This post calls your attention to the very comprehensive briefing on the status of the club given by our Chairman at the AGM last week. For those of you who did not attend, this is an opportunity for you to catch up on events. For those who did attend, this is a reminder of the issues discussed. Minutes of the AGM will be issued shortly. Go to This Page.

A reminder that we have our Quiz Night on Saturday 22nd November in Kingswear Village Hall. Details are provided Here.

Finally, our range of merchandise is available to order for personal wear or as Christmas Gifts. Details and Order Form are available Here.

Chairman’s Report – Committee Meeting

We are progressing acquiring the new coastal rower. It will arrive on the Dart at the end of the regatta week. We have procured some oars and are in the process of making a launching trolley. Some of us will be going for some training, on how to row this exciting new addition to our fleet, at Exmouth this weekend.

The AGM will be held on 6 th November at RDYC.

Hon Secretary’s Report
Two full and 1 new social member joined; 2 others are having trial rows so see if they also want to join.

Treasurer’s Report
Nothing to report

Safety Report
Our Emergency Plan has been updated.
We have updated of rowing guide. We are now awaiting publication.

Water-Based Events

19 of us have signed up for Seine Boat Regatta in August.

The club has been invited to Dragon Boat Race in the Dartmouth Regatta. Our team is being formed
The London Great River Race crew has been confirmed. We wish our team all the best for the event in September.

Upcoming event dates for us all to sign up to:

• Mewstone Row and then anchoring at Newfoundland Cove (27 Sept).
• Pizza Row (18 Oct).

Shore-Based Events
Winter wine tasting event scheduled for 22nd November.

Bosuns’ Report

“Nancy” to go for refurb on 25th July.
We have just purchased 2 full sets of used oars

Webmaster Update:

Revised Cox test information is available in the member’s area HERE>

The latest minutes are available HERE>

For those subscribers who were not members last year and for any who were members last year, but have not seen the revised fees and the new application forms please go to This Page.

You can download the forms in either Word or PDF format to print them out. I regret they cannot be completed on line, but you can return them as email attachments.

If you do not wish to receive further communications from the RDRC you can unsubscribe through the link at the foot of our emails or through This Page.

Message from our Hon Sec:

Please find attached your membership renewal form for 2025/26. Huge apologies for the late arrival, the Committee has faced a few administrative challenges in the last couple of months which has delayed us slightly; thank you for your patience. There are a few things to note: 

• As last year, we have raised the fees slightly. At the AGM in October, the Chairman did highlight the fact that to be financial secure, the Club needs to ensure that the membership fees cover the on-going costs. This year’s increase moves us one step closer to that goal; although there is still a slight gap to close. The discount for prompt payment remains at 10% of the full fee. (Please note that for this year only, the date for prompt payment is by 21st May.)
• To help alleviate the impact of the fee increase, the Club will for the first time be accepting incremental payments by Standing Order. For members wishing to take advantage of this payment method, the full details are on the renewal form.
• In order to help meet the costs of craft maintenance, refurbishment of oars etc. Sue Merotra and her team are once again organising a skittles evening. The date is Saturday 10th May from 6.30pm at Kingswear Village Hall. Details of the event can be found HERE>
• We are currently making plans for the Seine Boat event at this year’s Regatta and also participation in the London River Race in September. It is great to note the increasing interest in the competitive side of the sport, whilst the Club holds true to the aim of including all of those who wish to spend time on the river.
• We finished the Club’s year with a healthy membership of 66 active rowers; it would be wonderful if we could expand upon this number in the coming year.
• I hope all of the above is clear and helpful, if there are any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Andrea

First let me take the opportunity to tell you we have not forgotten that membership subscriptions are due. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the committee meeting which was intended to ratify the new subscription. I hope to post the new rates and links to the forms shortly. Back to pleasure:

Following the resounding success of last year’s skittles evening, it has been decided to run the event again this year.

This is a great opportunity to socialise with like-minded people, indulge in healthy competition (not as healthy as actually rowing), put the World and Club to rights and contribute to our annual fund-raising.

We have significant un-forecast expenditure this year so the event will potentially provide a much-needed boost to our funds. Please attend if you can.

