First and Third Trinity Boat Club
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The Club's Results

Summer 2003

Coxless pairs

Bedford Quarts Regatta (S3 2-), FaT/Caius Composite

Qualifying
Lost to FaT/Kings composite
An interesting race. It was both Oli and my first attempt at racing in a pair and about our 5th row together. We had a start of sorts and were tonking along at about 38 after our second stride. we did manage some sort of rhythm in there but it was pretty well hidden. I think it might have ended up quite a close race except that I managed to guide us into the bank on two seperate occasions. oh well better luck next time. (Dan)
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Bedford Quarts Regatta (S3 2-), FaT/BPBC composite

Quarter finals
beat Milton Keynes (1/2 l)
My first race steering a boat off a stakeboat.
Start was ok, although we probably could have settled two pips lower. Our course wasn't dead straight, but luckily neither was the opposition's and thus we managed to meander down the course without crossing the buoys or touching the wall quicker than the Milton Keynes pair.
Out of the eight oarsmen in the semi-finals, only one was not a current Cambridge student... (Simon)
Semi finals
lost to Wolfson/Darwin (NRO)
A really nice start saw us take clear water off Wolfson/Darwin despite starting behind them on the stagger. This was followed by a much better settle into a very nice rythm. However, we were taking a fairly tight line along the Boathouse station wall, which became a bit too tight after about 250m. We pushed off, regrouped, and still led as we came across the weir. However (and in my defence, so many crews have done the same), I forgot that the wall after the weir sticks out 4 feet more than before and only shouts from the bank averted the collision.
By now, Wolfson/Darwin had taken the lead, but had crossed into our lane to do so. As we took it off again, I distinctly heard someone shout "disqualification", and given this and the presence of Darwin/Wolfson two lengths in front in front of us, we paddled to the line to appeal. Annoyingly, the umpires said we weren't impeeded and so the result stood.
On returning to the trailer we noted that the rudder had become set off-straight, explaining the constant drift to bowside.
Despite this result, a very enjoyable couple of races which went surprisingly well. Two lessons:
(a) Always check your rudder strings before each race, not just at the start of the day;
(b) Don't stop rowing flat out until you either cross the finish line or bump the crew that have moved into your lane. (Simon)
Some dodgy steering from both crews resulted in the Simons scraping the bank after the other pair had moved into their lane. (JPD)

1. Simons in action
2. Simon appeals after ...

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Molesey Amateur Regatta (Senior2 2-)

1st round
Lost to Staines (1 l)
Our start was not great, and Staines moved up maybe 1/2 length in the first 10 strokes. As we settled in to our race, we rowed through them quite easily, and were a length up by 300m. Unfortunately, Tom was unaware of the corner in the middle of the course (believing it to be entirely straight), and so we had to stop. We set off 3 lengths down, and reduced the damage to 1 length by the finish. Staines won by default in their semi (after their opponents capsized), and were then beaten quite comprehensively by Dan and Oli in the final. (JPD)
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Molesey Amateur Regatta (Senior2 2-)

