Magnificent weather conditions were experienced at Henley Royal Regatta this year with the Henley Stewards for the first time in thirty six years permitting gentlemen to remove their jackets in the Stewards Enclosure on two successive days due to the exceptionally hot weather.

On Friday, Alan Sinclair's Leander crew in the Ladies Challenge Plate had a fine three and a half lengths win over a composite London RC /Henley RC crew in a quick time of 6 minutes 35 seconds.

Saturday brought slighty cooler conditions with a gusty headwind for their semi-final race against a strongly fancied American eight from Brown University.

Both crews set off a a high rating with the Brown';s crew just edging ahead at the quarter mile marker. The established a small lead of half a length over the Leander crew who pressed hard all the way down the course, encouraged by the huge vocal support lining the banks of the Thames. Leander closed the margin to a canvas but just failed to overhaul their opponents with an extremely fast time of 6 minutes 28 seconds being recorded by the Brown University crew.