With Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head being raced this weekend over 2000m, the course will be reminiscent of Regatta season pacing-wise, however with the contrastingly different head race format. This could cause a stir for any crew if they need to overtake or clash with another crew, compared with the fairly safe straight line adapted in the regatta format. With the crews being coxed, the 11 junior boats will have to work even harder to shift the weight of their cox, though this could be compensated by a good line if an experienced cox is at the helm of the boat.
The Windsor Boys’ School
A titan in junior boys’ sculling, Windsor Boys’ School has done it all this year, achieving a double Windsor final at the Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley, several wins at the British Rowing Junior Championships as well as a plethora of medals and trophies at regattas across the country. With a great example set by the older athletes, the relative newcomers to the sport will be able to see what it is all about, perhaps tasting victory as well on race day. With 4 out of the 11 boats racing from Windsor Boys’, the club looks to be testing out new crews against each other in a competitive environment ahead of boat selection for the rest of the season.
Norwich School
Maintaining a fairly low profile since a bronze and gold in the J15 eights at the 2017 National Schools regatta, Norwich School will be looking to take back a lead as the new school year progresses, developing a strong contingent of J15 scullers. With four boats entered, the school seems to be following a similar pattern to Windsor Boys’ by putting out their whole junior squad to see who delivers the best results.
Bedford School
The 6th oldest school boat club in the country, Bedford School have prestigious alumni including double Olympic Champion, Jack Beresford and Phelan Hill who coxed the British eight to gold at Rio 2016. With the club being based on the racing stretch of the river, they have the obvious home advantage but the calm nature of the river Ouse, as well as the minimal bend in the course, could not provide as much of an advantage as training on rivers such as the notoriously challenging Thames would give.
Predictions
With schools starting up again after the summer break, it is clear to see them putting out a great quantity of boats before these get whittled down to a top boat into the new year ahead of the main races. Although they may seem like novice scullers, rowers in these events may go onto big things in the future making smaller events pivotal in gaining racing experience. All that being said, to put a name down to likely take the win for this weekend would have to be Windsor Boys School as they continue to be a step ahead of the rest of the field especially when sculling is involved.
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