In July we had the pleasure of welcoming eight members of our Roxy research crew to Burnham to meet up for the first time and start their on-water training in earnest.

Louise, Rupert, Mark, Ian, Andy, Sian, Sophie and Heike had only ever met once before over Zoom so it was great for them to finally see each other in person and start forming a bond that we know, from experience, will last a long time.

Their first training session comprised of buddying up in pairs Explorers and heading up river getting familiar with the boat, their rowing partner and their technique. Once back on land, they were given a tour of Rannoch HQ getting up close and personal with an ocean rowing boat, and enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading down river for another row, this time with a different partner.

Charlie was with them all day and was highly impressed with the standard of rowing and the camaraderie within the group and is looking forward to accompanying them on their big ocean research row next March.  

Everyone left with smiles on their faces and eager to get back to Burnham again for round 2 of their training programme. We can’t wait to see them all again in September and to welcoming the remaining two members of the crew, Ciara and Simon!