The Club's Results

Need to do a lot better as we are 45 seconds off Jesus II who are below us in bumps.
Things will improve as we train this term. (Thomas)

Ok on the first 2k or so, went downhill from there. Especially overtaking Clare 2 was messy and should have taken 15 long hard strokes instead of about 60 crap ones. On the positive side, Lorry did win the blade clash pretty convincingly.

The rate more or less held 30 but we lost the length in our strokes.

We beat Wolfson by 1 min 11 sec and they looked pretty shit. Bumping by First Post as usual then in a couple of weeks. (S.C. Mertes)

The first 2k or so was good.
The rest wasn't so great. We should have nailed clare rather than pissing around beside them.
Technique, especially when tired is something we are going to have to work on

I reckon we could have been competitive with fitz I.

Room for improvement, but a solid result. (Thomas)

We were entered in nov 8+'s... so why our result was s3 i guess we shall never know (would've come 2nd, so it doesn't really matter)

PS Good row, luckily bumps is only 2k

PPS I apologise to the Clare 4 man, you need to work the guns. (Lorry)

We crashed into the outside of Grassy, that just about says it all.

Still beat a lot of crews though including the ones around us in Bumps such as Caius M2 (by 12 seconds)

And CCAT M2 wasn't CCAT M2 considering they beat CCAT M1 by 36 seconds.

Slightly worrying is the fact that Christ's M1 (the crew behind us in Mays beat us by 35 seconds) (S.C. Mertes)

14 seconds...

This was generally a good row, but we're still keeping ourselves back with our technique. The biggest improvement today was getting back on it after a few bad strokes, which had previously been missing. The next two weeks are going to be tough, but the dream is now within reach. Thank you to our subs today.
On the downside, we were beaten by LMBC, Downing and Granta, which is definitely sub-optimal, though we did beat Magdalen, who are head in Oxford, and a couple of other crews. The catches still aren't quite there, as the picture below shows, but much more fun than HOTN, and looking forward to Pembroke. (John)

A high-powered start was rewarded with a 1/2-length lead, which the crew pressed out to a length and then clear water by the railway bridge, cruising to the line in a respectable time, good result. (Will L)

Ballsiest race I ever saw! Took on one of the better 1st VIIIs and raced right to the line.

A slightly overpowered, spacky, nervous start saw both crews level for the first half of the reach, FaT then nosed in front around their corner and were 2 seats up coming into the railway bridge. The corner evened things up and as the crews went into the last 200m Clare's experience and efficiency began to show, we flagged and lost our technique, Clare edging into a 1/2 length lead with a superior sprint finish. Great racing.

The crew proved they can hold their own amongst 1st VIIIs and deserve to be in Div 1 in a fortnights time. (Will L)

This was our first race as the bumps crew, and so it was our chance to see how quick we actually were. The first round was reasonable, and once we had edged away from them we were able to cruise at 34 to the finish. The second round against Clare was always going to be more difficult, and in the second half of the race our lack of technique began to tell, and as they began to gain on us there was probably a bit of panic, which didn't help. A shame to disappoint the fantastic bank party.

Racing in this division did mean that we couldn't repeat last year's results, but on the other hand we got a good race, which is more important with bumps in mind. 3:35 was apparently enough to win M2, so although our rowing was compared to a washing machine by a clare coach we seem to be doing some things okay. Still plenty more to come...

Also if LMBC 2 want to earn their pots we're keen for a bit of a spar. (John)

Surely the sparring will come on day 3/4 of bumps... Bring it on! (Lorry)

A bit of a will they / won't they row situation with Caius as they broke stroke's rigger on the way up. They managed to tape it together and row. All that really mattered to us was that it held long enough for Wolfson not to bump out and force us to try and overbump Maggie.

Thanks to Peter for jumping literally at the last minute. (He was on the bank in his boxers putting on tracksuit bottoms with about 90 seconds to the start gun.)

All went well in the end. We bumped, it was quick, Lorry and I have yet to make it completely out of First Post Corner in a Lents Race. Let's keep this coming; on thursday in complete FAT kit as it has finally arrived. (S.C. Mertes)

A bit disappointed by this result. Having been told that the caius rigger was held together with duct tape, I'd hoped that we'd be allowed to row for the overbump. With this in mind, we wound high off the start before settling at a relaxed (but splashy) 45, with a bump planned somewhere around ditton. Unfortunately, the rigger held together long enough for us to have to hit wolfson first, so we did. (John)

Can somebody take photos of us please! (Lorry)

Right, probably faster and definitely wetter than usual this bump took us all the way into Grassy. That's the end of bumping before the end of First Post Corner for Lorry and myself.

