Henley Royal Regatta


Photos 55 - 72 out of 88 | Back to Albums
Hung is, well, well hung! Me and Maggie! Paulie and I are soon rolling around - after not drinking for nearly a month and training like demons, we are both two-can sams! Before you know it, we are getting into the President's ear about getting into the Stewards Enclosure. Well, turns out that Andy Holmes (being an ex Olympian and all) has acquired two passes to the Stewards Enclosure and didn't really want them. So he traded them to the club in exchange for a car-parking pass. Brilliant! Coupled with the tags that the club is given for being a competing club, we soon have acquired 3 tags. Excellent! By this stage now rolling drunk, Paulie, Ian, Oli and myself each snitch a pass off the Pres, grab a roadie and head up the river to see what all the posh fuss is about.
I might be rowing for Putney Town Rowing Club, but I still representing the right club at every opportunity! Phil got on pretty well with the Furnival Women's Captain at training camp, and h's bought her along to support Putney Town :) We thought Hung Moose might want to go and check out some of the gawdy blazers that are on display. Henley is reknown for it. In fact there is a game you can play called 'blazer bingo' where by everyone has their own bingo board and you need to be the first to cross off all the clubs on your list by finding someone wearing that clubs blazer. Since its rare that anyone actually remembers ALL the club blazers, generally you have to go up to people and introduce yourself to find out where they are from, so it's a good game to encourage mingling as well!
Hung gets on well with the women, even chatting up poor Angie here, the promo girl handing out flyers for the local pub. Come on hung, we'll never get to the Stewards Enclosure if we stop and talk to EVERY piece of tottie up the towpath! AND we're here! Three PTRC clowns invading the sanctity of the Stewards Enclosures 🙂 To quote Ian, the best way to describe the Stewards Enclosure was like 'an upper class car crash'. Dead set - these people ight be of an arguably higher class and the best of the well heeled 'social set' of England, but they are just as drunk and legless as the plebs down in the barn bar. Uber expensive champagne is flowing, people are shouting drinks left right and centre, and due to the hot weather, the Stewards took the very rare step of announcing that 'men may remove their jackets or blazers, but not their ties or cravats'. Yep that's right - the Stewards are VERY strict on enforcing their rules and maintaining the vibe of a traditional English lawn party. That means usuall if you are caught removing your jacket, being unruly, or even answer your mobile phone - you are kicked out! No rules against well hung mooses however.
This could be one of the most remarkable blazers we came across. Princeton University Rowing Club - all the way from the states. We ended up bunking down with the 'parents crowd' and supporting the school kids coming down the course. Usually the parents are the scourge of any regatta, but even they have to behave somewhat in the Stewards Enclosure! So we find ourselves shouting out 'Go Princeton!' I think they won, not sure though I was pretty wasted. Hung seems to have found himself a nice arsehole. Not sure what club he's from though. Still stinking hot, we don't really notice anymore due to the numbing effects of the alcohol.
Ian got interviewed by some TV station because he had one of those weird looking 'boater' hats on. He really did look the whole traditional part I must admit. Did you think the hat would help you with the ladies mate? (Did it work?) Hung enjoys a Heineken at the Stewards bar. Ah yes, Hung found one of the old timers from Marlow Rowing Club. Probably their President or someone important. I wonder if he even noticed how well hung was?
The funniest thing happened - we are sitting down with some random group of aristocrats, when Paulie gets a tap on the shoulder, turns around and then there's this bloke flashing a police badge in his face. Next to shitting himself, the other thought crossing his mind is 'oh crap what is James (Club Captain) gonna think when he finds out I've been arrested inside the Steward's Enclosure! But turns out the bloke was just trying to get Pauls attention, as he was drinking with a group of about 5 ladies and they wanted to be introduced to a 'strapping rower'... Next thing you know, we are being plied with champagne, and I'll never forget that look on Paulies face, as the colour drained away! Unfortunatelym our afternoon was going to end here because the last lift home was leaving. We'd be back on Friday anyway so we took the option of heading home. When we rolled into the clubhouse about 6pm that arvo, we nearly bowled over a group of poor women in the doorway. Hello, and who are you exactly? Turns out they were from the novice women's squad, had just finished their outing on the river. Since we were all blazered up still and keen to continue our drinking, they were more than happy to join us. The night ended via The Ship and then copious amounts of red wine at some bar in Kew Gardens that I honestly can't remember the name of. Well - if this was the Wednesday drink, just wait until the Friday... ... AND once again we are back at Henley. No racing today, it's purely about getting absolutely mullered. Putney Town Rowing Club Friday - as it's called - is awesome. Nearly the whole club turns out at Henley and claims a spot on the riverbank all day. After the picnics, fun and games, it's off to the Barn Bar for dancing and then most of the stayers will camp the night. Disclaimer - all the photos from this point on are Ian's - because I was so wasted I lost my camera! So thanks Ian!! © 2009 Ian Kershaw Thea! Gaz, the vinegar stroke look on your face - priceless!
   
Photos 55 - 72 out of 88 | Back to Albums
Description: To win the Henley Royal Regatta is possibly the stuff that dreams are made of, up there with winning a Gold Medal in the Olympics. And you can imagine that even to be able to compete at such a prestigious event is such a great feat in itself. In 2009, I had the opportunity to be coached by one of the UK's double Olympic gold medal winning rowers, Andy Holmes. After a long, cold winter of technical rowing, and months of torturous ergo sessions to become more physically fit than I've ever been before in my life, I was promoted to the position of stroke of the Putney Town Rowing Club senior men's 8+ crew! Taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by the balls, we marched on to the Henley qualifiers to fight for one of 32 positions in the Thames Cup event... and we did it!
Location: England

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