There were summery conditions yesterday for the Quintn Head - or the start of it anyway. Five Sons eights took part with a decent result for the best of our men's crews, which placed sixth out of 24 in the IM3 division.  

November 8th gave us a strong tail wind to Hammersmith Bridge, where it changed to a head wind, kicking up lumpy water down to Putney. Conditions like these are nothing new to us, and may have helped a number of the Sons crews who competed. The stand-out result was the Vet A coxless four who won the category pennant. The crew contained three who've learned to row at the club, one just last season. Also worth a mention, is the Vet D 4x crew who finished second in category, just eight seconds behind national champions Bewl Bridge.  

An active women's squad has been one of the positives of the season. On a sprint 500 metres course at Staines the girls came away with a couple of wins taking the coxed fours at IM3 and the coxless pairs at IM2. This last saw an all Sons final and a close race with Lena and Colleen holding a tight line on the final bend and coming in just ahead of Mia and Erin. Both pairs looked good, underlining the excellent progress the whole squad have made this year which must have a lot to do with Drago's coaching. Fawssett also won in Vet D 1x. 

McLachlan, Scrine, Fawssett and Smith represented the club in the Vet D quad event. After an easy win in the heat, they were forced to work hard in a final against a Wallingford quad featuring the pair who'd beaten Smith and McLachlan to Gold in the IM3 2x final at the Masters. Sons got away to a good start, and held off the fast finishing Wallingford crew to win an eight boat event. 

If you want to race a pair at HRR there's only one option - the Silver Goblets, an open event which attracts its share of internationals. So just being invited was an achievement for our own Pete Reynolds and Mirko Brinker. Come the day, the Sons pair did far more than just take part, easily beating a Lady Rohesia combination that included a Wyfolds winner from the previous year. The next round featured full-time professionals and World Silver medalists Foad and Landridge and an honourable exit for the best pair we've had in ages. It's particularly pleasing that Mirko has done all his rowing at Sons after coming to the sport through our learn to row course in 2011. The commentators on the excellent new Henley TV feed noted the crew's good technique - a credit to them and coach Sam Haeta. 

The Masters 4x of McLachlan, Smith, Fawssett and Baldwin came away with a Gold Medal in Vet D quads IM3. Smith and McLachlan also won Silver in Vet E 2x IM3. The open events on the previous day didn't go quite so well. Despite having the proven partnership of Scrine and Boerike in the boat, the quad could only make the final of the Vet D quad event.

The 28th March brought the Veterans' Head of the River Race. Favoured by the weather gods, who've blown the main HORR into cancellation for the two previous years, the race again had decent conditions. The Sons mens' Masters C crew had a good row, getting down the course in 20.13 and finishing sixth in a competitive category won by Molesey BC. In the Mixed Masters C, the club's scratch crew, coxed by Hugo of Broxbourne RC, won the division. A spirited attempt to chase down our own Mixed Masters B crew failed by three seconds. 

The novice eight, most of whom came to the club through last summer's  course, have been steadily progressing under the coaching of Andrew Maunder. Finishing a respectable 297th overall, the guys were seventh in the NovC category and will be pleased to see that only one of our Tideway neighbours, Vesta, were better placed, and only by four seconds.

The annual three way competition between the Hammersmith clubs: Sons, Auriol and Kensington and Furnival has been reinvigorated in recent years. Sons lost to Furnivall by one point in 2013, and there the shield stayed for two years because the fixture was abandoned in 2014 due to bad weather. This year, Sons mobilised every rower to put an extra eight on the water which, as it turned out, proved crucial. We won by a single point over AK who, it has to be said, clocked the fastest times for both the men's and women's eights.

Sons has traditionally been a small club with an 'include all' philosophy. Much of the competitive men's and women's squad crews coming through our annual 'Learn to Row', run by Andrew Maunder. 

2012 was an unprecedented year - successes by Team GB in the rowing events, created huge interest from individuals wanting to learn how to row. As a result, Sons ran two courses to meet the demand. 2013 was also feeling the effects of the Olympic legacy, prompting Sons again to run two courses, something we'd never done before. 

We were delighted when we were invited to put a squad forward, comprising our 2012 and 2013 learn to row members, to compete in the All-Party Parliamentary Rowing Group (APPRG) boat race. The race has been going for some years, but previously the entry was restricted to a few Putney clubs and some juniors. This year the invitation was extended to all the local clubs to submit crews comprising of development crews inspired by the Olympics. 

Sons entry was accepted and our eight was drawn against London Rowing Club. The crew was to comprise of four members from the 2012 Learn to Row course, and four from the 2013 Learn to Row course, with Peter Horton coxing.

However, as with all events, there was added drama: One of the crew from the 2012 course was unable to row, and Ben's partner who was due some weeks after 12th June gave birth several weeks earlier. Luckily we were able to line up subs to fill their seats.

Due to the 2012 and 2013 intakes being in different coaching squads, there were limited opportunities to train together as the racing crew. In the end we managed the Sunday before race day, with a pre-race outing before rowing the boat to the trailer for towing to Vauxhall.

The boat was rigged down a back street, with the crew carrying it under a railway bridge and stopping four lanes of traffic to launch on a commercial slipway alongside MI6. The race course was between Tate Britain and Millbank  Tower, a stretch of river none of the crew had rowed on before, which is renowned for being difficult due to commercial traffic.

When it was Sons turn to race, the crew lined up against London Rowing Club. The crew got a very good start despite the taxing conditions and were immediately half a length up, allowing the crew to relax and enjoy the rowing. 

They remained calm when they hit rough water passing under Lambeth Bridge, coping well with the conditions, and were eventually able to win the race. 

he crew span and landed on the specially constructed pontoon by the House of Lords, where they enjoyed a champagne reception and afternoon tea on the House of Lords terrace - in very wet rowing kit...

After the medal presentations, the Sons' 8+ boated and rowed back to the club, taking advantage of the glorious weather.

This was a phenomenal opportunity for the club, and greatly enjoyed by all who took part. The success and strength of the Learn to Row courses lies with Andrew Maunder, who has been running them for several years.