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Masters Regatta and the Double Weekend Thank you to all competitors, members and everyone else who contributed to the "double-header" weekend on 11 and 12 July. It was a big undertaking but the results were impressive with Westies' athletes racking up a swag of wins on both days. Of particular note in the results were the WB2-, won in emphatic style by Janelle Austin and Jacki Morrell. It was great to see 2 long time Westies family members, who haven't been training for at least 6 months, come back and show the opposition what rowing is really about. Almost as impressive was Simon Johnson's hard fought, close win in the Masters Single event on Sunday. A very big improver this season, Simon is benefitting enormously under Mistress Jacki's firm rule and has the ME1X and the masters 1X conquered. Keep an eye on the very competitive MD1X event for the rest of the year. A final mention (in a weekend of worthy mentions and brilliant results) must go to Alan Salisbury and Brad Scott, who rowed together in the double scull event. It was a real mix of old and new with Brad in only his second ever day of racing sitting in with WARC's most experienced oarsman. Well done to you both! Thank you to everyone who assisted with running the regatta on Sunday; in particular, those of you who weren't rowing on the day but came and gave up your time to assist. It is greatly appreciated. By the time boat unloading was going on Sunday evening, everyone was pretty buggered. The good humour and willingness to help out displayed by everyone over the weekend reflects the great squad of people we have at Westies. You all totally rock! |
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Fundraising The number of competitors and spectators at the Masters on Sunday was pretty small compared to a regular regatta. However, Rita and her squad of caterers managed to raise in the vicinity of $600 and we have a considerable amount of stock to give us a head start for our catering requirements on the first day of states on 19 September this year. Our annual quiz night was a great success in more ways than one with the organising committee of Lainie Gara, Alexis Babos and Caine Holdsworth raising over $2,800 for the club. Well done to everyone who has contributed to these fantastic efforts! Every dollar raised for the club is important for the ongoing success and sustainability of the club. |
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Champion Lakes Raffle You have only until the end of this month to sell your book of raffle tickets! Please make sure you sell as many as possible and then give all the sale proceeds and ticket stubs to Debbie Mason. The raffle is a really important initiative, as the proceeds will go toward RWA purchasing its own dinghies to use at Champion Lakes regattas. Currently the host club for each regatta must supply up to 5 dinghies, which is an administrative and logistical burden. Please do everything you can to sell as many tickets as possible. |
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Cocktail Party It is coming again; the annual WARC cocktail party. Get out your diary and block out Saturday, 15 August 2009. Then get out your best 70’s gear, put on your dancing shoes and prepare for Saturday Night Fever (WARC style)! Details are to be confirmed shortly, but my sources tell me there will be a mirror ball, there will be white flares and there will be a dance-off. Prepare yourself for the only thing that could possibly have topped “Return to the 80’s Prom”. I am quite pleased there is no prom theme this year, as now I get to be prom king forever!! |
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Bunbury Two-Day Regatta Before we carve up the dance floor, however, we need to live it up Bunvegas style. The 2-day Bunbury regatta is on the weekend of 8-9 August. If you haven’t arranged accommodation through Leanne Youngs, then you will need to arrange to sleep somewhere if you are going to party with the WARC crew on Saturday night. If you haven’t been to the Bunbury double, you are in for a great weekend. A full day of racing on Saturday is followed by club dinner on Saturday night (again, you should have let Leanne know if you are coming to the dinner) and then out on the town until a sensible hour at which to go to bed. Sunday morning everyone gets up nice and early to drive to the Eaton River for the 6km headrace. Following that, we return to Perth for unloading and proper sleep. |
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Reporting Damage to Fleet Thankyou to all athletes for the good care you have been taking with the fleet recently. Considering the number of athletes using the boats and gear, the potential for damage has been high. You deserve a pat on the back for taking care, so thank you. If damage does occur to any boat or piece of equipment, it is really important that you report it as soon as possible to Michael Jones, Tim Murdoch, Zak Campbell or myself. Also, please write the damage on the whiteboard, along with the date. Lastly, there should be a supply of "out of service" tags in the stackable draws near the door to the shed. Please attach one of these to any boat that should not be rowed until repaired. |
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Safety on the Deck As you are probably aware, recently there have been several falls on the launch deck at the club. At least one of these falls has resulted in serious injury, which may require surgery. Please take extreme care whenever you are on the deck. The deck is an inherently dangerous environment and is very slippery. Scrubbing the deck regularly will help to alleviate the problem with the slippery surface, but it will not stop the deck being slippery. The club has investigated options over time to deal with the deficiencies in the existing launch deck. Unfortunately, the options are currently prohibitively expensive. In the long term, it is hoped that the club will be in a position to replace the deck entirely. Until that time, it is every member's responsibility to take reasonable care for their own safety and the safety of others when on the deck. Only ever walk on the deck. Do not hurry or run. Always take your time and take all care when walking and especially when carrying gear to avoid becoming unbalanced. |
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Youth Cup You will have seen the email I sent recently about the outstanding Youth Cup squad. While Queensland won the Youth Cup on points, the West Australian squad came second on overall points and the men won the 8 ahead of Queensland. That crew had 3 Westies members, being Matt Cochran, Mike Stott and Sam Hughes. Jessie O’Mahony was a member of the WA women’s 8 that took home a bronze behind South Australia and Queensland. The WA squad was coached by Tom Morris. For Rowing Australia's rundown, go here: http://www.rowingaustralia.com.au/news_latest-news.shtm It was a brilliant effort by all the WA athletes and on behalf of Westies, I congratulate every WA Youth Cup participant. |
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Wine Sales Wests are again running the highly successful wine sale drive. I will separately send an email attaching the flyer to order wine. Please get your order in by the middle of August. The wine sales are a significant fundraiser, and you get a double benefit. Reasonably priced, quality wine and new rowing equipment! Win, win, win, win... |
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City to Surf - Westies Style Nick Wakeford has created a Westies City to Surf team. If you want to be a part, see below: Team Name: WA Rowing Club (Westies) You can register for the team at http://www.perthcitytosurf.com If you have any issues with your team registrations or payments, or if you would like some event posters and entry forms to promote the event in your workplace please contact our registration team at citytosurf@csports.com.au
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Ergo Cards Want to record your time, split and distance every time you train, download them to your PC and spend hours analyzing how great your training regime is? Then you need an ergo computer card, available from Peter Klemm for $10.00. Peter is selling them as a fundraising initiative for Wesley College. Westies has a great relationship with Wesley (amongst other things we wouldn’t be able to transport our fleet to each regatta without the generous use of their trailer) so if you are in the market for one of these cards, see Peter when he gets back from whatever exotic destination he is in this week. |
Pennant Table |
Next regatta: CUBC Regatta at CHAMPION
LAKES, Saturday July 25 |
For the Diary...
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And that's the lot for this month - if you have any comments, queries or flames, please send them to the Captain David Winch at captainwarc@iinet.net.au |