The Club's Results

This was another unlucky and disappointing race from the First Novice Men. A fantastic first few strokes saw them a length up on Emma 1 at the end of their start and powering away from them... then Disaster Struck (TM). The failing cox-box prevented a cohesive stride, and stern four took it down to race rhythm while bow four continued at high rating. The resulting wobble cause our stroke-man to crab, which swung the bows round by about 30 degrees and into the path of Emma 1. Both boats headed for the bank at high speed and unfortunately Emma came off worse, their bows hanging off limply.

NM1 headed home, hoping that the umpire would have the sense to award the win (or at least a bye) to the obviously faster crew, despite the crab. However, it was not to be - on marshalling for the next round we were informed that they had been disqualified and that Emma would be racing with their bows duct-taped together instead.

An unfortunate race, and a real shame about Emma's boat, but I think the moral victory goes to the crew who were that far up after only about 30 strokes. Well done guys - don't let it get you down. Revenge will be taken on Thursday. (Erica)

Well, we'd said we would destroy them, and we did. We took more than a length of the start, and after only about a minute their bow collapsed completely. Before the finish bow four had basically stopped rowing, and we crossed the finish well ahead of them. Apparently though, you get disqualified for that sort of thing, so our paddle up to the second round ended in disappointment.

The LBCs were impressed by our start though, and gutted that we didn't get the opportunity to live up to our potential. We've got to kill ourselves in the outing tomorrow, guys - Fairbairns is this crew's last, best chance to shine. (Magnus Jones)

Our boys looked positively majestic off the start, rating 36 and essentially munching Emma A for breakfast. From the bank it looked as if the race was over about a third of the way down the Reach.

Just as I was beginning to allow myself a little gloat, our guys suddenly veered hard to the left, and slammed it into the opposite bank, with a sound that struck fear into the depths of my soul. Emma A meanwhile, cut off by our shenanigans, couldn't avoid a collision, and watched helplessly as their bow section impacted with our boat and sheared off.

Apologies to Emma for the damage to their boat - I'm glad to report that TR4 was fine.

We paddled down to the finish, and were told that we would be racing the next round. (Albert)

D'oh! Turns out the marshals changed their decision without telling us. They reasoned that the faster, better crew with a shot at the finals should go home, whilst the slower crew with the broken bow section should progress further in the competition.

We now go into Fairbairns with a very strong, focussed 1st VIII, who are hungry for a win after being denied twice. Some real application in the last couple of outings should pay dividends. (Albert)

There was never any doubt about who was going to win this race. Our girls were ahead after the first stroke and kept ploughing through finishing 5 lengths or so ahead.

Next round is against Jesus and should be a pretty tough race. Hopefully keeping calm and rowing long should see them though.

Best of luck!! (Dami)

The girls kept everything together well and rowed very neatly, but were unfortunate to come up against a physically much stronger (and pretty tidy) crew in an early round. Jesus went on to win the competition so there's no(t much) shame in losing to them... At least we rowed at full slide.

A lot of positives to take into Fairbairns - with the vastly improved technique from the second race we have the ability to row the course at a good sustainable pace. (BJ)

Unfortunately beaten by a more... beefy Jesus crew (to put it nicely), who had a very unusual 'half-slide' technique - as Bryn says, he's certainly never seen Clare Novices rowed like that before. It was a really good race, and the girls put in a strong performance considering they were up against a fresh crew. There was a nice push before the railway bridge which gained ground.

Well rowed girls! (Clair)

Fitzwilliam A has the slightly better start, taking two seats on us, but we pulled back well to end up about half a length in front halfway down the reach. Fitz then caught up a little on the inside of us and then took us on the outside of the corner underneath the railway bridge. Sadly we panicked again towards the finish and it cost us dearly - our heads dropped and the rhythm of the boat was serverely disrupted. Our composure towards the end of races is certainly something to work on over the next week before Fairbairns. However, there were several positives to take from the race. For the most part we were technically superior to the strong Fitz A crew and if we hadn't panicked I'm pretty sure we'd have won, but again the loss of intensity cost us. Not the best of days for First and Third generally, but Fitz A start right behind us in Fairbairns, so we have a chance to reclaim our glory in the important race! (A.J. Sugden)

At times it looked as though our girls were going to give Queen's a real run for their money. With Bex hammering out an awesome rhythm in the stern, it looked very promising for a while, but unfortunately the girls couldn't hold the timing together well enough to haul Queen's back from their early lead.

Masses of potential in this boat - if we can get those blades in and out together on every stroke, we'll be flying. (Albert)

I wasn't sure whether or not to put "easily" in the Result, as I wasn't there, but from the sounds of things, LMBC D didn't pose too much of a problem. It sounded like our guys just rowed better and faster. Just as we always knew they would :-) (Albert)

An unlucky defeat at the hands of a Clare 2nd crew. I missed the start, but apparently an unfortunate crab lost us most of a length off the second stroke. From there, I watched a resurgent and determined FaT crew gain on Clare with intent, but to no avail. A seat explosion and subsequent loss of rhythm put victory beyone reach, but there's no doubt in my mind who the faster boat were. Crabs and falling-off-seats happen - but they don't have to. Lesson learnt. (Albert)

This had the makings of an excellent race. The crews were neck and neck off the start, and kept it there for nearly half the reach. And then....

crab no 1 - recovered quickly no ground lost.

crab no 2 - recovered not so quick, couple of feet lost.

crab no 3 - boatstopper.

The fact that Jesus didn't pull away from them after they got back to all VIII shows how evenly matched these crews were.

Never mind girls, stuff happens. Top tip - keep calm and focused for the next race. (Dami)

Our first race as FaT Novice Mens 4th VIII... will it all be as easy as this? (O. Jones)

I think this quote from the Maggie website says a lot.... "Their second draw was against the formidable FaT 4th" - and didnt they just know it! (O. Jones)

This was the second LMBC crew we put out today, and in masterful style too. The result was never in doubt, despite Charlie P trying his hardest to break his seat. He probably just felt sorry for them.

From the bank, the row looked comfortable and solid. Timing was mostly together, and crabs were notable in their absence. A steady rhythm with little rushing saw our boys moving faster than the oppo from start to finish. There's more to come from this crew; given some decent opposition, there should be some really good racing on saturday. (Albert)

A solid start and good rhythm saw us neck and neck with Fitz down the Reach, until we caught a couple of crabs which put us a length down. The second half of the race saw both Fitz and our boys gradually going slower and slower, to the point where Fitz were barely moving by the finish. Unfortunately, we were unable to capitalize on their mistakes. A little more mental toughness might have made all the difference, but at the end of the day congratulations are in order for the 4th men making it as far as the quarter finals. (Albert)

Unfortunately not as victorious today as on Thursday, half a length behind for most of the second half of the race, but unfortunately couldn't muster that extra push to win it, at least partly due to 7's crabbing problems (really sorry about that guys!) (Andy)