2026 has rolled in, and racing has already begun. The first major race of the year is Tyne United’s New Year Head, held on the River Tyne in Newcastle. The course spans 4.5km, finishing outside the Tyne ARC’s boathouse with boat classes from singles through to eights. Cold and windy conditions often greet you as crews make their way upstream, navigating wide bends and long straights. The Tyne provides excellent water for head racing and serves as the staple course for the majority of northern head races, including Rutherford Head, which takes place in late November, and BUCS Head, taking place next month. The river is the perfect place to host these large capacity races and Tyne United New Years Head clearly tests its capacity with over 200 crews entered.
In terms of junior sculling, 25 crews have entered in the U19 and U17 categories combined. However, the junior-specific entries might be smaller than some events. These brave crews will be competing against some of the top senior crews in the event. Durham University, specifically, have entered their entire squad, which is an excellent indicator for junior crews to see how they stack up to some of the best crews in the UK.
Open Junior Quads
The first crews down the track in any junior event are the Junior 16 quadruple sculls, kicking off with a three-way composite from Durham ARC, Durham School and Hexham. This crew is likely to be a strong one as Durham ARC had a boat finish second place at Rutherford Head at Junior 18 level at the end of last year, but will this strength at the older age group transfer down to the younger athletes in the club? Durham School has also finished in the top half of the junior quads in previous years, and more recently, their Junior 18 quad finished up fifth at Rutherford Head, only being bested by some high-standard crews – Durham ARC being one of them. However, their Junior 16 composite with Hexham didn’t start, leaving them as an unknown leading into this race. If Durham ARC’s older athletes are anything to look at, it’s clear they are teaching something right there, but it’s whether the younger athletes will race as well.
Following down the Durham composite is York City RC, known for some of the fastest northern athletes outside a Durham-based club. Having had a lot of experience from the British Rowing Club Championships, their J15s from last season will be embracing the step up into the Junior 16 category, and what better way to expose yourself than to race at a significant event like his one. With a large junior squad, this club could field a quad to battle against some of the other competition in this event. But will they be able to fight with the Durham boat?
In the open Junior 18 quad category, which begins in the second division of the day, the standouts in this event have to be the Durham ARC crew, as mentioned before. They finished fifth at Rutherford Head in November, almost two minutes ahead of any other club mentioned in this event. I’d be surprised if anyone got close to this crew on the day. However, as I cannot see the whole crew list, I am unsure whether this is the same crew as previously entered. I still think that the crew who raced at Rutherford proves that this club will win on the day by a considerable margin.
Hexham and Queen Elizabeth High School have teamed up to form a crew for this event, and the name it’s listed under stands out. Dan Cantwell from Hexham appears in this boat; he is an experienced athlete whom I have written about before at northern events. Dan has been racing for many years; he raced at the British Rowing Club Championships last year and is one of the top athletes at Hexham right now. He will be looking for athletes at the same standard to race with; if this is the case, I can see this composite from Hexham and QEHS finishing in second place on the day.
Open Junior Doubles
First off is Cambois Rowing Club, a very established community rowing club in Northumberland. Training on the River Wansbeck near the coast, these athletes will appreciate the size of the Tyne compared to their small river. I’ve always thought that training in tricky river conditions teaches you to be comfortable rowing on any water, easier than the one you train on. This crew is listed under the name Shaw. Having looked back at some results, it’s clear that this athlete is no stranger to racing. He raced at the British Rowing Club Championships, finishing in 14th place out of the 64 who raced on the day in the Junior 16 single scull. Clearly demonstrating a top-class sculler in Britain, will Shaw be able to continue his success from the younger category into the older event?
York City Rowing Club follows Cambois upstream for the 4.5km stretch. Jackson is the name for this crew, and having finished up second in his final at the British Rowing Club Championships, he will surely be looking to step up in his last year of junior rowing. The final years of junior rowing are exciting as you try to gather as many results as possible to get noticed by some of the most high-class university programs in the world. Will Jackson be able to build on this season with his teammate to improve on his results from previous years?
Open Junior Singles
There are no Junior 16 doubles this weekend, so the final junior event is the open Junior 18 single. Again, we see the same clubs listed in the other events; however, it’s much easier to get an accurate prediction, as I can see the athlete racing in the single. Knowing whose racing, I will surely place my bets on Shaw from Cambois Rowing Club, purely based on his results from the British Rowing Club Championships 2025, where he was ranked highest among his competitors, and he races this weekend.
Closely behind Shaw will be Chaytor from Durham School Boat Club, having finished a few finals behind Shaw at the British Rowing Club Championships. Given the smaller entry in the single, I can still see him climbing up the ranks as he passes some of the scullers who start ahead of him. My prediction is based on some of the results I’ve found, and it will most certainly be a tight-fought match to take home the glory on the day.
