Autumn head racing got underway on September 19th as 15 entries from Durham ARC braved blustery conditions for the 2026 Tyne Single Scullers Head, hosted by Newcastle University Boat Club, a 3km time trial between Blaydon and Newburn for doubles and pairs as well as single scullers.
With around half of the 237 entries being from Tyne based clubs Tyne ARC emerged as the most successful on the day with wins in 13 events.
The DARC scullers, some experiencing their first race in a single, did well and all but one of those who started achieved a top 3 place in their event. There was a first win in a single for Debra Harland in Women’s MasC 1x and a win in Women’s MasE 1x for Deirdre Bruce.
Summary of results –
Division 1
- Open 1x Nick Baird 9.55.8 – 9th in Open 1x band 1
- WMasC 1x Debra Harland 10.49.5 – winner of WMasC 1x
- WMasB 1x Jenny Conroy 11.24.0 – 3rd
- WMasD 1x Rachel Terry 11.28.4 – 2nd
- WMasB 1x Meghan McCarthy 11.33.4 – 4th
- WMasE 1x Deirdre Bruce 11.34.8 – winner of WMasE 1x
- WMasI 1x Joyce Collett 16.58.9 – 3rd in WMasHI 1x
Division 2
- MasB 1x Nick Baird 10.41.0 – 3rd in MasB 1x
- MasA 1x Gerry Gralton 10.53.0 _ 3rd in MasA 1x
- MasE 1x Michael Terry 12.29.9 – 3rd in MasE 1x
Division 3
- WJ17 1x band 1 Livvy Terry 11.37.7 – 2nd
- WJ18 1x band 1 Seren Williams – did not start
Division 4
- WMasB 2x Harland 11.25.9 – unopposed
- Women’s 2- Ward – did not start
- MxMasI 2x Gilbert – did not start
Well done to everyone and thanks to the organizers.
Full results are available on Oar-online.
Photos from SI Events are here.
The 2026 Long Distance Sculling Series starts at South Hylton on October 3rd and is followed by rounds each Saturday until November 7th.
Competitions for the autumn season are as follows –
- South Hylton LDS – October 3rd
- Pairs Head – October 4th (Tideway)
- Tees LDS – October 10th
- Tees SBH – October 10th
- Tyne LDS – October 17th
- Tyne United SBH – October 17th
- Nottingham Autumn Head – October 17th
- Dee Autumn Head – October 18th (Chester)
- Berwick LDS – October 24th
- Wansbeck LDS – October 31st
- Wansbeck SBH – October 31st
- Head of the Don – November 1st (Doncaster)
- Durham LDS – November 7th
- Durham Autumn Small Boats Head – November 7th
- York SBH – November 15th
- Head of the Lune – November 15th (Lancaster)
- Junior Fours Head – November 20th (Tideway)
- The Fours Head – November 21st (Tideway)
- Veteran Fours Head – November 22nd (Tideway)
- Rutherford Head – December 5th (Tyne)
LDS = Long Distance Sculling, SBH = Small Boats Head
(LDS is sculling only, SBH includes sweep as well as sculling)