Hi all,
Please could all Hamble rowers come to the boat park for 8:00am on Saturday morning to get the trailers (already loaded with the boats) down the slipway and hooked up to the towing vehicles. Low water is at 7:23am. Michael will be collecting the borrowed boat (Joyce/Doreen) from Portsmouth.
There isn’t a huge amount of parking at Hamble so we should car share from Langstone to Hamble as much as possible. If you live much closer to Hamble than Langstone then just go straight there. Some free parking is available for trailers and cars at The Donkey Field which is a short walk back from the harbour (continue around the one-way system beyond the main harbour area and the parking will be signposted).
We will be launching at Hamble Point Marina SO31 4NB (this is where we launched from 2 years ago for those that were there and can remember!). Once launched, boats will be positioned on the beach in number order. Lower numbers (starting first) closest to the start line, higher numbers downstream. I’m assuming that once the boats are positioned and secured on the beach we can have a wander around and get bacon sandwiches etc! I suggest we aim to get to the Marina at around 9:30am so we can launch our boats in quick succession.
Registration needs to be completed by 10:30am and there may be merit in one person taking responsibility (any volunteers?) for registering all 6 crews which now are:
Joyce or Doreen
Marilyn (cox)
Michael
Tom B
Bobby
Lesley K
Langstone Lady
Geoff (cox)
Tim
Chris
Vernon
Matt
Sallyport
Mo (cox)
Liz W
Jane D
Caroline McPhee
Julie Carter
Mabel
Martin S ( cox)
Nigel
Alan
Marion
Frances
Gladys
Greg (cox)
Julie A
Ann Carroll
Joan S
Anita Preston
Sweare Deep
Steve Forrest (cox)
Ally Forrest
Heather
Lynn
Claire T
The competitor’s briefing is at 11:30am.
The start time is 12:00, subject to river conditions.
Full details of the event, including a course map, can be found on this link:
http://www.hambleriverraid.org/index.php/race-order
For those that haven't been before there is a cafe (the queues can be long) and other food and drink options (I recall there was a beer tent last time). You are also only a few minutes walk from the pubs and shops in Hamble.
The weather should be good so remember to bring your water bottles, hats and suncream.
Remember, we do need everyone to come back to Langstone at the end of the day to get the trailers back into the boat park.
Cheers, Chris