Only in it’s second year, the Junior Sculling Regatta doesn’t seem to have attracted the same competition in the draw as the Head back in March, since this category is missing entries from key clubs such as Headington and Henley. However, there should still be some competitive racing for the top spots here and it will be a good indicator for the imminent National Schools Regatta.
Bryanston School
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence of Bryanston racing a quad yet this season other than at SHORR, where they placed near the middle of the field at 19th out of 29 crews . They raced a J16 4x last summer at NSR, where they placed 5th in the C final. Presumably this crew contains mostly these same J16 girls now up an age category, so they will likely struggle to keep up with the faster pace set by the likes of Marlow and SPGS.
SPGS
SPGS competed recently at Wallingford Regatta, racing well to place 3rd in a time trial due to bad wind conditions. This was a much better performance than at the Junior Sculling Head, where they placed a disappointing 13th considering the potential they seemed to have shown earlier in the season. This crew will be aiming to place a lot better here as we begin to look ahead to HRR qualifications, potentially challenging Marlow for the top spot.
Star Club
Similarly to Bryanston, this crew don’t seem to have raced a quad consistently this season after scratching at Hampton Head. They did race at Bedford Regatta last weekend, making the semi final there but being beaten by Great Marlow School by 2 lengths. They don’t seem to have raced in either J16 or J18 quads at last year’s National Schools Regatta, so this appears to be a relatively new category for this crew. For that reason, I don’t imagine they will manage to be competitive amongst these crews, but there should be some good racing amongst some clubs such as King’s School Worcester and SWP B.
Sir William Perkins A/B
SWP raced two quads at both the Scullery and Wallingford. In the Scullery, their top quad placed 10th, the second best placing out of the crews this Sunday, with their second quad placing a much less competitive ranking of 25th. However in the challenging conditions at Wallingford, which was therefore reduced to a time trial, SWP didn’t have as strong a performance, finishing 8th in a much smaller field, with their second quad finishing 12th. Due to the more similar times between the two crews at Wallingford, I suspect SWP didn’t have their strongest performance, and will be looking to place well on Sunday in their first side by side race.
Marlow
Marlow’s quad has had a strong start to the season, with a bronze medal in WJ184x+ at Head of the Charles and a 2nd placed finish at Four’s Head in junior quads. They had a slightly weaker result at the Scullery, finishing 5th in a very strong field. However as they were faster than everyone else entered in this event, they will be looking to put down a solid win to start the build up to National Schools in 2 weeks time.
Kings School, Worcester
KSW boated a WJ174x at the Scullery, finishing with a time that would have placed them 21st in WJ184x. With an 11th placed finish at Wallingford, KSW have been consistently finishing slightly ahead of Sir William Perkin’s B boat, and there will be some tight racing between these two crews.
Prediction:
1. Marlow
2. SPGS
3. Sir William Perkin’s A
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