Captain's Log
Latest news, requests, moans and cajoling from the skipper
Cygnet Captaincy Update – February 2026
20th February 2026
Afternoon All
It's been a while since I've sent any emails around, so – thought it was about time – lots of dates so calendars at the ready please!
First of all its been great seeing the shed so full over the last few weeks – we have a great structured plan in place at the moment, so absolutely encourage everyone to continue to commit to the shed sessions, and I'm confident we will see the rewards in the summer when we spend more time on the water.Key dates for the diary
As promised, this is a provisional regatta plan for the summer - please hold in your diaries to avoid any unfortunate clashes!- HORR 28th March
- Hammersmith Regatta 25th April
- Chiswick Regatta 2nd May
- Borne at Chiswick Regatta 9th May
- Peterborough Regatta 30th May
- Walton and Weybridge Regatta 6th June
- Barnes and Mortlake Regatta 13th June
- Marlow Regatta 20th June
- Kingston Regatta 11th July
- St Neots Regatta 26th July
- Henley T&V 1st August
7th March
A group of 4 civil servants ("Team Ordinary") will be joining us for some rowing training, as part of their preparation of rowing the Atlantic! More details to follow, but please make every effort to make yourself available to row with them.Weekend of the 28th March
As per tradition our German friends, from Benrath, will be racing in Vets HORR and so please come down and show your support/grab a beer afterwards.Reminder
With the upcoming tideway head races, please help with volunteering for the boating - this generates vital funds for the joint clubs and so all volunteering is hugely appreciated! See link to sign up - Tideway Head Races - Boating & Catering Volunteers 2025/26 - Google Sheets
Thames Rowing Tour
A message from our President has asked if anyone is interested in the Thames Rowing Tour 13–15th July. This involves rowing from Windsor to Weybridge in boats similar to the Rheine Marathon. Currently there is a contingent of five Benrath members and various Cygnets. Please can you let Nick know if you are interested in this!.That's all from me. As ever drop me a message/email if you have any thoughts or ideas that you'd like to share.
Thanks
JordanCaptain's update – November 2025
22nd November 2025
Just a small update and key points from the captaincy:
Fours Head weekend
Well done to those who raced, it was tricky conditions at times so a very solid effort for everyone involved. This forms a very solid base to shift our focus to Head of the River in March. I’m excited and cautiously optimistic we may be able to get two 8s into it – selection will be based off training, scores achieved and technical progress over the next few months.5k Test
Monday 8th December evening – we'll use this as a base and then go again in February (date tbc) to assess progress over winter, and inform our crew selections for HORR.Help with LTR Grads
Huge thanks to everyone who has helped so far, but for the upcoming sessions please can everyone help with signing up to support in the boat or in the shed. This is especially the case for recent LTR grads themselves. Our aim for our new cohort will be to race in Plum Puddings in late December, so they need all the support we can provide, see link emailed by the captain.Breakfast club
Friday morning ergs – 7am start. Noticed we are lacking fitness and an extra session on the erg, before work each week will really help with this. Someone will provide some sort of breakfast after for those who want it, on a rota basis. Please sign up on FitClub.BBL/Cygnet Xmas Party
As per Charles’ email, it is a very fun night which BBL kindly organise. The more Cygnets there the better! Please see the (emailed) link to sign up and pay.As always please reach out on any thoughts/feelings.
Thanks all,
JordanCaptaincy update – August 2025 (from your new captain)
27th August 2025
Hello All,
I hope we are all enjoying an extremely well-earned rest!
As my first email to the wider group, I just wanted to share some initial thoughts and plans for the upcoming months. First of all I would like to thank Dom and the outgoing captaincy for all of the hard work they have put in over the last year, and time spent helping me in the last few weeks – it's been thoroughly appreciated. We are certainly in a great place as a club and I really hope we can build on this and achieve even more success this upcoming year.
On this topic, I would like to congratulate all of the squad that raced at Henley T&V regatta, where there was some very competitive across the board. A particular congratulation to Tom and Dom in the 2- who beat the RAF, and won their category.
Looking forward to the upcoming months, we please look at the following key dates for your diary and sign up on fitclub accordingly. Note, the sooner you're able to sign up we will be able to set up some crews - and as shown across the summer, apparently training together makes you go faster!
- Scullers Head 28th September
- Pairs Head 4th October
- Upper Thames Head 26th October
- Fours Head 15th November
- Vets Fours Head 16th November
- Walton Small Boats Head 6th December
- Plum Puddings 13th December
- Quintin Head 25th January
- Head of the Nene 7th February
- Henley Fours and Eights Head 14th February
- Hammersmith Head 28th February
- Head of the River 28th March
These are head races that we have identified as possible targets to make the Head racing season slightly more exciting, and less "Shed based" - and as some are off Tideway we will have to plan accordingly. Please sign up on FitClub, and we can get planning.On the topic of the shed, training will return a proper from the first week of September. We will move our midweek sessions back into the shed - with weights on Mondays and an "exciting" erg on Wednesday. As long as the weather complies, we will keep our weekend sessions on the water where possible. Its worth mentioning, a key reason why there was success at Cygnet during the regatta season, and one of our best HORR results for years, was due to the hard work put in in the Shed, so i encourage everyone to build on this platform and put in the effort this Autumn and Winter.
Other dates for the diary
- End of season dinner
You should have already signed up for this, where on Fri 29th August will be our end of season dinner to come together as a club and celebrate our success this year. - Scamp 5th - 7th September
Its looking likely, due to sign ups, that we wont go to the Bungalow but instead go for a long row to Richmond and back, please look out for further comms on this. - Learn to Row
LTR is back for 6 weeks, from the 8th of September, where we will need volunteers to help support our new intake of LTR participants - please look out for further comms on this. - Team Ordinary Session
A crew of civil servants rowing the Atlantic, are coming down to our boat house so we can help them with rowing technique/take them for an outing. Please sign up on fitclub to help out. Date: Wednesday 10th September, AM. Please see the link to their website - The Oardinary Crew - Sun 14th September - Cygnet and BBL joint club day
This will involve some mixed races and a BBQ. Further details to follow.
Thank you to anyone who has got this far down the email - I will endeavur to be more succinct going forward.
I hope these restful few weeks has made everyone as excited about the year ahead as I am.
Thanks
Jordan
