British Rowing Masters Championships 2025

Our own Conor Burgess, and our ex-own Steven Andrews, competed in the British Rowing Masters Championships. You can read all about their success in Steven’s post (they also went on to win at Henley Masters).

Meanwhile, the ladies also went, with Rachel reporting on fb: “What a day! Well done the Masters women 50+ crew who raced at Nottingham in the British Masters. Conditions were "tricky" a great race and a 4/6 finish with barely a bow ball between 3rd and 4th. And well done the masters women 36+ for driving to Nottingham to cheer the above race and move a boat, and then drive home again after our race was cancelled because of the wind.”

Racing Round-Up: October-November 2024

Lots of Chesterton crews have been racing over the past month or so. Here is a brief round-up of how we did. But first some pictures:

Small Boats Head, 5 October 2024

Eight crews raced the 2600m River Cam course:

Women Novice 4x- (S Felicity Parker, 3 Marija Milosavljevic, 2 Angela Barkes, B Rachel Newby). A great race from the Novice 4x- crew coming first in their category. Time 13:36.3

Women 4+ Senior (cox Karen Momber, S Louise Atkin, 3 Beccy Garrill, 2 Christina Wuensche, B Gill McGuire). Another good race for the 4+ crew who won pots – the first for most, and probably due to them being chased by a 4x- crew of 16-year-olds! Time 13:25.0, Adj 13:07.0

Mixed 2x- (Lorraine Turvill and Steve Humphrey). Lorraine and Steve raced in Pye & Mash and came second in their category. Time 13:35.5, Adj 12:46.5

Women 4x- Superhoops (S Lorraine Turvill, 3 Dawn Hawkins, 2 Anne Roberts, B Meg Richards). Superhoops had a good race coming second in their category to their rival crew Quadrangle from Champs. Time 13:44.2, Adj 12:40.2

Women 1x- (Felicity Parker). Felicity raced as a single scull and came third in her category. Time 16:05.9

Women 4+ Masters (cox Rachel Newby, S Christina Wuensche, 3 Karen Momber, 2 Vero Escudero, B Caroline Coetzee). The Masters 4+ boat had a good solid race coming third in their category. Time 14:43.5, Adj 13:54.5

Men 4- Skip One (Ralph, David O’L, Jon H, Willam) A reasonable row for a scratch crew and considering David’s first time racing on bowside.  No steering incidents for a change! First in category. Time 11:51.9

Videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1x_BlvWjq8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJTRK3Yw8Yw

Men 4- Skip Two (Paul H, William, Dave R, Simon) 

First in category. Time 12:39.8

Autumn Head, 12 October 2024

Chesterton entered five boats, racing over 2600m on the River Cam.

Men 4- Skip Solo (Ralph, Harry, Klaus, Dave R) A good row (in practice for IVs Head) despite the rate not being high enough for Harry.  Dropped to r28 around corners, mostly around 30ish with splits at or below 2:00 down the reach.  Slight skirmish with the bank at the finish line probably cost us a few seconds - but happy that we beat the 8+! First in category. Time 11:22.5

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErCuer1E3P4 

Men 8+ Late 8 (Simon, William, Paul H, Luke, Dave B, Owen, Nils, Roberto, Alex Caz) More ergs needed - at least Owen removed his anorak before racing! Fourth in category. Time 11:48.8

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLTrNqun11c 

Women 8+ Senior Moments (cox Meg Richards, S Lorraine Turvill, 7 Sarah Burgess, 6 Louise Atkin, 5 Beccy Garrill, 4 Christina Wuensche, 3 Karen Momber, 2 Eszter Campbell, B Anne Roberts). It was a solid and consistent race for the senior crew, coming second in their category. Time 12:06.4, Adj 11:34.4

Women 8+ Inglorious Masters (cox Karen Momber, S Claire Hancock, 7 Cecile Gani, 6 Mareike Collis, 5 Sigita Siliunaite, 4 Vero Escudero, 3 Kate Winter, 2 Shonu Das, B Caroline Coetzee). Despite the deteriorating weather in Division 3, the Masters crew had a great race showing commitment and responsiveness.  Time 13:05.6, Adj 12:33.6

Women 4x- Superhoops (S Lorraine Turvill, 3 Dawn Hawkins, 2 Anne Roberts, B Meg Richards). Looking strong and together Superhoops beat their rival crew, Quandrangle from Champs. Many congratulations to them! Time 13:19.8

Isle of Ely Head, 3 November 2024

With five crews entering, it was a good day of racing at the Isle of Ely Head for Chesterton.  It was a super early start for the rowers in the first division with races starting at 9am, but the crews were rewarded for their efforts.