Apparently we had overlap by first post but because our bows were outside their stern we didn't hit.

Down the gut the waves crashing over Justus' and my blade were huge. As we came up on their stern actually taking strokes in the water was getting to be a bit of a nightmare, especially as I was putting my blade exactly where Caius 7 man had just washed out.

A little worrying was the fact that at some point the continuous whistling from the bank subsided, possibly because Caius were putting in a do or die push, possibly because Davy had to catch his breath. When that ended the whistles came back and we just ploughed into them. I never actaully saw their stern but apparently our bow went into their coxes thigh, closely followed by my rigger. I hope we didn't do any damage to our bow as that must have gotten intimately acquainted with strokes rigger. It might have been an idea for their cox to concede a little earlier as this would have avoided us ramming them into the inside of grassy.

On another topic: Robinson had overlap on Maggie II just before the railway bridge with their bow on the outside of the corner. Consequently it was on the inside as both boats came past Morley's Halt. With about 2.5 feet of overlap the Robinson cox steers for the bump....

....And misses by about 6 inches as Maggie II's stern surges forward as they rock over. Maggie on the inside line with Robinson steering out left Maggie with a very hard row over.

So plan for tomorrow:

1. Hit Robsinson before Grassy, as they were on station with Caius when we hit them today(that'll be 2 dirty pints for Gonzo)

2. Hit Maggie II even harder.

Somebody should really warn them that the FAT M2 laundrette is hurtling towards them and it's going to get ugly... (S.C. Mertes)

Familiar territory by now, an aggressive start saw us gain pretty quickly and despite a rather spacky (even for us) patch exiting first post corner Robinson capitulated in the gut.

This moved us up to sandwich boat and gave the majority of the crew their first taste of Div 1 action. We should probably thank the P&E for their hospitality as we marshalled in rather wet kit, in what would otherwise have been rather brutal conditions. (Will L)

Quick, messy, the usual really.... (S.C. Mertes)

This race goes under the heading:

FAT M2 laundrette washes out LMBC.

I should probably explain the whole laundrette thing at this point. The Clare coach described us as a "renegade washing machine hurtling down the reach" in our race against them at Pembroke Regatta. Since our boat has gotten faster and messier since then it's been upgraded to a laundrette.

The race plan was originally one to take us to Ditton unless LMBC were closing on Selwyn. A good start from both crews meant we couldn't just Blitzkrieg them as we had done with other crews up until now.

Coming out of the bend before the motorway bridge a "stride" to 38 cleaned up our rowing a little. It took us about 1 minute to get our first whistle. This was followed shortly by the second whistle. At around this time Gonzalo started yelling frantically from the bank as LMBC were at 1 length and gaining on Selwyn.

We managed to get overlap pretty quickly from there. The umpire on the bank was quietly saying to himself "that's a bump, that's a bump". Just as he was about to shout it out loud, a combination of a massive push from LMBC and some very dirty rowing in some very dirty water from us gave them almost a canvas of clear water again. Emma steered the bows onto the other side of their stern (now on the inside line for first post corner) for bump attempt no 2.

A (very) loud whack from 7s blade on the underside of our bows meant the race was over and we were finally in the first division. A lot of celebrating in the middle of the river ensued which would have gotten us fined anywhere else in the division for failure to clear.

1 more bump left to go. (S.C. Mertes)

Well done guys!
Go out now and finish this week in style!!! (Ulrike)

To gain a place in Div 1 and steal the 2nd VIII headship was very satisfying, particularly at the expense of Maggie. It was perhaps unfortunate that we achieved this with our most shambolic rowing yet, but it got the job done. We look forward to a chance at blades tomorrow chasing Selwyn (Will L)

We wanted this one. It would mean we got our second eight headship and got our place in the first division. More Importantly it also meant we wouldn't have to row over head of the division below, which would not have been fun with robinson chasing.

From in the boat Maggie appeared to slow and settle before we did, while the whistle they were getting on selwyn drove us faster. Suddenly we were up to 3 whistles. From there the bump took what seemed like forever, while the boat was all over the place in the wake.

The bump drew a roar of triumph from us, while maggie were clearly gutted that they hadn't held out for the bump. (Thomas)

One of my best bumps ever... I'd almost convinced myself that Maggie were about as fast as us, and we'd need more than a short sprint to get them, turns out we're better/they're worse than I thought, so a very pleasing bump :) (Lorry)

Everyone knew whaat was awaiting. Inspired by the great allies of the UK in the Iraq, shock-and-awe was to put Selwyn down (or Blietzkrieg, as our german crew members like to think of it) and a comfortable bump before the motorway bridge, soaking wet if necessary.

