User:Gozkco/Sandbox

About
Oceans Four are a coastal rowing team based on the island of Guernsey and are part of the Guernsey Rowing Club. The team consists of Anthony Brewer (captain), James Plumley, Nick Human, Jonathon Willcocks and Andy Barker (cox). The fives guys all went to Elizabeth College and it was at the beginning of the Sixth Form that Anthony Brewer had the idea to form a rowing team.

First Season
The crews first race, the BTS Handicap, took place in May 2006 in rough sea conditions. The crew having only been in a boat a couple of times were please just to complete the race. The Guernsey Press race report stated, "With the Grammar School team out of action it was the turn of the Elizabeth College students to shine. In their first race they struggled manfully around all three laps and crossed the line in a time of 37minutes and 26 seconds."

Crew History
The initial crew of good friends consisted of Anthony Brewer, James Plumley, Jonathon Willcocks and Nick Human. They hadn't found anyone who would make a good cox for the team. When it came to the first race, fellow student Sam Williams was asked to be the cox and this was to be his first and only time doing so.

After many considerations Andy Barker became an obvious choice for the cox position. He remained the main cox for the whole two years the team raced. The crew had no substitutes trained up, so if more than one of the team couldn't make the race they would generally have to miss it.

There have only been a couple of times when subsitutes have been brought into the team. These substitutes were as close to complete novices as you can get and had little or no prior experience. For the 2007 Around Jethou race, cox Andy Barker was unavailable, so at the last minute sailor Chris Dravers was brought in. Also in 2007, for the Guernsey to Herm (alternative course) Chris Jones was brought in as a rower to substitute in for James Plumley.

Dramas
Oceans Four were always rowing just for the thrill and fun of it. Due to this they were rarely fully prepared for a race and many last minute problems were sorted out just before the race was about to start.


 * Early on in their first season rowing the crew left their lifejackets inside their boat. The boats are parked up outside. When it came to their next outing the lifejackets were nowhere to be seen. Apparently a man said he had taken the lifejackets so that no one else could have stolen them. He then proceeded to leave them in Oceans Four's boat for them, though they were never found by the crew. This caused unnecessary anguish for every race as the crew had to borrow lifejackets from the club and the club only had five.


 * Safety equipment was always a worry. It was mandetory to carry a certain amount of safety equipment for each race and this had to be maintained by the crew. Although Oceans Four did have all the equipment, it was prone to go missing or breaking, which is what happened to the mirror. Jonathon Willcocks was normally in charge of the equipment as most of it was his and he had also built a small wooden box to keep it all in.


 * For every race they participated in they had to pay an race entry fee of £25 (£5 per head). Wallets were often "forgotten" and normally Andy Barker was the one paying for other people.