Mixed 2x- (Lorraine Turvill and Steve Humphrey). Lorraine and Steve raced the 3km course in Pye & Mash, coming first in their category. They were pretty much the fastest boat that morning, coming second only to an 8+ of boys!  Time 13:02.87, Adj 12:07.87

Women 4+ Novice (cox Rachel Newby, S Caroline Coetzee, 3 Karen Momber, 2 Vero Escudero, B Sigita Siliunaite). The novice 4+ also raced the 3km course coming first in their category. Time 14:58.95, Adj 14:13.95

Three Chesterton crews raced the 5km course:

Women 1x- (Felicity Parker). Felicity raced as a single scull coming third in her category behind 99s. Time 28:19.57

Women 4+ Club B (cox Nicky Mathew, S Sarah Burgess, 3 Gill McGuire, 2 Christina Wuensche, B Jo Raskin). The senior 4+ crew had a great race, with first off-Cam racing for three of them. They stuck to their race plan and came first in their category. Time 24:21.25, Adj 23:42.25

Women 4x- Superhoops (S Lorraine Turvill, 3 Rachel Newby, 2 Anne Roberts, B Meg Richards). The Superhoops crew started strong but unfortunately were forced into the reeds by an overtaking crew. Even so, they came first in their category beating the Isle of Ely. Time 24:03.42, Adj 22:39.42

Winter Head, 9 November 2024

Five Chesterton crews took part in this exciting, drama-filled Winter Head event racing over 2500m on the River Cam. 

It was a busy event with over 50 boats taking part in each Division. There were only around 10 seconds between crews setting off and with many crews not being from the area and maybe not so used to giving the racing line or enough space to allow safe overtaking. This meant more clashing of blades than we would usually expect!

Men 4- Club B, Skip (S Ralph Hancock, 3 WIlliam Connolley, 2 Klaus Okkenhaug, B Dave Richards) An early start for the men who gave a strong performance racing in Division 1. Despite getting confused and thinking they were in Bumps, leading to a mild clash of blades with another crew, they came second in their category. Time 10:39.2

Men 8+ Club B, Radio Pye (cox William Connolley, S Simon Emmings, 7 Dave Richards, 6 Owen Walker, 5 Chris Wood, 4 Paul Holland, 3 Jon Hatchett, 2 Dave Byrne, B Alex Cazacu) Came third in their category. Time 10:21.5

Women 8+ Club B, Senior Moments (cox Meg Richards, S Lorraine Turvill, 7 Sarah Burgess, 6 Louise Atkin, 5 Beccy Garrill, 4 Masha Netchaeva, 3 Gill McGuire, 2 Eszter Campbell, B Jo Raskin). A strong performance from the Senior Moments crew in an exciting race, and clashing with St Ives, who had not pulled over to allow room for overtaking. Senior Moments came fourth in their category, and were very pleased with their race, annoyingly two seconds slower than the 99s crew. Time 10:58.8

Women 8+ Masters E, Inglorious Masters (cox Anne Roberts, S Claire Hancock, 7 Karen Momber, 6 Vero Escudero, 5 Sigita Siliunaite, 4 Christina Wuensche, 3 Kasia Barbusinska, 2 Shonu Das, B Caroline Coetzee). A super race by the Masters 8+ crew coming second to Champs only by two seconds! Time 11:30.7, Adj 10:44.7

Women 4x- Masters E, SuperHoops (S Lorraine Turvill, 3 Dawn Hawkins, 2 Anne Roberts, B Meg Richards). Another strong performance from the Superhoops crew in an exciting race, coming second in their category. Time 12:02.4, Adj 11:14.4

Well done to all crews taking part!  More to come over the Winter months.

