Overview of Season 1999-2000     The season of 1999-2000 started with the need for a competitive quad scull for our only active club crew, the Junior 'A' boys. After being informed of the availability of an ex-Tasmanian Rowing Council boat, the committee decided to put in a tender for the shell. The offer was accepted by the Council and our newest acquisition - an Empacher coxless quad scull/four - arrived a week before our first regatta.

Please click on one of the following club regattas for an overview:

State Pennant #1; State Pennant #2; State Pennant #3; State Pennant #4 (Sprint); State Pennant #5;State Pennant #6; State Championships.

• State Pennant Regatta #1:
    The first regatta of the season was held at Franklin on the 6th and 7th of November. The first race on saturday saw the new four (consisting of Shaun Finlayson/Ben Poprawski/Nick Carr/Nick Zambotti) win in a closely contested race with a Lindisfarne crew. The boys went on to see first in both division 1 and 2 of  the Junior 'A' double scull and gained second, third and fifth in division 1 of the Junior B single scull.
    On Sunday, all the boys teamed with their counterparts from Lindisfarne to form the Guilford Young College eight which came a creditable second in the Senior Mens 'A' division 2 race. Later in the day, the Coxless Quad won once again over their Lindisfarne colleagues, although this time a little more convincingly. Also contested on Sunday was the Junior A single sculls. Top State Pennant Regatta #2:
    This regatta was once again held at Franklin. The same races were contested, with the boys winning  the coxless four once again (This time it was Ben Poprawski/Nick Carr/Nick Zambotti/Shaun Finlayson). Later in the day there was a 1st (Nick Zambotti/Nick Carr)-2nd(Ben Poprawski/Shaun Finlayson) finish in Division One of the Junior A double sculls and our scullers fared well once again. The eight was also raced a second time, this time bettering their second place to secure first place in a polished effort. However, the boys luck changed, coming second behind a strong Lindisfarne crew  in the Coxless Quad. Top State Pennant Regatta #3:
    For the first time of many, we made the pilgrimage to Lake Barrington International. We were to contest our usual range of events, however Saturday's racing was washed out by gale force winds. We made up for our lack of racing on Saturday by once again winning the Senior A Eight over fierce competition from Friends, New Norfolk, Launceston Grammar, Scotch-Oakburn, Hutchins and Mersey Rowing Club. The boys Quad race was won by a world standard Lindisfarne crew,  however, in coming second, we were able to defeat our 'usual' opponents from Lindisfarne by 23 seconds. The boys, being their usual attention-seeking-selves, drew a few looks when they wore Santa hats on return from their race. Top State Pennant Regatta #4 (sprint):
    This regatta was due to be a sprint regatta held over 500m. But, due to SP #3 being blown out on Saturday, the organizers decided to hold Saturday's racing over the full distance so that precious pennant points would not be lost.
    On Saturday, our boys had one of their best finishes of the year in the Coxless Quad, going down to Lindisfarne by a margin of just 2.5 seconds. Rowing together for Guilford Young College had created a "healthy rivalry" between the two crews that provided some great racing. In other races on Saturday, Nick Carr (our only rower left in the Junior 'B' category) came second in division one of the Junior B single scull whilst the tables were turned in division one of the Junior A double scull, with Ben Poprawski and Shaun Finlayson having a comfortable 12 second win over Nick Zambotti and Nick Carr.
    Sunday's sprints saw some great racing, even though "the eight" missed the start of it's race. In the Junior A coxless quad, a race which was only 3 seconds slower than the preceding Senior 'A' four, we had the closest of victories, with the margin being only 0.5 of a second. Rowing up in the Senior B age group, Ben Poprawski and Nick Carr came fourth in the double scull, being only three seconds off the pace. Shaun and Nick Carr came 5th and 7th respectively in the division one of the Junior A single scull, whilst Ben managed 3rd in division two. To round up a long weekend of racing, one of our coaches, Wayne Finlayson, raced in the Recreational/Vereran's handicapped single scull. He held on in a great battle to finish 1st, a mere 3 seconds in front of second place. Way to go, Mr. Finlayson!!! Top State Pennant Regatta #5:
    Unfortunately, no results are available for this regatta. But I'm sure we had fun... Top State Pennant Regatta #6:
    Once again, Saturday's racing was washed out with wind and rain, so only Sunday's races were ran.
    As is  the general trend for Sunday's, we started with the Senior A Eight which we won over Friends, who narrowly held on to second place by 0.64 over a fast finishing Launceston Grammar school. For a bit of fun, Nick Carr and Ben Poprawski entered the Junior A coxless pair race. Having rowed in it once (the evening before) the boys surprised everyone, finishing in second place - 10 seconds in front of third place. Next to come was the Junior A Coxless Quad, in which the boys were defeated by 5 seconds by Lindisfarne. In our last event of the day, division two of the Junior A single scull, Shaun came first comfortably with Ben in fourth. In division three, Nick Carr also won convincingly. Top State Championships:
    This was another regatta in which Saturday's racing was washed out. But, because this was the Championships, all racing was moved to Sunday in a combined programme. This was to take it's toll on many crews and called for us to drop the Coxless Quad from our races.
    In our first major disappointment, we lost the Coxless Four title to a well disciplined and dedicated Lindisfarne combination by a mere 3.07 seconds over 2000m. It was a closely fought battle through the entire race, and it was a great finish. Next year?
    Glenorchy's second race was the Junior B single scull, in which Nick Carr battled all the way to come in a good third. With a new boat, Nick is set for a good season next year.
    In our third race of the day, GRC had two boats in the Junior A double scull. Shaun and Ben were 8.06 seconds behind 1st position, and a further 10.93 seconds back were Nick Zambotti and Nick Carr in 3rd place.
    After going so well in SP#6, Nick Carr and Ben Poprawski were looking for a 2nd in the Junior A pair. However what was to follow was a third placing, 4.5 seconds behind a crew that they had beaten by 10 seconds the previous regatta. (they blamed their steering!)
    In our last event for the meet, Shaun raced a good race in the Junior A single scull final, to come a creditable fourth place. There was only five seconds separating 2nd and 4th place. Top

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