First and Third Trinity Boat Club
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The Club's Results

Pembroke Regatta, Lent Term 2005

A side-by-side knock out regatta on the reach, over 1100m
Sat 19th February

The official results published by the organisers, Pembroke College Boat Club, can be found here. At the bottom of this page there is a link to Cambridge weather. Club members, please go here to add (or correct) results, crews or race reports.


1st men's VIII, 1st division

1st round
Beat Selwyn by 3/4 length
This row was just a massive pile of steaming shite. It went wrong from the end of the first stroke which nobody finished off properly (although we were a third length up due to a complete shocker from Selwyn). We then slammed into the front-stops, hanging for about 4 minutes and then rowing the blades in. This continued to Morley's Holt, during which time we would take a couple of seats from Selwyn and then they would take a couple back. At Morleys Holt we relaxed (probably realising that we were going to win) and had about 10 good strokes which saw us take the extra quarter length. (JPD)
Quarter finals
Beat Wolfson by 3/4 length
After the turd which was the first race we aimed for a long, loose row. We moved maybe a couple of seats on Wolfson and then sat there, feeling quite comfortable. Personally I really enjoy being in control in a race like this - knowing that the oppo are on 110%, you just have to choose the opportune moment to make that killer push. We waited until just after the Railway Bridge, at which point they cut into us and we pushed out to about 3/4 length. It got a bit scrappier after that, but at least we made a good attempt at rowing properly for most of this race. (JPD)
Semi finals
Beat LMBC by 3/4 length
We took the second row and added some controlled agression. Unfortunately Ed and Chris are significantly stronger than Matt and I and pulled us round about 10 degrees at the start. We crashed into Maggie (sorry guys), rather rudely causing a minor injury in the process.

However, this was our best race - we took control from the restart and laid down some good strokes which saw us take 3/4 length up the reach. They pulled back to 1/2 length on their corner, but we pushed them back up to Morley's Holt. They may have come back a bit at the end; the crew will need to make sure they have learned to finish things off in 10 days time. (JPD)
Final
Lost to Emma by 3/4 length
Emma took the race to us from the start and got four or five seats up the reach. At the Pink House we got some momentum going and got a couple back, at which point I thought we were going to win. However, despite the fact that we were going well we tensed up which caused us to lose that speed and they moved back to five or six seats up. We relaxed again and started moving. The same thing happened again - as we started moving we tensed up and changed how we were rowing, and it got pretty scrappy from that point. I don't think Emma quite had clear water by the finish. However, this was a useful learning day of close racing - there's still loads more to come out of the crew and they'd probably go a lot faster without a couple of fat passengers weighing down the bows who have hardly rowed for the last three months... (JPD)

1. P&E in sight.
2. Approaching the finish.

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1st women's VIII, The Black Pearl in the White Shell, 1st division

1st round
beat Robinson by 2 lengths
Woohoo! Blue and gold triumph over the clearly inferior blue and yellow. They probably rowed technically better than us (not difficult), but Who Cares?

Now we all sound like bronchitic horses, but at least bronchitic horses that beat Robinson and are well up for (Peterhouse?) in the next round. Bring 'em on... (Erica)
After beating us by a considerable margin in the Robinson head last week, Robinson probably expected to get the better of us, especially given their tidy paddling up to the start and poncy matching kit.

However, we had other ideas. Our start was spacky but determined and very powerful, and as we strode into our race rhythm Jenners was calling to increase our two seat advantage. We continued to pull away down (sic) the reach and I think they started to give up at this point. Coming under the Railway Bridge our rate came down a couple of pips from 36 and we cruised in style to the finish. Job done. (Amelia)
OPERATION: STEALTH WARRIOR

The race plan was:

1) Bow pair to wind to 55 and sit there comfortably until slight affliction of tiredness set in.

2) Middle four to appear out of Stealth Position and slot into the relaxed rythm, catching Robinson completely off guard (as they were under the impression of us only sporting cox and bow pair).

3) At around the railway bridge Stealth Stern Pair appear and complete the shattering of radiation-blue-yellow mental health.

4) We win.

Alas, by being such a beatable target, Robinson destroyed all such plans. We resorted to conventional tactics and beat them nine-on-nine.

Facit: Spacky but fast. (Pia)
2nd round
Beat Peterhouse by 3.5 lengths
OPERATION: PEARL RELEASAGE/ DESERT HUMP

It was sad to be put against the crew of our most reliable cox sub and Fairbairns IV cox, Katie Barber of Peterhouse... but for the sake of Robinson Head redemption (beaten by Pembroke II and LMBC II!!!) sacrifices had to be made.

