Quintin Head is upon us, and with it comes the slew of big boat head racing that will take us to the turn of the season in April. Most crews have been starved of action in the past six months as weather and flooding have scuppered racing up and down the country. Provided Quintin goes ahead – with rain and heavy wind forecast into the weekend – these eights will be raring to prove themselves on the winding Tideway course.
Mortlake Anglian & Alpha
A boat club on the rise, MAA have already recorded some promising results in the 24/25 season, including a category win at Kingston Small Boats Head and a victory in club coxed fours at the Head of the Charles. The club also had two athletes race at the Home International Regatta in July, winning for England in the coxed four. If the sum of these parts are present on Saturday – combined with the obvious benefit of home water – this crew should be quick.
Auriol Kensington
Another Thames-based club pitching in for pennants this weekend, Auriol Kensington will be desperate to bring home the category win here. Another squad growing in stature – on both the women’s and men’s side – four of their squad won at Molesey Regatta in the summer and they also qualified a crew through to the regatta proper in the Copas Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta. If momentum has been maintained into 2025, expect a strong showing.
Vesta Rowing Club
This is nominally Vesta’s second-ranked women’s crew, so expect them to be quick. Since Ewan Murray took over the programme in September 2023, the club have been on an intended trajectory to compete with their noisy neighbours at messers Thames and London. A strong showing in Boston – where their club eight placed third at the Head of the Charles – was followed up with a win in development eights at the Remenham Challenge. Perhaps slightly disappointingly, their first eight was the ninth-fastest women’s crew, behind a slew of Thames and London outfits. They’ll be looking to close the 45-second gap between themselves and the frontrunners this weekend.
City of Cambridge
Perennially in the shadow of the powerhouse programme over at Cantabrigian, City of Cambridge will be eager to step out into their own lane. The Cambridge Rowing Association Winter League has not made for spectacular reading over the past few years but with Cantabrigian not racing this weekend, City have the chance to stamp themselves as the fastest Cambridge-based crew.
Curlew Rowing Club
Finishing as the fastest women’s crew of the day at the 2024 Docklands Regatta, Curlew arrive into Quintin Head in good form. To complement the headship, they also split out into fours at the same event and took gold and silver. Based out near Greenwich, this is another club that is growing slowly in stature and will hope to qualify crews into both Henley Women’s and Royal Regattas in the summer.
Marlow Rowing Club
After pre-qualifying for The Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last season, all eyes will now be on Marlow to see if they can continue to improve their prospects. A win in The Wyfold Challenge Cup for the men put the club firmly on the map for all folk seeking glory at the top level, and now the question will be whether their women – who also have a boat entered in senior eights – have attracted the sort of talent to propel them to greater heights. Depth is key to any successful programme and so the performance of their second crew will be a great indicator of what to expect this summer.
Prediction
The Tideway-based clubs do always have an inherent advantage sy whenever clubs flock to that stretch of water. Vesta, MAA and Auriol Kensington will be keen to press home that edge but their major challenges will likely come from Marlow and City of Cambridge.
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