It’s Hexham’s turn to host and our glorious Sunday League leader has decided to do skills. This presents great opportunities for on the spot guidance and everyone is overjoyed.
The first practice opportunity comes up. HEX407 sets off demonstrating a form of square blading that looks like some six olds trying to swat a fly. After discovering a 360+90 turn takes a long, long time, the backing down onto an imaginary buoy is precise and accurate. The team move onto rollups where the cox, asks if we have watched the video… Yeeeees we prevaricate and start making up what a rollup is. Back to the start and we realise we have forgotten to do blade swaps completely. A second practice the following week with the proper team goes better because our new team members have clearly done their homework and also bought a handy aide memoire with them.
Last practice and the coaches jumble the team up and send them out. They are spotted drifting sideways on down the river with no movement and we check on the problem. They wave cheerily and continue the earnest discussion. Later I discover that a small mutiny has taken place, but luckily no crew members were deposited on the island. Everyone is very quiet when washing the boat.
It’s the Friday before and an amazing bunch of volunteers organises the club house cleanup. Out of the grime comes the twinkling of shiny windows and the miracles are wrought with the men’s toilet. Less trusted members are dispatched to clean the steps with a shovel.
Race day arrives and nerves this time consist of wondering if anyone will turn up. Amazingly 17 teams arrive as they’ve heard about Kevin’s £5 meal deal and the extra skills challenge of weir emergency turns (*currently not on the BR website).
Racing starts and TARC setoff to a chorus of boos. Yes, our Safety Officer is moonlighting again, but we know he doesn’t know how to do a rollup so all is ok.
Our plucky Hexham team are assured by seeing their cox turn up with a map of the river and set off gamely into a small rainstorm after turning the map the right way up. They return looking relieved but the #4 asks why she has to do this.
The event speeds up and the organisers relax a little as the landing team belatedly learn after 20 launches that the best way is to just to do their feet up for them and the visiting crews have more become expert, the weir focuses the mind wonderfully.
Hexham rock down looking optimistic for the 2nd run and set up ready in the boat. They then demand the landing stage is cleared for their publicists and many photos from several angles are taken for their Insta feeds. They are off and make a confident start, little do they realise that the starter tired of excitement of having an proper airhorn to play with wants to go home and dispatches Berwick Otters right behind them. Mayhem results and commands from the Marshalls are heard by both crews so they miss out a few precision rollups, all the more painful as finally they have mastered them and are planning to reshoot the BR video. The cox gets over excited and asks them to do rigger dips to make the Marshall happy confusing everyone until they realise she has her map upside down again. They return grumpy until the good news comes through that a Hexham Marshall learning from Eurovision has awarded the Hexham boat -5s bonus.
The day ends and the outstanding team of volunteers finish up after working hard all day and plugging the many gaps. Hexham RC is honoured to have them making the day such a success. Thank you all! All that is left to do is to write to the committee asking to rename HEX407 “HMS Bounty”.
