Kingston Small Boats Head takes place this Saturday over a 5.2km course, starting at Hampton Court. For many WJ15s this will be their first race of this season due to the inclement weather cancelling many earlier events. The results of this race will show which clubs have continued to train with determination and focus despite ongoing setbacks due to the river flow.
Surbiton High School Boat Club
Surbiton are first to take to the course this weekend, and will be chased by Molesey. Their entry of four quads suggest confidence in their depth of squad even this early in the season, justified by their previous results with a win in the WJ14 8x+ at the National Schools’ Regatta in 2024 and a bronze for their second WJ14 8x+ in their race. There is no doubt that Surbiton will be a competitive crew, but their dominance may be challenged by the longer distance in the new head season: last May at the Junior Sculling Head their WJ14 8x placed ninth.
Molesey Boat Club
Next down the course is Molesey, who have a history of producing exceptional scullers, some of whom proceed onto the GB team. With a third place finish in the B final at NSR and a fourth place at Junior Sculling Head, Molesey have showed a strength for longer distance racing. I can see Molesey being very strong competitors and challenging for the top position this weekend, especially with a Surbiton boat setting off ahead of them to chase down.
Sir William Perkins’s School
Sir William Perkins’s School have entered an entire fleet of WJ15 quads, a bold display of their depth of squad.  After a promising season with a 13th and 12th place in the quads and octuples at Junior Sculling Regatta, Perkins’s will be hoping to step up their game once again to make the transition to more senior level racing. Previously Perkins’s have shown a preference for head racing, with a 10th position at Junior Sculling Head in the WJ14 8x+, so given the time to progress and the smaller, quicker boat size, this could be their race.
Lady Eleanor Holles School
Another school bringing four quads to play this weekend is Lady Eleanor Holles. Off the back of a very successful regatta season, with a silver in WJ14 8x+ at National Schools and a first and sixth place in the same event at Junior Sculling Regatta, LEH will have a lot of confidence coming into the start of this season. Plus, with a sixth place at Junior Sculling Head and a fourth and fifth at Hampton Head, they show solid promise for this head season. There is no doubt that LEH will be challenging for top positions this weekend and the closeness of their first and second boat results make me think that they may just claim some of the top positions as a singular club.
Prediction:
- Surbiton A
- Lady Eleanor Holles A
- Lady Eleanor Holles B
- Surbiton B
- Sir William Perkins
- Molesey
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