The weather in January and February hasn’t been kind to rowing across the country and the recent snow and high winds had caused havoc with training across Yorkshire, however Hull Kingston Rowing Club was determined to have a presence at the South Yorkshire Head.

Run by Doncaster Rowing Club and City of Sheffield Rowing Club, the South Yorkshire Head is a popular event for all Yorkshire Clubs – with a number of races happening in neighbouring rowing regions and with the weather being unpredictable, it was a bit of an unknown as to what would happen with the race. In the end we weren’t to be disappointed and it was a record entry for the event which was fantastic for Doncaster Rowing Club.

Despite being a bit thin on the ground with supporters due to clashes with other events, we still took a strong contingent from the club over to race.

Rob is making the club white Janousek single his own (Chairman Gav is under orders to tinker with the rigging of the boat to make it work!) and again took to racing in his single. Despite the last minute change in Divisions, Rob put on a strong performance against some very experienced scullers and beat his opposition in Division Three.

Not to be outdone, Max and Oscar reunited in the double – the first time they had raced since York Small Boats Head in Decemer. Their lack of training time due to the weather showed with the result time, but they came away happy with being back in the boat (and the boat that they used!)

The girls were not to be outdone, with the girls putting out a quad and double. Jodie and Olivia – rapidly becoming two of the clubs steadfast competitors raced in the first and second divisions racing in the quad and then hopping into the double. The girls were joined by Bella and Amy in the quad, with some excellent coxing from our friends at Doncaster Rowing Club.

Both crews did incredibly well, more experience in new crew formations in the bank and more racing experience under the belt.

The juniors enjoyed the boats that were used and the club had a lot of compliments over the new racing kit. A great day out for the club and fantastic to be racing over at our neighbouring club in Doncaster.

A big thanks to Dave Wilkinson for coordinating the club during the day and a massive thanks to Bradford Grammar School for the loan of a quad and a double. Without the support of clubs in the Yorkshire Region, we would not be making the improvements we are.