President's report 2025-26

Welcome all to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of the Blenheim Rowing Club and the dawning of the club’s 143rd year since its founding in 1884.

Specifically, welcome, and thank you, to our patron Lindsay Fraser, our life members, both for their presence today and their contributions to the club in the past, to the committee for its work in keeping the club functioning over the last 12 months or so, and to all members and supporters without whom the club would not exist and certainly would not be the enjoyable experience that it is.  

Club activity

Our very able club captain Shane Rohloff has given a summary of our activities over the past 12 months so I urge you to read that and be pleasantly surprised at the amount of activity that takes place in and from this shed.

Weather

The weather has been reasonably benign this past year, with only one significant flood that did not hold up club activity for too long. Thanks to those that turned up beforehand to move equipment and to those that removed the mud afterwards. Negotiations with MDC are under way to block off the reserve access following floods so that members of the public do not cut up the driveway and car park areas.

Although cold recently, wind and water conditions have been generally favourable and the forecast over summer is for hot and dry, although wind is something we may have to contend with.

Health and safety

Thanks once again to Mark Nelson for his efforts to ensure that our members remain safe and that the club activities match legal expectations.

Our main safety concerns remain the condition of the beach and the coming and going of various snags in the river which, although currently few in number, have the potential to do significant damage if not given the attention required.

Rowing plant

Overall, our rowing plant remains generally in very good repair, and we have a good variety of boats for training and racing.

We have purchased and are awaiting the arrival of a new double/pair, hopefully within the next week or two. New sculls and sweep oars are also in the pipeline for this boat.

Two of our older four-seaters have been offered to the Tasman Coastal Rowing Club as it is attempting to get more in to flat-water rowing rather than just the coastal version. Tasman have been generous to us in the past re use of coastal boats for various events and it is appropriate that we make this offer to clubs within our own region.

Finance

The finances are to be presented by treasurer Willie Parker, and they show that the club remains in a  sound financial position.

Once again we have had generous community support from donors, such as Eva Francis from MTF Finance and Mike Newman from Meaters and other smaller donations for which we are extremely grateful.

In an attempt to improve our financial situation, the committee agreed late last year to engage the services of a professional fundraiser. This has had mixed results in that it has led to the purchase of the new double/pair but the time taken to achieve this means that the future of this programme will require some consideration.

Constitution

The club’s new constitution has been finalised and submitted as required and, as a result we remain a legally mandated incorporated society. This allows us, amongst other things, to access certain community and charitable grants from time to time. Thanks to Barry Sayer for his input into this somewhat weighty tome.

The final 24-page document can be accessed via the club’s website for those interested, or for those suffering from insomnia. I should add that, although significantly more voluminous, it is amazing how closely the new version matches the rules of the club put together for our first incorporated society application submitted in 1934 -- 92 years ago.

Racing

Due to our geographic location, regular involvement in existing regatta is both arduous and expensive. For this reason, we are usually limited to only two regatta per year, the South Islands and the Nationals. Unfortunately, due to numbers, we will not be able to attend the Nationals this year. Next year the South Island regatta, in Southland, nearly 900km away, and the Nationals at Ruataniwha, 600km away, are only two weeks apart. Realistically this means we will attend only one of these major events.

On the bright side, there is increasing activity for both flat water and coastal rowing for and among clubs in the Marlborough Rowing Association region, the top of the South or Te Tau Ihu. The Rabbit Island Rampage is on again in October, for which we will defend (and retain) our title. Although we may crew boats differently next year, the Portage event organised by the Marlborough Multi-sport Club was well worth participating in and, again in October we have the Picton Rowing Club long distance race. Also, providing we can get it organised, a “fun” regatta is to be held here on the Wairau River in mid-November, followed three weeks later by the Marlborough Champs.

Future needs

There are two things that keep a club like ours running -- people and money.

People: For me, all this activity, both in the wider rowing community and within BRC specifically, is not just about time on the water, it is about people. Spending time with like-minded people, coming together for a common cause with good humour and good intentions are the things that enhance and, potentially, extend the lives of those involved and those around us. And I think BRC does this especially well.

To further improve and maintain this aspect, however, we need more people. Consequently, we will be forming a team to conjure up and action ideas for recruiting new members and retaining existing members. 

Money: It is a fundamental truth that housing, equipment, travel and competition come at a financial cost. Currently, we are holding our own financially in relation to regular ongoing commitments such as maintaining plant – boats, oars, etc – and involving ourselves in such competition that is available to us. However, without a significant injection of funds, the future may present problems in relation to replacement of plant (the new double, for instance, will cost us around $25,000) and, crucially, the maintenance of the sheds, which is not something we can afford to put off much longer. So, just like people, to improve our financial position, putting it simply, we need more money. Consequently, we will be forming a team to conjure up and action ideas for fundraising.