However, by this time our tactic was as much a secret in Cambridge as the fact that Prince Harry has been in Afghanistan is now for the general public in Britain by now. Consequently the "do-and-die"-pushes for Selwyn were to be 1-40.

Panic struck me as I counted in my 40th stroke without hearing the comforting sound of David's whistle. Are we going to break? Was is all just a dream? Will we lose blade on inferior techique and fitness?

Of course not. Selwyn did their pushes, AND died. After the first whistle, we gained, and gained, and gained. The continuous whistle blew away all doubts from our troubled minds and soon we held it up. Lorry remarked that he was dehydrated and we popped the Champagne cork.

Wonderful experience, euphoric members of the crew hugging each other, a a crowd of Trinitarians forming around us. With a strong rythm sequence of "one-and-two-and-.....-thirtyfive- and-change" (yes, I am a mathmo) we rowed back in sixes, two of us being responsible for drinking champagne and saying cheers to people on the bank.

Celebrations just continue. We drink beer. We meet first crews. We do race starts. We throw Emma in the water. As you see, there were all too many good things happening for me to make justice of them all. I stop here and am happy to delegate to anyone else to elaborate on the points they deem worthy of a longer exposition. (Malmberg)

Possibly the longest race yet, Selwyn had clearly grasped we were a sprinting crew and gone off unsustainably. It took a while to get the 1st whistle, but after that we steadily gained.

It was an amazing ride guys, you were awesomely fast, if rather agricultural. It takes a fair amount of speed and a little bit of luck to blade and even more with a half-fit cripple in your midst!

Somehow thats 14 out of 14 races for me in Lents, although Id hope to be here next year, I can at least leave with my head held high. Thanks to everyone in the crew, as well as Ming, Gonzalo and David Jones for your work on the bank. (Will L)

Just to stress this point: "We've done it , guys!" (Justus)

Will put up a proper race report in the morning but at the moment it suffices to say:

on the men's side: up 15 out of 18 rows (that's including our head crew)

in comparison a randomly selected other college; Caius: down 11 out of 12 (and the only reason it isn't 12 is because we hit Wolfson).

ok race report: The division was delayed because Queens had snapped their rudder strings. A fair amount of pissing around on the bank made one or two of us worry about lack of focus, but things quietend down once the 4 minute gun went and we got in the boat.

A messy start as usual but it did take about 1/2 a length of Selwyn. We sat at 1 length for quite some time (well relatively seen anyway) with Davy refusing to whistle but yelling "that's one length" from the bank. At about station 4 we pulled it together and started moving up again. Maggie were about 2, possibly more, lengths behind by now and strangely enough got their first whistle??? Didn't really bother us though, they ended up about 3.5 lengths down when we bumped.

From that first whistle we went to overlap pretty swiftly. Looking right, then left I finally saw their stern. Over reaching massively on the next stroke put my blade within about 3 inches of their stern. A slight course correction from Emma and another massive overreaching from me slammed my blade onto their stern, YEAH!!! That's the first time I have had the priviledge of carrying out the bump.

Awesome....

Hats off to Selwyn, word had gotten out that we were fast off the start and they put up one hell of a fight. According to our bank party they were inside a length on Magdalene. (S.C. Mertes)

Selwyn knew we were fast of the start and on for blades so went off hard. They pushed us further than anyone else but our plan was do-or-die for as long as we could sustain.

At this point I have to say thanks for the offer of beer from selwyn. I was also very up for sparring on the way home, though I suspect we would have lost the rematch.

By the way the mounted frame combination in eaden lilley is awesome! The roar of triumph from the boat as we bump selwyn and us on the bank celebrating blades. Thanks to whoever took the photos. (Thomas)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zE08zSY8kkY

(if you would like the high quality version, email me) (Kristina)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh-NAzghBU4&feature=user

courtesy of selwyn bc :) (Lorry)

A very very long very very painful race. Rate 30 pretty spacky.

Thanks to two crews in front of us blade locking before Hammersmith we caught up to both and raced right alongside one of them for about 1k. Then we had a massive boat stopping blade clash which put us 1/2 a length up on the restart. They caught this up again and we settled back into the rhythm of they push, then we push, then they push, ....

After about another 1.5 k we finally got past them and came into the finish with about 1/2 a length of clear water.

I reiterate, a very very long very very painful race (S.C. Mertes)