A week ago it was looking as though the Quintin Head might have to be cancelled for the first time. Heavy rain at the beginning of the month had flooded much of the upper Thames valley and all the water had made its way down to the Tideway. The PLA warning flag had been red over two weekends and very cold weather was also on its way. But the gods did not fail us and on Friday the PLA flag went from amber to green and the weather forecast suggested that temperatures would rise a little. On the day, although the rain puddles were still frozen, racing conditions were near ideal with very little wind to upset the calmness of the river.
The race, due to start at 11:00am, got underway fairly promptly with the J15 and WJ15 divisions followed by the Open Championship and subsequent divisions. Entries were once again limited to 300, and 281 crews completed the course after a number of scratchings from mostly junior crews. Thames Rowing Club retained the title of Head of the River and won the Open Championship pennant, but only by 0.3 of a second, pursued by yet another fast crew from the St. Paul’s School stable. Leander Club A were the fastest women’s crew and won the Women’s Championship pennant.
One interesting result was a tie for the winners of Masters F between Tideway Scullers and Tyrian. There were in all 21 tied times but this was the only one where the tied crews were in the same category.
Full results may be found on this website at ../quintinhead/results.php?date=2024-01-20.
After the racing was over and boats put away the partying commenced at Quintin Boat Club with live music for all and free drinks for the early arrivals. A good time was had by all.
