Hi all,

Well, the curtain is down (temporarily anyway) on another long season.
 The club is back from another highly successful masters campaign at
the Nationals in Rockhampton.  Details of crew achievements follow,
but first a few thankyous...

Rick Prince has done a fantastic job organising to get our boat
trailer to and from Rockhampton via his work contacts.  Not only that,
but Rick undertook to service and roadworthy the trailer prior to it's
departure, and is also responsible for the new livery down the sides.
All at no cost to the club.  Thanks Rick.

Nicole Grant, Alissa Giarratana and Kate Andrews not only performed
their usual organisational roles, but also this year undertook the
fabrication of 6 boat covers, enabling us to get our racing shells to
Queensland unscathed.  These will be invaluable in future years also.
Thanks ladies.

Once again, Nick Inglis has devoted great chunks of his time to
coaching the various crews that have done so well at masters level
this season.  There is no doubt that Power House would not have this
sort of success without his tireless efforts.

Now, on to the results.  We had four days of racing on the Fiztroy
river in Rockhampton, which is blessed (somewhat inexplicably) with an
eight lane, fully buoyed, 2000m rowing course.  Thurs, Fri and Sat
were perfect Queensland winter weather, i.e. 26 degrees, sunny and
calm.  Sunday was also warm and largely sunny, but not at all calm,
with a strong, gusty head/cross wind causing some interesting effects
in some lanes and not in others - more about that later.  Racing
started on Thursday afternoon with the heats of the Mens A grade
Single Scull...

MA1x
Inglis. N
Time Heat 3.49.91 (4th)  Final 3.47.09 (4th)
Bingles cruised through the heat with no drama, but found the pace a
little hotter in the final.  4 scullers cleared away from the field
leaving the rest languishing in their wake.  Nick found himself in a
tough battle for third with Shoalhaven's Dean Watts, eventually
missing out by only 0.90sec.  A solid start to the regatta.

MD2-
Crew #1 Rizzardi, Leahy
Time Heat 4.12.29 (5th)
Crew #2 Prince, Cooper
Time Heat 4.03.94 (3rd)  Final 3.52.70 (6th)
Probably the less said the better about Pete and Angelo's row in the
#1 crew as they failed to make the final.  In their first season of
pair rowing however, they should not be discouraged - no-one gets it
right in their first crack!  Rick and Craig on the other hand showed
the benefit of more experience in this boat, comfortably making the
final and performing strongly there.  They were about 20sec off the
pace and 10 out of a medal, finishing in 6th place.

MB8+
Baltutis, Kegele, Stubbs, Harris, Inglis A, Inglis N, Walker (ERC),
Hatjiandreou, Grant (C)
Time 3.10.07 (1st)
Our first win for the regatta came when our new-look B8 with 4 new
faces got the jump on Toowong early and never gave up the advantage,
surging further away at 400m to go on and score by about 3/4 of a
length.  Great step up in standard from Heath, Roland and Dave in
particular.  This was the first of our numerous clashes with Toowong
crews over the course of the regatta and we were hoping it would set
the tone.

MF8+
Carew, McManamny, Beattie, Hodges, Smith, O'Dowd, Pullin, Benson,
Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.31.27 (4th)
Although they finished out of the medals, it was obvious that the work
of the last 2 months has been worthwhile for this group.  The crew was
able to lift and hold a rating of 34 over the last 250m and close on
their rivals.  It's worth noting that the race was won in a time of
3.11.06 which is close to world class for this event.  If the guys
continue with their current level of training, drop a few kg's and a
few seconds off the erg scores, there is no reason why it may not be a
podium chance at worlds.

MixC8+
Tainton, Carroll, Baltutis, Rizzardi, Leahy, Harris, Chapman, Grant,
Giarratana (C)
Time 3.15.37 (1st)
This was a race in 2 with both Dipper and Mike Taylor rowing in the
opposing MRC composite crew, so we were looking good for a medal
either way.  In the end, the straight PHRC crew was beaten off the
start as expected, but came through with clean rowing through the
middle 500m, eventually surging to the lead with 250m to go and
scoring by 3/4 of a length, thus defending their title from last year.
 Great effort.

