An event that is returning after a two-year hiatus, Henley Fours & Eights offers the chance for big boat racing over a 3km course down the iconic Henley Reach. Given the fact that is one of the simpler courses in terms of steering, this should mean that results are much more down to boat speed, rather than external factors such as steering. Given where we are in the season, coaches will be looking at this event in terms of selection and testing, as BUCS Head and Head of the River start to appear on the horizon. Band 1 Eights should produce the fastest time of the day, but with different clubs looking to use the race for a variety of purposes, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes will have three crews racing in this category, which, given the proximity of this event to February trials will unlikely contain their top athletes. This in itself shows the depth that Brookes have on an annual basis, as it would be fair to assume that despite this, these boats will be towards the sharp end of the field. With such a large squad it is nigh on impossible to make accurate predictions on speed based off the names given with these crews, but at Quintin Head, Brookes took a one-two in the Championship category. They also took seventh, had a crew racing for time only in Senior Eights and another crew not starting. Whilst these Brookes crews will probably not be quite as stacked due to trials, all three will be up towards the top end of the field.
Leander Club
A name that needs no introduction, Leander will be looking to lay down a strong performance at this early stage of the season. With such a large squad that is stacked with talent, there is no reason to expect Leander to be anywhere but at the top end of the field. After a strong set of results at November trials and Fours Head before Christmas it will be interesting to see how they step on. Leander also boated an eight to race the provisional CUBC Blue Boat at the weekend. From the limited clips on social media, it seems that Cambridge had the measure of Leander, however, these eights will be at different points in their season so it would be foolish to read too much into these results. Rather like Brookes, being so close to the February assessment would lead one to think this will be more of a development crew, but it would be a dangerous game to write them off on this basis.
London RC
A club that is becoming more and more of a consistent presence again on the club rowing scene, London will boat three crews on Saturday. They were a big presence at Quintin Head last weekend, racing eights across Championship, Senior and Intermediate, where they placed tenth in both Championship and Senior. They produced a solid set of results there and will be looking to make a step on with this weekend. Given that there are three boats in Band 1, it will be interesting to see the gaps between these crews. Only one crew is under the same name as Quintin, so I would imagine that this is the first eight from London, and they will want to be the top crew here. It will be interesting to see how they stack up in this field, and how the other two crews go.
Henley RC
Another local name, Henley have started to become more of a consistent presence in the eights field over the past couple of years. Under the guidance of Brookes and GB lightweight oarsman Jamie Copus, they reached the semi-final of the Thames Cup at Henley in 2021. In terms of this season, Henley had decent results in the quad at Fours Head, where they placed sixth in the Championship event, and fourth in the Club event. At Wallingford Head, an eight placed ninth in Band 2, in what was a stacked field that also contained some university crews. It will therefore be a good opportunity for Henley to step on, especially on their home water.
City of Bristol RC
Another developing crew on the club scene, Bristol now makes regular appearances in the Thames Cup or Wyfold and Britannia at Henley. They have an eight racing in this event, which has been put under the initials of the name of it’s first eight shell. Therefore, without a name it is impossible to make a definitive prediction on speed. In terms of results for the club this season they placed third in Band 2 at Wallingford Fours & Eights prior to Christmas, and then placed fourth in Senior at Quintin. Again, for Bristol this will be a chance to develop race experience on the run up to the Head at the end of March, and they will look to produce as strong a result as possible.
Prediction
In terms of the other entries in this event, they come from Marlow RC, Upper Thames RC and Southampton University BC. Whilst they will be strong boats as they are in Band 1, I think the pace of the crews discussed here may be a little too much for these crews.
Being Band 1, this should produce both the fastest times of the day and some of the closest racing of the day. In terms of a prediction for the result I would back Leander to win this. They will be pushed hard by the Brookes crews, for this win, and it will be interesting to see the depth of the squads from both clubs. Behind these clubs I would expect the London first eight to be the top of the club crews, with a close scrap behind with the other London boats along with Henley and City of Bristol.
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