In 1926 the boat was six years old - the original eight, and it had loosened up so that at the stern it could be down on stroke side and high on stroke side up front. This was put right in 1927 when a parent of one of the crew paid for a new boat from Sims of Putney, which cost £120. It arrived on Sims‘ lorry at about 1900 hrs and we were waiting on the Warminster Road to unload and carry it down - not by the steep footpath down from the aqueduct but further along down across the fields. I believe that now the boats can be broken up into sections for transport, but then it was some 60' long.

To get the boat to Henley was a big job - it had to be carried up to the canal, floated along to Limpley Stoke, carried to the station and loaded onto a long flat truck (it was called, I remember, a MACAW B truck), the overhanging end was protected by a �fly‘ truck. ‘Unloading at Henley meant carrying the boat to the river. The return journey was similar though we were somewhat subdued as in both 1926 and 1927 we were beaten in the first heat. Later, the 1st IV won at Saltford.