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All race reports for James Scott

Event: May Bumps 1847 - Wednesday
Posted as: James
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It was wretched weather; stormy and wet, stormy and wet; and mud, mud, mud, deep in all the streets. Day after day, a vast heavy veil had been driving over London from the East, and it drove still, as if in the East there were an Eternity of cloud and wind. So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death.

Event: May Bumps 1847 - Monday
Posted as: James
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In every rage of wind and rush of rain, I heard pursuers. Twice, I could have sworn there was a knocking and whispering at the outer door. With these fears upon me, I began either to imagine or recall that I had had mysterious warnings of this man's approach. That, for weeks gone by, I had passed faces in the streets which I had thought like his. That, these likenesses had grown more numerous, as he, coming over the sea, had drawn nearer. That, his wicked spirit had somehow sent these messengers to mine, and that now on this stormy night he was as good as his word, and with me.

Event: May Bumps 1847 - Monday
Posted as: James
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It was a murky confusion -- here and there blotted with a colour like the colour of the smoke from damp fuel -- of flying clouds, tossed up into most remarkable heaps, suggesting greater heights in the clouds than there were depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows in the earth, through which the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong, as if, in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature, she had lost her way and were frightened. There had been a wind all day; and it was rising then, with an extraordinary great sound. In another hour it had much increased, and the sky was more overcast, and blew hard.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: James
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Phil Horler is a dirty rotten liar. I, in my illustrious capacity as Coach-in-Chief of the Arrows VIII (of which Bryn, Phil, and Dan are members), have worked those boys to the bone. No training?!?!?! HA! We'll see how you enjoy your next outing, you puddinheads.

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Thursday
Posted as: James
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We saw Caius II rowing back home just as we were about to push off for M1, so we knew our guys had bumped them and were now the sandwich boat. Big high fives all around -- I think some of us were more excited to marshal at Chesterton and find out the details than we were about our own race!

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Wednesday
Posted as: James
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Pretty spacktacular most of the way, but we got it done in the end.

The start was decent, as we held Queens roughly on station down 1st Post Reach. The Gut was mediocre as we didn't seem to make our planned pushes all together. Then Grassy seemed to cost us at least half a length on Queens in a matter of seconds. We were beginning to get worried.

I couldn't hear a thing from Rachel coming down Plough Reach (even at 7), and so I had no idea we were so close to Robinson. I could, of course, see just how rapidly Queens were making up the gap behind us. Around most of Ditton corner, I was cutting my stroke short so that my spoon wouldn't smack directly into their bow ball. After several strokes of that, I heard the umpires shouting for a concession, and then someone gave a hold-it-up call from the bank. I did, and immediately got the loom of my blade stuck under the Queens bow. I was on the verge of needing some serious acrobatics to avoid the handle smacking me in the chin, but luckily Queens held it up almost immediately, averting catastrophe.

I initially assumed we'd been bumped, as Queens were celebrating like mad. Then I looked around and saw Robinson pulling in as well. So I turned to the umpire who'd been watching the gap behind us and asked, very loudly, what the decision was. He replied without hesitation that we had gotten the bump before Queens had. Cue jubilation. Queens seemed quite sour about the decision, but who can blame them? Today, at least, they were the fastest of the three crews, only coming up a foot short.

P.S. From station 7, that cannon is LOUD!

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Wednesday
Posted as: James
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A very eventful first half, and overall a very gutsy row-over.

Day 1 saw the Arrows sitting at position 13, chasing Pembroke III and ahead of Kings II. After an excellent practice start for the spectators in the Plough Reach, the real start was perhaps not up to snuff -- from the bank, it looked very rushed and with poor timing. After 20 strokes or so, Kings (prematurely) had their first hooter, and Pembroke II were only just outside station.

The guys took awhile to sort out their timing issues, and by the time the three crews had rowed under the motorway bridge, Kings were legitimately inside 1 length. Things got a bit worse down First Post Reach, with Pembroke rapidly closing on a three-boat pile-up near the entrance to the Gut. Apparently Queens III had bumped Christs III with Caius III rapidly closing. Neither Caius nor Pembroke could do anything more than hold it up and pull into the bank (looking at the charts, it appears both must have been given technical rowovers, but not sure on that).

By the time Fat IV reached the end of First Post Reach, the carnage had cleared a bit, enabling Tamir to artfully dodge traffic and head into the Gut. Kings had closed to within 5 feet or so, but inexplicably held it up behind us despite plenty of clear water. We initially thought they'd been bumped, and the crew seemed to flag a bit around Grassy in response to the pressure from behind disappearing. A crab from 4 halfway down Plough Reach didn't help either, but with help from 3 the crew rapidly sorted themselves out and fell into a decent rhythm.