Thanks

The club cannot function without the ongoing input of a special group of people. So, on a personal level and from the wider club I would like to acknowledge the following people and thank them sincerely for their efforts.

Cynthia de Joux, BRC vice-president and active club member since her school days last century.

Shane Rohloff, club captain for the last eight years or so.

Steve Mason, club secretary, also for the last eight years or so.

Willie Parker, club treasurer since before calculators were invented.

Mouse Taylor, who has been actively contributing to this club since 1969.

The committee: Keith Nelson, Seb Bacchus, Rex Pope, Amy Bryant.

Finally, my sincere personal thanks to all of you, the whole BRC club. It is you that makes it worthwhile getting up early just to get splashed, that makes the cold evening winter rows bearable and even enjoyable and helps make this increasingly aging heart beat just that little bit easier, even when rating over 30. A good club is made up of good people, and this is a great club. 

Thank you.

Peter Adams

President

Club captain's report 2025-26

The 2025-26 rowing season started in spring and saw the Blenheim Club competing in the NZ Masters Nationals. Due to booking arrangements made by Rowing New Zealand and South Island Rowing, the regatta was programmed several weeks later than usual, in early October. A sizable number of our club members made the effort to travel to the event but were disappointed with the weather conditions, which saw all but a few events cancelled and the regatta abandoned due to the predictable high winds.

Many clubs, including Blenheim, approached Rowing NZ after the cancellation to arrange for this regatta to be reprogrammed to autumn when weather is more settled. This will happen following the 2026 Masters event in spring at Karapiro.

Unfortunately for the club, the harsh weather also played a hand in damaging a number of our racing boats, which were blown off dumps by the high spring winds. This added insult to the waste of finances involved in travelling to the failed event. 

Shortly after the Nationals, the club participated in the Rabbit Island Rampage in Nelson hosted by Tasman Rowing Club. The event is a 25km-plus long-distance event in ocean rowing quads around Rabbit Island. This was a popular event and each of the Top of the South Masters clubs entered at least two crews in the race. The race winner is decided on the combined result of the two crews. Blenheim won the trophy for the event, with its crews finishing a close second and third, well ahead of following crews. We will defend this trophy again in October/November this year.

Summer was the usual grind, of rowing evenings twice weekly and on Sunday mornings through until April. We had a smattering of overseas visitors/rowers transit through the club to add a slight variation.

Over Anzac weekend, the club attended the South Island Masters event hosted by Nelson club at Lake Rotoiti. Again, we had a strong attendance at the event and the women brought home most of the medals. The regatta was plagued by high winds on the second day, and races were shortened to 500m and some of the later races were cancelled due to lack of time. The event was followed by the usual post-regatta dinner.

The last event the club participated in was the Multi-Sport Long Distance event in the Marlborough Sounds in May. Again, there was a lot of interest in the race, and we entered two ocean rowing quads and provided some rowers to Tasman for their boats. One of our crews competed in and completed the 25km event. This was another successful day for Blenheim, and it proved that the club is strong in long distance ocean events.

Other events

The Marlborough Champs was based on the Blenheim club site as usual. The event was held early December 2025. Thanks to all the efforts from club members and the Marlborough District Council for getting the site in working condition and the club members who gave up their time to help on both days in support boats and other official roles. There will be a repeat event again in early December this year, so thanks for helping in advance.

General

Winter has again seen two floods through the club grounds which have silted up the lawn and played havoc with the road and parking area around the club. Fortunately, no damage has occurred to the buildings other than filling the septic tank field. 

We are constantly in touch with the council re the club environs and hopefully we will see some repairs occur before the Marlborough Champs again. 

Member participation has been good for most of the year, with climbing club membership and lots of people on the water. There has been a notable drop in numbers though on chilly winter evenings, but that is to be expected and should improve as light and temperatures increase over the next few weeks. Due to unforeseen circumstances, a decision has been made to not travel and compete at NZ Nationals in spring.

This year we have secured funding for a new SLR double/pair that should be arriving soon. We are also looking to purchase some new sets of sweep and sculling oars as the increased number of rowers puts pressure on our aging plant.

After consultation with club members the committee has decided to demolish the flood-damaged flat attached to the shed and this should be commenced shortly once the ground is dry enough.

Funding is always an issue for any club, but we have managed to keep on top of the finances over the last few years, mainly due to fundraising events during the season along with some funding from community and council grants. If anyone has any prospective new fundraising ideas or opportunities, please let the committee know.

Thanks to Mouse Taylor for all the time and knowledge he shares with us in his coaching role and the wider committee for the management of the club.

Special thanks to Pete Adams and Cynthia De Joux who preside over the club. Also, to Lindsay Fraser, our club patron, and to Steve Mason our club secretary who puts a lot of time into our administration.

As for me, I have decided to not put my name forward for club captain this year. I think it is time to share this title to someone else in the club. I’m willing to stay on as a committee member, should it be required.

Shane Rohloff
Club Captain