Having dubbed ourselves 'The Black Pearl in the White Shell' on the startline of the previous race, we had expected a 'release the Black Pearl' call from Jenny, however she had refused on the grounds that it reminded her of Ed Peacock's 'Unleash the Tiger'. Fortunately, we managed to convince her otherwise and with 10 strokes to Peters Post, Jenny called for the pearl to be released causing an unpresedented shifting of boat to the finish.

We also rowed better in this race. (Pia)
After seeing the smug Binson crew taken down a peg or two, I didn't want to be too complacent about our chances over Peterhouse. However, once we started racing it quickly became evident that we were much the faster crew. We took almost a length in the first minute or so and continued to increase our lead throughout. Operation Desert Hump was definitely a great success. (Amelia)
Quarter finals
Beat Emmanuel by 2 lengths
We were a tad late to the start line, leading to a certain amount of derision from the marshals, and smugness from Emma. Shortlived smugness: we pulled away from them and they never looked like coming back at us. We were far from late to the finish line.
Impressed! (jo)
OPERATION: RHINOCEROS DOWN

Oh, poncy smug Emma... you just had it coming... the general disdain from the marshalling side was caused by my coxing the 3rd Women in the preceeding division. Within 10 secs of 'and wind it down', I had landed outside the pike and eel, passed my coxing attire to Stroke Dami, who was being replaced by Sarah H, who had rowed the 1st VIII to Chesterton (...) and was running towards a moored Denys.

We rowed all the way up to the start, spun on the start line and were started unceremoniously and somewhat off target following a disturbing roar (as a laymen I can only guess that the mating call of the rhinoceros was being imitated) from our over-confident opposition.

We had the best start and technically most competent race of the day, with a first stride to 40 and a second to a sustained 35. The rhythm felt powerful and controlled and we chizzled seat after seat of a lead on Emma. They started waining (sp?) coming into their advantage corner such that we were 1.5 lengths ahead coming under the Railway Bridge. We then lifted it for the finish, extending our lead to 2 lengths.

As amateur a cox as I may be, I am generally keen on keeping one's eyes on one's own kind. However, I couldn't help but notice a general sense of growing FaT W1 awareness amongst our W1 peers marshalled at the Railway Bridge as the day went on... (Pia)
I was just getting optimistic about the slim possibility that we might actually beat Emma, when I heard that Zoe and Jane had to leave. Hmmm, this was going to be difficult. However, super-subs Jo and Mika slotted in well on our row up to Chesterton, where we proceeded to marshal for a very long time, waiting for Pia to get back from her W3 coxing effort. The Pembroke marshals seemed very keen for us to push off, despite our lack of stroke. Eventually Pia materialised and we rowed up to the start, very very late and had less than two minutes to spin, de-kit, line-up and start racing, which was all observed smugly and disapprovingly by Emma in matching kit. Their smugness lasted even less than our dekitting, spinning and lining up did, and we disposed of them with an efficient and powerful row. Whooooo! 3 down, 2 to go...

Apparently at the P&E, a shocked and surprised Pembroke marshal walkie-talkie-ing results to whoever was starting crews was heard to say "FaT have just *trashed* Emma!?" *smug* (Amelia)
Semi finals
Beat LMBC by 1 length
For me, this was the huge highlight of a *very* long day. I don't think anyone really expected us to win which made it all the more exciting. I was able to hear and respond to the calls from the Maggie cox and every call I gave was matched by massive efforts from the whole crew, to push us ahead to clear water by the finish. A great race and a well deserved victory :) (Little Jenners)
OPERATION: DEFECATING RADIANCE

What a race. Haven't had so much masochistic fun since last year's Mays.

We took two seats off the start and slowly increased our lead on bad bad Maggie. They did determinantly push back a couple of times- there was no point, until our advantage corner under the Railway Bridge, where we could be certain they weren't going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. (All due respect to Jenny, at this point who quietly called to match LMBC pushes, visibly undermining the Enemy!)

I mainly attribute this to their ill-founded belief (so commonly found in LMBC members) of superiority and our doubt that we could actually 'have them'. Once the realisation set in that we were on for beating Maggie Scum, the boat speed lifted noticably and we pushed them away to a one length lead and victory.

