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Out in Force – Trentham Regatta June 2025
The Devils loaded up and took part in a wide spread of races on the lake at Trentham, from singles through to 8s, picking up a good haul of pots – in the potteries. The gusty wind and variable volume of the starters made for an interesting day for everyone.
Notable thanks to Nick our ‘almost regular’ guest cox for giving us a stable platform to row. To Alex who came of age with her first Men’s competitive race, revealing her competitive streak to win! A very good cox in the making.
And a big thanks to Ed for taking on the Longest Day with a very early start and late end with a ‘we can’t get any more on the trailer’ load to tow.
Men’s Op Mas D/E 8+ against Warrington : Warrington handicap 5 sec – Adam, Brian, Matt, Darren, Ed, Louis, Paul, Jeremy, coxed by Nick.
High cross wind start, Warrington struggle to get stable at line. Unheard/clear instruction for us to start. We recovered and got into our stride quickly. Held well to Island, pulling back 2 seconds. Nick call for 10 stroke burst, boat shifted up a gear, and then called for a second burst 150m out, we surged again and were catching fast. Warrington held us off by a foot. Good competitive race, we rowed well, Nick kept us true down the line and felt we could have won.
Women’s 8 Report to go here
Men’s Op Mas C/D 4+ (Adam, Brian, Ed, Jeremy, coxed by Nick).
Semi Final: against Royal Chester : Devils handicap 6 secs.
Solid performance against a young and fit looking crew, though lacked in technique (phew!). Our handicap lead never under threat with top gear not needed for a 3 sec win. A solid and well controlled performance.
Final against Trafford
Very good start by Devils up half a length. Intelligent race management, reacting to any push Trafford made with half length held through to the finish. Good competitive row.
Adding to the crockery collection.
Debutants have a Ball: Two of our winners of note at Trentham were David, in the mixed quad, in his first ever race and Alex who coxed a race for the first time. Read all about it below.
Alex’s Story: Coxing my first race was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Sunday did not dawn calm and tranquil on the weather front and the wind blew in gusts, meriting lots of advice on keeping the bow into the wind at the start. However, Trentham’s start borders the outer, more exposed wastelands of the lake and it was a real juggling act to stay suitably posed for a good start. The men’s crew were an experienced bunch who displayed an immense amount of patience and humour while I messed around trying to keep us vaguely in the right direction and my sincere thanks to them for their helpful calls.
Our first sojourn up the lake was not without steering glitches but we managed to make the most of our handicap start and grab a win. This meant another race – the final, straight away. So, up we rowed again and were assigned the island side of the course. We were waiting for some time for the other crew to straighten up and eventually were off again with a better start. I don’t know if it was nerves or the excitement of the race, but I was so intent on keeping away from the buoys to avoid going into the opposition’s lane, that we ended up heading for the island. There was my poor crew, rowing their guts out and shouting to move back. The relief when we crossed the line was immense-there are no words to describe it and ……winning a final! Thank you, Louis, Paul, Rob and Martin. Brilliant rowing -despite a very rookie cox.
Semi Final against Warrington. 6 sec Handicap.
Scratch crew, (3 Derwent members, 4 Devils members – work that out!), scratch boat, first race by cox. Excuses made… oh, shall we mention the cross winds as well?
OK, yes, strong cross winds made for difficult start for both crews. Even-stevens to the Island, Warrington pulled a significant crab, we pushed hard to take advantage, not to be out done, we joined in with our own crab though recovered well.
Felt like two heavyweights going toe to toe. Warrington fought hard to come back, gaining ground in the last 200m, we held them off to win by a length and a half. A race won more by grit and determination than refinement. We had plenty of power, makings of a good crew.
Final against Trafford : Devil’s handicap 5 secs
Messy cross wind start, Trafford struggled to get to line. We had a good start, solid push up to Island, decided to take a mini tour around the Island, Marshall shouted us to get back into lane, emergency direction change, yielding a length to Trafford. Our reaction was good, we stepped up the power and held Trafford off, pulling away at the end to win by 2 lengths. Won by stubbornness ‘we won ugly’. Trafford were noble in defeat and well up for a re-match.
David’s Story: Event: Mixed Masters 4x-. Crew (B): Devils Elbow – Erica, Me, Emma, Andy. Opponents (C): North Staffordshire
Trentham was my first ever regatta, having only taken up rowing in July last year with the Devils Elbow Rec Squad. After just two practice sessions together leading up to race day, we lined up for our first race as a quad.
It was a beautiful summer’s day—classic regatta weather—but with a bit more wind than ideal. Since we were racing against a Category C crew from North Staffordshire, they had a 3-second head start on us. We’d actually changed our starting method just before the race, while waiting to launch. It turned out to be a good call—especially for me. The first 20 strokes felt really solid, and I settled in quickly.
As the race unfolded, the wind started to affect the other crew. They were pushed out wide, close to the lane edge, and Andy—steering from the bow—was doing a brilliant job keeping us on track and shouting clear instructions. His calls kept us tight and calm, which made a huge difference.
Personally, the middle section was tough. I missed a couple of strokes and struggled to get the blade cleanly out of the water a few times. Things got a bit messy for me in that patch, and I was just trying to hold it together. It’s funny how hard it is to remember all the details when the adrenaline’s pumping.
About two-thirds through, we saw the North Staffs boat start to fade. Andy called for a big push. That moment helped me reset. I felt us settle into a stronger rhythm—not necessarily higher rate, but more power with every stroke. From there, we finished with good pace and clear water between us and the competition.
My first race—and my first win.