Things became more complicated when Kings made a surprise reappearance, coming around Grassy about 5 lengths off and clearly trying to row us down. I called for a couple of pushes from the bank to ensure we held them there, one around Ditton and another halfway down the Long Reach. The crew responded admirably, digging deep to find their best rowing of the afternoon. After one last push into the Railway Bridge, it was clear that Kings had given up. The guys rowed past Bottom Finish with at least 100 meters of clear water.

Now looking at the charts, it appears that Kings were indeed bumped by Selwyn III, which makes their attempt to row us down seem pretty bizarre in retrospect. I'm eager to hear an explanation as to what exactly happened both in front of and behind us.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2005 -
Posted as: James
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Cooking fajitas and mixing margaritas rather than playing golf. Blame Richard for scheduling me for an afternoon match when I told him I'd be cooking for my birthday party then.

Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2004 - 1st division
Posted as: James
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To a man, we agreed that we'd done our best sustained rowing of the term -- our 33 rating off the start felt slower and more composed than previous outings at 26, and never once did we drop below 30. Yet to lose by seven seconds to LMBC over a ten-minute course left us all with the sinking feeling that we might, after all, have had that extra 1% in the tank. A disappointment, to be sure, but also a strong result to build on.

On a brighter note, bow Aldous Bertram provided pure comedy by coxing the row home. He relentlessly berated other boats for their blades of "foul off-strawberry" or "vulgar lilac." He also cleverly navigated us into the Fen Ditton Parish Ditch with well-timed demands for "secret pressure." And I'm certain none of the crews within earshot will ever forget his stirring rendition of Silent Night, delivered with his cox box at full volume and his voice box at full falsetto.

P.S. I think we showed a certain navigationally challenged cox at a college-to-remain-nameless who the real rowers are.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - ARA S2 2-
Posted as: James
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I was banksteering with the permission of the start marshal. But some old dude opposite the Goldie boathouse decided to be a stickler about things. He jumped in my way as I was telling Dan to steer away from the bank, telling me that I couldn't give coaching. I duly ignored his negative spiritual energy and tried to veer around him -- but what can I say? He was pretty spry for a white guy.

After the thud of defeat, I told the old guy off, figuring that since everyone expects Americans to be rude anyway, I might as well live up to expectations. I also realized that, given my red tracksuit, he'd probably think I was steering for the Maggie pair anyway!

P.S. Tom's not kidding, this was an absolute cracker of a race. He and Dan looked very good but were barely managing to keep their lead. They would very likely have won without the crash, but the LMBC pair were definitely pushing them.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: James
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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)

Event: City Sprints 2005 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: James
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We had the inside of the bend and hence started half a length down. We made up that distance in the first 100 meters or so and held them at roughly that distance for the rest of the race, not counting the premature wind-down from Tom.

Event: Head of the River Race 2005 - Novice VIIIs
Posted as: James
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I was so tired from this race that I overslept the next morning and missed my flight to Ireland! That's commitment.

Other highlights include:

* gorgeous weather, to the point that we shed our zephyrs to beat the heat
* a rugby tutorial from Tom and Bryn as we watched the Six Nations in a charming pub frequented by lots of old people
* the random-number generator employed by the above establishment, used to subtly adjust the minute-to-minute price of pints of coke (1.45, 1.55, 1.50) and lemonade (1.00, 1.40, 1.45)
* Bryn's smug silence as Wales emerged victorious among a very pro-Irish crowd in the pub
* our ill-fated decision to carry the valuables bag on board in a "water-tight" compartment, thus leading to mobile phone failures and wallet soakings on a scale previously unknown to man
* a stellar first half of the race
* Seb besting Jacob in the three-cracker challenge, with a time of 75s
* vaguely still being able to walk today

Fun race, fun times.

Addendum:

Does the following chain of events belong in a comedy or a horror film? (1) Valuables bag goes on board, thereby getting soaked, which means that my (2) phone is ruined, leaving me with no backup for my alarm clock the following morning, which (3) doesn't go off in time for me to make my flight to Ireland, having not been set properly, in turn causing me to (4) lock my bike by the wheel only in front of Trinity in my mad scramble to find a working phone and call the airline, leading to (5) the theft of my bike in broad daylight, only to be informed, after (6) physically going to Stansted Airport to speak to the airline, that I would (7) have to pay a penalty to get on a flight the next day, which I paid. Sigh.

So in addition to fun, let me now brand this weekend as expensive!

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Friday
Posted as: James
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Can this week get any unfairer?

First, what actually happened but doesn't go down as the race result.

