First and Third Trinity Boat Club
Log In

The Club's Results

May Bumps 2012

The famous Cambridge University May Bumps on the River Cam
Wed 13th - Sat 16th June

At the bottom of this page there is a link to Cambridge weather. Club members, please go here to add (or correct) results, crews or race reports.


Results Overview

Click a symbol or crew name to be taken to the relevant part of the page.

1st men's VIII Bumped St. Catharine's Rowed over Bumped by Jesus Bumped by LMBC
1st women's VIII Rowed over Bumped Trinity Hall Bumped LMBC Bumped Queens'
2nd men's VIII Bumped by Girton Bumped by Homerton Bumped by Peterhouse Bumped by Selwyn
3rd men's VIII Bumped Robinson II Bumped LMBC III Bumped Peterhouse II Overbumped St. Catharine's II
2nd women's VIII Rowed over Rowed over Rowed over Bumped Magdalene II
4th men's VIII Bumped St. Edmund's II Rowed over Bumped by Christ's III Rowed over
5th men's VIII Rowed over Bumped Pembroke IV Bumped Sidney Sussex II Bumped LMBC IV
6th men's VIII Rowed over Bumped Emmanuel V Bumped Robinson IV Bumped Clare V

Guide to the table

Double Overbumped
Overbumped - hit the crew 3 in front
Bumped the crew in front
Row over head of division
Row over - did not bump
Got Bumped
Got Overbumped
Got Double overbumped
Got Triple overbumped. D'oh.


1st men's VIII

Wednesday
Bumped St. Catharine's
M1 went into this race not quite knowing what to expect with regards to the crews either side of us but we knew that if we rowed our race with our solid length and rhythm we would do well. I was incredibly proud to see it all come together and for us to produce the rowing we knew we were capable of. We hit a solid 37 after a stride and just kept moving up on Catz, bumping them just before the railings. With a bit more relaxation and composure we should look to give Downing a good race tomorrow! (Jacob)
Great satisfaction wiping Catz paint off the bow at the boathouse. More of the same working together, and guts tomorrow please. (ls.rowing@gmail.com)
After settling into our rhythm off the start, we emerged out of grassy corner and suddenly the wash was atrocious which, as bow, is a good indication of bearing down on the crew ahead. Penelope called a bumps push near the Plough and we continued to chase Catz around Ditton corner. Emerging onto the reach I heard three whistles and, fed up of rowing in such dreadful wash, turned around to see the stern of Catz. Stretching out at the front I hit their stern with my oar and shouted 'bump' but I did not see their cox concede by raising their hand. At the next stroke I came forward and hit their stern so hard I came off my seat. As I had effectively missed two strokes, the boat swerved to stroke side and our bow mounted their stern. Quite an experience. (Tim)
Awesome work! (Justus)
Thursday
Rowed over
The start seemed more fluid than the first day, and we easily kept our distance from Catz. By the time we rounded Ditton corner it seemed very likely that Jesus were going to bump, but composure remained imperative. We took the rate down after four boats behind us bumped out, though wound it back up to top finish. Our next race, chasing Downing and avoiding Jesus, should be very interesting. Bring it on! (Tim)
We rowed competently and got the job done today. We rowed over ahead of Catz who got bumped just before the railings, whilst staying just beyond station from Downing. Everyone should be very happy with the good start we have had to these Mays, but with two tough days ahead of us we know that we will have to produce the sharp rowing we are capable of to maintain 3rd and to push up on Downing. I am looking forward to a great race against Jesus tomorrow! (Jacob)
Friday
Bumped by Jesus
Jesus came at us right from the start and despite holding them through the first section of plough reach they kept closing round ditton, bumping us before the railings.

We must now pick ourselves up and look ahead to having a great race against Maggie tomorrow and making ground up against Jesus. (Jacob)
After a good start Jesus gradually closed in on us. The wind coming around Ditton corner was ferocious and cost us dearly. Despite Penelope steering us away from Jesus we were bumped close to the railings. (Tim)
Saturday
Bumped by LMBC
Despite a very gutting final result I was very proud of the crew and how we conducted ourselves during the race. We were disappointed with our race against Jesus the day before, feeling it was too reactive, so wanted to go out and take the race to the opposition and that is exactly what we did.

