Castle to Crane 5 miles from Home

 

Cherub and crew took part in the Castle to Crane 5 miles from Home event on Friday 18th September and stopped in the Commisioners' Cut for a restorative having sculled the 5 miles (Whitlingham to Barmerton Common and back) in 65 mins and 19 secs. 

Rowed boats of all sorts had been taking part from Tasmania to Orkney and I was pleased that there were some other Thames skiffs included.

Although Cherub was the slowest of the Thames skiffs, we were only a minute behind the slowest racing skiff and I put that down as a success. 

Carrow Cup 2019

It can't be Christmas without the Carrow Cup, which will be held on Saturday 7th December on the river Wensum in Norwich. This year's entries in the "Traditional" boat category are:

Carrow Cup 2019 PROVISIONAL Starting Order andTimes
Number	Name	Club	boat	boat name	rowers	Wm
1	Holliday	CRA Blakeney	St Ayles skiff	Hoi Larntan	4	4	11:30:00
2	Windham	Norfolk Skiff Club	Thames skiff 22'	Seraph	2	0	11:30:20
3	Borgnis	CRA Blakeney	St Ayles skiff	Bluejacket	4	0	11:31:20
4	Cutting	Lower Thames RC	Celtic Longboat	Ceilidh	4	2	11:31:40
5	Cutting	Lower Thames RC	Celtic Longboat	Victory	4	2	11:32:00
6	Cutting	Lower Thames RC	Lara Skiff triple sculled	Renown	3	0	11:32:40
7	Williams	N. Norfolk gig club	Pilot gig	Sowenna	6	0	11:34:20
8	White	Benfleet YC	Seax gig	Rozinante	4	2	11:34:40
9	Elliott	Broadland BC	Tub pair	Stu,Phil	2	0	11:36:20

Festival de Loire d'Orléans 2019

The river festival at Orléans on the Loire is held every two years. This year boats from the Thames and elsewhere in England were invited and Cherub, a double skiff built in Richmond upon Thames in the 1890s, was included.

Carrow Cup 2018

Benfleet Rowers. Worthy winners

 Once again crews from far and near met in Norwich for the Carrow Cup Race on 8th December. Blades Rowing of Dartmouth made the long journey from Devon to defend their winning position in 2018. Crews from Benfleet, Lower Thames, Blakeney, North Norfolk Gig Club and Norfolk Skiff Club were ready to row over the traditional course from Bishop Bridge in the heart of Norwich to Broadland Boat Club in Thorpe St Andrew.

North Norfolk Gig Club in Sowenna

Waiting for the start; it could be July.

 

Jo and Jake join Norfolk Skiff Club veteran Fran in Seraph

 On the second Saturday in December every year, Norwich Rowing Club invites rowers in fine and traditional boats to race on the river Wensum, continuing a tradition, which started in the early years of the 19th century.


The (second) Carrow Cup Trophy, originally presented in 1813, is awarded to the fastest four oared boat. In 2013 The Norwich Society gave a new trophy for the fastest "traditional" boat on handicap and it was this fine silver bowl, The Bi-Centenary Trophy, which would be the prize.


The weather was blustery, but dry. Under supervision of the starters and marshals from Norwich Rowing Club, the crews were set off at intervals, because the course passes through bridges and narrow sections of river in the first few hundred metres.


Once past Carrow Bridge the faster crews were able to overtake the slower. Blades, who had started first reached the finish line without being overtaken. Benfleet in Rozinante
charged impressively through the fleet to finish first on corrected time.

The Warns family in Seraph put in a good time, gaining a place for Norfolk Skiff Club. This year Blades had to settle for second place.

Lower Thames approached the event in the right spirit, reserving enough energy to continue rowing past the finish line. They were booked in for a Christmas Dinner at The Ferry House in Surlingham.

Lower Thames in colourful kit.

Anta gives the Blakeney crew some last minute instruction.

 If you are interested, the results can be seen on the South East Coastal Rowing Forum Facebook page.

You're heading the wrong way Lower Thames.

Carrow Cup 2017 results

Winners, Blades of Dartmouth

It was cold, cold, cold on the River Wensum for the 2017 Carrow Cup Race on Saturday 9th December. Hardy crews from the local rowing clubs were joined by visitors from Dartmouth, North Berwick, Southend, Leigh on Sea, King's Lynn and Blakeney. 

King's Lynn winners for couture

Numbers in the traditional race, for fixed seat boats without outriggers, were slightly reduced this year, however ten assorted skiffs and gigs mustered by Bishop Bridge, built in 1340 and witness to Carrow Cup races going back to the early 1800s.

As before the "traditional" rowers compete on handicap for the Bi-centenary Bowl, which was given by The Norwich Society in 2013 to encourage use of the River Wensum in Norwich and to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the existing (and second) silver Carrow Cup.