For full details see HERE.

Brian Longman

Webmaster

The Great River Race is London’s River Marathon. It’s a spectacular boat race covering 21.6 miles from Millwall in the East to Richmond in the West, travelling under London’s famous bridges.

Ever thought about or been tempted to row the Great London River Race? Wondering about a challenge for September 2025 or September 2026? Come and find out all about the race and race preparation at:
Yarn in Dartmouth, 7pm on Tuesday 1st April 2025.

RDRC competed with 2 boats last year. Both completed the course in creditable times and we even managed to appear on the TV coverage. For more detail and the link to the event web page use this LINK.

A WhatsApp group will be created to keep all prospective participants and supporters informed.

Firstly a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all RDRC Members, subscribers and Facebook followers.

Secondly a reminder that it is the Christmas row tomorrow. I regret the details are not on the website or Facebook but you may be able to view them through the Events on the Water WhatsApp Group. Alternatively, if you would like to watch or support this event contact Kerry Rushton either directly or through the WhatsApp Group to learn how best to do so..

Finally you may be pleased to learn that, as part of our ongoing refurbishment plan, the set of oars formerly in Aimee have now been restored and returned and are once again available for use.

Right to Participate in Rowing.

To protect the club and rowers it is important that organisers and coxes ensure that rowers assigned to, and participating in, our rows are eligible to do so. This is critical to the club’s indemnity and to ensure participants have the benefit of insurance protection. Adult rowers must be members of the club, participating as one of their 3 permitted “taster” rows before joining or a casual rower who has been invited to row with us and to contribute £5 for the privilege.

A list of rowing members is provided at LIST OF MEMBERS (password protected). All club members are invited to ensure they are on the list and contact the Hon Sec if they are not.

Organisers of rows, and coxes, should ensure only club members, rowers on a “taster” row or other invited fee-paying rowers use our boats and facilities.

Instruction and Coaching.

I have put a link to the coaching information from the old Kingswear Rowing Club on this site and coaches should direct novice rowers to This Page. This is also a refresher opportunity for more experienced rowers.

Man Over Board.

The videos of our investigation of techniques for recovering a man overboard are now accessable through our web page HERE. For anyone requiring a more in-depth view of the options, I provide the link to British Rowing’s video HERE.

Facebook

The website is now integrated with Facebook. Kiera Burnell operates the Facebook site. I can now selectively post information directly from our website to Facebook when publishing posts such as this.

Brian Longman

Webmaster

Alan Scobie wrote:

‘As part of the Club’s regular review of risk assessment and training, a hardy band of members, braved the freezing waters of the River Dart on Saturday, 30th November. Our aim was to test the viability of recovering a conscious man-overboard into our Seine boats, based on British Rowing guidelines. 

As videos show, the testing was a success, demonstrating that a conscious man-overboard can be safely recovered, using a variety of techniques, depending on his weight and the relative strength of the crew. 

As the volunteer crew experienced in fairly challenging conditions, it is vital that our rowers know how to control their boat and carry out a recovery. The next step will be to brief all of the Club’s coxes so that man overboard training exercises can be included in our scheduled rows. We all hope these emergency situations never arise but we do need to be aware of how to act if they do. The practice is important for the safety of everyone.

Thanks to all those who took part in the testing. It was certainly time well spent and a bit of fun too, for most….. I think!’

Regrettably our website subscription does not allow me to embed videos directly. I think I have found a cheating work-around. I posted to Facebook and then linked back to our website. If this worked you can see Video 1 here. Tell me if I am wrong.

and Video 2 here/

Message from Noel Cornforth

Chairman RDRC

We are going to get some hoodies made, as agreed at the Annual General Meeting.

They will be navy blue in colour with a red inner hood. They will have our logo embroidered on the left breast. On the back will be our logo, again embroidered, but it will be much bigger and will look great!

If you want to order one, the cost is £35 of which a very small proportion will go to the club.

The sizes are:

Size conversions

Size	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL	3XL	4XL	5XL
Chest to fit	34	36	40	44	48	52	56	60	62

Please let me know, by email, if you want one and what size you would like at n.cornforth@hotmail.com

Thanks,

Noel