CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

In a little over a month London Rowing Club will embark on its fourth major building project in 54 years. On 19th December the contractors are due on site to start the demolition phase of the works following which the construction of the Club’s new balcony will begin. More information is included later in this edition of TLR.

Our current balcony has served us very well since it was built in 1921 and we will all have spent many hours there watching the racing and enjoying times with crewmates and friends. Now after so many years its job is done and it has to come down. And as it does we will acknowledge and remember in whose memory it was originally built.

The construction of the new balcony represents a wonderful opportunity for LRC and all who have seen the plans will be excited by the prospect. Extending out to the level of the flagpole, it will be a good deal larger and will be a fantastic addition to our clubhouse. The new balcony will also be very stylish – not my word I should add, although I completely agree with it.

It is recognised that the project will not be without its challenges for Club members given that access to the boat bays will not be possible for much of the works. The project team has liaised closely on this with the contractors and all efforts will be made to keep the period of no access to a minimum. Plans are being worked on to enable boating to continue as much as possible and we ask that members appreciate the importance of the development and see the long term and wide ranging benefits the new balcony will bring to LRC.

Another challenge is one of fundraising and the drive for much needed funds will continue.

Once again our thanks go to all those involved in the project; a great deal of work has been required by many people to arrive at this point.

This development will mark another significant chapter in the history of London Rowing Club. The new balcony will enhance our club enormously and will be there for LRC members to enjoy for many years to come.

Simon Melvin
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

October included a variety of domestic and international races in which the Club competed.

In the middle of October, London crews competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. London had 5 entries across the regatta with 2 1x’s and 3 4+’s. Results of the events and divisions within events are below. Congratulations to all those who competed including the Women’s Masters 4+ crew (Emily Walters, Kirstyn Luton, Catherine Grayson Saskia Gill, Julia Norton) who took the 2nd placed medal in their division.

HOCR Event and Division
Results

Women’s Masters/Senior Masters 1x (M. Plak)
Event: 32nd, Division: 12th

Men’s Club 1x (A. Jackson)
Event: 10th

Women’s Masters/Senior Masters 4+
Event: 3rd, Division: 2nd

Women’s Club 4+
Event: 24th, Medal designation: 3rd

Men’s Masters/Senior Masters 4+
Event: 11th, Division: 8th

London ended October with a highly successful Upper Thames Autumn Head and with Rui Xu competing in the Wingfield Sculls. Upper Thames Autumn Head takes place over 3000m with a morning and afternoon division. The Club won a number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd places across a variety of boat types and in both divisions and additionally won the Peter Sutherland bowl for the fastest open crew. London’s results from the event are below.

UTAH Division 1 (Morning)

Events
Results

Open Band 1 8+
1st, 2nd, 5th

Women's Band 1 8+
2nd, 3rd

Open Band 2 4x
3rd

Open Band 1 4-
1st, 2nd

Women's 4-
1st

Women's Band 1 2x
1st, 2nd (composite), 3rd

UTAH Division 2 (Afternoon)

Events
Results

Open Band 1 8+
3rd, 4th, 5th

Women's Band 1 8+
1st, 2nd

Women's Band 1 4x
1st, 4th, 6th

Open Band 1 4+
1st, 2nd

Open Band 1 4-
1st, 2nd, 3rd

Open MasDEF 2-
1st (composite)

The Wingfield Sculls took place the same days as Upper Thames Autumn Head (26th October). The Club was represented in the Men’s event by Rui Xu, a previous winner of the Scullers Head (2022) and a Winner of the Wyfold Challenge Cup at HRR (2025). Rui has previously been selected to compete in the Wingfield Sculls in 2021 (2nd), 2022 (withdrawn due to injury) and in 2024 (3rd). Conditions for the event this year were difficult for the scullers, with wind over tide. Rui finished 6th in this year’s event but is aiming to be back next year to compete again over the championship course.

At the start of November, an LRC crew competed at the Head of Prague. The course covers 6400m and a complete 180 u-turn on the Vltava river which runs through the city. The LRC crew, containing many of last year's Thames Challenge Cup winners, finished in 3rd and was the highest placed overseas crew.

Kingston Small Boats Head took place on the 8th November with 1 LRC crew taking part. The 5200m course started near Hampton Court and finishes near to Kingston Rowing Club. Congratulations to the LRC Mas C/D/E 4x of; Mark Boyd, Charlie Pryor, Tom Platts and Marco Meloni who raced in Division 1 and had the fastest time in their category.

Coming up this month are both the 4’s Head and Veteran 4’s Head races. London has a number of boats entered across different boat types on both days. The Fours Head will take place on the 15th November, starting at 12:15pm and the Veteran Fours Head will take place the following day on the 16th November and will start at 13:00pm. I look forward to seeing the results of all of London’s crews across both events.

