The Club's Results

Trinity I behind us had quite a poor start, and we moved away from them under Donnington Bridge and started moving up on Falcon I in front. When we got to half a length off them we suddenly remembered (how could we have forgotten) how bumpy the water is bumps! So we spacked a bit and stayed just off Falcon, but now had Trinity moving up on us.
At the top of the division, City III had bumped Jesus I and stopped (as they should). Our marshals didn't realise that was why they had stopped and awarded Falcon and us bumps as we rowed past them... Apparently they had been shouting "You can stop Christ Church" for quite a while before someone pointed out who we actually were and we eventually stopped in the gut, not quite knowing what was going on. (Simon)

Trinity made no mistakes with their start this time and got us at the start of the gut. Coping somewhat better with the rough water we moved up on Falcon, bumping them along Greenbank.
Falcon had a front loader, so the stroke had to acknowledge, which he did by simply saying "OK, you can have it" to Soph.
It's a very odd feeling - being bumped and bumping in the same race... (Simon)

Probably the best race.
We realised before the start that the threat from behind was minimal - we had proved ourselves to be faster than Falcon, and everyone behind them would stop after getting them.
Trinity I were obviously very fast, and bumped Jesus I just after Donnington Bridge. We started moving up on Jesus. They held us at a length for a while but an excellent lift at the OUBC rafts saw us take them opposite the boat houses. (Simon)

Similar tactics to the race before - we expected Trinity to get a quick start and so aimed for the crew two in front (City of Oxford) and had a slower crew behind (Jesus) to act as a block on the rest of the division.
Given how tired we were, City III must have been shattered - they'd been sandwich boat for a couple of rounds so had spent most of the day on the water. We got them - quite suddenly, and with quite a satisfying "bump" sound - by the Cherwell Cut. It seemed like ages before Jesus rowed past.
We also had the huge advantage of having bumped very close to Christ Church BH, where we had to return the boat to...
A huge thank you to Chris Ingram for being an excellent poleman and trestle carrier. And also to Christ Church BC, who were very kind and very very helpful. (Simon)