1st round
Beat Walbrook by several lengths
Not a bad effort. we were a bit scrappy but i managed to keep us mostly on the course and didnt have to stop at all. Good to make it through if nothing else. (Dan)
Semi finals
Beat AK by 3 lengths
Time: 3:17
Reasonably happy with this one. I pushed into their lane a bit off the start, a minor blade clash and then i went back where I should have been. They then pushed into us and I proceeded to steer us outside the course lines coming up to the island - a good three stroke corner by oli pulled us back onto the course before disaster struck and we then went on to row away fairly comforatably. we put in a push about 150m from the finish and moved from about 3/4 l up to 3 l. I think this was the fastest time of the day. (Dan)
Final
Beat Staines by 3 l
Time: 3:19
Pretty crap row to be honest. My steering was awful. We proceeded to push into their lane move wide push into them again, move wide again and push into them again before the bend about 300m down the course. I then moved well wide of them and almost into the bank before hauling us back across the river to a more sensible position. The final straight wasnt quite so bad but I suspect if I had steered a good line we would have cut several seconds off the time. We had one bit just coming past the start of the island where I thought we rowed really well. Id guess rating about 37/38 and with a good solid rhythm, i reckon that littlebit was the fastest we've ever gone. but luckily for our opponents my right foot intervened and we lost the plot again. (Dan)
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Peterborough Summer Regatta (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
Lost
We lost a little to our opposition and were in fourth (last) place after the first 10 strokes. Our cruising speed was faster and by 500m we had worked our way back to second, just a quarter length behind the leaders. I clipped a buoy, which was followed by a slight overcorrection and Tom hitting a buoy. We lost our rhythm and again I found myself rowing below firm to keep us in a straight line. There was some consolation in the knowledge that we were on the pace. (JPD)
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Peterborough Summer Regatta (Elite 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
Lost
Essentially it seems that when we lose our form and resort to a more agricultural rowing style, I don't have the power to match JPD. A shame, since we're pretty swift and straight when all is well and the rowing clean. Hopefully I won't be ill for 10 days before the next regatta and we'll be able to have some outings! (Rose the Twat)
Having only done 3 outings in the previous two weeks, we were quite surprised to take half a length off the opposition in the first ten strokes. The rowing was pretty good, and we moved out to a length in the lead by about 400m. Tom clipped a buoy, and I spent the rest of the course rowing below firm pressure to keep us on the course. We were gutted to discover that ours was the fastest heat. (JPD)
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Peterborough Summer Sprint (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
2nd
A terrible start, with boat stoppers on strokes 3 and 4, was followed by what was probably the worst rowing we've done. As one of our oppo had scratched we went through to the repechage anyway. (JPD)
Repêchage
Won
With conditions still good, and with only the winner going through, there was nothing to lose. We had a good row, with a reasonably straight course, and won fairly comfortably. (JPD)
Semi finals
Last
Time: 2:18
Conditions had started to deteriorate, and although the we rowed OK, we were never challenging the top two boats, whilst fourth was a long way back. My steering went off line, and Tom's blade got completed caught on the 90m buoy, and was dragged and attached to the 80m buoy, spinning us into the safety lane in the process. It took some time to become unattached, and we rowed over the line in 2:18.

We informed the umpire that the buoys were out of position, although he wasn't impressed as he thaught we were protesting. (JPD)
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Peterborough Summer Sprint (Elite 2-), JPD/RTT

Semi finals
Lost
Time: 1:51
With an entry of five, three of four semi-finalists went through to join Reading in the final. We had a good row in an awkward, gusting cross-head wind. Steering was not easy, but we avoided too much overlap with the buoys. With 100m to go, the first two boats were out of our reach, but we were about level with Peterborough. With 3 strokes to go Tom reckoned we were just ahead, but over the line it must have been within a couple of inches. After a long delay, third place was given to Peterborough. The winners put up a time of 1:49 - 9 seconds slower than Cantabs' S2 time in good conditions earlier in the day. (JPD)
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Gloucester Regatta (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Semi finals
lost to Cantabs (4 lengths)
We had a reasonable start, and held level through the first 100m. The rowing then quickly deteriorated, with first Tom, and a few strokes later me getting stuck in at the finish. A lot of the faults which we had worked on over the last two weeks resurfaced. Very disappointing. (JPD)
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Gloucester Regatta (Senior1 2-), JPD/RTT

Semi finals
beat Bewdley (1/3 length)
Bewdley started with about 1/3 length advantage, although crews should be started level. They moved out to almost a length by about 300m, but we moved back steadily and pushed through with about 200m to go. With about 20m to go, Tom's blade hit the blade of a Cambridge 99's pair who weren't properly in the navigation lane, but we had enough speed and advantage to drift across the line in front. Amusingly, the umpires ordered a rerow claiming we were impeded, but we managed to convince them that if a crew is impeded by an external event and still goes on to win the result stands.