We were able to row with maturity and commitment right to the end and dealt with the wind extremely well, particularly given that it was something we had struggled with previously. I would like to commend all the guys for a gutsy and tough race and even though the result was not what we wanted I hope we can hold our heads high knowing that we took it to them and made them fight for every inch.

It was been a wonderful honour to captain such a dedicated and committed group of guys. (Jacob)
We attacked the race, and rowed it on our terms. Maggie moved on us at the Reach, and we succumbed at the P&E. There was always full commitment from the crew, and in time, we'll remember that race as a gutsy stand against a faster crew. Let's crack 'em next year! (Sam)
An unforgettable race. Too often, crews for whom the aim is a row-over are too defensive; they fail to attack the start sufficiently, never take the race to the opposition and are gradually reeled in. This crew deserves great credit for assaulting this race with serious purpose, dealing impressively with the brutal headwind on the Reach and forcing LMBC to fight all the way for their bump.

There was some talk afterwards of there being "only another 200 yards to go". The course has to end somewhere and whether a bump occurs 200, 20 or 2 yards from the finish, the crew going down should hold their heads high if, as in this race, they simply have no more to give. Replacing 'crews' and 'row-over' in the second sentence above with 'teams' and 'draw' respectively, I hope I feel as much pride in England's performance against Ukraine tomorrow as I did on the towpath watching this. Thanks boys. (Neil T)

1. M1 crew photo

^ top

1st women's VIII

Wednesday
Rowed over
SP described our start as 'graceful' which probably shows that more aggression was needed. In any case, it was nice to start a set of Bumps without a panicked, shoddy start.

We closed to a length after about 2 minutes of rowing, and then oscillated at about 2/3 - 1/2 a length off Tit Hall. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but the silent period that followed caused a damning drop in boat speed. We weren't sure where either of us were, and stuck about 2/3 of a length off them for most of the reach.

They moved away from us in the last phase of the reach as the technical side of our rowing deteriorated (though the power was still there, which shows that we have the ability to grit our teeth and keep pushing even when things aren't going our way) and we crossed the line about on station.

Being in the middle of 5 row-overs gives us the luxury of a do-over tomorrow, so we'll see if we can convince fortune to smile on us through the wind and rain. (Julia A.)
Thursday
Bumped Trinity Hall
Well done girls! Can't wait to be there tomorrow! (Liz)
Yeah girls! Ra Ra First and Third! (Katie)
Yes girls!! Red filth to chase tomorrow! (Neil T)
WELL DONE!! Ra Ra :D (Angela)
Excellent!! Upwards and onwards from here, ladies! :-) (Ulrike)
We had our best start to date to heartening cheers from the Plough. Paddling up to station was also very smooth and sharp, setting the tone for our second attempt at a bump.

And bump we did! It was quick and powerful thanks to some massive pushes and a Tit Hall cox who followed every possible bend in the river. Trinity Hall pulled away from us slightly off the start but we came up to a length behind halfway down First Post Reach. The next series of whistles came in quick succession, and we lifted hard and fast out of First Post Corner. There was a bit of confusion at the end where Tit Hall's cox, who had previously adhered so faithfully to every rule of the river, refused to concede. Nonetheless, it was a satisfying overlap bump in the Gut.

On to Maggie now, ladies - it's time to take them down! (Yining)
We went into today's race with something you don't often get in Bumps, knowledge of the speed of other crews around you.

I would know Swords' cheering anywhere, and it helped lift our spirits, and the boat into a fantastic start at the Plough. This wasn't quite repeated on the start gun, but it was again calm, cool and measured.

We had laid clear plans for the race today at our crew pasta (or rather crew rice!) the night before, and it was executed perfectly by Yining. Maybe it was Gonzalo's arrogant confidence on the bank, maybe it was Iain's perfect pushing out, maybe it was that I washed my lycra, or Kingsbury's gold socks or the fact that every crew I umpired bumped today, but something clicked and we stepped up and performed.

The whistles came mercifully quickly as the wash started to rock the boat around. There was a lot of confusion about whether or not we had bumped, but the umpire had his hand up, and Iain swears he wouldn't have told us to hold it up had there not been contact. Bullock told us afterwards that there was almost a re-row, but the umpire was firm, and the CU went with him. Even the spectator at the greenhouse at Grassy was indignant on our behalf.

We're very sorry that we didn't get the chance to cheer Tit Hall. It was two excellent days of racing, and we were concerned when they rowed off, with the umpire trailing behind them. The boathouse was all shut up when we went past, but here are your three cheers: Hip hip, HOORAY, hip hip HOORAY, hip hip HOORAY!