I remember Queens coming at us hard from right off the gun, and we didn't push back very well. Then suddenly we found it in the Gut and held them off at somewhere around half a length . . . and held them . . . and held them. They would get 3 feet off our stern, and we'd push them back to a quarter length. They'd get within 6 feet and we'd push them to half a length. I was absolutely dead halfway down the Long Reach from all the pushes Magnus was calling to match their pushes. And still we held them for several hundred more meters, finally getting bumped halfway between the railway bridge and safety.

I then remember taking ragged breaths and cursing a lot as we rested on the bank for a few minutes within easy sight of Bottom Finish. We were then told of what had happened with Wolfson. I'm happy to have officially bumped up, but we certainly didn't earn this one. And I also feel awful for Queens, whose tenacity and good cheer were equally commendable, and who certainly didn't deserve this.

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Thursday
Posted as: James
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This makes two days in a row of undeserved results. On Tuesday, we deserved to get bumped by Queens and instead rowed over. Today, we deserved a bump on Downing II but instead were bumped by Wolfson before we could finish the job.

Our first few strokes were off a bit, probably due to a nasty wind that only got worse under the road bridge. We quickly found a nice rhythm, however, and held it down the first half of First Post Reach. From there our race plan was clear: make two unsustainable pushes down the rest of First Post Reach and again into the Gut, with the aim of burning out by Grassy. It was death or glory: either bump Downing II by then, or go down to Wolfson, who we reckoned were a station faster than we were over the first half of the course.

We almost made it. I couldn't hear any whistles save Wolfson's, but we were told after the race that we'd closed to almost a canvas on Downing by Grassy. We took the corner wide and presumably lost some of that ground back. We then held off Wolfson for a surprisingly long time, since we'd raced our plan to perfection and pretty well burned ourselves out by Grassy already. The bump against us came just past the Plough -- and past where Queens II went down to Wolfson on Tuesday, I might add.

Overall, it was a better row than we had on Day 1, although we've rowed better still in training. It was also a well-executed race plan, since I felt we had a strong platform upon which to apply unsustainable power before Grassy. Mainly, we just need to learn to keep rowing together when we're ready to die. Since Downing II bumped CCAT halfway down the reach, we will find ourselves chasing them again tomorrow -- this time for an overbump, which though unlikely, certainly isn't out of the question. Queens, having rowed over, will be gearing up to bump us rapidly given the craptacular display they saw from us on Tuesday.

Bring it.

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Tuesday
Posted as: James
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We put down our worst piece of high-rate rowing in weeks, and we deserved to get bumped by Queens just as we were about to round Ditton. From the 7 seat, it looked like they couldn't have been more than another two or three strokes away from getting overlap. Tom Rose estimated they would have needed another 30 seconds to finish it off; I think that's probably on the high side, given the girth and smelliness of the turd we were laying. I really can't figure out what we did to let them get so close in the first place, since we'd probably added half a length through First Post Reach while going at a pace that felt too sustainable to be appropriate. In fact, by First Post Corner I remember thinking that we were in no danger from them, and that it was down to us and Downing.

Unfortunately, we're now in front of a quick Wolfson crew tomorrow. This means the race will be over quickly, one way or another. Let's hope we can reel in Downing first.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2005 - College lower VIIIs
Posted as: James
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I saw this race from the 2nd VIII's marshaling position under the railway bridge. Our boys held a narrow lead on Selwyn coming through the top of the reach and under the bridge. About fifty yards after both boats had passed us (1st & 3rd to the meadow side), the Selwyn cox steered across the middle of the river, leading to a series of blade clashes. It looked to me like 1st & 3rd got the better of the resulting havoc, especially after Selwyn oversteered back into their lane and lost a bit of speed. Didn't see the finish, but it looks like our guys managed to hold them off despite having the outside lane on the final corner.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2005 - 2nd VIIIs
Posted as: James
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I think if the over-under on the angle at which Wolfson crashed into the bank were 15 degrees, I'd bet on the over.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2005 - 2nd VIIIs
Posted as: James
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Nothing cataclysmic here; we just ran up against a better crew and lost decisively while rowing our best race. They gained very slowly and very steadily over the entire course, with the exception of our push under the railway bridge that brought our bow close to their stern. Then a combination of their own push and a friendly corner gave them nearly a length of clear water by the finish. As Tom mentioned in the crew chat afterwards, it was great to row in a boat that neither panicked when put under pressure nor slacked off when clearly beaten.

Event: Robinson Head 2005 - 1st division
Posted as: James
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The race felt pretty damn good considering our lack of experience in smaller boats, though the planned push out of Grassy to the Plough Pub never materialised. That might have something to do with why we hadn't emptied the tank by the end -- I felt far too fresh on the paddle home. So yes, a higher technical standard than I'd expected, but we must work harder.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2004 - Lower VIIIs
Posted as: James
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This race held two highlights for me:

1) equaling our time over the Novice course from yesterday (10:05), despite saving plenty of juice for the additional 1.6k of the Senior course, and . . .