This has probably been our most satisfying result yet - the Bewdley pair were powerful, we had a solid row and even my line wasn't bad considering we were in the middle lane of an unmarked course (with racing and navigation lanes on either side). (JPD)
I think this was the best push we managed all weekend. I called it with about 250m to go and we moved from about 1/2l down to 1/4l up over the next ten strokes. Mainly this was down to a clean increase in rate of about two pips. It seems this Bewdley pair were quite well known in their area for being good (they're brothers so have probably been together for a while) so pleasing to have beaten them! My legs were also absolutely shafted. (Rose the Twat)
Final
lost to Northwich (1 1/2 lengths)
We were again in the middle of the canal, and most of the race followed a similar pattern to that against Bewdley - they moved off the start to about 1/2 lenght, but we clawed back and pushed to just a couple of feet down with about 25 strokes to go. They then pushed back to gain 1/2 length advantage. Unfortunately we had drifted across into the navigation lane and got tangled with an eight with about 15 strokes to go. Although we would probably have lost the race without the collision, it was disappointing not to have such a close margin in the final of such a quality field - Bewdley were the quickest pair we have beaten, Southampton Uni (who were beaten by Northwich) went on to win several events through the weekend (including beating us and the quick Cantabs pair), and Northwich had won J2- at Nat Champs. (JPD)
Again I called the lift for home with 250m to go. However as Jon says, this pair were of a higher standard than the Bewdley one and managed to do an effective counter-push. Without the crash we'd have been about 1/3l down I suspect. (Rose the Twat)
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Bristol Avon Regatta (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Semi finals
Beat Walbrook by 2l
Another fairly good start and we watched as Walbrook did the same as we had in our Elite heat. The rowing was a little scrappy and they came back at us but we weren't being stretched and thus retained control of the race. (Rose the Twat)
Final
Lost to Southampton University by 1 1/2l
Having been beaten by Cantabs in the final of Elite about an hour before this S2 final, Southampton were looking for a pot. They'd also beaten us in the Elite heat, so were probably fairly confident. We had a blinding start and moved ahead by perhaps 1/3l. Some good rowing in the fairly turbulent harbour saw us maintain this until they put in a strong push at about half way, and drew level. The rowing in the second half was not as good as the first, with a couple of untidy finishes, though never badly stuck in. They lifted for the finish slightly ahead of us and had a lead of a few feet, but our move was eating back into them. Unfortunately JPD was too intent on the push and his blade hit the penultimate buoy (which amusingly they had hit in the final against Cantabs) which gave them the advantage. I'd say this was the closest we came to winning all weekend - the Northwich pair on Saturday had pushed us away more easily coming into the finish. Chatting to the Southampton boys at Ross it seems they've got a 2k average well under 6:20 - I guess ours is ten or fifteen seconds worse - and are hoping to come to Cambridge next year to trial for CUBC, so being just a few feet down (as I suspect the margin would have been) was quite pleasing. (Rose the Twat)
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Bristol Avon Regatta (Elite 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
Lost to Southampton University by 2l
Despite getting virtually no warm up in the boat (it's about 200m to the start and the harbour is too busy with ferries etc. for the marshalls to allow much in the way of high rate work) we had quite a good start and were probably level as we came to the first buoy. Unfortunately, it went past on the wrong side and JPD was forced to steer hard to get us back onto the course. In the process we clipped the second buoy and were by then a good three or four lengths down. The rowing then settled quite nicely and we moved slowly back but the race was well in their control (I can't imagine they were working that hard). (Rose the Twat)
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Ross Regatta (Senior1 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
Beat Worcester by 2 1/2l
They were given a warning on the start for wearing RGS Worcester kit instead of Worcester RC. They were also wearing some GB junior kit (subsequent investigation reveals they won Championship Pairs at Nat. Schools and one of them was in a Junior Worlds crew). They were also quizzing us about Cambridge rowing whilst marshalling - hopefully we persuaded them to apply here! Anyway, we set off fairly cleanly and had only given away a few feet after 15 strokes. At that point the corner began to work in our favour (they'd got a 1/3l headstart and were due to get another 1/3l in the staggered finish) and we moved back level. At halfway I think they may have tangled with the weed on the outside of the bend, because they seemed to lose rhythm and dropped back to maybe two lengths. JPD steered excellently and combined with their slightly erratic attempt to push back (which worked a bit but was clearly too agricultural to last more than ten strokes), we gained another half length over the rest of the course.

