Dear Members,

Only a few topics this month (in bold), although still at enormous length. On the plus side though, I'll trouble you only twice more in this format this season.

First, a report on the Club Dinner for those who weren't there. Second, a bit about how we need your support at Dorney on May 2nd. Then some personal views on the direction I think we should be pursuing in the future and where we can improve, and also some specific plans for re-organising the racking in the boathouse. Please feel free to reply or delete as you wish, as I find myself tending towards the dogmatic this month - what a surprise.

Starting with last Saturday's club dinner then, which unfortunately I couldn't attend myself. I'm told the club's glitteratti were out in force, and by all accounts the place looked fantastic. Our guest speaker, the extraordinary Mr Groebler, was very gracious in his warmth about the club in general, seen from the perspective of cycling up and down the towpath, and his speech paid particular tribute to the vision of our founder. It's always a bit incongruous, even disorientating, when you see members in their party frocks instead of their rowing kit (especially the men's squad). Judging from the far-away look in the President's eyes at Sunday lunch, this year was no exception. All in all the evening was a fabulous success, and we are indebted to Katie Pollard and Ian Ringer for masterminding it all, including food, raffle, auction and live music. Everyone was impressed by the organisation.

The dinner was the first club function which has been held upstairs, and demonstrates how the extra space can benefit us. It also showed up how good the building can look when decked out for an event. The next occasion we'll be using it in this way is at HRR, as this year we are not having a marquee on the lawn during the regatta. It will be interesting to see how this arrangement works out. The club will save a tidy sum in rental costs through this, and Andy McConnell has negotiated a significant number of other savings too. We owe him many thanks for his work on our behalf at HRR over a number of years.

Hot off the press, a new initiative which we're going to try at Wallingford regatta next weekend. Since Dorney Lake now hosts three of the season's most important regattas (Wallingford, the Met and Marlow) it would be good for our racing crews to receive some increased support from the membership in general, and as Dorney is close by (Junction 7 on the M4) it is only 20 minutes away from the club. Supporters and guests do not have to be club members, so I hope that everyone including Associates will feel welcome to come along and bring with them anyone they want. The basic idea is to develop a sort of club away-day, and create some momentum for a supporters club at Dorney regattas.

I'm trying to arrange for the club tent to be put up next to the course, as it would make a great base for crews and supporters. Guests can then expect a friendly welcome and shelter from the elements (hopefully sun). With or without the tent, the hope is to engender a sense of club spirit and involvement. The regatta is this coming Sunday (2nd May), and all sections of the club will be competing. The timetable of UTRC crews racing is as follows, with the times of finals in bold:

8.25 J18 Boys 4x (Heat, final at 12.25),
9.20 & 9.25 Senior Men's 4-s (Heats, final at 12.50),
9.45 Women's Intermediate 2 1x (Heat, final at 1.00),
10.05 J154x+ Boys (Heat, final at 1.10),
10.55 Women's Intermediate 2x Final,
11.05 Women's Elite 1x Final,
11.45 Men's Elite 1x Final,
4.40 Men's Senior 8+ Final,
4.50 Senior Women's 4- Final,
5.20 J14 4x+ Final,
5.25 Women's Intermediate 1x Final,
5.40 Men's Elite 4- Final,
5.45 Women's Elite 2x Final.

As you can see, the slots are broadly between 11am and 1pm, and then again between 4.40 and 5.45. I hope you can come along and give the troops a shout. If people bring a bike they can see the race excitement up close, which is highly recommended. I will send out a reminder in a few days.

Turning to our future direction as a club, I firmly believe that over time Upper Thames can and should become a leader in UK club rowing. We' ve got the training facilities we need, a decent boat fleet (and a really first class boatman), and one of the best locations in world rowing. Add in a little income from HRR and a growing membership base, and we've got a lot going for us. In fact we've never had it so good.

The part of the jig-saw we are currently missing is sustained success at the highest club level, by which I mean medals across the board at regattas such as Wallingford, Ghent, The Metropolitan, National Schools, Marlow, HWR, HRR, HVR, the National Championships and the World Masters. These are the top 10 regattas, and if we want to be considered the best in the eyes of the rest then we must perform consistently well in these.

In the past we have had considerable success at some of them (HWR, Nat Champs and World Masters, for example), but to be considered a real top tier club we need to renew winning habits in the big races. Despite our wins thus far this season in Head races, it's our results in the next 10 weeks which will define our true status in the eyes of our peers.

One of my most pressing priorities now is to turn around our recent record in these events by providing and supporting good quality coaching and equipment, despite the reduced funds I've had this year, and also encourage greater strength in depth whenever possible, especially in our elite squads.

We have already got a number of very talented individuals at the club, and I have recently recruited a few others directly. Recruitment is always a key challenge for top clubs, and we have much to thank people like Clive Cooper for on this. It is not easy attracting high quality athletes to a club and over the recent past Clive has done more than most to help us. However, I'm aware that we cannot just rely on Clive to bring in new blood, and I must do my fair share of recruitment as well. It's not a job everyone relishes, but it is vitally important. In my view, a Captain should be judged to a large extent by who he brings to the party, as well as what, and I promise not to forget this.

Building links with the rowing world is crucial as well, and getting the message "out there" about the good things we have to offer will be increasingly important. I continue to have some interesting discussions with people who I know can help us. Consequently I intend to continue my policy of bringing in top class performers in all areas of rowing activity to compliment our resident experts on the river and on the bank, sometimes just for short term gains, but preferably for the longer term. Perhaps our elite men and women might be hearing from Jurgen again sooner than they think...

