MBC rowing programme given timely boost

The latest addition to the Marlborough Boys’ College rowing ranks bears a familiar name.

Last week a function was held in the MBC hall to celebrate the arrival of the club’s new rowing skiff, aptly named “John Robinson”.

An expensive exercise, it has been more than 10 years since MBC Rowing were able to add a new boat to their fleet, this becoming the college’s first four.

At a cost of around $30,000 for a four/quad this has only now become possible with the support of Laszlo Boats, Hamilton who providing a boat hull and paintwork at a discounted price, plus Rigtec Engineering, Blenheim who supported the initiative by provided all the riggers and fitting free of charge.

The remainder of the funds were raised by the boys’ “Job Squads”, an initiative whereby MBC Rowing provided a group of rowers to work for individuals or businesses, whether it be stacking hay, moving furniture or vineyard labouring.

MBC Rowing has also, for the second year running, had strong support from local business such as Constellation Brands, Crown Sheet Metal, Crafar Crouch Construction, Simcox Construction, Clarke Construction & Haack, Liquid Action, Agrivit, Klima, New Zealand Wineries and Remac.

There is plenty of local significance in the new boat’s name, labelled in honour of current MBC rowing coach John Robinson, a man with deep roots into the province’s rowing heritage.

John is a Marlborough local and former rower who began working with national development rowers out of Wairau Rowing in 2001, joining the NZ elite programme as a fulltime coach in 2004.

He is one of the country’s longest-serving elite coaches and a key figure in NZ’s finest rowing era, culminating in a five-medal haul for NZ at the London Olympics. As well as numerous World Cup wins, John has coached crews to three world championship elite titles, and spent 10 months in China following the London Olympics, coaching a group of elite rowers.

MBC rowers compete on the national stage, against schools with far more equipment, and administrators feel the new skiff is a big step towards levelling the playing field.

John, who admits he was “completely taken by surprise” when informed of the skiff’s name, added that, “The committee have done a power of work, then the builders and RigTec came to the party … along with the sponsors they took quite a bit of cost off.

“We only have an eight and an octi at the moment, plus some sculls, so the new boat will be a big asset to the college. We got it right before the Maadi Cup this year and won the under-17 quad in it.

“The support has also helped us buy some tech equipment such as speedcoaches and gate force monitors, with built-in sensors, to help us with seat racing and selection decisions.”