The Club's Results

Slightly disappointing to finish 20th; however our time would have placed us third in Club fours and we were pleased with that last year so perhaps it's not too bad.
On the shortened course we started fairly close to Bates in front, meanwhile Penn AC overtook the crew behind us very quickly and started to make a move for us before Weeks. We took a very sharp Weeks Bridge corner right on Bates' tail and managed to buy a few seconds off Penn as they didn't corner as well, possibly because their cox was now concentrating on gesturing at us to move. Penn came through us and Bates fairly soon after but unfortunately we were left on the outside of Bates for the masive bowside corner which probably cost us a few seconds and a place.
We just made it through Charles Eliot Bridge and as the corner straightened up absolutely dropped Bates - which was nice, but served to heighten our frustration at being forced wide on the corner. The run-in then seemed a lot shorter than last year, but this probably reflects the shorter course. (Simon)

Saw a gun on the riverbank while marshalling...
As for the race, we concentrated on rhythm for the opening couple of minutes and were rewarded by settling into a great groove just before the Ye White Hart pub. This continued through to the end of the island from where we had to work on it a bit more, possibly because of starting to hit the wind, possibly because we were getting tired. We kep it chunky all the way though, including a Crabtree Reach which felt like it would never end, then took it up slightly past the boathouses to the end.
Can't believe I'm saying this, but the Boar's Head crew looked so young! Must be getting old... (Simon)

Over time you usually forget how bad things were - but I distinctly remembered how awful I felt during the IVs race last year. From the start this was a tired row but we found a decent rythym after a while although never managed the punchy rate that we normally hit when Stephen is stroking. It was always unlikely that we'd done enough to win but coming a clear second behind a fresh crew was a fair result on the day. (Dan)