MC4+
Baltutis, Rizzardi, Leahy, Harris, Grant (C)
Time Heat 3.34.17 (2nd)  Final 3.31.09 (2nd)
Friday morning's first event saw our guys in the fast heat which they
negotiated with no dramas, finishing close to the powerful Barwon
crew.  The final was the same story, with Barwon again holding off a
strong effort from our guys who finished comfortably clear of the rest
of the field in 2nd place.  An excellent result for this crew that is
also the core of the D8.

MA8+
Baxter (MRC), Walker (ERC), Stubbs, Kegele, Inglis A, Inglis N,
Holman, Hatjiandreou, Grant (C)
Time 3.02.43 (1st)
Once again, a disappointingly small field of only 2 boats showed for
this event, with even Toowong electing to focus on the B quad a few
events later.  This did not alter the result however, with the Power
House crew pulling out to an early lead of 4sec at the 500m mark, then
just doing enough to hold this for the second half.  Another title
defended.  Half the crew had minds on the short turnaround to the B
quad coming up...

MB4x-
Walker (ERC), Holman, Hatjiandreou, Inglis N
Time 3.19.90 (4th)
That short turnaround did us no favours, as the horribly underdone 2
seat caught a fatigue-induced boat stopping crab with about 400m to
go.  This effectively put us out of the medals with much cursing and
disappointment.  Not happy.

MixD8+
Inglis A, Baltutis (with MRC, Yarra, CG composite)
Time 3.28.76 (1st)
When this crew came looking for two rowers from our club, I should
have been a little suspicious.  Sure enough, once Roland and Alex were
in the crew, a delegation arrived with the real question...  "Ah, can
we borrow your boat too?"...  "And, by the way, do you have any
oars...?"  Interestingly enough, justice was served and the
commentator proceeded to call the crew "Power House" all the way down
the course as they notched up another win for our flagship eight (and
our new oars) and of course the now much sought after Roland and Alex!

FC1x
Carroll
Time Heat 4.52.08 (5th)
In a seriously hot event, Peta missed a finals berth but should still
be happy with her row, which was a significant improvement on her last
nationals campaign.  D grade beckons!

MD4+
Crew #1 Carew, Freezer, Leahy, Taylor, Giarratana (C)
Time Heat 3.45.67 (2nd)  Final 3.51.84 (7th)
Crew #2 Beattie, Prince, Cooper, Kegele, Spivakovsky (C)
Time Heat 3.48.76 (2nd)  Final 3.31.89 (2nd)
In a great display of depth, both crews comfortably made the final
here.  The #1 crew spent their powder in the heat unfortunately and
was not able to back up.  They were disappointed with their row in the
final, however, as a scratch crew with a couple of guys who have had
limited training time, this was still a top effort and a reminder that
in order to succeed at this level, the work has to be done.  The #2
crew performed brilliantly in the final however.  Whilst their slick
time was no match for half the Vic state crew who ran away with the
final, our guys clearly outclassed the remainder of the field to take
the silver.  Well done.

FA/B8+
Carroll, Walter, Tainton, Catford (RRC), Stupka (RRC), Andrews,
Chapman, Grant, Giarratana (C)
Time 3.28.55 (1st)
Initially unable to field a crew for this event, we managed to secure
the services of two girls from Richmond RC and compete.  Fortunately,
the effort paid off as the girls took an easy win over a Queensland
composite crew, running down the 2 second handicap in the first 100m
and winning by 3 lengths.

ME2x
McManamny, Tait (MRC)
Time Heat 4.15.01 (3rd)
In this hotly contested event the size of the field meant only 2 from
each heat made the final.  Unfortunately Doug and his partner Gary
from MRC just missed out.  I believe they intend to keep at it however
and this boat may be one to watch.