Well done girls, and thank you for all the support from the bank! (Julia A.)
Friday
Bumped LMBC
Brutal! (copyright Gonzo) (Nina)
The conditions today were brutal, but our handling of it was apparently clinical. Watching the trees being whipped and bent by the wind from the safety of the boathouse was worrying. The gents informed us that the wind was mostly head on First Post Reach, but that it was unpredictable, so I spent most of the row up attempting to map out the gusts.

Our starts were messy in the tail/cross wind, but the support at the Plough was welcome, as were the rousing cheers to my epic umpiring earlier (thanks Swords and Aaron).

Thanks to the anticipation surrounding bumping Maggie and the chat from Tit Hall about how they were going to get us back today, I was more nervous on the start line than any other day this week. The draw strokes into the headwind were agonizingly long, but apparently effective, as soon after our surge we got a whistle. Gonzalo says that by the time he was on his bike and caught up to us we were almost at a length.

We had a bad stroke under the bridge, but keeping our heads allowed us to recover quickly, and Yining's amazing (and now famous) bridge call gave us a surge in power. The second whistle came quickly, and we lifted again for 3 whistles, then continuous and an increasingly exuberant bank party. This gave us the shot of adrenaline we needed to finish off a very aggressive race. We bumped them somewhere between 2nd and 4th station. Thankfully, the Maggie cox conceded, and we held it up quickly. Pulling in was difficult, made worse by my insistence on back-seat coxing (sorry Yining :( ).

Maggie were perfect ladies about it, cheering us quickly as our bank party gathered greenery. After missing the bump on them two years ago, a bump which would have led to blades, I thought 'revenge' would be sweet. However, I found it lacking. Good luck tomorrow Maggie, give Tit Hall a good fight. (Julia A.)
Fuck yeah!!! So proud of you girls!!!!!!! (Sonya)
Saturday
Bumped Queens'
We had prepared ourselves for a long race and spoke of potentially having to chase Queens' to Top Finish. However, we were able to gain overlap coming around First Post Corner. Queens' then pulled away by a canvas only to be caught just before Grassy. Again the cox was slow to concede but the sight of Gonzo, Fordy and Fletch cheering and wildly throwing punches in the air was enough for me to call "hold it up!"

Despite the seemingly endless bumps push, we pushed, it ended, and we bumped. Fantastic work, ladies, and thank you for a thrilling Mays as well as an anazing term! (Yining)
Congratulations! Such a great performance these bumps setting yourselves up for more success next year. I wish I could have have been there and cheered you. (Julijana)

1. W1 + coaches

^ top

2nd men's VIII

Thursday
Bumped by Homerton
Perhaps in denial that we had been bumped the day before, or maybe distracted by something/someone in the boat in front, Ellie started the day trying to marshall in the wrong position. Or maybe it was just really bad parking; we'll never know.

The race started actually rather well. Homerton got a frankly absurd early whistle despite having hardly closed on us at all at that point. Maybe due to that, or perhaps because some of the crew have direct experience of what it's like to be smashed by homerton, a panic set in as they got closer. Race over. (Pete)

1. M2 crew photo

^ top

3rd men's VIII

Wednesday
Bumped Robinson II
A good, rewarding race, that went exactly according to plan, but nevertheless was no easy feat.

In an aggressive start we hit a top rate of 48, before settling on a racy 40. Though the wash was fearsome, we didn't deign to be perturbed.

The balance wavered after the first minute, but we kept lively, and just as it began to get scrappy, we gained a whistle, and pressed on through First Post corner. Our reliable 'lift' move, deployed as a bumps push, sealed the deal.

Looking forward to tomorrow. (Preeyan)
I was initially worried by the lack of early whistles and quiet from the bank. Were we being dropped? Were they going to bump out ahead? Fortunately we got the first whistles coming into the gut and this caused us to stop being lazy and our push, in a theme that would become common this week, quickly led to contact with them. (Thomas)
Thursday
Bumped LMBC III
Today's result was particularly sweet for me, because I was in the crew that lost the M3 headship to a Maggie Gents crew two years ago.

An unusual cross-headwind caused difficulty throughout the first part of the race. After nearly brushing the bank on the start, we gained hardly any ground until First Post corner. Aaron gave a "MOVING" call from the towpath, and I closed my eyes and thought of Strawson, but still there was no whistle.