Balcony project
In previous Weekly Briefs, members may have seen updates on the balcony project/works being undertaken at the Club.

Replacement of the balcony is essential and the Club is looking at options to enable some continued boating during this period. Details on a club meeting will be shared in specific Balcony project updates.

Matt Reeder
Captain, London Rowing Club

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

See more detail for these events, visit our Calendar of Events…

MEN’S MASTERS REPORT

Vet Fours Head is on the horizon, and I am delighted to report that we have entered the following crews across the group:

Considering the race has been cancelled for the last 2 years, we are very keen to get cracking. Best of luck to all crews!

Kingston Small Boats
We entered a C4x, comprising:

B - Mark Boyd
2 - Charlie Pryor
3 - Tom Platts
S - Marco Meloni

The 5.2km course is U shaped, with a couple of islands and two quite narrow bridges to navigate. We had Mark Boyd, so we missed all the potential hazards, including slower boats. For some reason, the boat behind us paused just before the start, leaving a big gap and therefore no reference point. But catching the crew in front was a good incentive, which kept us honest. And by the end we were being chased down by some Open 4- crews who were rowing their own race and encouraging us on, with Marco pushing the rate up for the final 500m, strongly backed up by Tom at three - in his last race with LRC - with your reporter hanging on at two. We won on raw time, on a beautiful Autumnal day and largely flat water, and were the fastest MasC crew. But Masters handicapping meant we ended up second, to a MasD boat, by just six seconds.

Charlie Pryor

WOMEN’S MASTERS REPORT

We are in the middle of the Head Racing Season!

Some of our women Masters travelled all the way to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR). We had two fours racing in the Women's Club and Women's Masters 30+/40+ event. The weather in Boston couldn't have been better to race and both boats had a fantastic race.

The women’s Club 4+ comprising Elinor George, Vicky Brock, Caroline Newbury, Chloe Ramambason and guest cox Gabby Ferullo (University of New Hampshire) took on the course for the first time for over half the crew. With one member seven months post-partum, and having trained largely coxless on the tideway - they placed 3rd of 11 crews in the club pennant of the Club 4s.

The Masters Four comprised of Emily Walters, Kirstyn Luton, Catherine Grayson, Saskia Gill and Julia Norton had to work their way through a lot of other crews during the race which made it exciting but hard to manoeuvre considering all the bends and bridges the course has to offer. Julia, with her extensive tideway knowledge, managed to steer a great line. They finished 2nd in their category earning them a silver medal. 🥈

🎉Congratulations🎉 to both crews for banging the drum abroad! 🥁

Masters 30+: 4+: Emily, Catherine, Kirstyn, Saskia and Julia

W Club 4+: Elinor, Vicky, Caroline, Chloe and Gabby

The next race on our agenda is the Vets Fours Head and we have three boats entered. This marks the largest number of entries for the LRC women Masters ever into this event.

WA4x: Emily Walters (S), Marije Randall, Kirstyn Luton and Saskia Gill (B)

WC4-: Amy Johnson (S), Zoe Tipler, Sarah Foxton and Ulrike Forster (B)

WD4-: Marianna Raffaela (S), Ruth Allen, Soraya Nidai and Elizabeth Hichens (B)

These crews have been training hard over the last month to put their best effort down the course next week. 🍀Good luck🍀 to everyone racing and hopefully the weather will be kind to us all.

Saskia Gill

BALCONY PROJECT

DECEMBER 2025 TO FEBRUARY 2026

Members are invited to a meeting at the clubhouse at 7pm on Thursday, 20th November to hear plans for the replacement of the balcony. We will provide a Teams or Zoom link for those unable to attend in person.

Representatives from the balcony construction and fund raising sub committees will be present and there will be an opportunity for questions.

In the meantime, the balcony sub committee has compiled more information for members in the form of questions and answers that we hope will be informative:

Will the contractor be working all weekend?

Saturday mornings only.

If the contractor is not working on a Saturday afternoon and on Sunday, why will we not be able to access the boathouse?

The contractor will follow health and safety rules to the letter and will not compromise these. The contractor and the directors of LRC are legally liable for any breaches of regulations which could result in our and the contractor’s prosecution. We are discussing access for boating at certain points in the build but we can't promise that this will be possible.

Will the Club help to provide racking elsewhere?

Yes. We are looking into alternative racking at other clubs and trailers on the hard.

Will TopRow continue to boat?

Yes. We are discussing racking with Toprow to see if LRC can use any racking they don't need.

Why can we not use the Top Row racks?

As above.

Will we get a reduction in our membership fee if we are unable to boat?

Our aim is to pay for the balcony through our fundraising campaign and we have not planned to refund members for the period when access to the boat bays is not possible. We ask for your understanding that this is an essential one in a 100 year project and the build period is relatively short. We are looking into some alternative racking for this period to enable some boating.