Very occasionally I hear members saying that we cannot or should not try to establish ourselves at the performance end of club rowing, and often for a number of plausible reasons. I'd just like to make it clear that I don't share these views, and I am convinced that we can establish ourselves as a top flight club without affecting either the friendly atmosphere or relaxed enjoyment there is about the place. I can't see the point in aiming to be mediocre, and I believe we are much nearer to breaking through than some may think.

I'm also made aware occasionally that not everyone wants the current situation to change, or even recognises the need for it, but I'm convinced we need to make some small but fundamental changes if we want to have the sustained success I feel our club warrants, and saying clearly that we want to aim higher is a very important start. Doing more of the same won't be enough.

I think that keeping you, the members, up-to-date is another change which helps, even if I say so myself - it keeps us moving forward together and gives everyone a chance to contribute. (A good example of this was the response I had last month from far and wide about ways of attracting more Associate members, some of which have now been adopted). Being prepared to accept that a few mistakes will be made in the process of making changes is also important - standard procedure, in fact, for occasional trips outside the comfort zone.

Of course, only a small percentage of our membership needs to sign up to any lofty personal challenge, or change their behaviour one iota. I for one won't be seeking selection for anything other than a leisure paddle, although others trying to target an IM3 or Vets pot will have my unbridled support; even if sometimes you may not get exactly what you want, you will likely get what you need. There's nothing quite like the feeling of driving home with a pot on the passenger seat, wherever it's from. So I look forward to wins across the board from those who are conspicuously putting in the effort - I'm looking at you Jeremy & Tim, Maggie and Co, Neil and Co, Pete and Co, Jo and Co etc. Accordingly I wish all our racers every success for the season which is here at last. Good luck.

Before moving on again, I'd just like to make one final point which I think is terribly important for all of us to consider, up and down the club: you're only as good as your last race.

I often share a joke with members about the UTRC culture, which has been pre-dominant for some time now, of "too many Chiefs and not enough Indians" (I think we all know what I mean). Thankfully we are a club blessed with a disproportionate number of high flyers off the water and we attract more than our fair share of movers and shakers; pillars of the community are two-a-penny, as we have always attracted top ranking, bright and strong willed people, most of whom row quite beautifully. I have every confidence that many dear members will recognise themselves in this description.

However, at the risk of ruffling some well-preened feathers, for us to be accepted as undisputed Chiefs in the rowing world, we must actually prove our superiority by winning important races. Gaps between victories, even of only a few years, can tarnish a would-be Chief's reputation. So like I say, you're only as good as your last race, and in rowing a tarnished Chief is really just a deluded Indian. OK, I'm on the verge of a taboo subject, right at the intersection where ruffling meets plucking; now I will move on.

So then, to boats; the plan is to put in new racking where the current club singles and private pairs are stored. We need another stack of 6 fours and a few less club pairs / singles. We are now so busy, especially at weekends, that we need the extra seats this will provide, and some of the club small boats were gathering dust. The private pairs will be moved across and fill the gaps left by my recent sale of some old club pairs. This work is due to begin imminently, so bear with us.

First on the list of boats required is another coxed quad for the juniors, who are thriving. Seeing members who so clearly love their rowing is what it's all about from my point of view, regardless of their age or status. Even though we can't take many more juniors just now, they are a pleasure to have around the place - many thanks to all the parents and helpers who make the junior section such a conspicuous success, especially Will and Alex.

We also need another general purpose boat for the membership at large, and a 70Kg four at the top end. We will only ever have enough racking for 5 eights and 6 club singles for the forseeable future. Eventually, this racking arrangement will give us 24 fours, and approximately 20 pairs, and a total of 180+ club-owned seats in all. It may take a little time to buy all the boats we require due to budget restrictions, but we can make a start.

If everyone went rowing at the same time in all boats (both private and club-owned), we could boat well over 300 people. Maybe one day we should try it if only to see the look on the neighbours' faces. In the last few weeks it has felt like we were getting very close to making this a reality, as we're positively heaving. I really don't think it's possible to get any more of us on the water at the same time, and I'm aware that at some point we are going to have to start thinking about the topic of staggering outings more thoroughly.

To kick off this topic unofficially, my view is that we cannot afford to risk creating a group of full members who feel like second class citizens due to being restricted in their use of the club's facilities. I'd rather have a happy and united membership of x than a more 2 tier membership of x + 30, if you'll pardon the algebra. We are committed to finding another 100 members over the next 5 years though, and I think some form of off-peak membership, and not necessarily rowing memberships, are going to be an inevitable part of this mix. Any thoughts?

I'm conscious of going on far too long as usual. There are so many topics to cover but I will resist the temptation to go into any more of them here. The important thing in the short term is racing. Try to make it over to Wallingford regatta at Dorney if you possibly can next Bank Holiday Sunday (2nd May) and join us. Our crews need your support, and I look forward to seeing you there.

With regards and best wishes,

Justin

PS. Some housekeeping:

• Anna VL will be installing a box for spent printer ink cartridges, which will benefit the club by £1 for every cartridge collected - please deposit yours at UTRC if you can.
  


• We hope to resurface the car park in the next month.
  


• The Henley Swim is planned for Sunday 28th June this year. The club should be clear of competitiors by 8am.