Glorious. The icing on the FaT dominance cake was to witness M1 put their red-bladed equivalents in their place in the subsequent division!

Ra ra indeed. (Pia)
Wow. We are *great*. Maggie definitely didn't see this one coming, and I must admit neither did I! Everyone had written us off, having lost to LMBC 2 last week (ahem), and it was an amazing feeling to beat them, and to beat them fair and square. To put the icing on the cake, the boys also put out Maggie in the semis - ra ra first and third! (Amelia)
Maggie bank party: 'Sorry girls, I've got a meeting, so I won't be able to watch you race clare in the final' Maggie boat: general smugness. [This seems to be a common theme for today, but I think we've proved that despite our non-poncy, non matching kit, and our somewhat wanky paddling, we actually go Quite Fast] They weren't smug for long. We were quick off the start, and took them down by about a length by the railway bridge, with them pushing back all down the reach. We relaxed a bit out of the railway bridge, but they didn't have enough left - took it up for a powerful and *extremely* satisfying finish. Very Good Race. Us: 'Ha' (Lilie)
Final
Lost to Clare by 1.5 lengths
In the end, the better crew won this race. A win in the final would have been a bonus, but for me personally, the semi final was the highlight of today's racing. We had a brilliant day, which couldn't possibly have been nearly as successful without our army of subs (Mika, Tera and Jo during the races, and Sarah and Amna rowing to Chesterton with us), without Dan for coaching and without Jenners for her amazing coxing. :) Thanks everyone! (Amelia)
OPERATION: FROM DAWN TIL DUSK

Well, it was late and they were very strong. Although it might never have been on the cards to win this one, with a bit more determination and self-belief, this could have been a lot closer. But at this point we were all cold and still basking in our glory... having destroyed Maggie and 'trashed Emma'. Congratulations to Clare for a deserved victory, thanks to all super-subs, particularly Mika (three races!!), the Darley-Pickard bank party and to Jenny for great coxing and amazing cornering!!

Let's act on Clare's stroke's prediction... and blade... (Pia)
Our start was maybe not as good as usual, but that's no real excuse. They were faster than us and deserved to win. We held them to just under a length along the reach, but they slowly pulled away to finish about 1 and a half lengths up. Second place is a Good Result [I had expected to be back in bed by about 9am, but we kind of kept winning] Very pleased to have got to the final. (Lilie)

1. Round 2 victory
2. Winners
3. Heading to the start
[more...]

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2nd men's VIII, 2nd VIIIs

1st round
Beat Selwyn II by quite a bit
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)
Quarter finals
Beat Wolfson II by about 15 minutes
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)
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)
Semi finals
Lost to Caius II by 2 lengths
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)
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)

1. Heading home after v...

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2nd women's VIII, 2nd division

1st round
Lost by about 2-3(?) lengths to Jesus II
Our fast if somewhat untidy start took several seats off Jesus early on. They settled into a stronger race rhythm though and slowly rowed through us. However, there was plenty of power and committment from everyone, which bodes well for the GoR and (hopefully!) bumps :) (Little Jenners)
To have so narrowly lost to the top W2 VIII is no shame... well done ladies! xx (Pia)

1. Approaching the bridge.
2. "One, two, thre...
3. Holding off Jesus......
[more...]

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3rd men's VIII, College lower VIIIs

1st round
Bye
Had a nice lie-in (except Will, who was subbing into the 2nd VIII!) (Smiley Mark)
2nd round
Beat Magdalene III easily
TR 4.

We pulled far too hard in this race and put in far too much effort. We are a gents VIII so why to people feel the need to be so physical?!?! We could have won rowing in fours at 26. 'COS WE'RE GREAT. (Dan Newton)
Quarter finals
Beat Jesus III easily
Peter Brandt.

Personally I was insulted that Pembroke kept us in this division when clearly the opposition was markedly inferior. In religious terms a Jesus III is never going to beat a Trinity III because not only do we have III Jesus' within our description but III Gods and III Holy Spirits. At 9 celestial bodies to 3 we are 3 times as good. It's simple mathematics.

On a more important note Phil slipped into the Cam on getting out during marshalling - a foot went either side of the backstay. As Will put it 'He's singing a different part in the choir nowadays'. He changed out of his leggings and into Keith's trousers. No one saw his willy. The rigger was bent but we rowed on it and won.

