The annual Yorkshire Head race attracts crews from all across the region and beyond. With the addition of both a short and long course for this year, crews will be able to compete over the classic 4500m course as well as the new 3000m route. With the weather looking promising, the day is shaping up to showcase the best racing from schools and clubs in the north.
Open Eights
Fourteen crews make up the Open Eights, with multiple crews from the York and Leeds area, and two Durham University colleges rounding out the entries. University of York lead the pack in Band 1, stroked by Oliver Wood, and will be looking to push off from last weekend’s BUCS Head results, where they were beaten by the University of Leeds, who race this weekend in Band 2. As last year’s overall winners of this race, University of York will no doubt be hoping to reclaim the title. Setting off right behind them is York City Rowing Club, who will be looking to overturn this ranking and defend their home waters from the likes of City of Sheffield and the two Durham University colleges, Hatfield and St Aidan’s. Three of the crew in this York City boat transferred direct from the University of York for this season, and as such will be determined to show their old teammates who’s boss in what I suspect could be a very close battle between the two. I also feature in this York crew, so there’s a little extra emphasis on this prediction to come true.
Four crews are entered in Band 2, with University of York, University of Leeds, St Peter’s School and York City all fighting it out to not only win their category, but try and outpace some of the Band 1 crews as well. St Peter’s have made a lot of progress since last year; they ended their season with Henley Qualification for the first time in 13 years, so will be hoping to compete closely with all of the universities and clubs ahead of them. Many of the crew remained at school post Henley Royal Regatta, so that experience will hopefully push them on to place highly overall. This year they already have two junior GB trialists in the form of Charles Tremayne and William Gawthorp, so with this added talent they should definitely be targeting the Band 1 crews.
Band 3 consists of five entries, with two University of York crews, University of Leeds and York St John University fighting it out over the 4500m. York St John fielded an eight at BUCS Head up in Newcastle over the weekend, and will want to push on from that performance as we approach the Head of the River Race further down south in a few weeks time. The two University of York crews will be looking for bragging rights within their club, so we could expect some feisty racing between them.
Women’s Eights
Five women’s eights will be battling it out in Band 1 this Saturday. University of York’s first eight leads the charge downstream with York City hunting them down. University of York placed a strong 17th in intermediate eights at BUCS, and after qualifying for Henley Women’s Regatta last summer, will want to achieve further success this season. York City’s women’s squad have seen a successful season so far, with strong long distance results at races such as Rutherford and Tyne Head. They will be wanting to challenge what is a strong university crew and ultimately become the fastest women’s crew.
Band 2 is dominated by University of York with three crews entered, as University of Leeds round the band out. It should be a clean sweep of the podium positions for York here, as they have the home water advantage plus the determination to dominate over Leeds. That being said, Leeds will be wanting to prove York wrong, so might be hoping to capitalise on the internal battle between their crews and sneak past to claim a podium position.
Open Fours
Seven crews make up the Coxed Fours event, with four in Band 1 and three in Band 2. In Band 1, I believe University of Leeds should have no issue winning this event by some margin, with University of York and York St John University rounding out the pack. In Band 2, I think it should be an easy win for City of Sheffield, but perhaps a closer competition between St Peter’s and University of Leeds. However, with their experience of student sweeping, I would expect Leeds to beat Peter’s.
In the coxless event, there are only two entries, St Peter’s and Sheffield City. After qualifying for the Wyfold Challenge Cup at Henley last year, Sheffield will be hoping for an equally strong performance here whilst regatta season looms ever closer.
Women’s Singles
The women’s singles category has extensive entries, ranging from J16 right through to senior. The 2025 girls championship singles winner at the National Schools Regatta, Scarlett Palmer, sets off first in the senior event and should easily dominate it. In J18, Alexa Glyn-Mills sets off first ahead of Amy Milner. Both of these two are GB junior trialists, and with the cancellation of the long distance trials in Boston last month, these two will be wanting to get as much racing under their belts before the all important April trials. Both Glyn-Mills and Milner have raced each other many times over this season, so I’m hoping for another good race between them.
The J17 and J16 events are dominated by Tees Rowing Club scullers, making up four of the six entries. It’s clear to see then that Tees has a strong junior section going at the moment, and it will be interesting to see how they all do this weekend.
Prediction
The Yorkshire Head looks set to be an exciting race, as it usually is. Considering both the calibre and prowess of all of the crews entered, it can be seen as a testament to northern rowing. With regards to the predictions, I believe that the fastest crews for the men and women will be hotly contested between York City and University of York. Over this season, not much has separated these two clubs, so it should hopefully be a real dogfight down the course on Saturday.
