Here we go. After the brutal racing on Friday at qualifiers, the 24 crews who will contest the Fawley Challenge Cup are now known, and following Saturday’s draw, the Wednesday races have been confirmed, along with a potential road to Sunday’s finals. The Fawley often serves up racing that would, to the untrained eye, be of a standard far beyond Junior athletes. Nevertheless, with such a high standard, this event provides some of the tightest racing in the regatta, and this year is sure to be no exception. The Stewards have selected 8 of the 24 crews, all of whom will start their regatta on Thursday.
Wednesday’s racing
The first race in the top half of the Fawley draw is between Bedford School and Tideway Scullers ‘C’. Both of these clubs have qualfied multiple crews, with Bedford having a quad and the 8+ in the PE, whilst Scullers have 3 crews in the Fawley. This race should be a good one, with Bedford’s quad having performed well all season, taking a win both on home water at Bedford Regatta, runners up at Reading Town Regatta. They also placed well in the B final at National Schools’. Marlow Regatta saw a B final win in Tier 2 4x, so this is clearly a solid crew. Tideway Scullers C came through the qualifiers on Friday, and seem to be a crew moving well evidenced with a solid showing at Marlow. This race will be a good contest, but Bedford should take it.
The winner of this race will go on to face the first of the selected crews, Henley ‘C’. Henley have all 3 of their crews selected, which is unheard of in a single event. This selection is interesting, given Henley came through Friday’s qualifiers but they are a solid crew. They won the B final of J18 4x at Marlow, in a time that would have put them in the mix in the A final and will doubtless provide a stiff test to whoever they face.
The second race in the top half of the draw sees Star Club up against Tideway Scullers ‘A’ This should be a race that Tideway Scullers will be expecting to win. They are an established crew who have been together for most of the year and have produced some good results. They qualified for the B final at National Schools but did not race their final, This result was improved upon at Marlow, where they finished 5th in the A final, so this crew seem to still be picking up speed. Star Club are another crew who came though Friday’s qualifier. This crew finished runners up at Bedford Regatta, and will be a good unit, looking to spring a surprise on Wednesday.
The winner of this contest will go on to face Leander Club ‘A’ Leander come into this event as the favourites for many, and it will be interesting to see how they cope with this pressure, as a club who never seem to quite clear the final hurdle at Henley in the Fawley. This could well be the crew to change that. Having won the Schools’ Head, they were pipped by Henley at National Schools’ in a surprise result. Marlow Regatta saw a comfortable win in J18 4x by 11 seconds over their own B crew. This Leander crew will certainly have eyes on Sunday, and will be contenders to win it.
The third race in the top half of the draw sees St Peters College from Auckland in New Zealand against St Pauls. This Kiwi crew may well think themselves hard done by not to have been selected by the Stewards here. Domestically, they have raced in a coxed quad, with a 5th place finish to their name at the Maadi Cup on Lake Karipiro. They seem to have made a smooth transition to the coxless quad, taking the win in both Schools and Open quads at Reading Town Regatta in the lead in to Henley. They face what is the second crew from St Pauls below the PE 8+. This is a crew who have been formed post National Schools, and took a 6th place finish at Marlow, and booked their slot with Friday’s qualifying results. This should be a win for St Peters, as they should have a greater amount of cohesion as a result of having been together for longer, as well as carrying some good form into this race
The selected crew who lie in wait for the winner of this contest are Leander ‘B’ Not to be outdone by Henley, Leander also have both of their crews selected in this event. This is a B crew that will get one over on many an A crew, and they will be hoping to do the same again here. They won National Schools’ gold in the 2nd 4x event, and then followed this up by finishing 2nd at Marlow in the A final to the Leander A crew. This will also be a crew with eyes on the latter stages on the regatta.
The final race in the top half of the draw puts Clydesdale ARC against Hinksey Sculling School. The sole Scottish representatives in this event, Clydesdale qualified for the B final of Ch 4x at National Schools’ where they took a 4th place finish and 10th overall. They were unable to race at the Scottish Championships due to illness, but have done enough to secure pre qualification. Hinsksey on the other hand are a crew who came through Friday’s qualifiers to secure a first ever race at Henley for Hinksey. They have a series of reasonable results to their credit this season, with a 5th place finish in J18 4x at the Met regatta, and backed this up with 4th place in the B final at Marlow. I would expect Clydesdale to have the measure on Hinksey here, and progress to the Thursday.
The winner of this race will be pitched against the final selected crew in the top half of the draw, Lea RC. Lea have had this quad together all season, and have been under the guidance of the new junior head coach Martin Cambareri, who joined from the Argentine national squad. This Lea quad has been at the top end of the quads event this year, with a 4th place finish at National Schools’ (albeit with a large crab in the closing stages) and took 5th in the B final in Ch 4x at Marlow regatta, with a time that would have been in the mix in the A final of J18 4x. This is a crew who will want to maximise their potential and will be eyeing up the weekend.
Scotch College look to be the favoured crew for their match-up against Sir William Borlase, with the logic that they would not have travelled so far without the ability to make it a few days in. That being said, Sir William Borlase have had an above par season and will bring it to the table, but, Scotch are likely to be the crème de la crème in this race, at least. It will be riveting to see how the Aussie crew will fare against the Henley boys on their home stretch.
They’ll then meet Henley ‘A’, who have been a continuously strong outfit throughout the season, undoubtedly deserving pre-qualification. Their campaign has accrued a multitude of winning results, with an especially notable win at National Schools Regatta in the Ch4x A final. They have the bye and will be raring to race down the course against either Scotch College or Sir William Borlase School.
Walton Rowing Club have had dominating performances this year, coming 6th in the A final at National Schools Regatta, after placing behind the TTS ‘A’ crew in the time trial. I think that Walton will edge this contest against Tideway Scullers C, but it’ll be a massively competitive race, definitely one to watch!
There will be some vigorous proceedings, with Henley ‘B’ bargaining the winner of this race. Henley have a great depth within their squad and their ‘B’ boat are rapid, as shown by their performance at Fours Head. Both TTS and Walton will give Henley a strong challenging for the procession through to the Friday.
Gloucester came 5th in the A final at Nat Schools and will therefore be challenging for the win here. The Frankfurters are renowned for reeling out a mass of great scullers, year after year. It is exciting for them to GERminate along the Henley stretch this year, and I’m sure that Gloucester will have a tough challenge on their hands. It is likely that the Germans will be the bucketing best for this one, but Claires Court School will be waiting for them on the Thursday.
Claires Court School will have a tough day on Thursday, as both crews are fierce opponents to compete against down the Henley stretch. As long as they keep their composure they’re likely to continue to the Friday. They have fielded strong crews year on year, but have recently had a lapse in the wake of Star and Arrow, Windsor Boys and Maidenhead. Can they replicate their former glory days this year?
I’m going to predict that the true northerners – Christina Roklub – will triumph against those from County Durham. Chester-Le-Street have been unlucky in the draw, and have matched against a crew from a club with a great ethos, who consistently produce great scullers. That being said, those hardy faux-northerners have performed exceedingly well on the northern circuit, and will unequivocally fight for the vinne (win, in Norwegian). This’ll be a great race to watch.
The scullers from the river Erne at Enniskillen Royal Boat Club will be excited for a run out down the 2,112-meter course on the Thursday. They’re a stalwart crew and will be fresh out of the blocks after the opponents have endured an exigent battle the day before, consequently, it’s probable that they’ll bounce through to the Friday of racing.
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