January 2012

As we begin a New Year, I first would like to wish everyone a healthy and prosperous 2012 in what will soon be the “Year of the Dragon”.

We ended 2011 with a number of noticeable achievements and I wanted to thank everyone associated with the Section for their support these past few months in making the first part of my term easy.

For the first time we competed in the World Coastal Rowing Championships.  Held last October  in Bari, Italy, the contingent that participated had a very successful trip with Sheryl Slater winning a  gold in Women’s 1x B Final and the Men’s 4x making a strong showing in their final.

The Outriggers had their best fall season yet, with strong performances at many events and their best finish yet – a second place – in the Around-the-Island Race (ATIR) in the mixed OC6.  We also took delivery of a number of new OC1’s and OC2’s so our fleet is now approaching the critical mass needed to meet members’ demand.

The largest ever field for coastal rowing at the ATIR also saw new records set by both the RHKYC Women’s 2x and Men’s 2x so there were a number tired smiles on the podium on race day. 

We also took the next step in the development of youth rowing at the Club by holding a joint training and competition session with the Shek Mun Student Rowing Club last fall at Middle Island.  This was the first of what we hope will be a regular activity for our school age rowers and we are targeting an inaugural “Schoolboys Regatta” later this year to firmly establish U18 rowing on the Island again.

In Shatin, the Section fielded a solid team at the Hong Kong Rowing Championships in November, securing medals on both days of competition.  These included gold in the Women’s 4-, the Men’s Masters 8 and the Men’s 2x, sliver in the Women’s 8, Women’s 4+, Men’s 4- and the Men’s 4x and bronze in the Men’s 8.

We closed the year with Masters Regatta at Middle Island followed by the annual Christmas Party.  As usual, the organizers did a fantastic job and a fine time was had by all.  Year end awards presented during the festivities included Most Improved Rower - which was shared by Natalie Kwan and Phil Crinion - and inaugural awards for Member of the Year, won by John Pache for Paddling and Michael Shasha for Rowing.  And the annual “eights race” on the lawn was won by the paddlers by half a pint...

Finally, the Club won several Hong Kong China Rowing Association awards this year, including an individual medal by Fleur Iannazzo for her success in the 1x this year and ‘best boats’ for the Women’s 4- and Men’s 8.  We also won “Club of the Year’ for the most ladder points during the season and I’d like to extend a special thanks to Alex Bidlake and Michael Shasha – the women’s and men’s coordinators, respectively - for their help in leading the squad to such a high level of success in 2011.

We are looking forward to a busy few months as the paddlers, outriggers and rowers prepare for the spring and summer racing season, including several interports and races outside of Hong Kong.  And the men’s group in Shatin will be especially busy training for the Men’s 8 at Henley in the UK this summer, the first time in many a years that the Club has entered a ‘big boat’ at this event.  

See you on the water!

Best regards,
Mark T Welles
Rowing Captain