Head of the Yarra 2023

Photo: ANA Rowing Club

The Head of the Yarra is one of Australia's best known regattas - a gruelling 8km course through the heart of Melbourne that is as much a coxswain's race as it is a test of 'who can hurt the most?'

Despite the couple of thousand kilometres separating WA's rowing community from the banks of the Yarra, there were nine crews of intrepid athletes who made the journey. ANA had three eights representing them, Fremantle had two, Old Scotch Cols had one, Curtin had their Black Swans crew plus good representation in the two 'Supergroup' eights made up of Masters women from CURC, Perth RC, Murdoch RC, Swannies, ANA and a handful of Tassie & Vic clubs. 

We put out the call for race recaps from these crews - read on to get a glimpse of the HOY experience in their own words!

CURTIN UNIVERSITY ROWING CLUB  - 'THE BLACK SWANS'

Event: Male Masters E Grade

Result: 3rd out of 11 crews

Coxswain: Bourby Webster (you can read her excellent LinkedIn post here)

Recap by Greg Kerr

"The Head of the Yarra was a new experience for all the Black Swans from Curtin University Boat Club. Nobody had raced this iconic event during their respective rowing careers and we were keen to do well in this one. We had rowed over the course the previous day and found the Big Bend even tighter than what we had been practising at home. It was difficult to get a clear run at it as there were so many other crews training, but we got a good line to work to. Race day was hectic. You can’t warm up on the water so we gratefully took advantage of the MUBC gym to do a quick warm up on the ergo and a leg circuit. You get on the water 10mins prior to your start time, but we felt warm and ready to go.

We started 9th in a field of 12 boats. Each boat goes off at 10 sec intervals with minimal passing opportunities in the 2nd half of the course. We knew we had to pass as many boats as we could in the first 3kms and had identified Uni of Queensland as our main known competition, who were starting at 12th. Immediately from ‘Go” our fabulous cox Bourby Webster had us in the pocket. She took command of the race course ordering crews in front of us to “yield” to allow us to pass (a passing boat has right of way within 1/2 boat length of the stern of the slower crew). By the time we got to Big Bend, Bourby had got us past 5 crews and we were extending on Uni of Queensland. 

We came into Big Bend alongside a New Zealand crew that we were overtaking and had to keep clear. Unfortunately coming in at pace our small rudder did not respond, despite stroke side dropping outing checking the boat and bow side pulling as hard as we could. The Kiwi Crew on the outside took a tighter line and consequently the crews came together, resulting in our bow side unable to row. Their bow popped around on our inside and rowed off and we drifted into the bank. Nearly 60 agonising seconds passed before we managed to get rowing again. Within 1km we had passed another crew, but we saw Uni of Queensland had gained on us from behind. 

Coming into the Scotch College straight we had 2 crews in front of us - The Aukland Crew we had tangled with and Liechhardt. We were gaining on the Kiwis in the homeward stretch and taking time out of Liechhardt. We crossed the line under the bridge, watching UQ rowing coming into the straight behind rowing very smartly.Sitting in the boat we were able to access on the online results, they were coming in quickly and within 10mins we learned our fate. Liechhardt had rowed well in clear water and won, University of Queensland 6 secs behind and Curtin Uni 2 secs behind, 1 minute back from us was Aukland in 4th. We had lost by 8 seconds. 

You don’t learn much from winning, so the loss was a good opportunity to learn. We will definitely be coming back back with different rudder next year and some changes to our training. It was a very well run regatta and we greatly enjoyed the Victorian hospitality to have a fun weekend."

SUPERGROUP 1 - Perth, North Esk, Mosman, Derwent Mercantile & Lauriston RC

Event: Female Masters G-H Grade

Result: 1st

Coxswain: Alexander Hutchinson (Lauriston Girls')

Recap by Vanessa Grant

"A Composite crew consisting of Celia Cornwell, Nicky Cato, Carolyn Fennell and Vanessa Grant all from Perth Rowing Club join friends from Mosman Rowing Club, North Esk Rowing Club and Derwent Mercantile Collegiate Rowing Clubs to enter and win the Women’s Masters G-H Division at the Head of the Yarra 8km race last week.  Our cox from Lauriston Girls School used his local knowledge to skilfully steer through the corners, as they say the race is a coxswain’s race.

The crew were elated to win the G-H Division being a H crew and at our first row together."

SUPERGROUP 2 - Curtin, Murdoch, NA, Swans & Perth RC!

Event: Female Masters F Grade

Result: 6th out of 11 crews

Coxswain: Kathy Ride (PRC)

Recap by Ronnie Cooper

"The Curtin University composite MWF8 that entered in the Head of the Yarra this year was a composite crew made up of rowers from across four different clubs and for some, it was their first ever race up the Yarra.

The eight had been training for a number of months and it was the job of our coach Joanne Boserio to bring us together as a crew.

We headed out on the Friday for a practice run up to the Big Bend. There is definitely a technique to managing this part of the course while trying to maintain power and pace. The reeds on the side of the river seem to attract boats like magnets. The turning space is tight.

Race day arrived and following a warmup using the ergos at the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club we launched our boat with some trepidation and a great deal of excitement.

Our plan for the day was to row our own race and not be too concerned about other boats that might be around us. We had no real information about our opposition apart from the fact that the Masters Women’s F8 division was made up of 11 crews.

Following the start we quickly settled into our planned rating for this section of the course. We had a clear run to the first bridge and soon after we had passed the first of three crews that we overtook during the race. Kathy Ride, our cox, steered us around the Big Bend with a great line and called for a push as we raced towards the next bridge. Coming into the Hawthorn straight we had clear water from two other crews in our division who were coming up behind us. We lifted our rating and crossed the line with Kathy urging us on right to the end.

We finished 6th out of the 11 crews and were surprised and very pleased with our result as we went into the race with no expectations.

Now that we have a taste of what we can do we will certainly be back to give it another go with the aim of improving our place in the ranking.

We would like to thank rowing Victoria for running such a well-organized regatta. Launching 270 boats from small space is no easy task. Thank you also to the Hawthorn Rowing club for their wonderful hospitality while we waited for the row back."

OLD SCOTCH COLLEGIANS

Event: Male Masters H Grade

Result: 3rd out of 8 crews

Coxswain: Aryan Deole (Melbourne High School)

Recap by Dick Sudlow

"Our "Old Scotch’’ VIII competed in the Masters H Category [over 70 years] this year.

Our crew ages ranged from 68 years to 82 years and most of the crew had rowed the HOY at least 3 times.

It is a cox’s race and we had good local 17 y.o .who took no nonsense from us or competing crews.

Overtaking is easiest in the first section of the race and to our surprise we passed 3 crews!

We were placed 3^rd out of the 8 crews with Fremantle the only other WA competitor.

After a 5 hour carnival waiting for the river to be cleared we then rowed the boat 4 kms back to the boatshed!"

Full WA Results

Photo:  The ANA Male Masters E Grade crew, from the coxswain seat (Claire Jansen)