Howard news

Tom rows to 5th place in Vogalonga

May 2010

Group Finance Director and keen oarsman, Tom Amies, (pictured third left), quit his Excel spreadsheets for the weekend and headed down to Venice to compete in the annual Vogalonga boat race on 23rd May.

Now in its 36th year, the race is one of Venice's biggest events attracting entrants from all over the world. Originally known as the 'long row', it was a protest against motor boat traffic and the potential damage they could cause to waterfront buildings.

By early Sunday morning over 1000 boats and some 6000 rowers slipped into the broad expanse of St Mark's basin to begin their 23 mile journey across the lagoon to the island of Burano and back, finishing opposite St Mark's Square.

Tom, who graduated from Girton College, Cambridge in 1993, has always been a keen rower. He stroked the winning Goldie boat in the 1991 Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race. Tom, part of a 5-man crew, finished an incredible 5th in the race in a time of 1 hour 53 secs.

"We had a excellent race beating our previous best time by some considerable margin", says Tom. "As the leading crew for part of the race the media helicopters followed us closely, one hovering so close that it blew our cox's cap into the lagoon! All in all it was a great experience."

The race was won by a quad scull from Boston.