The Club's Results

With a crew that had never rowed, let alone raced, together, this was a very satisfying row. Conditions were better than the day before, although far from ideal, and a number of events ATBH meant a rush to the start line. Finally once we were Marshalled, the crew settled down, and put in a hard row many people were pleased with. We were the fastest crew in our Marshalling division (this would have had a significant effect) and came top five overall - quite good, and pleasing given the amount of improvement that can be easily made by outings together! (Anything to do with being short)

Magdalene put up quite a good fight for the first half of the course, but thereafter appeared to fold spectacularly. 

"Gonville" are Caius Boat Club old boys - Caius' version of Black Prince Boat Club. They fielded a large and undeniably experienced crew. Whilst disappointing, this was a cracking race to watch. Gonville took a couple of feet over the course of the start and the wind, but some good work thereafter saw us work our way back - drawing dead level. The two crews then raced side by side, with blades virtually touching as Andrew carefully steered our crew, racing around the outside of long reach, as close as he dared to the opposition. However, with a series of powerful pushes Gonville gradually started to draw ahead and with the slack stream doing little to impede them under the railway bridge, continued to extend their lead to the finish. 

The form guide was telling us that Caius would be faster than Emma. So it turned out, and we found ourselves in the middle of the sandwich - Caius moving up on us as we closed on Emma. Caius put in some strong pushes, and a momentary upset of balance on the reach cost us the final three feet. It was a good race, and sets up an interesting contest for the remainder of the week. (Jon)

As Jon said, they were moving on Emma nicely - and gaining more quickly than their pursuers, until around Ditton where they were perhaps 1/3 of a length of Emmanuel. Really great to see!

Emmanuel held it well in the wind in the reach, though, and Caius turned the screw; the bump was perhaps two thirds of the way along the reach. (Martin)

(I've been asked to submit a report: looking forward to ripping my rigger off tomorrow). The plan was to row over, but it was acknowledged that the distance you could trust Maggie was less than a two year old could throw them. The start was apparently good (I have to admit I'm not judging the technical prowess of my crew during a start) and we held distance. Whilst the row wasn't bad, there wasn't any feeling of tearing off of riggers.

Maggie's race plan seemed to consist of up 2's until they bumped or blew up, unfortunately the first happened, so credit to them - would like to race them over a course, and they are still not turning up to the stomp.

At the end of the day, they are still rowing for Maggie. (Anything to do with being short)

As Will says, Maggie's rather lacklustre performance yesterday belied an expected turn of speed when given something to chase. It was a shame that we were unable to hold on in front of them, the row felt a little too sustainable and has given us something to think about for tomorrow. (Jon)

We had aimed to hit the scum by Ditton. A fast start was complimented by a powerful stride down to 38, which was quite controlled. We pushed hard through the Gut and up Plough Reach, which saw us close to within a length of Maggie and 3 lengths clear of Christ's. Our fast start began to take it's toll as we came out of Ditton, and we lost ground to Maggie, as they bumped Emma somewhere around the railings. We lowered the rate slightly and pushed on hard, with a solid, chunky row, although we were pretty tired as our 4 minute race had turned into an 8 minute one. Christ's gained back on us, but we pushed hard for the finish with what looked to me like a little over 1/2 length clear water.

An awesome row, let's see what tomorrow brings. (JPD)

Nice one 1st & 3rd. Felt a lot better than yesterday, and was a long enough race to feel some of that aerobic fitness coming into play. Maggie hit Emma as expected - could be all change in the top four tomorrow... (Jon)

I was on the bank for this. Basic plan was the same as previous day, except I was told the 4 minute race plan had become a 3 minute one. Wasn't quite that short, but they had the gap down to 1/2 a length at Grassy, made a good crowd-pleasing push past the Plough, to a canvas at Ditton; Emma tried to escape by steering to the far side down the reach but First and Third's superior speed made the bump inevitable. Christ's (and their extremely over-optimistic bank party) were left for dead; when we hit Emmanuel, Christ's were over 2.5 lengths behind. (Dubya)

Finally, a bump, and Christs (along with their rather-too-optimistic boatman) nowhere to be seen. Having rehearsed the race on the previous day, we pretty much did what we set out to do. Putting Emma under pressure early, we closed well through to Ditton. From there it was simply push upon push until we had them, and none too soon as I was getting quite out of breath by the time they finally conceded. A pleasing end to the week, and a good starting point for whoever carries the torch into next year. Row Hard!! (Jon)

The crew was awarded a 10 s time penalty for failing to follow marshalling instructions - which cost about 25 places. Nevertheless, despite being a weaker boat than the Lent VIII, the crew were very disappointed with the result.

It is thought that a combination of a number of factors - changes in the crew, the time penalty, and less than perfect use of the stream in the race - could explain the large deficit to Christ's time of 19:07.