North Berwick in Eton skiff Seraph

In the event, Blades of Dartmouth, who had made the long journey from Devon were too strong for last year's winners, Lower Thames Rowing Club, and for the North Berwick pair, who were beaten into second place. The 30 second winning margin appearing to contradict the neck and neck struggle witnessed by spectators on the bank.
Southend junior girls put in a good time amongst senior (and in some cases very senior) opposition.

Southend in Rozenante

The local Derby between Blakeney and King's Lynn in their St Ayles Skiffs was won by Blakeney, but King's Lynn had a deserved place on the podium for their Christmas Fairy costumes. Perhaps rowing in wings was not an advantage.


Vanessa Trevelyan, chair of The Norwich Society, presented the Bi-centenary bowl to the Felton Flyer crew and David Bolton, chairman of Norwich Rowing Club, invited everyone to return to Norwich for The Carrow Cup 2018.

Lower Thames prepare by Bishop Bridge

The name of Blades of Dartmouth will now join those of Lower Thames Rowing Club and Langstone Cutters Rowing Club on the silver bowl.

Carrow Cup 2017 Traditional boat Result				Elapsed	Corrected
	Club	Boat type		Time	Time
Peters	Blades Rowing River Dart	St Ayles skiff special	Felton Flyer	00:21:51	00:19:00
Wightman	North Berwick RC/NSC	Thames skiff 22'	Seraph	00:22:47	00:19:30
Packer	Lower Thames RC	Hanningfield Hy gig	Spirit of Trafalgar	00:22:36	00:20:28
Gardiner	Lower Thames RC	Hanningfield Hy gig	Proud Mary	00:22:13	00:20:39
Hodge	Norfolk Skiff Club	Thames skiff 26'	Cherub	00:23:29	00:20:58
White	Southend CRC	Seax gig	Rozinante	00:24:12	00:21:29
Forrest	CRA Blakeney	St Ayles skiff	Hoi Larntan	00:26:23	00:22:23
Howes	CRA Blakeney	St Ayles skiff	Bluejacket	00:25:45	00:22:25
	Kings Lynn CRC	St Ayles skiff	Ouse Rewet	00:27:20	00:23:11
Jackson-Smith	Lower Thames RC	Hanningfield Hy gig	Spirit of Dunkirk	00:24:31	00:23:22

Carrow Cup 2017

Nights are drawing in and, as temperatures fall, the autumn calendar proceeds from Halloween to Guy Fawkes Night, Advent and Christmas.
But, for rowers there's another important event to be remembered, The Carrow Cup, when crews in a variety of ancient and modern boats take to the River Wensum in the shadow of Norwich Cathedral to race for The Carrow Cup and Bi-centenary Bowl.
Once again Norwich Rowing Club has invited traditional boats to compete for the trophy given by The Norwich Society for the bi-centenary of the Carrow Cup in 2013.
This year the event will be held on Saturday 9th December. Further details will be available later.

Carrow Cup 2016 Results

Here is the result of the 2016 Carrow Cup Traditional Boat Race for the Bicentenary Trophy.

Traditional boats muster for the 2016 Carrow Cup

No.		Club	Boat type	Boat name	rowers	Elapsed time	Corrected time
233	Peck	Lower Thames RC	Lara skiff	Hornet	3	00:22:19	00:18:22
235	Dunmow	Lower Thames RC	Celtic Longboat	Victory	4	00:21:47	00:18:22
232	Large	Lower Thames RC	Lara skiff	Leigh Ho	3	00:22:29	00:18:30
240		Southend CRC	Loddon Skiff	Silverback	2	00:21:51	00:19:41
238	Riddle	Lower Thames RC	Hanningfield Gig (Spirit)	Dunkirk	4	00:23:03	00:20:05
231	Combe	CRABlakeney	St Ayles skiff	Hoi Larntan	4	00:24:39	00:20:14
239	Nawrat	Lower Thames RC	Hanningfield Gig (Spirit)	Proud Mary	4	00:23:21	00:20:20
241		Southend CRC	Seax gig	Rozinante	4	00:24:02	00:20:24
236	Hodge	Norfolk Skiff Club	Eton 2X+	Seraph	2	00:24:08	00:20:39
237	Forrest	CRABlakeney	St Ayles skiff	Bluejacket	4	00:24:35	00:21:14
234		King's Lynn CRC	St Ayles skiff	Ouse Rewet	4	00:26:00	00:21:54
230	Harris	Norfolk Skiff Club	Faering	Raineach	2	00:29:56	00:22:29
243	Meakin	Norwich RC	2X+		2	00:19:38	00:18:33
244	Livesey	Broadland BC	2X+		2	00:30:52	00:32:25
242	Frost	Mersea CRC	Hanningfield skiff		2	DNS

Once again Lower Thames Rowing Club swept the board taking the first three places in the sixth year  in modern times that "traditional"boats have taken part in this historic event. The traditional course follows the rivers Wensum and Yare through the centre of Norwich, finishing at Thorpe St Andrew. Jonathan Hooton, chairman of The Norwich Society, presented the impressive silver bowl, which had first been given by the society in 2013 to mark the bicentenary of the Carrow Cup Race.