9. The Port of London Challenge

We have a cutter, the Water Forget-me-not, which is rowed very competitively by our ladies rowing team. On 27 July our team entered the Port of London Challenge organised by the Port of London Authority. Georgina and I were invited onto the Salient, the Marshall’s boat, to see the fun. There were two races, the men and the women/ mixed. The women set off first from HQS Wellington, heading for Chelsea Harbour Pier (4.3 nautical miles) - our team at an incredible pace.
The Marshall’s boat and men’s teams were held, waiting for the host teams to arrive. They arrived after a couple of minutes and the race started. Well, by the time the Marshall’s boat arrived at Chelsea Pier to signal the end of the race, our ladies had finished and looked bored (our boat had the food on board). The ladies won the Challenge Cup (again) and a small presentation followed with the Cox (a bloke), the ladies’ captain, the Port’s rep., and me.

The Cup appeared at our Michaelmas Lunch and is now safely stored. No inscriptions appear to have been made since about 2012 – but then, we’ve (I mean they’ve) won it every year since!

Our trip cost us only a small fee and it should be on everyone’s list of things to do. Congratulations to our ladies and, of course, our Bargemaster. And here is a picture of me – the winning Master!