There was a record entry of 157 crews with more than 400 competitors to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first Bluefriars Head Race. Bearing in mind the numbers, we asked the St. John's Ambulance to attend the event; we also hired portable lavatories and asked the police to direct traffic on the A4 at the entrance to the Avon County field. The race was split into four sections, with the first race taking place at 1115 and the last at 1515. All sections were started within ten minutes of the scheduled time, thanks partly to the use of mobile phones to communicate between the start, halfway and the finish.

As usual, the Monkton contingent of about 30, along with volunteers from local and other school clubs spent a good part of the day helping to run the event as well as rowing in it. In the Secretary's view, the many jobs that are well done by young members of the school Boat Club form an important and worthwhile part of the whole exercise, and the event could not run without the enthusiastic support of a large number of 'background staff as well as the competitors who arrive expecting to race without a hitch.

The event attracted entries from 20 clubs, including Avon County, Bradford on Avon, Minerva Bath; the Universities of Bath, Bristol and the West of England; Bryanston, Wycliffe. The Oratory School and Monmouth School for Girls gained particularly good results. It was good to have two crews from Malvem, where rowing has just started.

DRJ completed the course in a much improved time over last year's (after allowing for the more favourable conditions this year); Ernst ter Horst was 2nd in Novice sculls; John Greene was 4th in a large field of J15 scullers, closely followed by Andrew Hutchinson who also sculled well; and the J15 Quad won its event, beating a crew from Monmouth. Other competitors from Monkton came somewhat lower in the order. Enough said!