Is there a possibility of reallocating some of the racks in the sculling shed so that boats that are rarely used are locked in the boat house and others who boat regularly are able to store their boats in there?

We are looking at this.

Might we ask scullers who have racks in the sculling shed to voluntarily give them up for the period so that others can use them?

We are looking at this.

Is it possible to store my sculling boat in a rack in the gym?

No. The gym is not for boat storage and will be used during this period. We also have to consider external users who have a contract to use it.

In the gap over Christmas between demolition and the rebuilding works starting, when builders usually shut down, can the Club be open for outings?

Having demolished the existing balcony and supported the arches over the doors there will be no way of opening the doors. The props are needed to support the arches until we can undertake the necessary repairs to them so cannot be removed.

Can we store boats in the workshop and use them?

The workshop will be used for contractors materials so this will not be possible.

Will the Long Room remain usable throughout the project?

Yes, the doors to the balcony will be boarded up.

Can we use the Club trailer to store fours and quads outside?

Our brokers are to confirm insurance cover.

Might we rent another club’s trailer to enable us to store boats outside?

We are looking at this.

I would like to race in the Quintin and Hammersmith Heads and know that there is always a squeeze on boat availability. Will we be able to get access to the boathouse in order to participate in these events?

Access to the boat bays at this time is unlikely. We are looking at options to rack boats in other locations.

Can I use the lack of access to the boathouse as an excuse for not going out when it is really cold during the winter whilst still appearing keen?

Yes!

FORTHCOMING CLUB EVENTS

There are only a few times the squad really let their hair down in the year, and the first of these is fast approaching! During the day the Club’s bar will be open and food will be served.

Then later in the evening, the party will start! This year’s theme is a real throwback: Y2K. For inspiration, look to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, David Beckham, or Justin Timberlake. Tickets available on the door.

FESTIVE CLUB SUPPER
Come and join us on Thursday, 4th December for the Festive LRC Christmas Supper.

All members and their guests are encouraged to attend with the bar open from 7pm and a 3 course dinner served at 8pm.

Tickets are £32 per person and available via My Club House, tickets are limited and sign up closes at midday on 2nd December.

REMENHAM HEAD AND LRC CHRISTMAS PARTY
Don your best Xmas jumper for the LRC Christmas Party which will take place on the evening of Remenham Head, Saturday 13th December! The format will change this year to accommodate more members. This will be a drinks only event to keep the ticket prices as low as possible. Keep your eyes on the Weekly Brief for a link to tickets!

Annabelle Lawrence
Events Manager, London Rowing Club

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following new members to the Club:

Taryn Birkett
Audrey Coates
Ella Connors
Jack Cope
Grace MacMahon
Erin Meredith
Charlotte Moore
Thomas Rimmer
Matthew Robinson
Tea Singh
Felix Warren

We hope you will enjoy being part of the London Rowing Club community and will help us build an ever happier and more successful club.

We are always pleased to have more members so, if you know of anyone who you think might like to join the Club, please either let us know or encourage them to get in touch with us themselves.

There is information on becoming a member on our website or you can email the Club’s Membership Secretary:

Andrew Boyle
Honorary Secretary, London Rowing Club

CLASSICS AT THE CLUB

Another gathering was successfully held on Sunday 26 October.

Regular participants included Miles Preston’s 1933 Rolls Royce 20/25, John Auber’s 1948 Bentley R Type, Alan Foster’s 1952 MG TD and Bill Baker’s 1966 Volvo Amazon122S.

All motors drew the attention of passers by with many photographs taken.

This year our meet happily coincided with The Wingfield Sculls so after ‘kicking the tyres’ we were able to refresh ourselves from the bar and watch the start of the racing with the cars in the foreground.

All vehicles started successfully and vacated the hard to beat the flood tide.

*Casamajor heads to the start of the Wingfields*

Bill Baker

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

All members are reminded that if you are involved in or witness a water safety incident, you are required to report it using the following email address – safety@londonrc.org.uk

The Club will file any necessary reports on your behalf with British Rowing and the PLA. Members should not submit reports directly to either body.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this edition of the London Roar. If you have an idea for an article or would be interested in submitting a piece for inclusion in a future edition, please email me on miles.preston@londonrc.org.uk

Please do not submit an article without first liaising with me.

Miles Preston
Editor of The London Roar

CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

MEN’S MASTERS REPORT

WOMEN’S MASTERS REPORT

BALCONY PROJECT

DECEMBER 2025 TO FEBRUARY 2026

FORTHCOMING CLUB EVENTS

NEW MEMBERS

CLASSICS AT THE CLUB

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

London Rowing Club

Est. in 1856The Tideway's Home of SUCCESSFUL SCULLING AND ROWING

Est. in 1856

The Tideway's Home of SUCCESSFUL SCULLING AND ROWING