St Pat’s mastered testing conditions on Lake Wendouree and its rivals with ease as the regatta course was swept by winds which reached more than 40kmh.

Ballarat Grammar School rowed into second place, with Ballarat Clarendon College third.

In a surprise for many, Ballarat Grammar claimed its second girls’ Head of the Lake title in three years.

Damascus College again made its presence felt as runner-up for the second time in a row, while last year’s winner and favourite Loreto had to settle for third.

READ MORE: See all the finish line photos

St Pat’s and Ballarat Grammar will now lead BAS crews into the state championships in Ballarat at the weekend, with a view to contesting the national titles.

Despite concerns on Saturday that strong winds might threaten the Head of the Lake regatta, the event went ahead as scheduled.

St Pat’s division one coach Brendan Scott said the crew had managed the conditions well.

READ MORE: See all the results and finish line videos

He said patience had been a key early in the 2000m event, with the crew of Connor Shugg, Regan Shampley, James Crilly, Hamish Crawley and cox Jackson Long staying relaxed as they settled into a rhythm.

Scott said he was always confident that if the crew performed up to their best they would get the win.

He said the boys had shown in their preparation they had the ability to finish over the top of the crews.

Scott said their form shown in the build-up meant he was much more relaxed going ot the race than last year, when St Pat’s won their first Head of the Lake since 2010.

“They did it well.”

READ MORE: See the colour and atmosphere

Cox Jackson Long, who was also part of last year’s win, said the early part of the course had been the most testing when it came down to dealing with the wind.

He said the focus was on getting everything right and then putting on the power.

St Pat’s led through the 1000m-mark and Long said he always felt they were under control from that point on.

He said there was no point at any stage in the second half of the race that he felt threatened.

While Cox, who has been involved in the rowing program for three years, now has two Head of the Lake titles under his belt he is hopeful of more to come.

READ MORE: Ballarat Grammar relishes being the ‘hunter’ to win Head of the Lake

He is in Year 10 – giving him another two years to be a contender.

Cox said although conditions had been much tougher to deal with, a tough preparation had the crew fitter and comfortably placed to deal with them.

Scott will give the crew a rest from training on Monday beforer beginning the preparation for the state schoolboys’ championships.

HOW THEY FINISHED

BOYS’ HEAD OF THE LAKE

1st-St Patrick’s College 

2nd-Ballarat Grammar School

3rd-Ballarat Clarendon College

4th-Ballarat High School

5th-Damascus College

Winning time: 7:48.33