We are just over two weeks away from race day and, as part of our routine preparation, the committee are monitoring the weather situation closely. We are also aware of the high fluvial flows coming down from upriver and how those are affecting the tidal Thames. We really appreciated everyone’s patience and support last year and hope that everyone will continue to bear with us for timely updates over the next fortnight.
Follow us on Twitter and our Facebook event to get updates directly!
Entries for the 2020 race will be open on BROE2 by the end of Monday 13th January. Overseas crews will need to get in touch with British Rowing as normal. We will confirm when entries are live through social media channels.
We remind all crews to carefully check the eligibility criteria for the event they are entering.
The Small and Medium Club lists have been confirmed as those previously published. Any crews that are not on one of these lists and feel they ought to be have unfortunately now missed the deadline for changes for this year.
Update: Entries for the 2020 race will open in the New Year.
The lists for the Small and Medium Club Pennants will be finalised at the same time. As a reminder, you have until 31st December to submit any queries to these lists.
The committee would like to remind crews intending to race for any of the Club Pennants (including Small and Medium) that all crew members are required to be paid up members of their club from 1st January.
The list of clubs qualifying for the Small and Medium Club Pennants for the 2020 race have been published and are available here:
If you believe that your club should be on one of those lists, and isn’t, please get in touch with us before 31st December 2019. The lists will be finalised for the 2020 race in the New Year.
Update: Lists updated as of 6th December 2019 as a result of feedback.
Testing
The Women’s Head exists as a not-for-profit event, where all proceeds are reinvested in developing the event for the future. Unfortunately, the race incurs many of its costs up front, regardless of whether the event proceeds on the day.
In light of the cancellation, the committee has taken the decision for the race this year to be cost neutral, and rather than retain and reinvest the surplus as normal, to return it to crews in the form of a partial refund on their entry fees. We feel that this is a fair outcome for both competitors and the race. There are two exceptions:
The refund will amount to £44, being 37% of the entry fee. Refunds will be processed through BROE in due course.
The WEHoRR Committee would like to thank the organising committee of the Head of the River Race for their generous offer to enable a division of women’s crews to take part in a time trial over the Championship Course as the final division of their race on Saturday 30th March.
Due to marshalling restrictions and the need to clear the course before the end of the designated PLA river closure, the number of crews allowed to participate is limited and we are unfortunately only able to open the invitation to the crews who featured in the amended draw published last Thursday. These crews will receive an email containing further information. There is no expectation that crews will take up this offer, but it exists for those without other plans who may wish to take advantage.
Please note that this is not a replacement for the original 2019 race and crews will race solely for time within the HORR. All rules, safety and marshalling instructions will be controlled by the HORR. No WEHoRR Pennants will be awarded based on these results, however athletes will be awarded PRI according to their finishing position. Results will be published to our Facebook page.
For clarity, as this is not a replacement race, the start order for the top 50 crews in the 2020 Women’s Head will be based on the finishing positions from the 2018 race.
The race tomorrow has been cancelled due to predicted wind conditions. We share everyone’s disappointment. Please understand that this has not been an easy decision to make, but safety has to come first.
We have had several enquiries about refunds. We can’t provide any information about this until the committee has met later this week. Specifically, arrangements with boating locations are independent of the race itself, and clubs should contact their host clubs if necessary.
The WEHoRR Committee are pleased to be able to announce the Pennants which will be available for the 2019 race. Some of these will look familiar as they haven’t changed from previous years, however you will notice that some of the old ‘Status’ Pennants have been revamped. Developing the criteria for these new Pennants has taken a lot of work behind the scenes as we have attempted to give crews an opportunity to race others of a similar standard. Our intention is to ensure we respect the history and traditions of many of the pre-existing pennants, while continuing to look to move with the sport as it develops.
We have aimed to create a clear progression through each level and have tried to base these on clear, simple principles that reflect what we have seen in the results of previous years’ races.
As always, we don’t plan to sit still as an event, and will continue to review and improve where possible for subsequent years. Feedback is always gratefully received. We hope to see you all racing on the Tideway in March!