Melissa Mayer (Laerke Blom Madsen cox) were first to hit the water in their unsuccessful attempt to qualify for their final. Next up was Harry Fletcher and Michael Willis in their Men’s Intermediate Coxless Pair, who put in a strong performance but unfortunately did not make the cut.
Not so much a coxbox as a fog horn…
While results did not go our way, the BUCS Regatta was a large stepping stone for QMULBC in our aim to establish ourselves as a quality university boat club.
Next up is Nottingham City Regatta where QMULBC will be returning to the National Watersports Centre, trading in Sky Sports’ ‘Day of Destiny’ for their own glory. Watch this space…