MA4x-
Walker (ERC), Holman, Hatjiandreou, Inglis N
Time 3.12.10 (1st)
Going in with the same crew as for the disasterous B quad, the crew
were now rested and ready for redemption.  A smooth start and good
tempo settle kept us in touch to the 300m mark where a surge put us
level.  Another push with 400m left put our bow in front of the Tweed
Heads crew in the next lane.  Despite tiring in the last 100m, the
crew hung on grimly to take the win by only 0.76sec.  And it was
sweet.

FA2x
Andrews, Walter
Time 4.13.84 (6th)
This was basically a test row for Kate and Jen who haven't put much
time into this boat.  So with low expectations, it was a good result.
Needs discussion as to whether or not we persue it for Worlds.

MF4+
O'Dowd, Smith, Benson, Pullin, Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.48.71 (3rd)
In what was for many the highlight of the days racing, the F troop
pulled out their best row of this preparation in this race, staying in
touch with the 2nd placed crew all the way down the course and
smashing the remainder of the field.  The resulting bronze was the
clubs first medal at E grade or higher and the first medal for all
members of this crew since their return to competition.  Fantastic
stuff.

FB2-
Chapman, Grant
Time 4.01.40 (1st)
Hard on the heels of the F4's success, Nic and Chap came storming down
the course for a blanket finish in the B pair.  Despite Nic's
admittedly (and highly unusual) atrocious steering, the girls struck a
great rhythm and hung on to a narrow lead from start to finish,
finally getting up by only 1.83sec.  7sec covered the whole field so
it was exciting stuff.

MA2x
Walker (ERC), Inglis N
Time Heat 3.32.27 (2nd)  Final 3.37.64 (5th)
The guys eased through the heat and comfortably made the final.
Unfortunately, they were unable to reproduce their best form in what
proved to be a very tight race, finishing 5th, only 7sec behind the
winners.

FA/B4+
Tainton, Walter, Chapman, Andrews, Giarratana (C)
Time 4.00.71 (1st)
I think it would be fair to say that this crew has had an unhappy
preparation with illness, injury and unidentifiable crapness causing
problem after problem.  However, a massive infusion of positive energy
the night before proved enough to put all that behind.  The 2sec
handicap was overcome early in the race, and the other crews put to
the sword.  Our girls eventually winning by exactly 1 length.  Top
effort under the circumstances - now for some time in a different
boat!

MixC2x
Carroll, Inglis N
Time Div1 4.05.24 (3rd)
Bingles managed his tight turnaround from the A double and slotted in
behind Peta here.  They had a cracking row, unable to keep up with the
fresh (and very quick) doubles from Surfers and MUBC/RRC, but
comfortably out in front of the remainder of the field.  The resulting
bronze was Peta's 3rd medal from 4 events, a great effort.

MixA/B4+
Crew #1 Chapman, Andrews, Holman, Hatjiandreou, Giarratana (C)
Time 3.45.09 (1st)
Crew #2 Tainton, Walter, Inglis A, Kegele, Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.49.22 (2nd)
Both PHRC crews were off scratch here, and both soon caught up the 2
second handicap, leaving the other crews in their wake.  The two boats
were more-or-less level through 500m, but the #1 crew proved stronger
in the third 250m, moving out to a 2 length advantage.  Not about to
give up however, the #2 crew kept the pressure on, reducing the margin
in the final 250m, and ensured a PHRC 1-2 finish.  Great result and
now the third year running we have won this event.

MF1x
Benson
Time Heat 4.54.45 (8th)
Pete didn't get through to the final, however he only missed that spot
by 32sec.  This may still sound like a lot, but looking back through
my records, I note that Pete rowed a time of 6.24 in this event last
year.  Taking 90sec off your time in the space of 12 months (and at
the age of 63), is nothing short of astounding.  Watch this space.

