The Start Line: Small boats galore in Reading and Bedford

October 10, 2025

Join us as we look ahead to a tremendous weekend of racing across the UK

Credit: AllMarkOne

Welcome back to The Start Line! Check out some of the racing that is taking place across the UK this weekend.

The long-awaited return of Reading Small Boats Head

Across three divisions, 500 boats will be racing across the 3500m course that Reading RC will host this weekend. Reading Small Boats Head is back following it’s cancellation last year and after Pairs Head fell victim to Storm Amy last weekend, these crews will be itching to take to the water and lay down an early season marker, particularly as Fours Head starts to loom in the distance.

It’s a stacked field. Everywhere you look, crews are dripping with talent with many clubs entering en masse, desperate to sink their teeth in some racing and see how their training so far has served them. 182 boats will race in the first division and right at the top, we’ll have great contest between Abingdon School BC and KCS Wimbledon BC in Open J18 Coxless Fours. Both of these schools feature in a stacked Open J16 Coxed Four field as well which also features the likes of Emanuel School BC, Lymington ARC, Wallingford RC, and a couple of crews from Reading Blue Coat School BC.

Much like the Open event, the Women’s J16 Coxed Fours is a big one, featuring some of the top junior women’s programmes. Lady Eleanor Holles School BC have entered four boats and will face strong competition as Henley RC and Surbiton High School, amongst others, make the trip to Reading this weekend.

a Sir William Perkins school double

Across the day, Sir William Perkins School BC, pictured above, has 18 boats racing across the day. The vast majority of them are Single Sculls and Double Sculls. Like many other clubs and schools, Sir William Perkins School BC opt to spend much of the early season in small boats, refining technique and sharpening skills, ready to make the step into big boats later down the line. They have three boats entered into Women’s J18 Double Sculls which has 17 boats racing across band 1,2, and 3. First off in this event is Eve Pinsent and Lauren Kennedy 3rd in quad. Both return to Marlow RC after international duties in the summer which saw Eve win U19 gold in the Women’s Eight, while Lauren and the rest of her Quadruple Scull won bronze in Trakai.

Speaking of sculling, we can expect to see Reading University BC in all of its glory racing on home water. They’ve entered well across the Open and Women’s events and after much success already this season at Scullers Head, the club should be looking forward to setting a solid benchmark in events such as the Open Single Scull, where we find the likes of Ben Snoxall who put had a cracking row a couple of weeks ago on the Tideway. Reading University BC will have three boats fighting from the get go in division two as the only entrants in Open Intermediate Quadruple Sculls. That’s almost as impressive as Marlow Rowing Club who will have four boats hunting them down as they lead off Open J18 Quadruple Sculls chased hard by two crews from The King’s School Canterbury. Reading University BC is expected to set the standard in the women’s intermediate quads, with Broxbourne RC providing the only opposition.

Reading has a huge field entering with just about every boat class under the sun having competition in it. What happens on this stretch of the Thames this weekend will be good indication of what to expect from the Head racing season this side of Christmas.

Reading Small Boats Head draw

Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head

Much like Reading Small Boats Head, hundreds of crews will be taking to the River Great Ouse. Run over six divisions, the course through the heart of Bedford is over in a flash, with crews racing down the 2000m course. it’s a brilliant opportunity to test a variety of combinations across all sorts of boat classes. There are a few armadas taking to the water, not least from the local schools and clubs such as Bedford School BC, Bedford Modern School BC, and Bedford RC. Travelling from further afield is a flotilla from Hampton School BC as well as Sir William Borlase’s School BC making up sizeable chunks of the entry.

Bedford is a unique event. Competitors will need to wait until the last boats of the day have crossed the line to determine if they have won or not. This is because times are compared from throughout the six divisions, allowing competitors to race their boat in any of the divisions rather than having all entrants for a category in one division.

a bedford rc mens eight

Across some of the Open events, we’ll see several of the aforementioned schools going after the top spots. Bedford School will be hoping to go well on home water in the J18 Coxed Fours, while in the Quadruple Sculls event, it’s a great opportunity for Oundle School BC to step on from last season after a fifth place finish in the B Final of National Schools’ Regatta. They’ll need to watch out though, as Hampton School BC has three boats entered into this event. Across the J18 and J17 Single Scull events, there are 44 athletes set to row under the bridges of Bedford. Many of them have been in action already this season such as Star Club’s George Robb in the J17 category who went well at Scullers Head. 14, yes you read that correctly, Hampton School BC J17 Pairs will go race through Bedford while the school will also boat 12 J18 Single Sculls.

One Double to keep an eye on will be Lea RC’s first J16 crew off in division two. They’ve had a good start to the season, placing third at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls recently, and over a shorter course it will be fascinating to see how they get on. The same can be said for the junior women who like the boys, will be looking perform well in the J18 Double Sculls event after impressing at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls where they finished third in the Quadruple Scull.

One of the top junior scullers taking to the water this weekend will be Amy Clark from Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BC. She returns to school with a bronze and a silver in the Double Sculls at this summer’s Coupe de la Jeunesse in Linz. Amy is certainly one to watch in the Women’s J18 Single.

Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head draw