Then Maggie started closing on Peterhouse, and our bankparty insisted that we row faster. We duly obeyed. At Ditton there came a wall of noise shouting that Maggie had gone wide. As we rounded the corner, the cross-head rotated into a cross-tail, we rowed several inches longer, and we lifted into a bumps push, in a perfect storm with drastic consequence.

The stomp should be fun tomorrow. (Preeyan)
The battle for the third eight headship. We knew that today was the day where not performing could lead us to have nothing to chase and a long row over. We started well, but were not moving spectacularly, and settled onto a reasonably high rate, but perhaps lacking length. We felt we were a little lazy down the gut, but put in a decent move down the plough reach to get our first whistle. Out of Ditton we were told to go now, and produced our characteristic 'stop being lazy' bumps lift to quickly eat the remaining gap. (Thomas)
Friday
Bumped Peterhouse II
Peterhouse seemed to think we were a little inexperienced while marshalling, perhaps not realising that we, as preeyan pointed out, had more than 50years rowing experience through the crew.

We had an excellent push off (all credit to Iain.) and with the clear calls from the bank were quickly gaining on them. Whistles started coming in the gut and the bump just before the plough with a satisfying thud. (Thomas)
A beastly headwind, capable of veering into a cross or even a tail from stroke to stroke, showed no mercy to us. We nevertheless kept our wits and rowed strongly and confidently.

Spirits are high, and we feel that maybe we could have gone on forever. But thank goodness we bumped out before Ditton. I might not have any arms left otherwise. (Preeyan)
Saturday
Overbumped St. Catharine's II
Selwyn ahead of us decided to get their act together (or emmanuel had a bad day), or we were a bit hungover from the formal dinner the night before. (I really recommend a three course meal on the Friday of bumps, as a good way to set you up for the weekend.)

Either way, they appeared to drop us early on and bumped out on the corner. At this point I knew an overbump was doable, especially as we felt we'd be a stronger crew into the headwind. So we pushed on, and with calls from the bank that the distance for the overbump was coming down nicely moved onto catz II.

The horrific headwind on the reach helped bunch us up, and we caught them just out of ditton corner.

I really enjoyed rowing with this crew. We were occasionally (often?) lazy in what we did, but if we decided to row well we did just get on with it, be it in paddling, sparring or racing. The attitude remained positive throughout term, and even when things got tough during the last race.

I learnt some new things that I felt improved my rowing this term, old person, new tricks... But definitely makes it all feel more rewarding.

Gonzalo did a good job of stroking most of term, and was very gracious in accepting the last minute crew change. Hopefully he thinks the aggravation was worth it.

The one regret... Not throwing Emma in the river. (Thomas)
Slight change of plan, boys! (Preeyan)

1. The Gunshow
2. The Gents

^ top

2nd women's VIII

Wednesday
Rowed over
Men plan, God laughs.

Things started well. We rated a little over 40, setting off to a strong, though inevitably jittery, first-day Bumps start.

By the bridge, we had hit our stride. We had settled into a really solid rhythm with great coverage, which saw us gain quickly on the experienced St Cat's team ahead of us.

Victory seemed inevitable. Katie steered an amazing line round the corner, helping us to gain about a length on Cat's. The crew did an awesome push out of the corner, described by our bank party later as 'absolutely textbook'. The crowd cheered. Ian blew two whistles. We were giving it everything we had. Things were looking good.

Then everything changed. Katie steered another great line round Grassy, but unfortunately a bumped crew had tucked themselves tightly into the corner and out-of-sight. Without any forewarning, we crashed into them and the bank.

Yes, the crash was a disaster, costing us a bump and a fighting chance at blades this term.

What happened after the crash, however, was far from a disaster, and little short of awe-inspiring.

Our bank party were off their bikes and rushing to our aid with the determination and reaction-speed of a mother rescuing her small infant from a burning building.

Katie, barely skipping a beat, got bow four rowing on and brought us together with the composure and decisiveness of a cox with many more years experience on the river.

The crew instantly reset and rowed on as if nothing had happened, regaining our rhythm in the first few strokes, and surging on to leave Emma with no hope of catching us. This was despite:
- the half-hearted whistle that trickled out from their bank party in a mixture of shock and faint hope after watching us crash
AND
- the fact that Nina later revealed to us that the impact of the crash had actually launched her feet out of the shoes and she rowed the rest of the race feet out

We heeded the gruff Scottish plea from the bank to 'just go for it!' and regained a surprising level of ground against Cat's down The Reach. In the end, however, it wasn't enough and we rowed over, utterly exhausted.

