• Novice Men 1st VIII+ Place Second, solidifying their position as one of the top novice crews in the country
• Novice Women Place Fifth, overcoming crew changes and strong competition
• Senior Women VIII+ place second by only 10 seconds despite large field 
• Senior Men smash targets of 80% of winning times, showing massive improvement from Cambridge

The November 26th weekend saw University College London Boat Club make its way to wintery Newcastle-upon-Tyne for its second head race of the season, Rutherford Head. 
Racing over the same BUCS Head course, the club sought to build upon its performance at Cambridge Head using lessons learned. Due to poor weather conditions, Rutherford Head 2015 was cancelled, so this race was new for many of the athletes, both novices and seniors. 

For the novices, all crews rowed with greater quality by making technique tweaks and improvements. Both did particularly well by coping with last minute crew changes, showing their resilience. The crews learnt a lot about the importance of pacing and timing, as this race is a whole two kilometres longer than their last. 

The Senior Women, having won Cambridge Head in the week prior, new that they needed to stay as a leader in their category, and they were extremely pleased to have placed second. 

The Men however, had slightly more mixed results after Cambridge Head, having missed out on a potential win in the VIII+. However the men were delighted to have raced incredibly well in all boats (two matched VIII+s, two IV+s), with an VIII+ achieving 97% of the winning time, and one of the IV+s winning their category. 

This weekend also saw a massive turnout from the Bentham Boat Club – our Alumni club. They formed an VIII+ with some of the greatest athletes the club has seen in recent years. 

Overall, the club is extremely happy with the performance of the athletes, overall much more professional, organised and with greater team spirit. We’d like to thank Tyne Amateur Rowing Club for hosting, and luck for providing such great conditions!