Deben Challenge 31st March

A reminder that (weather permitting) the Deben Challenge will take place 31st March. 11 club members have accepted the challenge and will row the navigable length of the Deben twice, starting from Felixstowe Ferry at 9am, rowing up the river to the iron bridge and then all the way back to the start again.

Do come and cheer us on from the banks near the clubhouse or at the Wilford Bridge (eta 10.30-11am), even if you aren't able to take part. Those of us that are still standing by the evening will also be having a celebratory drink or two in the Cherry Tree (Woodbridge), so do join us to hear all about it!!

AM

A BIG day for CLIO

More fantastic news from the weekend - Clio won both the WJ13 and WJ14 1x events in the Cambridge Junior Head on Sunday!!! These are brilliant results and I'm sure there'll be many more to come. Clio was also the best runner-up for her steering around that infamous bend - clearly all that practise of negotiating buoys, sand banks and yachts on the Deben at low tide, and with strong winds has paid off!
WELL DONE!!!

AM

A BIG day for WILL

I'm sure everyone in the club would join me in wishing Will a very HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY. I hope he had a lovely weekend and hasn't been thinking too much about slippers an pipes!

As for the rowing on Saturday and Sunday I think you would all agree it's been a little difficult. Maybe it's because I'm used to the lovey sedate rivers of Herefordshire, but if this weather doesn't improve I'm going to go crazy. I felt cheated by it today - waking up and seeing the brilliant sunshine led me to believe rowing would be a joy, I should have been able to tell by the trees arched over that it would be a windy one! Well done to all who went out today though; I chickened out and went for a run instead.

Next weekend (weather permitting) should see a number of us becoming Sons and Daughters of the Deben in the 'Deben Challenge' - more details of what we need to be thinking about over the 22 miles will be emailed this week. I'm hoping that certain members of the club who have links with news and broadcasting are sharpening their pencils to write an article for the local paper!

See you all on Saturday,

OT

17th and 18th March

A little round-up of events over the weekend for you...

Those brave enough to put up with the wind on Saturday had the bonus of some expert coaching from Michael Streat (see calendar for details of next sessions).

Jane took part in the Women's Eights Head of the River Race on the Thames. Her boat (from Rob Roy) finished number 103 out of nearly 300 crews, which is an oarsome result - well done!!

Clio's junior trial in Peterborough has been postponed, but I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing her "good luck" for next time!

AM

Cambridge Winter League III & "Deben Challenge"

Hello! My first entry on our new blog!! And I'm in the fortunate position of having the final leg of the Cambridge Winter League to report on...

Congratulations are in order for everyone who made the effort to turn out through the winter to train and race in this series. I'm delighted to announce that we even have an event winning crew - Roger & Ken were the fastest Mens VetC 2x, so well done to them!!!

See those two guys there...don't look like they're taking it very seriously do they? That must be the secret to success! (Oh, and the cigarettes help too.)

Results from the whole event can be found here:

http://www.cra-online.net/results/2007/wl_results.htm

***

Now that the Winter League is over and it's a few weeks until the next race, it seemed like a good opportunity to find another goal to work towards...so we're planning the Deben Challenge. The idea is to start at Felixstowe Ferry and row all the way up, past the rowing club, to the Iron Bridge...and then all the way back!! This is a fantastic chance to see the river at its best, before it gets cluttered up with big yachts and toursits, and if you do the whole thing you can become a Son or Daughter of the Deben. We might even get some special t-shirts, so put it in your diary NOW (see calendar below) and dust off your padded seats!

AM

Well this is the start!

Today at the club I have been inspired by a photo! I saw the old image of the rowing boat, pulled along on a horse and cart with 'Deben Rowing Club' written on the side (photo to follow when I get it!); I never realised I was rowing in a club steeped in history. I would love to see the club thrive again and promote rowing within Woodbridge, with a bigger boat house, new boats, more members, more wins and better facilities - "if you build it, they will come" (Kevin Costner - Field of Dreams). Who knows, we may even catch some new members from the University in Ipswich. A UK known head race would be nice too; something like the Boston Marathon - Head of the Deben maybe?

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, down to why I want to start this Blog. TD mentioned he would like an updated web site for the club but I thought we could use this as an alternative. Using this Blog we can let all the members know about up and coming events, I'm trying to find a web based calendar we can link to, and also notes/photos on races. I've not used a Blog before but there seem to be all sorts of neat features we could utilise for the club.

I'm in the process of trying this out so it's just me who can enter posts, but if it works well then I can allow all DRC members to say what they like, when they like!

I think a 'Club History' post would be really nice, so if anyone has anything to share then please let me know.

OT

PS
The logo on the right is a new one I created for the 2007 club kit - I hope you like it!