Starting at Chiswick Bridge and concluding at Hammersmith Bridge, this 4.4km race will pit these J15 crews against each other just a month before Schools’ Head of The River in late March. For these J15 crews, it will be the first highly competitive event of the year, as there are 16 boats entered into the event on Sunday. Results from Hammersmith Head are always a good indication of boat club performance at larger events later in the season, so keep an eye out!
Hampton School Boat Club
This J15 crew recently, maybe unsurprisingly, took gold by over 20 seconds at their home race, Hampton Head. Though not present at Quintin Head this crew can clearly move an 8+, and along with the two other boats entered into this category, Hampton look to be a strong opponent in the field.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
St Paul’s have also entered three J15 eights, hoping to build on the strong foundation set at Quintin Head, with their eight’s finishing 1st, 3rd and 4th respectively. It’ll be interesting to see how St Paul’s match up against Hampton, since both of these clubs have won a big-boat event recently but haven’t squared up against eachother yet this season.
King’s College School Boat Club
KCS have entered two eights which will look to make an impact after the strong team results from Hampton and Quintin Head. Whilst not proving their worth last year at National School’s Regatta with a 3rd Place in the C Final, KCS have gone from strength to strength this season proving a worthy contender.
Radley College Boat Club
Radley have entered just the one eight, hoping to challenge at the front. Despite not attending Hampton Head, Radley’s J15 eights finished within seven seconds of eachother at Quintin Head, which shows strong possibility of matched eights. However this weekend at Hammersmith we have just the one boat entered, which might mean a prelimary crew selection for the season has been made and we’re looking at a stronger top boat now?
Team Keane Sculling School
TKC were present at Hampton Head, finishing in 6th, which shows a major improvement from last year’s 24th place at National School’s Regatta. A good shift from this crew could see them sneak into the top 5 at Hammersmith Head…
Predictions
Looking at previous races, I believe it’ll turn out to be a three-horse race between St Paul’s School Boat Club, King’s College School, and Hampton. The margins at Quintin and Hampton Head, taking into account that we’re racing on the Tideway, aren’t significant enough to show us a clear winner yet, but maybe that’s what Hammersmith Head will do. I predict SPS will take the victory, KCS in second and Hampton in third.
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