2016 Nationals
17 & 18 September, Lake Karapiro
Union at South Islands
It’s been a while, eight years to be precise, since Union RC last put in an appearance at a National Masters Championship held at Karapiro. And in 2008, it was just a handful of women who made the trip north, to compete in boats hired from Aramoho Wanganui. This year’s outing was quite a different proposition, with a squad of 27 men and women and a full trailer load of our own boats making the long trip. We thought of this regatta as a rehearsal for the World Masters Games, to be held on the same course in April 2017, and as such it was quite a successful venture.
We re-acquainted ourselves not only with our competitors from North island clubs, but also with persistent rain, mud, changeable wind - and water conditions and more rain – check out the grey murky shot below on the left for how bad Saturday was at times! Most impressive were the facilities at Karapiro, which received a substantial upgrade in 2010, and the dedication of the many volunteers required to run this event. They, too, used this regatta as a dress rehearsal for the WMG 2017, experimenting with fixed umpire stations along the newly set 1000m course, and a new lane-feed routine to allow for 3 minute start intervals. It mostly worked, but the bigger boats struggled at times to make the narrow gap between the starting pontoons and the shoreline.
Overall the Union crews did very well, especially when much of the competition consisted of combinations of top rowers drawn from a range of clubs, even in the smaller boats. What we had not learned from Twizel 2015 was that we should not compete in eights if we do not train in them beforehand, and that more than six races per competitor is probably not a good idea. The eights still went quite well, but there were some very tired rowers on Sunday night. In the end, most, if not all of us went home with some bling. Union almost single-handedly also made sure that the North v/v South Island events went firmly in favour of correct island, with wins for the women’s quad and the women’s and men’s eights. So there will be some cause for celebration at our planned social/prize giving in early November.
Special thanks, as before, to Mike and Tanja for helping to organise this mammoth undertaking, to Jim, for his constant support and expert coaching, to St. Andrew’s, for the loan of their trailer, and to Dale Maher, for taking the boats there and back, and for putting up with me as co-pilot while doing so. And here are three cheers for all the Union crews, their team spirit and commendable effort on the water.
Results:
GOLD
Womens E quad
Deb Hymers-Ross, Dorle Pauli, Karen Rickerby, Catherine KappelleMixed D-F quad
Dale Maher, Dorle Pauli, Mike Fowler, Deb Hymers-RossWomens E single
Dorle PauliWomens B single
Kirsty MahoneyMixed D-F double
Dale Maher, Dorle PauliWomens novice double
Mel Arnold, Wendy DugganMens E quad
Dale Maher, Mike Fowler, Danny Blair, Stephane ChretienWomens C single
Kirsty MahoneyMixed novice quad [with Blenheim]
Ian Cartwright
SILVER
Womens C double
Kirsty Mahoney, Astrid HarrisMens F double
Mike Fowler, Danny BlairMixed A-C quad
Kirsty Mahoney, Astrid Harris, Stephane Chretien, Andreas GiannakogiorgosMens E four
Dale Maher, Mike Fowler, Danny Blair, Stephane ChretienMixed D-F eight
Dale Maher, Dorle Pauli, Deb Hymers-Ross, Mike Fowler, Astrid Harris, Danny Blair, Stephane Chretien, Kirsty Mahoney, Peter GambleWomens E double
Deb Hymers-Ross, Dorle PauliMens C quad
Stephane Chretien, Andreas Giannakogiorgos, Dan Batchelor, Hamish GrayWomens D eight [with Blenheim]
Deb Hymers-Ross, Dorle Pauli, Astrid Harris, Kirsty MahoneyMens novice quad [with Blenheim]
Ian Cartwright
BRONZE
Womens A single
Kirsty MahoneyMixed novice double
Ian Cartwright, Wendy DugganWomens D quad
Deb Hymers-Ross, Dorle Pauli, Kirsty Mahoney, Astrid HarrisMens A-B eight
Brent Mirfin, Murray McCartin, Stuart Wade, Dan Batchelor, Graham Russell, Brendan McKenna, Spike Crowther, Hamish Gray, Jason CowlesMens E single
Dale MaherMens C four
Brent Mirfin, Murray McCartin, Graham Russell, Brendan McKenna
