It has been a busy few weeks with a number of oars being worked on. I managed to build up a small backlog as I was busy at Henley, then had two major boat renovations to complete. Since sanding back hulls and painting things at the same time isn’t a great plan, the oars were put to one side!

The first ever Oxford V Cambridge ‘old boys’ race held in Dubai was an interesting job. It was also using a very nice 1942 oar with a copper tip and leather sleeve. The leather button was also quite remarkable.

I also painted another blade from McLean High School, who clearly had a great season. This will make a matching set with one that I completed last year.

Also completed was a pair of sculling blades for KRCG in Ghent. You may recall that I drove to Ghent to purchase a number of old oars, some of which were used for the 10 matching Dulwich College 400th Anniversary job earlier this year. My host at KRCG when I visited was a great man who has done a lot for his club, so I took a pair of their old sculling blades and created two mounted blades for him to sell at the annual fundraising event. One blade is horizontal for wall hanging, while the other is vertical and can either be free-standing or wall mounted.

And finally, one of my dragon boat paddle jobs from a few months ago has finally been mounted at that club. The new Sports Bar has opened as part of the RHKYC club redevelopment, and this is the new home of the Royal X Team paddle.