MC2-
Kegele, Leahy
Time Heat 4.02.84 (5th)
These two haven't been in a boat together for 12 months, so their
performance has to be viewed with that in mind.  This is a hotly
contested event (the guys missed the final by one spot) and was
eventually won in a time of 3.23, faster than either the A or B pairs.
 Scary.

ME8+
O'Dowd, McManamny, Pullin, Freezer, Cooper, Taylor, Carew, Prince, Grant (C)
Time 3.21.14 (4th)
This event was won by a crew that was essentially the Vic State eight,
followed home by two very strong Queensland crews.  Next was our
combination having their first row together, but only 8 seconds out of
a medal.  Now that the D squad has been together and performing for 12
months or so, the E/F group is starting to follow suit.  This sort of
result was unthinkable only a year ago.  Well done to all involved.

MA4+
Stubbs, Hatjiandreou, Inglis A, Inglis N, Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.17.41 (2nd)
Power House has medalled in this event every year since first
contesting it in 2006.  A new look crew this year with Heath stepping
into the bow seat maintained the record with a powerful performance.
Unfortunately the Toowong crew were once again too strong, taking
their 3rd consecutive win in this event, leaving us the bridesmaids
once more, well clear of the remainder of the field.  Great effort
from all our guys and an exceptional performance from Tara as she
continued her great regatta.

FC8+
Tainton, Grant, Giarratana (C) with MRC crew in composite.
Time 3.38.31
Nic, Virg and Alissa jumped in to the stern 3 of this eight for a
scratch row.  It proved a pretty successful one too as two crews
cleared out from the rest of the field with our girls hanging on for
the silver in a tough race.

FA2-
Andrews, Chapman
Time 4.16.34 (3rd of 3 - no medal)
Lack of experience in this boat class showed up here as Kate and Chap
struggled to keep their boat straight, changing lanes a couple of
times as they fell well behind in the early stages.  Powerful Toowong
and Canberra crews made sure our girls never got another look.
Definitley worth persuing.

MixAB8+
Tainton, Walter, Stubbs, Inglis N, Inglis A, Andrews, Chapman,
Hatjiandreou, Giarratana (C)
Time 3.12.20 (2nd)
Looking to defend this title which we won in 2007 and defended easily
last year, this was probably the most disappointing race of the
regatta for Power House.  A strong, competent composite crew from
Richmond, CG and MUBC (coxed by our own Nic Grant! - :) ) put on the
pressure and utilised their 2sec handicap advantage exceptionally
well.  Despite Hatsy's great final effort to close the gap, our crew
went down by 0.87sec.  All the things we normally do so well (careful
preparation, solid rhythm, no panic, etc) were done poorly for once,
overconfidence bordered on arrogance and degenerated very quickly into
disarray when we were challenged by a crew that effectively beat us at
our own game.  Hence our 2 year domination of mixed masters rowing
received a nasty wake-up call.  Fortunately it's a timely warning and
we have 4 months to get the 'house' back in order!

MixD4+
Taylor, Beattie with MRC composite
Time Div1 3.55.29 (4th)
Mike's fruitless hunt for a medal continued to be confounded here as
the crew once again finished one spot away from some silverware.  He
may well be the unluckiest man in Australian rowing.

