On Saturday 9 April 2016, five crewmembers of the 1981 1st VIII came together for their second reunion to celebrate winning the Head of the River regatta 35 years ago on Saturday 11 April 1981. The 1981 regatta, held on the old Narrows course, is regarded as perhaps the most extraordinary Head of the River ever.

Meeting at the Boatshed, no. 2 Scott Moller (1982) was joined by stroke Simon Cox (1981), no 3. Patrick Saint (1981), and coxswain Hamish Jolly (1983). As the coach of the 2016 First VIII, Simon gave the crew a tour of the boatshed and an update on the planned redevelopment of the boatshed launching facilities in 2017. They then made their way to the Claremont Yacht Club, meeting up with no. 5 Peter Tyson (1982), where they celebrated and reminisced their historic win, and paid tribute to no. 7 Vernon Conlan (1982 dec’d) and to their coach Alf Mountier (dec’d).

For the first time in 35 years the assembled crew huddled around to watch raw video footage of the 1981 Head of the River, recently obtained from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, that was screened on the Channel 2 ABC evening news after the regatta. Watching the video footage over and over again, the crewmembers soon found themselves transported back in time as if the race had taken place yesterday.

The crew looks forward to celebrating their next major reunion in five years, and hope they will be joined by two of the crew currently residing overseas, no. 6 Tom Crockett (1983) and bow Jeremy Dixon (1981).