I don't think they were too pleased to have been beaten by a mismatched pair who'd been formed "because everyone else has gone home". (Rose the Twat)
Semi finals
Lost to Hereford by 3l
These were an experienced crew of big guys. We had some fantastic rowing in what was to be our last race of the day. Definitely the best start we've done, and a push for the line that almost rivalled our move on Bewdley on Saturday. In the middle we tangled slightly with the weed on the outside of the corner which was a shame as it cost maybe a length and a half. However, the opposition clearly outclassed us and deserved the win. In an admirable attempt to minimise the margin of loss, JPD steered very close to the bank as we crossed the line (it's staggered so the closer you are the better), which meant we had to dig in pretty hard to avoid crashing into a protruding tree! (Rose the Twat)
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Ross Regatta (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Heats
Beat Ross (scratched)
Seems they were too busy organising the regatta to row in it.....

Still, at least it gave us some more time to rehydrate after our nocturnal activities. (Rose the Twat)
Semi finals
Lost to Huntingdon (3 feet)
A bit annoying this one. The rowing was slightly lack lustre, and some hard avoidance steering meant we were significantly below our best and to lose by such a small margin was a bit gutting. Especially as winning would have given us another chance to race Southampton! (Rose the Twat)
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Cambridge Autumn Regatta (Senior2 2-), JPD/RTT

Quarter finals
beat Cygnet by 1 1/4l
We didn't row that well but kept the lead afforded by the Meadow station. Cygnet did a push halfway down the course which forced us to do a little work, but otherwise safe if messy. (Rose the Twat)
Semi finals
beat Maidstone by 2 1/2l
We got the nicer Meadow station and had a decent, clean row. A well executed (and by now quite trademark) push for the line saw us win by a very clear margin, which was nice after our S1 race against them! (Rose the Twat)
Final
Lost to Huntingdon by a canvas
We got the towpath station which meant a strong corner about five strokes in, and a much more stressed steerer in the bow seat! However the rowing was pretty clean and we were pleased with the performance, if not the result. Unlike most of the crews of similar standard to us that we've raced, these ones didn't collapse under our strong push for the line, though we reduced their lead from half a length to a canvas. (Rose the Twat)
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Cambridge Autumn Regatta (Senior1 2-), JPD/RTT

Quarter finals
beat Maidstone (disqualified)
We drew the tough inside station on the towpath side, which was barely a boat width across, and is quite nasty to steer at this time of year with lots of weed making the bank unclear. However, we set off fairly well and stayed out of the first weed patch by clipping the buoy slightly. Unfortunately so did they, and they continued to encroach further into our lane. Despite strong warnings from the umpire their boat stayed right next to the line of buoys, with blades right into our lane. I pinballed up the course, steering from blade clash to bank and back (we were rowing really nicely in between, which meant catching them was never a problem). However, we failed to break through and crossed the line about 1/2l behind, only to find they'd been disqualified. Luckily we had drawn the other side in our race against them in S2! (Rose the Twat)
Semi finals
Lost to Cantabs by 4l
An appalling row from us saw Cantabs leave us for dead once again. We have never yet had a good row against them, which is a shame as it'd probably be a fairly good race. I clipped a buoy and there were a couple of agricultural strokes, which meant we never really established a rhythm. I attribute this solely to the presence of the BPBC boys who had clearly brought (spelling better now Chris?) along the spacking bug at this point. Unfortunately for us the competition in S1 2- is significantly better drilled than that in S3 8+........ (Rose the Twat)
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