MD8+
Beattie, Prince, Baltutis, Taylor, Leahy, Rizzardi, Kegele, Harris,
Giarratana (C)
Time Heat 3.19.69 (3rd)  Final 3.25.49 (5th)
This crew has prepared just beautifully for this regatta and should be
justly proud of it's efforts.  The guys cruised through the heat with
no difficulty, with a 12sec gap back to the 4th and 5th place crews
battling hard for the last spot in the final.  Unfortunately, just
after this, the wind sprang up creating a significant disadvantage to
the near side of the course.  Naturally enough, our crew drew Lane 2
in the final, putting them in the teeth of the gale.  The two form
crews, Toowong and Glebe in Lanes 4 and 6 took control of the race
early, and the battle was on for bronze between us (Lane 2 - heat time
3.19), Toowong/Commercial (Lane 5 - heat time 3.22) and Pembroke (Lane
8 - heat time 3.31) with the other 3 crews off the back.  Our guys
battled gamely against the stiff head/cross wind and the attendant
chop.  Alissa did a fabulous job to keep the boat in the lane (other
coxes struggled on that side of the course), but all to no avail as
Pembroke took advantage of clean, unruffled water on the far side of
the course to get up for an unlikely bronze, less than 3 seconds ahead
of PHRC.  Disappointing, but that is the nature of the game sometimes.
 This is the hottest of all the eight divisions at Masters level, and
we now have a seriously competitive crew.  Worlds are still very much
on the agenda.

MB4+
Walker (ERC), Hatjiandreou, Holman, Inglis N, Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.22.81 (1st)
Once again up against a couple of Toowong crews in a 6 boat field, we
were looking to redress the balance after taking silver in the A4.  A
great stroking effort from Bingles got us away clean and settled well,
seeing off all but the Toowong/Drummoyne crew a couple of lanes over.
They pushed at the 400m and took a length lead, but with Tara's calm
calls and excellent steering, there was no panic and we gradually
worked back into the race.  With 150 to go, we were only a canvas
down.  10 strokes later we were a canvas up and the opposing crew was
a beaten wreck.  Bingles may have stopped talking about it by the time
he gets back to Melbourne... possibly....

MixC4+
Crew #1 Baltutis, Rizzardi, Chapman, Grant, Giarratana (C)
Time 3.56.69 (2nd)
Crew #2 Taylor, Kegle with MRC composite
Time 4.15.66 (3rd of 3)
With all our guys coming off 2 solid races in the D8, there was a
question of how the legs would hold up.  In the #1 crew, they dropped
a length to the powerful Barwon/MUBC combo early and the margin did
not change as our crew pressed hard all the way down the course.  Both
leading crews got away from the PHRC/MRC composite a little, who once
again missed a medal due to the small field size.

MF2x
McManamny, Benson
Time Heat 4.44.62 (8th)
I missed seeing this race as it started ahead of time, but Doug and
Pete reported that they probably didn't handle the conditions terribly
well as the course had really chopped up quite badly at this point.
Along with a few other crews, they may need to spend some of the next
few months going in search of crappy water to practice in!

MA2-
Walker (ERC), Hatjiandreou
Time 3.47.64 (4th)
Jeff and Hatsy made a timetabling error and only just made the start
of this event.  They also fell victim to the inside of the course and
didn't handle the chop as well as they may have with a better prep.
Nevertheless, they stayed in touch, eventually missing a medal by
around 8sec.

MB2x
Walker (ERC), Inglis N
Time 3.39.22 (4th)
After a 22min turnaround, Jeff found himself back in the Lane 2 chop,
this time in a double with Bingles in front of him instead of Hatsy.
Unfortunately for Jeff, the similarities didn't stop there, as the
guys again struggled with the wind and waves as they battled for a
medal, ultimately slipping out of 3rd spot with only 100m to go.
Still an excellent effort against some high-quality opposition.

ME4+
Crew #1 McManamny, Cooper, Pullin, Carew, Giarratana (C)
Time 3.57.06 (6th)
Crew #2 O'Dowd, Freezer, Beattie, Taylor, Spivakovsky (C)
Time 3.52.19 (5th)
The winning crew here cleared out to an amazing lead and won by about
17sec, the next 5 crews were separated by only 8sec.  The #1 PHRC crew
rowed strongly through the first 500m to be well in medal contention,
but again struggled with conditions and faded to 6th over the second
half.  The #2 crew had a brilliant start and sat in 2nd place until
the final 250m when the 3 crews in the outside lanes just slipped
past, eventually finishing 5th, less than 3sec behind second place.
In a great illustration of where the good water was, the lane order of
the crews in this race was 7,5,6,8,4,2,3,1 - clear advantage on the
outside of the course.  So a brilliant effort from our 2 crews in
lanes 2 and 4.  With this and the E8, F4 and F8 results, we are
definitely heading in the right direction.

