All race reports for Matt Chamberlain
Event: May Bumps 2002 - Wednesday
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Lent Bumps 2002 - Thursday
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Chasing Kings I, we set off from a confident start. We were somewhat surprised to see Kings I pulled into the bank at First Post Corner; assuming that they had bumped, we continued, aiming to row-over ahead of the competent Christ's II crew on our tail.
At Dittons, however, we were instructed to stop by a marshal. Apparently Kings had not, in fact, bumped, and we had achieved a bump by rowing past them.
Later, it transpired that Kings had been forced to stop by the carnage resulting from Downing II's bump on Peterhouse, although it is unclear why LMBC II - directly ahead of Kings - were able to pass through, while Kings could not. The upshot was that a technical row-over was awarded.
Christ's II are currently whinging about the whole affair on the message board, claiming that they would have bumped us had we not stopped. Certainly they did close as we lost power round Grassy - but by Plough Reach we had found our stride once again, and it would have been a close race. We'll find out tomorrow.
Event: Lent Bumps 2002 - Friday
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Once again we set off chasing Kings I, and trying to avoid the challenge of Christ's II, who were fired up following the supposed injustice of yesterday.
For the second day in a row, Peterhouse lasted only until First Post Corner, this time being bumped by LMBC II. Kings once again pulled into the side to avoid the wreckage, but this time it was generally accepted that they could safely have passed through. We were thus awarded the bump.
The interesting footnote is the fate of Christ's II. We continued rowing until advised by our bank party that we had bumped, at which point we pulled into the side. Christ's II, thinking that they had bumped us, easied and started to celebrate as soon as they had passed us. Unfortunately for them, we had already bumped, and so they were themselves bumped by Jesus II charging past their easied boat. Apparently Jesus didn't realise this either, and so went on to row the entire course.
According to the fines list, it looks like a Christ's II-Kings I swearing match ensued. Christ's £50 fine probably indicates that they came out on top.
Tomorrow, we'll be chasing Peterhouse - given past form, we'll do well to avoid being involved in at least some kind of pile-up!
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 1st division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 1st division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 1st division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 1st division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
The rerow was downstream from the railway bridge to Ditton. In contrast to the first race, there was no prospect of a crash, but this didn't stop the marshals blowing their whistles and shouting at our perfect line all the way down the course. Attempting to respond to the marshals' inexplicable commands put us into the bank just before the finish, and allowed Fitz to claim the re-row by a short canvas.
This was an incredibly disappointing result - all the more so as Fitz went on to win the final - but the whole crew can be justifiably proud of the performance. Roll on Fairbairns!
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 2nd division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 2nd division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2002 - 2nd division
Posted as: Matt C
Event Link
Although it was disappointing to lose this close race, altogether 1st and 3rd B put in a highly convincing performance and did extremely well to reach the last 4.
