The Club's Results

Not too bad a row. We were a bit tense and nervous on the start and you could feel this in the first stroke in particular. We sorted things out quite nicely after that and had a pretty good race through to Ditton. Not so good up the reach or pushing for the finish though. (Dan)

A reasonable start saw us close slightly on Caius, but we never really hit top gear and the top 3 all separated out down the long reach. Downing put in a cheeky push towards the finish but were never close enough to cause a problem.
It's apparently supposed to snow tomorrow; we'll have to wait and see what happens ... (M)

Marginally better than yesterday. Same result. Still supposed to snow tomorrow, apparently ... (M)

Another decent row, with generally better bladework and good responses to the pushes down the Reach and out of the corners. Unfortunately we let it slip a bit towards the finish, allowing Downing to close, something we'll work on for tomorrow. (Dan)

FIRST and Third Trinity gave Caius a fright at the top of the men's division yesterday when they stormed off at the gun and started to close on a Head Boat that has never been troubled so far.

1st & 3rd stormed down the Gut to nearly halve the 11/2-length start distance by Grassy before starting to fall back, allowing Caius to finish off the race cruising comfortably at the top.

The attention then switched to third placed Downing, who started to close on a tiring Trinity, who after the race admitted to hardening the "gearing" of their blades in an attempt to gain extra speed.

Making the blades harder, though, tires out a crew, and so it proved.

Downing were within a length at the Pink House, three quarters of a length at the Railway Bridge, half a length at Morley's Holt, and managed a few inches overlap at the Pike & Eel.

Many on the bank expected a bump, but Trinity extracted their last ounces of energy to hang on and escape by fractions of an inch. (R.M., Cambridge Evening News)

Phew - quite a fun race! We geared up today and decided to go for it off the start, maintaining 40 for the first 1.5 mins. We closed to a length off Caius but couldn't get any closer, having dropped Downing by about 3-4 lengths. Having planned to race to Ditton it was then a case of hanging on and, true to form, Downing closed to overlap at Morley's Holt. We held them off to the finish. (Dan)

Caius: We were wondering whether they could respond to a sprint. They provided an unwanted affirmative.

Downing: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (TomC)

Well it snowed a little this morning, but just as the afternoon's racing was getting underway, a few solitary flakes drifted by as if to threaten us with a deluge of whiteness. Luckily the snow held off and we went for Caius off the start after gearing up slightly. True to form, they held us off at a length before opening out a lead. Downing were once again dropped off the start. The plan to blow at Ditton Corner was perhaps a little too effective and we let Downing get a little too close for comfort after the railway bridge. Thankfully we were nails enough to hold them off and crossed the line with millimetres to spare. (M)

I was informed at 10:00 that I would be racing today owing to illness with Tom Coker. After spending much of the morning worrying about possible lack of race fitness and that I hadn't done any proper high rating racing in years, I felt somewhat calmer once we had boated.

I think I managed to fit somewhere into the rhythm on the row down and (rare for me) actually felt quite confident at the start.

The start was a bit spacky and first 3 minutes of the race were not good at all although the power was there. Downing were nowhere and we settled into a nice rhythm down the Reach and dropped them even further. This continued to the line. Overall it was a satisfactory row and we have preserved 2nd place for a good bash at it next year. Well done to all and I hope Tom feels better soon. (Ingers)

I was a bit disappointed with Downing today. Despite a good dose of Le Spack from myself they didn't get anywhere near us. Looks like we were 2nd quickest on the river, which is a bloody good result. Great to see the ex-novices pull hard in M2 as well. Training for Mays starts on Monday - let's go and kick some ass. (Dan)

A good solid start and a controlled set of corners paved the way for an extremely strong reach. Despite feeling the most sustainable row of the week, we dropped Downing off the start and continued to move away until reaching Top Finish.
Nice.

