Henley Masters Regatta 2017

STEPHEN, LES, BRAD AND BRUCE LOOK TIDY OFF THE START AT HENLEY IN THIS NICE SHOT FROM BIG BLADE PHOTOGRAPHY. 

When Henley Royal Regatta comes to an end, the booms stay out a little longer for the increasingly well-attended masters' event which uses a shortened course of around 1000 meters. With no doubling up allowed, Sons of the Thames Rowing Club put out a quad in MasE4x, Stephen replacing Ed in the line up that lost in the final last year to a Howarth/Hollingworth Lake Composite. After a bye in the first round, Stephen, Les, Brad and Bruce came up against Norwich Rowing Club whose crew included Audinis, the current national champion at Mas E 1x. Our quartet sculled tidily and sustained a split time of around 1:50 per 500m, but Norwich went faster with a final verdict to them of three lengths. The Hammersmith crew took some comfort to see that Norwich beat Peterborough in the final by a greater margin of five lengths.

Henley Masters seems to have been an enjoyable regatta though. As Les comments, "The 1000m boomed course from Temple Island to Upper Thames is excellent. The sun was shining this year, the wind was barely stirring the trees and the water was good."