MC8+
Crew #1 Baltutis, Prince, Stubbs, Rizzardi, Leahy, Harris, Inglis A,
Hatjiandreou, Grant (C)
Time Heat 3.28.73 (3rd)  Final 3.12.41 (4th)
Crew #2 Holman, Kegele with MRC/Barwon/Corio composite
Time Heat 3.15.99 (1st)  Final 3.03.56 (1st)
With the lane draw in the final at last going our way, the guys drew
lane 7 and were ready for a big effort to finish the regatta.  By all
reports it was a strong row, but not quite quick enough to overcome
the Toowong crew for the bronze, our crew missing the medal by only
2.83sec.  Fortunately for the club medal tally, 2 'opportunists' were
invited to fill a couple of seats in the powerful MRC/Barwon/Corio
composite that contained 6 of the Vic State crew plus with the 2 PHRC
ring-ins.  Was interesting to see how some of our stiffest competition
race from the inside as the crew proved too strong for the
Glebe/Drummoyne composite, going away to score by 3/4 of a length.

So, we picked up 12 gold medals...
MB8+, MixC8+, MA8+, MixD8+*, FA/B8+, MA4x, FB2-, FA/B4+, MixA/B4+,
MixA/B8+*, MB4+, MC8+*
8 silver medals...
MC4+, MD4+, MixA/B4+, MA4+, FC8+*, MixA/B8+, MixC4+, MF4+*
2 bronze medals...
MF4+, MixC2x

The * denotes a crew where PHRC made up less than 50% of the crew.  In
crews where we made up at least 50%, the tally was 9G, 6S, 2B.

This haul put us 2nd on the overall club tally, behind Toowong who
managed 17 gold.  So we managed to maintain our spot despite having to
travel so far and were easily the strongest interstate contingent.

Of our 30 competitors, 18 took home at least one gold medal, 3 more
took at least silver and 4 more took at least bronze.  Only 5 missed
out and all of those were in at least one 4th placed crew.  There were
a few exceptional individual efforts worthy of note.

Building on their great nationals last year, both Hatsy and Chap
reaped 5 gold and 2 silver.  Bingles also managed 7 medals with 4
gold, 2 silver and a bronze.  We had six triple gold medallists,
Nicole, Alex, Dipper, Roland, Kate and Virg.  Dipper's 3 gold were the
mens A, B and C eights which is a fabulous effort.  Other rowing gold
medallists were Angelo, Pete Leahy, Dave Harris, Heath Stubbs, Peta
Carroll and Jen Walter.  The MF4+ of John O'Dowd, Brian Smith, Geoff
Pullin and Pete Benson also deserve recognition for their
ground-breaking medal.

Our coxes were nothing short of brilliant with Nicole adding 3 gold
and a silver to her rowing haul of 3G and 2S.  Alissa was just as
prolific with 4G and 4S.  Tara picked up her first national title in
the B4 and took home 1G, 3S and 1B in a well-deserved reward for her
fantastic improvement in the last few months.

One other person who deserves mention for his exceptional efforts over
the last few months is Mike Taylor.  Mike has made a huge effort to
step up into the top D8 crew and is now rowing as well as anyone in
that squad.  No-one deserved a podium finish more than Mike, but
circumstances conspired to see him miss it by the smallest of margins,
a number of times across the weekend.  Looking forward to seeing the
improvement continue up to World Champs!

Whew, that's it.  There are of course many more people deserving of
mention, but that will have to wait until the Presentation Dinner on
the 20th of this month.  Hope to see you all there.

Cheers, Drew