99s’ Autumn Regatta – 8 September

It was a lovely day of racing today on the Cam. It was really nice to go out and have the opportunity to do some regatta racing without having to go off Cam and a good experience for those who had not experienced some really close combat side by side racing. All races were 500m sprints along the Long Reach.

Masters E 4x: Str Lorraine Turvill, 3 Anne Roberts, 2 Rachel Newby, Bow Meg Richards

The women Masters E 4x- went off first bathed in glorious sunshine at 9:03am, racing on the Meadowside. After a rather adrenaline-fuelled start, we settled and walked home with a 3½ length lead over Milton Keynes and through to the semis!

This time, in the semis, we were on the towpath side and against Peterborough. We had a much more controlled start and we walked onto a good rhythm. It was a much tighter race - absolute side by side racing. Unfortunately, Peterborough squeezed us across the river and although there were no clashing of blades it was enough to cause us to have a run in with some brambles protruding from the bank which upset our rhythm. After a reset we finished just ¾ of a length behind. 

Masters E 8+: Cox Felicity Parker, Str Anne Roberts, 7 Karen Momber, 6 Angela Barkes, 5 Cecile Gani, 4 Christina Wuensche, 3 Kasia Barbusinska, 2 Veronica Escudero, Bow Shonu Das 

Masters C 8+: Cox: Meg Richards, Str Lorraine Turvill, 7 Katherine McLoud, 6 Sarah Burgess, 5 Beccy Garrill, 4 Louise Atkin, 3 Rachel Newby, 2 Masha Netchaeva, Bow Jo Raskin

There was no other CRA competition for our two women's 8s, so we raced each other!  The intraclub women’s 8s raced at 14:00. the Masters E 8+ on the towpath side coxed by Felicity, and the masters C 8+ on the Meadowside coxed by Meg. The race was handicap adjusted with Masters E going off 8 secs ahead of the Masters C. 

The race was incredibly tight and a fight to the end; the Masters C crew crossed over the line a mere ¼ of a boat length ahead of the Masters E crew. It was a fun day and a really positive way to end this term of the Chesterton Women's captaincy for Karen Momber.

Peterborough Summer Regatta – 10-11 August

Chesterton entered four crews in the BR Peterborough regatta. We had two bright sunny days on the racing lake and had a fun time racing three other boats in lanes side-by-side, something that we don’t get to do so often racing on the River Cam. We also enjoyed making friends with the local seal family who came to say hello.

Saturday 10 August - racing was over 1000m

M2x- Masters E, Str Lorraine Turvill, Bow Steve Humphrey

A great effort from Lorraine and Steve, coming third behind Bewi Bridge and Tyne ARC. They achieved a good result considering they were racing against two all-men crews.

W4+ Band 3, Cox: Meg Richards, Str Lorraine Turvill, 3 Beccy Garrill, 2 Louise Atkin, Bow Rachel Newby.

It was a close race with the Senior Moments crew closing down the leaders City of Oxford and we came a close 2nd by 1.8 seconds. The winning crew complained that we make them work hard!

Sunday 11 August racing was over 500m

M2x- Masters E, Str Lorraine Turvill, Bow Steve Humphrey.

Lorraine and Steve got up bright and early for a second race in the 500m at 9am on Sunday, this time in open mixed doubles. After a tricky first few strokes they got into a good rhythm and were gaining ground only for the backstay to come adrift. This put them off their strike but they got it back together to finish 3 rd in their heat, but not slowest of all the heats. Well done Pye & Mash!

W4+ Band 3, Cox: Rachel Newby, Str Kasia Barbusinska, 3 Caroline Coetzee, 2 Sigita Siliunaite, Bow Ross Volpi.

A very good effort by the Connect 4 crew who came third in their heat.

