End of Year Newsletter 2014
Welcome to the final newsletter of the year and what a year it has been! As 2014 draws to a close we can boast more members, more boats and more trophies than ever before.
It has been an exciting year for the club as a number of grants have allowed us to purchase more equipment which has meant more rowing opportunities for our ever increasing membership. We now have six boats: Watch and Pray, Blackbird, Churngold, Odessa, Ladye Bay and the smaller flash boat. All have been put to good use for training and competing over the racing season, which has been a rewarding one.
The season started out with the dreaded selection process. Once crews were in place training started in earnest and in March the A and B crews headed to Caradon for the first race of the season: the gruelling six mile Three Rivers Race where the Ladies B crew finished 32nd out of 55 and Ladies A came 35th, with just 5 seconds between the two. The men also had an excellent race with the A crew finishing the race in 51mins 22 seconds and the B crew following 57 seconds later.
The next major event was the World Championships in the Scillies in May. Clevedon fielded thirteen crews in the club’s fourth year at the event, a far cry from the small group of travellers who crossed over to St. Marys on The Matthew in 2010. The club posted some of the best results ever with Ladies A going up 22 places from 2013 and Men’s A going up
14 places. Men’s B won their group and proudly took their place on the podium at the awards ceremony.
The Ladies Super Veterans had an impressive result coming 8th out of 14 along with Men’s Super Veterans A who finished 7th out of 23, and Men’s Veterans came 13th out of 44. With improved results in so many categories, Clevedon continues to steadily climb up the world rankings.
As the summer went on, Clevedon took part in ten regattas and brought home a good number of trophies. There were wins at Teignmouth for Ladies C, at Appledore for Ladies B and Men’s A, and at Brixham where the newly formed U14 crew stormed to victory.
The County Championships in Newquay in September marked the end of the season. Clevedon fielded four Ladies and four Men’s crews making us one of the largest clubs on the circuit. All crews worked extremely hard in choppy conditions. Ladies A got through to the second round for the first time finishing 42nd, Ladies B came 54th, Ladies C 90th and Ladies D 94th. In the men’s event the A crew came joint 44th, B 66th, C 72nd and D 78th. The two weekends concluded the season but the fun didn’t stop there as in late September rowers from Clevedon took part in the Great River Race on the Thames, seen here. They joined 330 other crews from all over the world rowing in a variety of craft such as dragon boats, Hawaiian outriggers and Celtic longboats. The course is 21.6 miles long, starting in Docklands and finishing at Ham, near Richmond. It was hailed a great success and looks set to become a regular fixture.
To mark the end of the season the annual dinner dance took place at Princes Hall. Members were invited to nominate rowers in various categories in advance and the awards ceremony was a very entertaining affair. Congratulations to all the winners.
As winter drew closer the inevitable selection tests reappeared and crews have now been provisionally set for the Scillies next May, with one more round of selection to finalise them in February. Good luck to everyone involved!
The final highlight of the year was the firework display over the Clifton Suspension Bridge to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Four Clevedon gigs rowed out with our friends from Bristol Pilot Gig Club to watch the spectacle from under the bridge. Despite the cold a fantastic night was had by all, with wonderful views of the event from the water.
And so it has been another busy year for the club. We look forward to another successful season in 2015 and aim to do our club, town and county proud. As ever we would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support, and also our supporters, we couldn’t do it without you.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.