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The Challenge Shield |
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Twerton Lock to |
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After picking up 8 from Bristol Airport we headed for the Pulteney Arms to meet the rest of the Dutch contingent ( 4 who flew into Bournemouth and the 2 that drove). Starting early we drank and ate until closing time, a theme to be repeated for the whole weekend. Saturday 30th September Suitably refreshed and topped up with a good old fashioned "Full English" the Alkmaar rowers got a chance to practice and hone their rowing skills before settling into the boathouse pub for more beer. The Minerva crew didn't bother, why ? couldn't get a crew together. However, they did have a beer. With the opening of the Bath Spa only a month earlier we decided, rather than tire the Dutch before Sunday's race we would relax them in style. After initially not being keen, it soon became clear that there was more to the Spa than first thought. Anton was particularly impressed and reclined on one of the recliners to admire the scenery. For two hours we soaked and steamed in the various pools. Suitably relaxed, you guessed it, the young Dutch Lads (Pim, Daan, Jelle and Vincent) head for the pub The Evening.... after meeting at the Salamander for a quick drink, we headed to the Eastern Eye for a traditional English Curry. Set meal for 34 was a delight, polished off with a number of large Indian Beers. Due to inclement weather we finished the evening off in The Raven with the more adventurous heading to MOLES, eventually getting home at 04:00 am. Sunday 1st October Due to the late finish the night before, we decided to start the Challenge Shield race at midday. Even with this late start half of the Dutch Quad crew were nowhere to be seen. Belatedly they arrived looking very worse for wear, and Erika didn't look good either. To cut a long story short we assembled at the start, Minerva 8 first, Alkmaar 8 second, followed by the Alkmaar Quad. Andy Wallis, Official Starter for the day, set the crews off at 30 second intervals. Minerva flew off the start at 36 strokes/minute, Alkmaar followed briskly at 28. The Quad somewhere in between. By the end of the Avon straight it looked very close and it was difficult to say who was winning. Minerva were still rating at around 32 approaching the railway bridge, when disaster, plonker cruiser driver decided to pullout in front and stop the crew, with slight panic we managed to avoid a collision and after what seemed an eternity got going again. Had it cost Minerva the shield, only time would tell. At the finish it was difficult to say who had won, the gaps being maintained over the length of the course. The only real clue to the result was the fast finishing style of Minerva compared to slow tired look of both Alkmaar crews. Had the previous late night excesses proved decisive??. We finished the afternoon off with a fine barbecue with burgers from our very own Jamie Oliver (Andy Ursell) and yes, a few more beers. The scratch regatta planned was scratched due to lack of enthusiasm and too many burgers eaten. The evening venue was Bar HaHa. After a very nice meal we were ready for the result. Due to EU Regulations and new Age Discrimination rules the decision to run the race with no handicap was overturned. Due to the age of the Alkmaar Veterans a EU approved rate capped handicap was applied after a very complicated voting system. The same one in fact that voted out the EU constitution that we are still getting, another one of life's great mysteries. The peak rate of each crew was recorded by an independent adjudicator during the race. Minerva 8 - 35.80 Strokes per minute Alkmaar 8 - 28.00 Strokes per minute This resulted in a 7.8 second penalty for every minute of the Minerva crews time. Amazingly this amounted to 78 seconds, the biggest handicap total ever known in the history of the Challenge Shield. The Quad, whilst not having an handicap, successfully argued for 30 seconds to be deducted due to Erika being so hung-over. Alkmaar's 8 handicap adjusted time was
(11.29.26 – 78 (yes, 78) Seconds): 10.11.26 Alkmaar's Quad handicap adjusted time (10.47.90 – 30 seconds): 10.17.90
THE RESULT
Crunch time, Minerva's superior rate stole the
day with a fantastic time of 10.09.76. Yes, we had done it, despite
being stopped by the cruiser we had retained the Shield. We were delighted this
year to have "H" from STEPS to present the Challenge shield, we also presented
Alkmaar with a Picture of the Shield, just in case they forget what it looks
like. WINNERS - MINERVA BATH To finish off the night in style we search Bath for a late night drink, you would think with all the bad press about binge drinking etc we would be spoilt for choice, NOT... The only pub open was O'Brians, O'Flarity's or something like that. Bursting to the door we squeezed in and continued to drink until the wee hours of Monday morning. Daan and Jelle kindly decided to bring Chris Fry a present, some sort of potted plant ? The Bath Police Force persuaded them that this was not a good idea and they sensibly put it back. Monday 2nd October 2006: The weekend had taken it's toll and the Bristol party were very quiet on the trip, Pim and Vincent looked very green and Daan was whiter than a ghost. Jelle was as happy as a pig in ???? and ate anything and everything put his way. The weekend was a great success and we hope the Dutch enjoyed it as much as we did. The challenge has been laid down for next years AA race, and to make things more interesting it's over a Queens Day weekend. OH NO !!!! see previous years reports for an idea of what can go wrong on Queens Day. A special thanks to all of those that helped organise the weekend, Erika, Wendy, Becci, Andy Ursell, Gary John, Chris Fry, Julie Whetherly. To those that put people up, again. Becci and Gary, Mark Smith, Erika, Sharky and Chris Fry. Thanks to The Pulteney, Bath Spa, Eastern Eye and Bar HaHa for putting up with us. And finally to anyone else who helped on the race day and those that came along to support the race day. Click here for the race photographs. THE END |