Mixed 4x-, str Dave Richards, 3 Rachel Newby, 2 Steve Humphrey, Bow Meg Richards

The last race of the regatta for Chesterton RC. The Fourless crew were just pipped by the Norwich crew who, it must be pointed out, were all in their 20s and 5’ 10” plus. They should have absolutely creamed us, but we gave them a run for their money!

Win for Chesterton at The Great Ouse Marathon 2024

On the First Sunday in September the Isle of Ely Rowing Club hosts the Annual Great Ouse Marathon. The marathon starts at West Norfolk rowing club, 50 metres upstream from the iconic Denver Sluice that regulates the passage of the Great Ouse to the North Sea. After a rolling start the river Great Ouse winds 22km through the Fens toward Ely.

The Chesterton crews entered this year were Felicity Parker in a single scull and Steve Humphrey and myself, Lorraine Turvill in a Mas E Mixed Double Scull.

It was with some trepidation that we headed to WNRC on a fine morning. Steve and I have been rowing together as a Mixed Double for a little over a year and we’d come a long way since our first race together, a 550m sprint at the Cambridge Autumn Regatta almost a year ago to the day. We’d completed just a couple of long rows in preparation for the race, to try and ingrain that light and fluffy rhythm which is usually suggested for a race of this length, but mainly we’d tried to protect our hands in preparation for the long row.

With a last banana stuffed into my mouth we were off. We established a strong pace and a good rhythm but it was very promptly interrupted as we headed for the bank and got stuck in the reeds. Not a good start.

While it’s tempting to sprint ahead we kept in mind that it’s a marathon, endurance being the key. We stuck to our planned rhythm, focussing on consistent strokes and steady breathing, our heartbeats in sync.

Steve was in bow and expertly navigated the boat around the bends. We began to pass a few boats and a couple of faster crews slowly gained on us. We passed under Ten Mile Bank bridge and The Ship pub marking halfway. Our timings were good, helped by a gentle ENE breeze passing half way at 50 minutes, much faster than one hour we’d hoped for. We’d stocked the boat with bananas and gels and talked about stopping to refuel but we both felt strong and decided to press on not feeling the time taken stopping would be worth the added boost of fuel.

As we passed under Littleport Bridge we had the famous 5k straight to go to the finish. At this point there are distance markers every 1km. We began to count them down. At this stage muscles are starting to ache and blisters are starting to make their presence felt and we had to dig deep, pushing through the pain. We’re not just racing against others, we’re racing against ourselves, our limits and our doubts. Together we rallied through the fatigue, pushing our bodies to the max. With the finish line in sight, we poured every ounce of strength into our final push. As we crossed the line, realisation hit us, we did it!

We drifted to a stop and as the adrenaline seeps out of us, every blister and muscle is hurting as we row back to the boat club. With the boat out of the water and finally refueling with sausage rolls and cake we look at the results. Our final time was 1 hour 43 minutes. Ten minutes faster than our nearest rival. We’d won! Unlike the usual pots as prizes Isle of Ely gives the winners trees! We picked up a Malus Sylvestris (Flowering Crab Apple) and a Betula Pubescens (Downy Birch) which we’ll plant in the garden to remind us for years to come of our first win together.

CRA town bumps 2024

Well, here we are again: town bumps. Overall results: O4 - up 3; W3 - up 3; M3 - down 1; W2 - down 1; M2 - down 3; W1 - up 2; M1 - down 1; Overall +2, and 4th in the John Jenner trophy! O4 was Christ’s staff; M1 rowed in Christ’s lovely Filippi. Compare: 2023, 2022.

When not rowing I (William) was droning (occasionally at the expense of my stated marshalling and poling duties, but there was always someone there); my playlist is here. That list has a few from Jo; see more of her’s here.

Of M1

Crew: cox: Theo von Wilmowski, stroke Harry Bulstrode, Jon Hachett, Conor Burgess, Jonathon Pilgrim, Lars Okkenhaug, David O'Loughlin, William Connolley, Klaus Okkenhaug.