While obviously disappointed with the turn of events, our team spirits remained high. Today's race was a reflection of the gutsiness and cohesion that this crew has found in its final outings. Tomorrow's race, we hope, will translate those qualities into victory. Watch out Cat's, W2 are a coming... (Angela)
Thursday
Rowed over
In the final lead-up to bumps, W2 has really unified as a crew and started to row together. Unfortunately, this means that when we rush, we all rush together.

We didn't row well today. We were tired from yesterday's chunky row over, and impatient about wanting the bump we knew we deserved from the first race. As such, we didn't settle into the nice rhythm of previous days. What's more, the dread of another row-ower became somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy with all of us probably leaving a little too much in the tank in the first segment of the race. With the exception of a few solid pushes out of the corners and down the Reach we didn't gain much ground on Cat's who knew they couldn't be complacent with us behind them and rowed a much better race today.

Today's lesson: over-rating is overrated.
We are determined to hit the river tomorrow with the calm, controlled, and strong rowing we know we are capable of. (Angela)
Friday
Rowed over
Today we found ourselves, yet again, in less-than-glorious isolation. It was a predictable row over with early bumps on either side.

We had planned to row an unsustainable, chunky piece to First Post and then wind it down to a comfy 28 for the row home. While the rhythm and composure were much better today, and we were surprisingly unphased by the wind, there just wasn't the push or the power that we will certainly need tomorrow if we are to finish the week with victory. We'll need to dig deep tomorrow... (Angela)
Saturday
Bumped Magdalene II
After what has been a fairly frustrating few days we ended on a high, simultaneously spooning Magdalene II whilst denying Murray Edwards II blades.
Despite the delays and windy conditions we kept it together, gaining on Magdalene, and though I could hear whistles behind me as Murray Edwards caught us up, their bow ball never appeared and we held them at around half a length.
A push after the motorway bridge brought us closer (and I may have slightly lost my calm facade), when the Magdalene cox decided to take a wide line we were able to smoothly draw up parallel, bumping them easily before First Post.
Murray Edwards unfortunately got entangled in our clearing as they tried to take the inside line so we gave both them and Magdalene a cheer before collecting our greenery.
Well done girls! I couldn't have asked for more. (Katie)
Sweet Sweet victory. Today was a "bump quickly or be bumped quickly" day and our fervent desire to finish the week on a high paid dividends in the water.

There was a different feel in the row up. I put this newfound equilibrium down to several factors including:
- a good core session and crew chat beforehand
- Skilbeck borrowing my socks and not getting a chance to give them back, forcing me to crack out the reserve pair. Some may interpret this superstitiously. Others may infer more aromatic interpretations.
- half hour crew meditation under the calm caresses (read damp, irritating slaps) of willow branches due to our race being delayed over an hour by protesters.

The start was quite powerful and controlled, which was surprising given that our starts have always been a major weakness.

Murray Edwards were fast. Very fast. We expected this. We remained calm and confident that rowing together would ensure we bumped Magdalene first. ME did a huge push under the motor bridge which saw them gain distance and whistles, but they started to suffer when they realised their efforts hadn't worked.

Our crew gave it everything and pushed as if every stroke was our last. Softly-spoken Katie was replaced with war hero Katie.

Whistles. Bump. Greenery. Glory. The End. Well done W2 - a fantastic end to the 2012 rowing calendar. (Angela)
^ top

4th men's VIII

Wednesday
Bumped St. Edmund's II
Oh my, we were so happy. St Edmund's II were an enigma; we had no idea how they would perform. We assumed it was basically their M1 from Lents', which spooned in embarrassing style, being bumped by such giants of rowing as Darwin I, given their ludicrous number of returning blues, and we may have been right. Our worry was that they would bump out with Tit Hall III too early for us to bump them, and then St Cats III would prove too speedy for us to close with. We fretted an planned and decided that day one was categorically the most difficult and important day.
We started, our seven and stroke men in gales of laughter at the antics of Jesus IV behind us, and we got half way through our lengthen strokes before the cause of Iain's shouting became apparent.
A glance to my left shows their stern rapidly falling behind me; I lift my blade barely in time to avoid the stern of their boat as the rest of the our crew tries to hold it up urgently, but to no avail; my spoon thumps their cox in the back, and my blade handle punches me in the stomach (leaving a bruise which made tapping down painful for the next couple of days, if you're feeling sympathetic), ripping my feet out of the footplates and me off my seat, and I very nearly go for yet another swim in the Cam. Apparently they caught two crabs and an overhead crab off the start. If only things had continued in that vein. (John)
I think our start was all right today, though not as good as it has been in the past. (The lack of practice starts might not have helped.)

