The South West Monsoon Regatta, which showcases the rich heritage of the Colombo Rowing Club, comprises a variety of different events ranging from those that began long before many of us were born to events that were introduced very recently. In fact, the men’s category alone has eight different events.
In the men’s junior category there will be the Vanlangenberg Trophy, which is for men’s junior pairs and the Gordon Armstrong Trophy for men’s junior sculls. The men’s junior fours will contend for the prestigious HMS Enterprise. HMS stands for ‘Her Majesty’s Service’ as this was gifted to the Colombo Rowing Club by the Royal Navy. In fact, this particular race has an interesting history; when a ship named ‘ENTERPRISE’ docked at our port, the officers on this ship participated in a Club regatta. As a token of their appreciation, the officers presented the Rowing Club with a trophy, which the committee of that time decided to award to junior fours.
The Stubb’s Quaich Trophy will be held for the men’s pairs in the junior and senior categories.
Oarsmen that fall in the in the Intermediate category will have two events to prove themselves. One of these events is the Wardrop Trophy for men’s sculls. The second event is the ‘Royal Colombo Yacht Club’ (RCYC) Trophy, which was presented by the Royal Colombo Yacht Club for men’s pairs.
The only event in the men’s open category will be the Centenary Oar for men’s open fours. This event has taken place since 1964 and was started in commemoration of 100 years of rowing at Colombo Rowing Club (1864 – 1964).
As rowing was only introduced for women much later, the women’s category has two events, one of which is the Secretaries Bowl for women’s junior pairs.
In 2012 the Rowing Club included an Under 16 double scull event in the men’s and women’s categories. This event allows young oarsmen and oarswomen to also compete at the South West Monsoon Regatta.
The main focus of this regatta is the junior crews. Therefore the forces have not been invited to participate in the hope that this will promote competitive rowing at a purely junior level. With the exception of the forces, all main institutions in the rowing circuit will take part in this regatta.
The South West monsoon regatta will be held on Sunday the 30th of March. Heats will begin in the morning and the finals will take place in the evening. All the races will be over a 1000 meter course at the Colombo Rowing Club. Many oarsmen and oarswomen have been training hard to compete for these prestigious trophies.
We wish all the participants the best of luck!