2) making our titanic push to overtake Hughes Hall just past Grassy Corner. Coming out of the Long Reach, the separation stood at three lengths. That's when cox Magnus Jones earned us at least half a length in mere seconds with his tight steering job around Ditton Corner. (All thoughts of yesterday's "secret pressure" at the same location were cast aside.) Then the distance melted away rapidly as the Hughes crew began to flag. The overtaking soon became a foregone conclusion, and the frantic cries of one of the Hughes bank party said it all: "That's the First and Third SECOND eight, and they're novices!"

Special kudos to substitutes Matthew Sargeant and Sebastian Pancratz, normally stern pair for the second novice VIII, who filled in admirably as bow pair.

Sixteen minutes of pain notwithstanding, this was my favourite outing of the term.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2005 - College VIIIs
Posted as: James
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We nailed the first half of this race -- according to Henry's unofficial timing, we had taken 7 seconds off Jesus by Plough Reach. I think if half of our 20-strike wind hadn't taken place before the start line, we'd have taken even more!

Then we had a (minor) crab as we came around Ditton, and in literal terms we recovered from it quickly and admirably, getting things sorted within a couple of strokes. The minor hiccup, however, seemed to affect us far, far more than it should have. We failed to execute our planned "second start," which transformed into a run-of-the-mill push that fizzled out after a few strokes. As a result, we didn't attack the Reach nearly as aggressively as we should have. This showed in our time: having taken ~7 seconds in the first third of the race, we made up no further ground through the final two-thirds. Still a good result, and I think we've got a lot of speed left on the table.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2005 - Upper College IV+
Posted as: James
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Lost by only a second, but happy with our mental approach. This was our second race of the day, and we didn't make the same mistake twice. This time we attacked the third quarter (i.e. the Reach) relentlessly, meaning we'd pretty much gassed ourselves by the rail bridge. The boat felt very, very, very heavy. We had a variety of theories, with the two most likely being 1) tiredness from the earlier race in the VIII and 2) and the presence of a rudder obstruction which fouled the steering and could have added some nontrivial drag. Not sure how much of a difference that made, but we still had a committed row and that's what counts at this early stage.

Event: University IVs 2005 - Light IVs
Posted as: James
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I was jogging along with the crew from the railings, and so I could see both boats take Ditton. It was hard to tell who was up at this point, but it quickly became obvious: Dan's line was nice, the Jesus line was terrible, and the separation reflected that. Our guys continued to open up an enormous lead in a tough headwind on the Reach, no doubt spurred on by a Mexican yell or two, and from there took it all the way home for a comfortable victory.

Event: University IVs 2005 - 1st division
Posted as: James
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From a distance it looked like our ladies had something of a tough start, but they seemed to make up ground rather quickly (and on the outside of the bend). By the time they passed me near the railway bridge, they seemed to be in control of the race, with a better rhythm and the bend about to turn to their advantage. They kept pulling ahead with every stroke, to a maximum distance of perhaps half a length's clear water. Magnus then had to steer around a barge that had cleverly parked itself to take away the best racing line, and Newnham began inching back. The girls were too nails to let it slip away, though, and held their lead at around a length (or perhaps a bit more, I stopped jogging about 50 yards short of the finish). Awesome job!! But Catherine, you seriously need to work on your high-five technique :-)

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2005 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: James
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Forget 2nd on the day of 130-some-odd VIII's -- we were 2nd of 2 in the race that mattered, and so have our work cut out for us over the next couple weeks.

Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2005 - 1st division
Posted as: James
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An excellent start and a tidy first corner under Elizabeth Way saw the crew in a good position as they came through the gentle bends before Chesterton. The rhythm started to flag a bit as the lungs and legs seemed to catch on to how long a race Fairbairns is, but after drifting a bit wide around Chesterton corner, the guys seemed to find the reserves they all knew were there. Emma called for a nice big push coming past the Pike and Eel, and the boat really lifted.

By this time Rachel, Albert and I were all spurring them on from the bank, and when we passed the railway bridge, it was awesome to discover that the entire 1st VIII were there waiting to run alongside us and join in the cheering! I think the crew will agree what a huge factor that was. Forget finding just 1 higher gear -- they seemed to find about 4 or 5 higher gears, and rapidly shifted up through all of them! As guys in the bows shouted their encouragement, the boat absolutely flew through the last 200 meters; it was the gutsiest, most committed rowing I've seen from a novice crew all term.

Congratulations on a fantastic row, guys. We'll see how the times shake out after all the racing is done, but you definitely earned your "Senior" status today :-)