Rah Rah Rah. (M)

I think it's fair to say that today was a bit disapointing in the end. We had a great start and after our first stride (!), settled on 36 heading into the Motorway bridge. We flew towards first post corner, slightly gaining on Pembroke.
After a lovely tight line through first post corner, we continued to gain on Pembroke towards Grassy, and heard our first whistles as we pulled out of Grassy.
We continued to gain on Pembroke along Plough Reach and as we entered Ditton corner we had decreased the distance to half a length.
However, when it came to Ditton corner, we had technical problems that pushed us out of the racing line and lost us about half a length.
We recovered and got moving again on the Reach, but Pembroke had moved away and we were unable to get close again.
Bring on tomorrow.... (Aileen)

Gained half a length off the start, settled nicely into a lovely, more controlled stride and then got our first and second whistles before the plough. We had overlap heading into Ditton but Pembroke pulled away slightly just before the corner avoiding the bump. We pulled it back in the reach and our bows were "dancing" either side of their stern all the way to the railway bridge. But somehow we couldn't finish it off. Still no bump but a much better row overall. Frustrating. (Aileen)

I think that today really drove home the disappointment of yesterday. We had a reasonable start, and did close on Pembroke, but not fast enough. They hit Queens pretty swiftly, meaning we had to easy briefly, then pick it up again for the long and lonely slog home. Not a spectacular row, but we would have needed much more speed to have stood a chance of hitting them on time. (jo)

We rowed the same as yesterday. We hit Queen's just past the Motorway bridge. Job done. (jo)

A promising start saw a race in which our natural power and elegance failed to shine through. We did gain on Downing II though and I'm sure would have bumped them had CCAT not bumped us first.

Looking ahead I will now be channeling my general anger, fuming rage and burning hatred into bumping CCAT on thursday. (Ed)

Gutted. Following Villa's disappointing derby draw on Sunday, my sporting week got even worse. From a rower's point of view I can't talk about how far ahead or behind anyone other than CCAT was, but what was frustrating for us was that after a decent start we just never found top gear. They, on the other hand, rowed like nutters. So that's our plan for Thursday! (BJ)

Happened at grassy -- but they had closed up on Downing and CCAT were miles out from Jesus so should be fine for tomorrow, might be even in with a chance at attacking back. (Dubya)

why have we got no pictures of us in this section? (D.J.T. Newton)

Rowing over is tiring. Really tiring. I hope we bump tomorrow! (BJ)

MONARCHS OF THE CAM - a title FaT 2nd men lived up to today. Unfortunately all crews bumped out ahead of us before we had a chance to hit the nitros and drown ccat - a shame as we showed real poise all the way down the course and never looked troubled. This was mainly due to the fact that jesus 2 had in a fit of hilarity rigged their 7's seat as an ejector seat. He duly parted company with the boat and embraced the water just before first post. The whole of the rest of the division grinding to a halt. FaT powered off from the pack and rowed commandingly, and alone (rate 22) down the reach. A burst at the finish for the viewing pleasure of the laydeez division and a safe row home. Weve got Downings ass tommorow. Grrrrr. (Dan Newton)

A fantabulous start followed by a strong first (and third) section saw us get to a length from Downing. CCAT then bumped and so Downing got clear water and pulled away to about two lengths. They then sat there the whole way down - pushing whenever we did. It was painful, it was wet, it was snowing but we stopped queens from getting blades!! Woohoo! Also Will (50 today) impaled his thumb on a splinter on the blade part way down - leaving a 'hitchcock-esque' trail of blood in the water behind us. A good solid performance, (i made the bit about the blood trail up). Thought for the day - Fat guys do not like Downing men. (Dan Newton)

Hmm, the first few strokes were ok, but we did spack around after that - and we really didn't wind very high off the start, so not surprisingly, Selwyn II closed on us. We did apparently make some ground up over the 3 crews in front however, but Pembroke II bumped St. Catz II around First Post Corner, leaving us chasing for the overbump on Clare II. Selwyn II closed further and Dilini conceeded on Grassy - apparently we weren't all that far off the overbump at that point (about 2.5 lengths). After the bump, we pulled in to the bank, and Selwyn pulled in behind us. After quite a while, Girton II came round the corner with Homerton all over their stern, and Downing III all over Homerton's stern. Girton decided that the best course of action was not to steer at all, and rammed straight into Selwyn, pretty much destroying their bows - comical. Homerton rowed past them for the overbump - so we're being chased by them tomorrow. (Richard)

At grassy apparently. (Dubya)

Due to Carnage ahead we had to hold up and re-row before 1st post corner, apparently we were making ground on Selwyn and we were holding off Homerton. On the re-row we started averagely and Homerton started gaining on us. Whistles, panic and some uncoordinated pushes ensued and we got hit in the gut. After the bump Homerton kept rowing a bit and wedged our bows into the bank. As we attempted to free ourselves Caius came round the corner and saw Homerton backing up and decided to steer for the bump on them. After whacking half of Homerton with their blades they celebrated, but I think M4 were on their tail and got the technical bump.

