The other boat -- guys who would be in the 1st/2nd VIII if they weren't playing darts so much, ahem ahem -- took us off the start by half a length or so, as befit their weight advantage. We then made that distance back again over the next 150 meters or so, and held that distance for the rest of the way. The course, you see, was not damn straight. We then had a nominal wind past the FaT boathouse to head for the finish, but instead of speed, the general theme for that was spackiness.
Shocking quality at the high rates, though given the quality of some of our paddling, I reckon we could be decent with some practice.
We also performed the mandatory thunderbirds past the City boathouse as the hail quickly approached. We then conspired to dunk Dan Newton in the river, resulting in him, me, and Pedro all getting soaked. Ab fab.
Get back on it! Gotta get back on it! (insert dance here)
(James)We'd won the race before it started by simply having more fun than the opposition. Indeed, they were looking pretty bored while marshalling, whereas we quietly acted out an entire blackadder episode, and despite Dan's volcanic enthusiasm he only shouted one line loud enough for them to enjoy. The race was really fun for us, the bladework amusing and the power exhilarating, they just looked like sore losers. And finally we had the most fun cos we got to drink our free beer in pewter.
(Tom C)