Hampton Small Boats Head 2018 – Open J17 Singles

The 3000 metres of the Hampton Small Boats Head course are always very tightly contested, and with a huge number of crews entered into the event as a whole, it should produce some very exciting, and competitive racing. Many of the 17 entries into J17 Men’s Singles will be racing coming off the back of EID’s last weekend, so it will be another great opportunity for those who perhaps didn’t perform as well as they hoped at trials to step up to the plate and produce a quick time down the track.

Rob Roy Boat Club

This Cambridge based club is not one that I would usually preview, as they are not known for producing top athletes, but their one entry, Brett Taylor, has an impressive history of wins in the single, with a win at Junior Brit Champs, in the J16 Singles over the summer, against some pretty major opposition, in a time of 8:08. He was also at EIDs at the weekend, along with one of his teammates.

 Nottingham and Union

Once again, although not usually producing athletes competing at the highest level for their age category, Nottingham and Union have an impressive athlete in the form of James Forward, who came in 2^nd at Junior Brit Champs this year, 4 seconds behind Brett Taylor, so he will be looking to change this on Saturday, by reversing their previous result.

 Walton Rowing Club

Walton have 2 singles entered- the first of which is Robinson, who sat at bow in Walton’s Jun Champ 4- which came a very respectable 5^th at Fours Head, as well as in a pair which came 3^rd in J18 Club 2- at Pairs head. I imagine that the other entry from Walton, Casemore, was also in some of these boats, but is probably the slower of the 2, given their recent results at their home event of Weybridge Silver Sculls, where Robinson came 1^st in J17 Doubles and Casemore 3^rd. Robinson also had a successful season as a J16 last year, placing 4^th in J16 4+, and 5^th in J162- at NSR.  However, they’ll both be looking to up their game and produce a fast time down the course.

Stratford upon Avon

So far this season Hodson’s results have been fairly unremarkable, with a 49^th in J18 Singles at Henley LDS, and a 26^th in J17 Singles at Wallingford LDS, representing King Edward VI School Boat Club, but he is apparently just returning from injury, so it’s slightly unknown as to how fast he can really be.

 Hampton

Hampton also have only one entry, with HAM Saul- an athlete who I really can’t find out that much about, other than that he stroked Hampton’s J16 8+ last year, to what I imagine was a disappointing 4^th in the B final at NSR. However, as stroke man, he could be one of the most technically able of the J17 squad, so he might be fast in a single, and will be looking to announce himself onto the J17 circuit.

Windsor Boys School

With a reputation for producing excellent scullers, and with 2 consecutive Fawley wins under their belt, Windsor Boys will be looking to assert their dominance on the junior sculling circuit early and have 3 entries into this event. Potts raced in their J16 8+ and 4- at NSR in the summer, also recently picking up a win in J18 Doubles at Bedford SBH and coming 11^th overall in J17 Singles. Walker raced in their J16 2^nd 8+ last year, and recently came 4^th in the J18 Doubles, and 8^th in J17 Singles at Bedford. Finally, also at Bedford SBH, Hennessey-Hunt came 18^th in J17 Singles. I expect Potts, or Walker to be the fastest out of these crews from Windsor Boys, and they’ll both be trying to challenge for the top spot.

Emanuel School

Emanuel have 4 entries, with Olby immediately appearing to be the fastest of these, with a 7^th in J17 Singles at the highly competitive Wallingford LDS, as well as a 4^th in J18 Doubles at the same event, and a 2^nd in J17 singles at Bedford SBH. Zagorac also has similar results, with a 15^th in the single at Wallingford, a 7^th in the doubles and a 5^th at Bedford. The other two entries, Kitchen and Bligh also competed at Bedford, with Kitchen 4^th in J17 Singles, and Bligh 2^nd in J18 doubles. I think that although, once again Emanuel don’t feature that much on the junior circuit, these scullers, particularly Olby, could do very well at the weekend.

 Henley Rowing Club

Henley have two crews entered, Overturf, and O’Reilly, both of whom appear to usually row with Maidenhead RC, or at least did last year, as they both raced in Maidenheads J16 Coxless Quad at NSR this year, placing 4^th in the B Final. Therefore, I think that these guys probably won’t be right at the top end of this race, but could be close behind.

Predictions

I would expect Rob Roy’s Brett Taylor to take the win, closely followed by Nottingham and Union’s James Forward. I think they will then be followed by Emmanuel Olby, with a mixture of other Emmanuel, Windsor Boys and Walton boats following after that. However, as always, one of the other crews mentioned could come out with a very quick time, as could Lea Rowing Club, who also have two entries into the event.

MarginalGainz

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