Unfortunately for them, bow-pair had to go paddling in the invigorating waters of the cam to remove our bows from the bank. Well done guys.

Looks like the intensive training programme isn't paying off. If we can stay calm we should be fine. Jesus III behind us on Friday.


Hey, we have no pictures. No-one likes us! : ( (Neil)

Well more carnage ahead resulted in a re-row again, this time at 520 after M1. We'd started ok but Jesus gained a bit, and really went for us at Grassy, but we began to pull away, before we all had to hold it up.

It was ourselves, Jesus, Homerton and Selwyn in the re-row. And a very good start saw us gain on Homerton. Jesus came at us again, and we made it past a bumped out Homerton and Selwyn, but not past Grassy. Tragic. Twice we've had to re-row and done worse.

We've been improving all week (maybe something to do with actually rowing together) and it was going really well on the way down to the re-row and coming home. If we can hold it together tomorrow and settle, I don't see why we can't have a go at Jesus again. (Neil)

A reasonably untidy start, followed by some reasonably untidy rowing saw Jesus III gain on us relatively quickly. After first post corner, we started moving away again, but just before the Plough pub, we had to hold it up to avoid carnage (again). A re-row was ordered again, to be held just after the M1 division. We were told the wrong time to be marshalling at, and ended up rowing down behind the head crew. Much to the amusement of the small band of spectators at the plough, we did our practice start after Caius. Caius' start was fairly together, whereas ours was fairly shocking. Anyway, we eventually arrived on station 9, ready to go. We pushed out and our start was (surprisingly) pretty good. We moved slightly away from Jesus and towards Homerton, but about half way down first post reach, just like the first two days, the power dropped off very quickly, and Jesus started approaching. Perhaps the tiredness of having to rerow was showing. Jesus eventually got us on grassy corner (whereas we'd made it to the plough on the first race). Well, let's see whether we can bump them back tomorrow to avoid our spoons. (Richard)

The first row was pretty good. The start was nice, closed slightly on Homerton, then settled to a pretty solid 32. A bit of zigzagging down first post reach allowed jesus to close, so we lifted to 34 in the gut and kept them at bay. Then we had to take a really shite line round grassy to avoid some quite rudely parked crews, but not as shite as Homerton's which included some mowing of the grass on the outside of the corner. Would've been a good race and an excellent chance to row over or even bump back. (TomC)

Had to hold it up again, no re-rows today so we were on the wrong end of a technical bump, unrightly so we felt, we were pulling away from Downing.

Feels a lot worse than if we'd actually been bumped. (Neil)

Well, we turned up to find Corpus II behind hadn't bothered. So Hughes Hall got a technical bump and with Kings II bumped pretty quickly by a strong looking Queens III crew, there was a lot of clear water behind. So a reasonably nice firm row to the finish, good practise given that this was the first time the whole had rowed together.

PS. I say to the finish, but it went some way beyond. Someone forgot to tell Honey, who was still calling pushes after the railings. Once she gets going, there's no stopping that girl! :-) (Andy)

Having shivered through a good part of an hour (it's a lot wetter at 2 than the cox's seat...) while waiting for our next division, it was a bloody relief to get moving again. A few shenanigans getting onto station, not helped by the crosswind and the proximity of the lock, but got there in the end.

Pretty good start, possibly our best of the day. Can't really say much else from where I was. Apparently we closed on Clare Hall pretty quickly, but didn't personally notice until overlap. I think that whenever I heard something with the word length in it, I assumed it was us rowing short, rather than the distance to go. Still we bumped them shortly after the motorway bridge, held it up, I turned around and lo and behold there they were! Woohoo! My first bump (as a rower :-) (Andy)

A good start saw us close half a length on Caius III and leave the unknown quantity of Hughes Hall for dead. They held us until the motorway bridge, but we began to close in on them slowly after that. We were about 3/4 of a length away when carnage forced us to easy.

The re-row was promt, but not prompt enough to leave any feeling in my fingers whatsoever. The whole crew must have had a similar problem as a reltively poor start only saw us hold station, or perhaps even lose distance. The story after that was similar though, as we slowly began to reel them in. A few big pushes coming up to first post saw us close from a little over a length to about 1/4. A bump looked likely, until the Caius cox spotted a bumped out Homerton on the bank and steered for them at race pressure. Carnage ensued and for the second time we had to hold it up. All I can say is that I hope no-one was injured too badly. The verdict was a technical bump in our favour, and I think we earned it.

