Boatace results

The crew raced well, especially on finals day. They pushed off St. Benedicts early on the course and powered home to victory in the "B" Final for 3rd and 4th positions. The margin was just over 30 seconds at the finish.
It wasn't without incident however, there was a bit of drama at the start of our race because one of the backstays broke in the early stages. Fortunatley we had a spare on hand promptly, thanks to St. Johns College who row in the same boat as us. Within about 20mins the race was soon underway. West bank proved a good choice - getting enough advantage on the first dog-leg straight to get clearwater and take our own line for centenary bend.

The UK touring team from Abingdon took home the gold in a relatively tight "A" final against SACS from Cape Town. Incidentally, Abingdon were finalists at Henley last year (2nd place)against the dominant crew from Eton College. Henley Royal Regatta (The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup) is undoubtedly one of the most competitive events in the world for school boy eights.

Overall a great regatta once again, KES stays close to the top and focussed on progress into the rest of the season.

The girls quad event was won convincingly by St. Mary's and the St. Andrews girls combination took home the silver medal.

We will post regatta times for heats and finals once published...

To Port Alfred we go

So onto the flight tomorrow morning (06h30). The crew will fly over the boat trailer that leaves at 4am from St. Stithians College...
The final camp went well and the boys are ready to give of their best. A real sense of excitement to end off the first half of the season. Thanks to the various sponsors who have contributed to the team tour costs - and made the tour that much more feasible for us.
A big thanks to all who support us too... If you are coming down, see you in Port Alfred...

Belated Gauteng Champs Results...

The weekend of 31st October/1st November saw the staging of the Gauteng Championships Regatta, which was also a celebration of the 50th year of rowing at King Edward VII School.

Results were as follows:
In open eights our 1st eight won convincingly. The 2nd eight placed 5th ahead of all other school 2nd crews and the 3rd eight placed 13th overall. In the other premier boy’s event, the coxed four, King Edwards claimed Gold by just over a length. Our 2nd four won the B final, leaving them in a commendable 9th position overall.

In U16, the “A” four achieved 6th position and McNeill placed 7th in the singles event, his best result so far this year.The U16 double also placed 8th.

In U15 the performance was a little down on the season so far.The Octopul was 4th, just off a medal. Patrick Colbourne managed the “A” Final in the single this week and ended 8th. The quad brought home the Bronze medal, as did the Double: both stroked by Miller.

In the new U14 group we placed 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th in the doubles event. Daniel Kelly was a commendable 4th in the singles event and the Octopul also ended just off Bronze, in fourth.

Overall, the club was placed 4th in the points trophy for boy’s schools. Very good to see KES pulling of the Double Gold in 1st four and 1st eight events this week.

Old Mutual Schools Boatrace: 11th and 12th December 2009

Boatrace training in full swing now - The event is to be held on the Kowie River as usual. For more info go to http://www.sasru.co.za/. This year supported by Abingdon School in the UK. King Edwards 1st eight will go off 6th in the head race heat on Friday the 11th of December. This is our finishing rank from last years race. Then crews get paired off into finals based on their time in the heats. The crew goes in with high hopes having had a successful season so far.

The race is fast becoming a showcase event. It is an attraction for overseas crews - earlier in the year there was a Kiwi University eight participating at the big brother event, the Old Mutual Universities Boatrace, held every year in September.

Due to the Hyacinth problem at Roodeplaat, the regatta had to be cancelled early on Saturday morning. Some very dissapointed kids around on Saturday... Not to mention the regatta organisers.

Anyway, off to race the King Edward 50th anniversary regatta (Gauteng Champs) - now to be staged at Wemmer Pan at short notice.

Trevor, Julie and their band of Parents getting stuck in to moving venues.
We look forward to some cracking racing in the Provincial Championship regatta...

GSRF Regatta (Hosted by Bishop Bavin and Mondeor)

Sadly, the thunderstorm put an end to the regatta prematurely. Before the storm pulled through, we saw some fair to good results across all age groups. The u15 oct had a cracker - and was probably the highlight of the days proceedings. They rowed Bennies down in the last 500m. Second four - once again - showed dominance. The 1st four and quad came home disappointed with 2nd place (to Bennies) in both events.

Thanks to all for the support. For detailed results go to the KES website and for the timesheet go to www.regatta.co.za

Don’t forget the Gauteng Champs regatta to be hosted by us on the 31st and 1st!
Big thanks to all the parents that have slaved over the regatta for so long.

Go School

Wemmer Sprints

Wemmer Sprints saw the first real show of what the club has been steadily working towards over the past 4 seasons. The 1st eight powered ahead of WITS and UJ, leaving the other school crews straggling over the 700m course on Saturday. The conditions turned from a terrible cross that we had blowing all day, to a breezy tail: In 1min58, they had a good first race to the season, showing good speed - and that they are a force to be reckoned with...

The 2nd eight placed 2nd in Mens "B" eights, half a length behind WITS. This put them into top spot in the schools 2nd eights ranking and believe it or not, the KES 3rd eight was just off them, coming in ahead of the other school 2nd eights! A few crews didn't race on Saturday, so not yet sure where we stand, but it was a good day for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd eights at KES - all ranked best out of the competing clubs on offer.
The 3rd eight was the second best 2nd eight, a great result for them after 2 weeks of training since the beginning of Camp.

The new 1st four combo had a good row holding off St. John's by 2.5 seconds. Also, the 1st quad were just off St. Alban's (in a seperate heat). A feisty performance from them - also a new combination that dispalyed some great rythm. 2nd four also had a cracking sprint, winning their event.

In the youger ranks, the U14's (ony been rowing 2 weeks) and the U15's both had good regatta's. We had a few crews shining. Very encouraging to see the octopul's featuring in the medals (silver) so early on in the season.

Overall, a very positive start to the season for these young men.