Unofficially Thames Rowing Club

…at the All-Ireland boat rigging championships. Dat would be roight.

The squad and their livers have recently returned from a successful trip to Eire. The brave boys and girls showed the bog-botherers how a boat should be rigged at Dublin’s Met Regatta. The experience gained earlier in the year on the apocalyptic day known as “The First Two Bridges Run” stood them in excellent stead – there was no pain in Hatwell’s rigging dojo. The arse-end of a tropical cyclone held no fears for our plucky crew, Tom H winning a “Best In Show” for the quality of his strokeside rigger work on a trailer-loaded 4+, and the squad a “Highly Commended” for the artful presentation of the stabilising oars on an upturned 8 – “a post-modern vision of a dystopian future, laced with irony” was how the judges described it. Thames RC for the Turner prize next year?

Apparently there was meant to be a rowing regatta on too but that got cancelled ‘cos of the gopping weather.

It was all a massive shame for Alex as he’d put in a lot of work behind the scenes to secure us boats, oars, some seats that actually worked (and some that didn’t), race crew entries and getting Rich off that noncing charge so he could enter the country. Good work though big man.
 
So rather than toasting victories the after-regatta session merely offered the chance to toast to some squad birthdays and in rowing vernacular ”get on it”. Your scribe cemented his beta male status by falling victim to some particularly fine mobile phone tomfoolery and retired, dignity shredded, at a shamingly early doors. Foo lyrically described the w/e to me as thus -

“Highlights – You losing your shit; All you pansies suffering from pussythermia on Saturday; Adam losing his shit; Toys for Don and Mary”

Probing further (with Mazza’s gift?) my sources tell me that Mary enthusiastically cemented Anglo-Oirish relations and Nicki really, really likes “cuddles”. Pip waxed lyrical about Karl’s rhythmic buttocks. Adam “Banzai” Porter manfully grappled with the Polish Vodka Question and I think it’s fair to say, he answered it. We learnt that the path of the Oirish Gimp is prohibitively expensive and I’m still not really sure what Don is going to do with that washing machine waste pipe seal (extra-large).

How do you top that?

Old Man Bad Aids

PS – Thanks to Dave for the photos.