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The Challenge Shield |
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Twerton Lock to |
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Friday 21st October Saturday 22nd October We arranged to meet at the boathouse at 9:00 am, most made it and the selected crew of Janneke, Hilda, Pim and Vince set of in Jolly Roger to acquaint themselves with our new stretch of water, Erika coxed! The Minerva crew of Gary, Andy Ursell, Kate and Claire had a quick 30 minute outing and returned full of confidence. Andy Hamilton had arranged to take the Dutch to Solsbury Hill. Hilda was confused as she thought it was somewhere in Africa? mind you she doesn't get out much. The weather as always decided to be kind and made the ascent sunny if not a slight bit breezy. Once up there they could see the city lights, wind was blowing, time stood still. Eagle/Buzzard flew out of the night ? The evening was spent at the new FEAST restaurant in the Kingsmead complex and was very tasty. Six helpings later we paid and set off to the Pig and Fiddle where we drank until closing. For those with more energy, Pim, Vince and Erika, they stayed out until 3:00am at the Delfter Krugg nightclub. Oh dear! did they pay. Sunday 23rd October The race was set for 10:00am, as usual it started at 11:00am. The Minerva timekeepers Ham and Fry equipped with Stopwatches, walky-talkies, paper and pencil set themselves up at start and finish. Due to Janneke straining her back on Saturday, Colin 'The Turn Coat' was slipped into the crew. Alas this played straight into the hands of the dreaded handicap. After lengthy discussions with our performance guru Arnold Cooke, we calculated that this advantage was worth an extra 10% of speed. Now we had a slight dilemma as we knew that Colin wouldn't add that much, well we didn't think he would. Concealed in 4 sealed envelopes we offered the Alkmaar crew a choice of 8%, 6%, 3% or 2%. Choice made the envelope was locked in a secure place, Andy's Wallet. Both crews set off at a fast pace with the Alkmaar crew looking surprisingly fast as they crossed the start line. this slowed as we approached halfway and both crews maintained their distance over the shortened course. With the Handicap turning out to be 3% we headed off to the Boat House to announce the Winners. Minerva solid and dependable had set a time of 9:31. With the handicap of 18 seconds it was in the bag, or so we thought. The Alkmaar crew with their surprise substitution had pulled a fast one, literally. They had crossed the course in an impressive 9:06 and retained the shield. Despite a number of protests and complex re-calculations they had done it. After a traditional Sunday roast washed down with fine ales we said our goodbyes and Andy whisked Hilda, Janneke, Pin and a slightly green Vince off to Bristol to return home with the shield, sausages and Typhoo tea. Climbing up on solsbury
hill Lyrics courtesy of Peter Gabriel (He lives in Bath, not Africa) Thanks to all the hosts, crews, Andy, Chris and the Boathouse Pub. No animals were harmed in the making of this epic tale.
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