This has been the coldest day of my life. (Keith Noble-Nesbitt)

Pretty good start and a solid row after.

Long row leading to a bump in the gut more satisfying than bumping under motorway bridge. But less fun. I am uncertain which one I prefer yet. (Andy)

Peterhouse II took longer to hit Sidney II than they did Caius III so we expected a harder row than Wednesdays trip to the gut. Having briefly flirted with the idea of an all out sprint, we settled on our tried and tested formula of striding to something sustainable and then putting in a lot of pushes, aiming to run them down before ditton.

That was the plan, except Simon at stroke forgot to stride.

After assesing first hand our ability to sprint another stride was called, and this one happened. We began began to move up on Disney appreaciably after the motorway brigde. Some big pushes before first post corner saw us close much of the gap, but they held us until the gut. Honey forced her way onto the inside before grassy, and when I saw their stern well to my left out of the corner of my eye I hoped we may pull a cheeky overtaking manouver at grassy. Sadly my blade then hit their stroke mans blade, their boat and their cox, so they conceded.

It was a tough row and we gave a lot to get the bump, but at least today was far warmer! (Keith Noble-Nesbitt)

Peterhouse II hit Girton II before the motorway bridge. True to form, it took us longer! Despite one of our most panicked starts (rating 37 AFTER the stride???) we moved quickly and got the bump a little way past the bridge. One of my last strokes of the bumps was either an air stroke or I hit their stern. Im not sure but either way they conceded.

Blades :o) (Keith Noble-Nesbitt)

Not the greatest start ever, but caught up with Darwin II fairly quickly. They refused to acknowledge, and Dallis (bow) was too polite to give the darwin cox any "encouragement" :) but they finally gave in when ailinore (3) smacked their stern, just before the motorway bridge. Rowed home decked in greenery - woohoo! Well done girls, blades here we come!! "Hi-ho...." (Lilie)

It was so cold today.. couldn't feel my hands after the first two strokes, which is my excuse for not being the technically best crew out there today.. But gave it plently of FaT grunt, and made progress towards fitz II on the start. We got overlap round about the motorway bridge, but seemed to go forever after that! I finally managed to smack their stern (yes Jenners, stern :S) - that felt good! Didn't get their cox though.. ah well, next time :)
Woohoo, we're halfway there, keep it up girls! "Hi Ho..." (Lilie)

Bit of a panicked start, not helped by fears of broken footplates and lack of a coach! But we gained quickly and were overlapping before the motorway bridge. Fitz gave a final push and held us off briefly, but to no avail! We finally got them straight after the bridge. Raa Raa FaT women!!!! (Howlingwolf85@hotmail.com)

*Yea* we did! Despite a shocking start, for the first time we really came together as a crew, and rowed well - calm relaxed and powerful. Basically the opposite of yesterday, lost at least half a length off the start, but thanks to the three(!) strides called by rachel, we kept it calm, and had overlap by the motorway bridge again,bumping just afterwards. With a good start tomorrow, we have every chance! Go First and Third - FaT women rock!!! (Lilie)

This was a terrific race, the day we really got everything together. Apart from the start... the gun was quite quiet today, probably blown away by the wind, and I think I was pretty much the only person who started on it. After a quick re-adjustment we managed to get it back together and from then on it was perfect. Every stroke was long and powerful and we bumped New Hall just after the motorway bridge. I was enjoying it so much that I wanted to carry on going!!!
We're all very much looking forward to tomorrow, where we can hopefully do ourselves justice and get that last bump. (Little Jenners)

Slightly shaky start (understatement?) but we pulled it back supremely to catch some New Hall ass just after motorway bridge... a very satisfying row. Bring on Pembroke! (Ailly)

Yeeeeeeeey! This time I'm getting in there before you guys... no race report from my bed, however, damn pleased for you. First Bumps. Nicely bladed. (Pia)

Today was perfect. Pembroke didnt really have a chance we bumped them before the motorway bridge- *yeah* we did :) Rowing home with the flag I will never forget, fantastic! And of course we were looking *well sexy* in our all-in-ones :) Has been soo much fun...BLADES! (Ailly)