Then we got told if we changed boats before the semis we'd be disqulified; so we changed boats. Back to the boathouse and back up to the start we were told we had been disqualified. But the guy wasn't very assertive so we kept rowing. And when we passed the P&E we kept rowing. And when we got told by the marshall to pull in just before the motorway bridge we pulled in. And she hadn't heard about the disqulaification and Selwyn (our opponents) had been held back at the P&E so we were home and dry!

Either word never got round that we were disqualified or by the time our marshall heard we were rowing down to the start. Teehee. Bet that makes John's who lost to us in the final feel loads better - they lost to a crew that had already been disqualified (and that had had more than it's 3 warnings which also leads to disqualification). We're so naughty. (Dan Newton)
Semi finals
Beat Selwyn III by 1/3 length
Titan.

Bit of hanky panky at the start saw us have to hold it up and restart. Unfortunately stroke's blade from Selwyn was mere inches from the side of our boat at the time and bucketed water over Dilini and I on the hold up. Cheap tactics I thought.

The race was arduous and tough but afterwards I got to play noble gent in looking after Dilini the shivering wee wet thing. This included holding up blankets for her to swap trousers behind (they were donated by Mark), rubbing her legs to get them warm (not sure if this helped but I did it anyway, her lips were to cold to form the words 'Get off me you perv') and hugging. This was my highlight of the day. Oh yeah this and the next race...... (Dan Newton)
I saw this race from the 2nd VIII's marshaling position under the railway bridge. Our boys held a narrow lead on Selwyn coming through the top of the reach and under the bridge. About fifty yards after both boats had passed us (1st & 3rd to the meadow side), the Selwyn cox steered across the middle of the river, leading to a series of blade clashes. It looked to me like 1st & 3rd got the better of the resulting havoc, especially after Selwyn oversteered back into their lane and lost a bit of speed. Didn't see the finish, but it looks like our guys managed to hold them off despite having the outside lane on the final corner. (James)
Final
Beat Maggie III by 1/3 length
Titan.

With Dilini wrapped up in an emergency blanket looking like a sweet we rowed down with purpose, pride and pneumonia. Our race attitude was less controlled aggression, less determination and focus - it was more along the lines of 'well we're here, in the final, may as well win I suppose'.

We clashed and bumped and got whistles blown at us (and them) and clashed some more. It was excellent fun, ra ra. Then we won. As you do.

Then we easied next to them who were next to the grey barge and had a chat. 'Great race lads' 'Three cheers' 'We'll get you next time' 'Thought you had it for a minute there' etc etc until...

(Mr Thorne) 'Maggie you're drifting into the grey barge'. At this point their stroke flipped, talk about sore loser, he did not want to talk to us, not at all. And told us so amongst profanities and the like. The marvellous thing about VIIIs being so long though is that you can't hear stroke all too well so his bows and ours carried on with their chatting. His look was textbook. The redness of his face matched his shirt, and I could have sworn there was steam coming out of his ears.

WE BEAT MAGGIE. WE WON. Until someone proves otherwise, we are officially the fastest 3rd VIII on the cam. I bet there's not many people who can say that.

Thanks to Keith for subbing, Will for subbing, and Dil for risking life and frostbite to take down Maggie. (Dan Newton)
I think this was one of the most exciting days of racing I've been involved in. It was always going to be a fairly tough day with two subs in the boat, and a general lack of any fitness within the crew. On top of all this it was very cold, and we rowed badly even at our best moments. Still, we won, and managed massive blade clashes in nearly all of our races! (Phil)
1. We won
2. We beat Maggie
3. Job done! (Smiley Mark)
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3rd women's VIII, 3rd division

Quarter finals
Lost to Newnham III
Ah... well. We thought they'd probably all been pooled to Newnham, so why not give them something to be proud of? Otherwise how DO you explain their 2 length victory over our clearly stronger crew.......

Honestly- we had a decent race against finalist-to-be Newnham III, were never going to win but gave them a good race and a determined crew to push off from.

The crew have gelled well and with a replacement found for Sasha, we will triumph in the Getting On race and cause havoc at the bottom of W3!

xx (Pia)

1. Pulling over.
2. Rowing home.
3. At the finish line.

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4th men's VIII, 3rd division

1st round
lost to LMBC III by about 2 lengths
Despite breakfasting finely we had a lacklustre start. As we warmed up things improved, but we still never found a nice rhythm. We're definitely capable of better. It was a tough draw though with LMBC III going on to the final, where there the effort required for their early morning victory over us finally took its toll. (Neil)
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5th men's VIII, 3rd division

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Cambridge weather: text

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