Tuesday: GPS. Harry's GoPro. Grey, stopped raining, river up. Arrived early for warmup on ergs and quick starts together. Good start outside Plough (1:25). Four minute gun just as we came onto station, mild panic but plenty of time. Ever so slightly over-angled at start, but start good, held City much better than expected, got 1 1/4, perhaps 1 length at end on Press, but alas they were by no means slow. But around First Post City got their act together and started coming up, and they got us between the Plough and Ditton. Note: they ended up with blades.

Wednesday: GPS. Harry's GoPro on my rigger. 6:59 (1:46). Nice Wx. I'm feeling slightly hassled due to my marshalling stuff-ups, but much less nervous than yesterday. Less faff on meet, but did some starts on the ergs. Decent row down, and the race... went all according to plan. Which doesn't often happen at bumps. We stayed on station with City for a while, they took out Press later than I expected, where they got us, and Nines weren't ever a threat.

Thursday: GPS. Harry's GoPro on JP's rigger. 7:02 (1:47). Another nice evening, perhaps even a touch on the warm side. The race again much as expected: in that - alas - we didn't catch Press or even get close; perhaps slightly unexpected was Nines rudely charging at us towards the end, but they did not pose a real threat. If they get encouraged and start their run-up a bit earlier tomorrow we might have to work harder.

Friday: GPS. Harry's GoPro on Theo's back. 7:02. A slightly duff start: we hit the end of the chain, bounced gently and turned a bit, and a slight wind blew us towards the shore, so that Harry's first stroke got a little caught on the weeds and we went down to bowside (this felt huge at the time but you can barely see it on the video). We recovered, but one or two more less-but-still-slightly duff strokes got us a not-tip-top start. However, it didn't matter: despite my unvoiced fears, Nines behind us did exactly the same as yesterday and waited until too late. Ahead, we didn't really sniff Press. And after the start we settled nicely, I front-loaded my effortly slightly as an anti-Nines anticipation.

Of W1

Crew: cox: Meg Richards, str: Lorraine Turvill, Rachel Newby, Eleanor Gordon, Beccy Garrill, Mareike Collis, Sarah Burgess, Louise Atkin, bow: Jo Raskin.

Tuesday Bump Up: First night for W1, and as we settled at our starting position 14 nerves were riding high, but we had a decent start at the canon with good build on our pace. We quickly closed in on Rob Roy 2 and we caught them in the Gut, just past first post corner. It was a bit of a surprise for

us and we were of course overjoyed. It was the first willow for W1 since 2018, first bump for several crew members and also for our boat Annie Eliza.

Wednesday Bump Up: Feeling buoyed by our Tuesday night success we were (ever so ever so cautiously) feeling anything could be possible while we did our pre-race planks. We did a great start outside the Plough, to our delight, and we rowed up to our new starting position 13. A shorter race this evening, slightly slower pace, but we delivered another bump to the Xpress1 crew just before first post corner where all chaos ensued resulting a broken blade (not ours, nor our fault!).

Thursday Relaxed Row Over: On setting out for our third outing of the week we weren’t sure what to expect on this lovely warm evening, but doing the maths we thought our worst outcome would be a row over. From position 12, we started well and eagerly built to our race pace and got in our stride. It soon became apparent that the two crews in front and the two crews behind had bumped out; once we were sure the coast was clear, we enjoyed a row to the finish allowing ourselves to take the rate down a few pips.

Friday Excruciatingly Close Row Over: Once again starting at position 12 we prepared ourselves for a ferocious final night. Our confidence boosted over the course of the week, we set our sights on bumping Nines 2 - a poignant race as we go into battle with a few old Chesterton crew mates in the boat ahead. We had a cracking start at the gun and we executed our plan to mow down our rivals, chomping up the space between our two boats. We got to about ¼ length between us, their cox was looking around anxiously as the whistles sounded, we so nearly got them… Alas, after our planned 4-minute attack, Nines pulled slightly ahead and we battled on for the rest of the course but we didn’t manage to catch them. It was a good fight well fought and we were proud of our week’s achievements despite not quite making the final bump we were after.

Back at the boat house prosecco was had and Annie Eliza got the christening she never had when she first joined the club. It was an exciting, exhilarating - if excruciating - crescendo to a fun bumps week!