Rutherford Head hosts an agglomeration of university eights who will be promptly chased by the junior eights. The 4500 meter course will bestow some nasty corners to the coxes. With 5 relatively evenly matched entries into this category, the racing should be truly enthralling. The weather looks likely to be bad, but the northerners are used to the rain and wind so they should fare well.
Queen Elizabeth HS BC
Queen Elizabeth had a great result at Tyne Long Distance Sculls, with 6th overall and a win in the J17 4x, beating the Durham ARC who are also racing here. Anderson had a mesmerising performance on the 2k r24 trial and therefore the boat looks to be set with talent. The majority of the crews entered into this category have been sculling thus far into the season, so it will be interesting to see how they cope in this discipline.
Chester Le Street
Chester Le Street have had a decent start to the season, with a win under the name of Adamson at South Hylton Long Distance Sculls in the Single. Adamson came 5th in the A final of the Ch 1x at Nat Schools last year and consequently will be leading the squad with his vast experience. They also had a win in the Op J16 1x under the name of Cleugh, which should augur well for them. However, the rest of their squad is an unknown entity, so it is difficult to predict a clear outcome.
Yarm School
Yarm School have been relatively quiet on the Northern Rowing scene thus far. They were knocked out on the Wednesday of the PE at Henley last season, and came 3rd in the J15 4+ B final and National Schools’ Regatta too. Their quad made it to the Friday of racing in the Fawley, where they lost to a strong Walton crew. This shows that they have a depth of pedigree and that they should have a strong outcome here. They will be feeling confident ahead of this.
Durham ARC
Durham have been flaunting their strengths throughout the Northern Rowing LDS Series, with a dominating win at South Shields in the Op J18 4x-, which replicated last year’s outcome. They came two places behind Queen Elizabeth HS BC at Tyne LDS so they will be filled with adrenaline at the thought of revenge here. They have only been sculling thus far so, again, it will be riveting to see how they do here in a different category.
George Watson’s College
Not much is known about the Watson’s 8+. They had a multitude of very strong results at the Strathclyde Park Regatta, Scottish Championships and the Scottish Indoor Championships, including a win in the Novice 4x+ and a second place in the J16 1x at Strathclyde Park Regatta. It will be great to see how they place against those that have raced consistently through the season so far. I foresee a strong result.
Predictions
It is hard to predict the results of these squads due to the lack of knowledge of the components of the eights, as well as the lack of racing thus far in this category. However, I think that Yarm School are very likely to take the win, with Durham ARC or Queen Elizabeth slotting in behind. Watson’s and Chester Le Street are also likely to be strong and that is why it is so hard to predict.
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