The Club's Results

We dropped them half a length off the start then gained another length by being better. They then easied unexpectedly for a bit half way up the reach, giving us another half length for free. We probably took another length or two off them by the end. (BJ)

As we rowed up to the start together, a strong wind was blowing toward the grassy side - their side. We lined up and were set off. Our start worked well once more, and before half way up the reach we were a length a head. The sidewind had pushed us into the middle of the river, though, and had sent them drifting perilously close to their bank. As we struggled to keep to our side of the course, they were overpowered by the wind and plowed headlong into the bank. We carried on at firm pressure for a while, and then took it down to 3/4 pressure to do some technical rowing into the finish. (Magnus Jones)

I think if the over-under on the angle at which Wolfson crashed into the bank were 15 degrees, I'd bet on the over. (James)

I was very pleased with this row. We performed to the best of our ability but were up against a better crew. They pulled away at a pretty much constant rate over the whole race. It was nice that we kept everything together even though we were clearly losing ground and were able to put in a decent lift at the railway bridge. (BJ)

Nothing cataclysmic here; we just ran up against a better crew and lost decisively while rowing our best race. They gained very slowly and very steadily over the entire course, with the exception of our push under the railway bridge that brought our bow close to their stern. Then a combination of their own push and a friendly corner gave them nearly a length of clear water by the finish. As Tom mentioned in the crew chat afterwards, it was great to row in a boat that neither panicked when put under pressure nor slacked off when clearly beaten. (James)