The second head race of the season took the club down to Saltford just outside of Bristol for the Monkton Combe Head race. A total of seven UoG crews entered, all racing the 3,300m long course.

The first boats to set off in the morning division were Megan in the W.IM2 1x, Zoonagh in the W.IM3 2x, Marcus in the Nov 1x, and Connie, Harriet, Kim & Amy in the W.IM3 4x-. Marcus was the first boat to leave the start line, keeping a good pace through the 3,300m course, completing it with a final time of 16:12. Marcus was closely followed the women’s quad. Although their competition was hot on their stern, the girls held them off by upping the power of their strokes through to the end, finishing in 15:11. Next through was Megan in her single, again putting in a good performance with a time of 17:04. Unfortunately due to a technical issue with their boat on the row to the start line, Zoonagh were unable to race back, but with both girls racing again later in the day, this allowed them a good opportunity to map out the course.

Following the morning division, Connie and Kim were back on the water again this time as a W.IM3.2x for the midday division. Racing the long course again, both girls regained the energy from their first race; putting in a great performance and overtaking a couple of boats along the way including a 4! They completed the race in 16:01.

The final division of the day saw Zoe return to the water as a W.IM3.1x, Oonagh and Megan as a W.IM2.2x and Marcus and Al as an IM3.2-. First to set off from the start was the men’s pair, putting in the fastest UoG crew time of the day at 14:46. Next through was Oonagh and Megan, putting in an equally fast performance of 15:46. Finally was Zoe, who was racing in a single for her first time! Her usual style of long strokes with bursts of power saw her complete the distance in 16:39.

A good day of racing for all crews with some things to come away with and work on, ready for the next race! Thank you to Monkton for hosting the event, Gloucester RC for boats and trailer, and Upton RC for lending us an extra 2x! Remember to keep an eye on our website for future updates; you can always sign up to get future emails updates below!