We were informed on the start line that the Fitz boat (containing a rather youthful looking bow pair in shiny new kit) were claiming Vet C status and we would therefore be having a 6s handicap applied to us. After appealing on the grounds that we were possibly Vet B, this was reduced to 4s. No allowance was made for us being a mixed crew.
After a rather long 4s, we set off in hot pursuit:
Attention ... Go ... Pause ... Check Stopwatch ... Pause ... Check Clipboard ... Pause ... Three ... Two ... One ... Go
Despite rating ridiculously high, we closed to around a length by the finish.
Fitz went on to win the whole thing, but our losing time of 2:13 meant we were 15s slower than Kings - the fastest losers of round 1 - and so we failed to progress to the semi-finals.
(Matt)