In the first few strokes, we were treated to the sight of Jesus IV behind us travelling across the river and soon reaching the bank, having perhaps not got their starting angle quite right.

Then St. Edmund's II in front of us caught a couple of severe crabs, and we bumped them at about the 10th stroke of the race.

So, a good result for us, but bad luck for St. Edmund's II. We need to keep focused and be prepared for harder races for the rest of the week: we still don't actually have much idea what St. Edmund's II (who will be chasing us tomorrow and hoping for revenge) are like when not catching crabs: apparently we were gaining on them before this happened, but there was not really enough time to get a good idea. (Chris E.)
With our brilliantly set boat pause paddling behind Jesus IV on the row down we knew there wasn't going to be much pressure from behind. This turned out to be guaranteed when Jesus apparently went careering off into the bank 5 strokes in - causing our stroke man to laugh. The race itself was not much longer going something along the lines of:

Draw - 1; Draw - 2; Draw - 3 (3/4 length down);
Wind - 1; Wind - 2; Wind - 3; Wind - they've got a cra-; Wind - 5 (1/4 length down);
Length - there; Length - there; L - HOLD IT UP (cox is hit by bow's blade)

Given the number of blunders on St Edmunds part our race was exceptionally short, though their multiple crabs are probably indicative of the carnage that will be occuring in our wash tomorrow. Solid 'row' boys, let's go out tomorrow and do the same. (A. Manion)
Thursday
Rowed over
Our start was reasonable, especially considering that we were using Titan, a heavier boat which we were not used to, instead of Richard Church.

We did gain quite well on Trinity Hall III, apparently getting to within about 3/4 length of them, but then St. Catharine's III in front of them caught some crabs and so got bumped promptly despite having rowed over yesterday. Then we were closing on Selwyn III and seemingly fast enough to get the overbump before the finish line, but they also bumped up before we could catch them.

Two more pairs of boats also bumped out, so the only thing we could possibly chase was a quadruple overbump on Clare Hall. This was judged not feasible (or perhaps they had actually reached the finish line by this point) and the boats behind us had also bumped out so we were instructed to wind it down near the Plough.

On the Reach, Jason at 6 kept expressing concern that Homerton II would get a double overbump on us, but in fact there remained plenty of distance between us as well as the scope for us to have wound it back up if necessary. Having said that, we did not seem to keep this part of the race as tidy and efficient as we might have.

This result denies us blades, but there was not really anything we could have done about it - in Bumps we will always be subject to the whims of the crews around us. We need to keep the focus tomorrow: maybe we will catch St. Catharine's III or maybe they will bump back on Trinity Hall III and we will be chasing the overbump on Jesus III (who are down 2 so far). Also, we might have some real pressure from behind this time from Christ's III (who are up 2 so far), so we need to keep our cool and be prepared to keep pushing on even if we are having to row over. (Chris E.)
We get to the boathouse and are pleasantly informed that M6 have written off the bow of our boat. This provides the much need confidence boost. We row down in Peter Brandt, then swap with a pleasant M5 crew who have just bumped to row in Titan, a boat in which my feet kept coming out of the footplates. Thanks M5. Fantastic way to begin the day.
We start, the boat two ahead of us, St Cats, who we would like to heavily scold for being too damn awful, catches three or so crabs off the start and so Tit Hall catches them instantly. We get depressed as we row past but feel the overbump is on the cards. Nobody chases us as the fearsome Christ's III catches the meek St Edmund's almost as quickly as we did.
Unfortunately, the overbump wasn't on the cards, because although we were gaining on Selwyn III, it wasn't enough to catch them before they bumped out Jesus III at Ditton. Then there really was nothing to chase, and we paddled down the reach, watching a desperate Homerton boat overrate us by ten in a desperate attempt to catch up and so avoid the sandwich position the following day. (John)
Friday
Bumped by Christ's III
Not long after the start, we started getting whistles on St. Catharine's III, continued closing on them, and then a Bumps push was called. Unfortunately, they had also been gaining on Trinity Hall III (who I hear might in fact have caught a crab at around this time...) and managed to get their bump just before we would have got ours.

