The Club's Results

After a fairly ropey start, we settled into a more comfortable rhythm and strode away from HEC, winning by quite a long way in the end. 

The start improved in this race and our cruise pace saw us pull steadily away to a win of roughly three lengths. 

After moving on Caius off the start, we had an encounter with some undergrowth by the railings. The crew held together well and, having given Caius about a half a length, we moved back on terms through to the railway bridge and took full advantage of the bend in our favour to move almost a length in front through to Morley's Halt. The bend moved into Caius' favour, and they crept back slightly to perhaps two thirds of a length by the finish. 

Sat in the car park at the P&E before the race, we were aware that it would take something special to beat Caius... and it did.
On the meadow side, there is a bush that sticks out into the river a few metres upstream of the Pembroke start. Caius had pushed us wide on the start and as we tried to avoid a blade clash, Tom's blade clipped it. It really disrupted the boat at a crucial part of the race and Caius pulled ahead. We rallied and up the reach began to move back ever so slightly. It seemed like everything was going in slow motion though - I distinctly remember two swans in the calm water between the two eights, angrily avoiding the race churning up the water around them.
Under the railway bridge we were back to two seats down; two strokes later we were level, and as we had planned before the race Steph began calling their seats as she overtook them. As she reached their bows she asked us to kill them for clear water; we did.
Approaching the finish the last bend allowed Caius to pull back but by then it was academic. We had rowed through Caius, just weeks before they would start behind us in the Lents. At the line, Tom collapsed onto my ankles, I was left shouting gratitude at Steph. It was a massive high. (Simon)

Another reasonable start saw us take a seat or two early on. Cruising higher than in previous races, we were moving fast but tired limbs had little to give through the railway bridge. We lost composure allowing Emma to take a lead of around two thirds of a length by Morley's Halt, when a misjudgement of the corner in the failing light saw us hit the inside of the final bend. We paddled over the line to complete an exhausting day. (Jon)