Massive thanks to Andy, Erica, and Emma for asking me to row with them and trusting me with the seat. And huge appreciation to everyone at the club—because getting to the start line takes a team, not just a boat.
Here’s to many more……maybe
Pooperquad, signing off with pot #1
Men’s Op Mas B 1x against Derwent – Matt
Good start by Matt against a strong cross wind, looked composed, unfortunately pushed too far off line by strong gust, allowing Derwent to take advantage and hold to win. Matt fought through and gave a creditable performance.
Both singles had a difficult day due to strong gusting cross winds, no lack of effort and fight, but up against singles specialists is always giving too much of an advantage on a short run with little room for error.
All done and safely back over the canal bridge to Devils HQ.
Getting a Taste for It – the Second Batch May 2025
Our second Taster session was fully booked and we are pleased to say that from this, and the earlier one, our upcoming Learn to Row course is fully booked. We are of course always keen to attract those that rowed before – no matter how long ago. ‘Return to Row’ members are always welcome and can jump straight in, with as much help as they need with rust removal.
New Boat Alert!! May 2025
Our two ‘Explorer’ boats have been the workhorses for many Learn to Row courses and trips up the Trent for the Good Friday Row. One of them is showing its years and so the time came to add to the fleet with a new, shiny and up to date Explorer. This will be invaluable on the Learn to Row starting imminently. Devil’s Elbow is a small club and so it is important to make sure that the members’ money is spent to best effect and for the greatest good. The more people we can get safely into rowing on our stretch of river, the better it will be for them and the club. Name – yet to be decided.
Getting a Taste for It May 2025
The first of our two taster days took place on Saturday in glorious sunshine 🌞 It was great to see 11 new faces giving rowing a go, and we hope to see you again at the Learn to Row evenings!
Nottingham Masters and Club Regatta May 2025
The Men’s squad sent a boats to the Nottingham Masters and Club Regatta at the National Watersports Centre on Sunday 11th May. Some close racing was had – more detailed report awaited from one of the participants.
Breaston Gala. May 2025
Another great day at the Breaston May Day gala for the DERC stall. Many great row-offs between parents and children and some little superstar rowers of the future. The Devils were there to raise awareness of upcoming taster days and Learn to Row Course.
South Yorkshire Head March 2025
Our Men’s 8 and Ladies 4+ each had a very good row on the River Don last Saturday (29th March). Both crews raced early in the day and we thought they had both won their classes. Sadly for our men, a crew from City of Sheffield RC came in with a faster time later on in the afternoon and wrested their pots from them. That’s such a shame.
Our ladies on the other hand remained the victors and came home very happy indeed, having cut nearly a minute off their time from their previous row over this same course last Autumn.
This is a gruelling 4km race against the stream. Well done you Devils.
Photos to follow, (we hope).
Some Dates for your Diaries
Devil’s Elbow will be running a stall at this year’s Breaston Gala on Monday 5th of May. and will be running ‘Taster Sessions’ on two Saturday mornings in May (17th and 24th) for any of you out there who feel tempted to come out on the river with us.
We will then be running a Learn 2 Row course on five Monday evenings throughout June (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th). Booking will be via the British Rowing online portal this year. More details on how that works nearer the time.
We had a great response to our Learn 2 Row course last year with a good number of our new members sticking with us right through this winter’s high waters and freezing temperatures and who are now firmly embedded in our recreational and racing activities. We hope that some of the others may return now that the weather is starting to warm up a bit. We’re really looking forward to the clocks going on this weekend so that our week-day evening outings will be suddenly bathed in sunshine (with any luck at all).
These two photographs show David setting off for his first row on his own in a single scull last Saturday. This is our one and only ‘off-shore’ racing boat. It’s extremely stable and, for the most part, unsinkable so great for getting used to being out there on your own in that wide, flat and, potentially, very wet world. Nothing that happened last Saturday seemed to shake his enjoyment of it at all; quite the contrary in fact.
Lincoln Head Mar 2025
A bright, but cold day saw the Devils send two boats to the Lincoln Head; the Men’s 8 and the Ladies in a 4+ – the addition of a cox being most useful on this narrow course.
Good rows from both boats with tight margins. Over the 3.5km course, the Men’s 8 were 8 seconds off winning their class and the Ladies’ 4 were just 4 seconds off. Our Ladies’ captain professed to feeling gutted about that but they didn’t look all that unhappy afterwards. Probably the quality of the tea and cake in Lincoln I expect.
Well done both crews. We’re proud of you.
Mar 2025 The sun is creeping back in the evenings. The surreal experience of rowing by moonlight will soon be replaced by the daylight- especially when the clocks change. Whilst welcome, this will mean that the Devils will have to share the river with the fair weather users.
Holme from Home Jan 2025
The national watersports at Holme Pierrepont has been running some open training weekend sessions during January. This is a great idea to help all those clubs that have lost river time in their locations due to the recent flooding.
This last session was the first attended by the Devils and seemingly by every other club in the region. The day had dawned bright and cold, and most thankfully, calm just the day after Storm Eowyn.
There was the expected bun fight getting boats onto the water, not all the pontoons being long enough for 8s.
We put out a men’s 8+, a women’s 4- and women’s 4x-. There was a dedicated lane at the side of the lake for all the boats to make their way to the start at the far end. This was fun to navigate with a mix of crews doing different warm ups. Similarly doing pieces back towards the finish required extreme vigilance. A mix of boats, a mix of skill, speed and common sense was on display. The number of crews thinned out as the morning progressed and the run outs after a mid session brew were a bit less traumatic for coxes and crews alike – although the crews, facing backwards, were mostly unaware of possible impending doom that lay before them from a randomly stationary boat.