Alex did a very good job of steering us around them, but the Bumps push had taken a lot out of us and it soon became apparent that Christ's III were noticeably gaining on us and we did not seem able to respond.

We went quite wide around Grassy Corner and they got overlap, but they steered for the bump and so came through outside us, allowing us to pull away coming out of the corner. This, however, did not last for long: they moved up again and caught us outside the Plough.

So, a very disappointing result, and again one that was influenced by the goings on in front of us. It is a shame that we did not find the energy to keep off Christ's III, whom we managed to beat in Nines Regatta, as we had apparently got most of the way to overbumping Jesus III, but I think we can be pleased with our performance especially considering how much we had put into the earlier Bumps push.

Tomorrow is a new race, so we need to go into it aiming to do as well as possible and not let ourselves be put off by today (or by protesters). (Chris E.)
Back in a taped up and much maligned Richard Church, we're still happier in her than Titan, even if the amount of water it feels the bows let on is considerable. Much joking about me sinking. We're told the bow will fall off if we hit anything.
We start, we push, we bumps push, we get overlap with St Cats' III whose cox then concedes, all before first post. This all sounds just fine, thank you very much. Unfortunately, a second before the Cats' boat concedes, the Tit Hall III stroke man apparently fell off his seat, allowing the Tit Hall cox to concede a half second before the Cats' one. We easy and almost hold it up because we think we've bumped, and Christ's power it round the corner. Then the next instruction is a command to go back to full pressure at race pace, as Alex weaves in and around the melee ahead of us, unavoidably losing us yet more distance and speed over our pursuers. We get back in to rhythm, conveniently exhausted after our fantastically effective bumps push, and spend a very long time desperately trying to push Christ's away. I must apologise for our grassy line, although luckily they steered for the bump. We were caught a length or two off the overbump, as we reached the plough. Gutted. (John)
Saturday
Rowed over
Off the start we moved up a bit on Christ's III, but as expected they got their bump on Trinity Hall III. We chased the overbump on St. Catharine's III, and had apparently closed the gap to 3 lengths a bit before Grassy. Unfortunately, we were then klaxoned due to a blockage up ahead, and with the umpires in no mood to hold rerows with the event already running very late, technical row-overs were awarded.

So a disappointing result from the Bumps campaign considering the standard of the crew, but this was mostly because of the antics of St. Catharine's III and Trinity Hall III ahead of us. Yesterday was the only race that we could have done anything about ourselves, and that may have required planning not to chase the bump but just to go at a steady pace and hope for an eventual overbump - which is considered a dangerous strategy. (Chris E.)
Ah, protestors! You did manage to screw over somebody's day after all. After watching them approch, we hung out gazing at Ian Bone and his elderly anarchists wave banners at our boathouse. This was quite amusing, although we couldn't hear a word they were saying over the ghastly wind, which would prove a dominant feature of the day's rowing. The wildlife protestors in their ultra environmentally friendly outboard-motor driven boat held up the races by over an hour, achieving basically nothing other than general annoyance and much generation of counter arguments to their activities. Like I've never killed a swan. Or a duckling. Georgia would kill me if I tried...

So as predicted, the boats ahead of us, after spannering around for the last few days bump out again, pretty much immediately. We're used to this by now, and had planned for the overbump or the double overbump from the beginning. We knew we could do it; all that remained was a little bit more pushing. Ah, were that were so. Over half way to the overbump on Cats', just round first post corner we're told to easy then hold it up as we approach their stern. Then we hear the klaxon and we're told that King's celebrated A Bump (we're also told this is very exciting for King's) by not clearing and parking across the breadth of the river. They were at the head of the division, and as a result, unless you'd bumped before first post (as Christ's did, earning their blades, to much bitterness from us given we beat them outright at Nine's), racing was over and everyone was awarded technical row overs. There was no time to rerow the division, no way to make an exception for people just about to overbump because they were already running an hour behind. So we were livid.
We entertained ourselves pettily by rowing slightly scrappily but pretty efficiently in the truly dreadful headwind on the reach, and catching up to Cats', easying perfectly sat and drifting past their stern to bump them gently, before letting them get a bit more distance and beginning to row again, every time a little nudge; this is us bumping you, this is us bumping you. Goddammit. (John)

1. M4 strike a pose
2. M4 crew photo

^ top

5th men's VIII

Wednesday
Rowed over
Hughes Hall bumped Pembroke in less than a minute, meaning we had to go for the overbump on Sidney. Although we got to within a mere 4 lengths of Sidney we didn't quite make it in the end. Still I have an inkling that this is not the last time Sidney has seen us bearing down on them... (G. Meisl)
Thursday
Bumped Pembroke IV
Got the first whistle just before the stride and bumped quickly thereafter, probably due to my awesome catch, which can be admired on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrTYpyQg9OY. Also I am now definite that we will bump Sidney tomorrow. Probably around Ditton. (G. Meisl)
Friday
Bumped Sidney Sussex II
Bumped at Ditton as predicted. Good greenery available there, so I think we'll bump there again tomorrow. (G. Meisl)
Saturday
Bumped LMBC IV
Although it was ridiculously windy and marshalling took about an hour, Rob kept our spirits high with "I spy with my little eye" and various questionable warm up exercises. In the actual race Johns apparently had a massive push off the start, so we didn't get our first whistle until coming out of grassy. We then closed the gap quickly and got the bump at Ditton, giving Johns their spoons and ending our quite successful set of bumps by going massively overboard on the greenery. (G. Meisl)

1. M5 crew photo

^ top

6th men's VIII

Wednesday
Rowed over
Even though our start wasn't optimal, it was still better than the one of the crews around us and we gained on Emma. However, during the search things got messy and we lost on Emma again. Just shortly after we had to hold it up, because Homerton apparently decided to cheer instead of clearing the river. Darwin seemed fairly far away when we stopped. It was decided that Queens and Emma get a rerow because they were close and that we, Darwin and Corpus get a technical row over. Bummer. It's especially annoying because Emma had apparently had a horrible start in the rerow and didn't manage to catch Queens (we so would have bumped them), so the last 5 boats will be in the same order tomorrow. Plan is: catch Emma before they catch Queens... (Steffen)
Thursday
Bumped Emmanuel V
Manage to bump Emma very quickly as planned. Good work! But then also managed to hit the bank while holding up the boat after the bump, and damaged Richard Church. We're horribly sorry for that! (Steffen)
Friday
Bumped Robinson IV
Bumped. Before the motorway bridge. In Peter Brandt. Yeah! (Steffen)
Saturday
Bumped Clare V
Yet another very quick race for us today. I think no race this week to longer than 1.5 minutes, including our annoying technical row-over on the first day. Motivated by an awesome fan-crowd (8 in total!), we were closing on Clare very quickly. They held us for a surprisingly long time when we were already getting continuous whistles. This was most certainly due to Orian's amazing tofu pasta and Guinness cake yesterday, which made Peter Brandt lie very low in the water. We still bumped them shortly after the motorway bridge. (Steffen)
^ top

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the following information, note that the results are unofficial.

Men's bumps charts

Men's bumps chart, May Bumps 2012

Women's bumps charts

Women's bumps chart, May Bumps 2012

Michell Cup points

Homerton43.20
Murray Edwards40.00
Queens'28.00
King's24.00
Christ's18.00
1st and 3rd16.50
Peterhouse15.00
Girton14.00
Clare10.50
Caius10.00
Hughes Hall9.00
Selwyn8.57
Darwin4.80
Downing1.00
Fitzwilliam0.00
LMBC-0.75
Corpus-2.40
Newnham-4.00
Emmanuel-10.50
Pembroke-10.50
St. Catharine's-12.00
Robinson-16.00
Wolfson-16.00
Jesus-16.50
Magdalene-20.00
Trinity Hall-20.00
Sidney Sussex-22.29
St. Edmund's-28.00
Churchill-44.00

Ineligible after entering fewer than 3 crews:

Clare Hall-18.00
Anglia Ruskin-48.00

Cambridge weather: Wednesday text or graph
Thursday text or graph
Friday text or graph
Saturday text or graph

1. The Club
2. FaT strike a pose


Facebook Instagram Youtube LinkedIn
If you have any comments or suggestions please email the webmaster. Click here to switch between designs. If you log in as a First and Third member, you can set a preference for a color scheme on your profile.