The Club's Results

After the great disappointment of yesterday, the first men put in a great show today, moving up over the first 2 minutes, and remaining on station until Ditton.
Caius thereafter did move away slowly, gaining perhaps a length and half by the railway bridge. (Martin)

I only saw the race from the Railway Bridge onwards... initially Caius looked like they were in control and First and Third a bit lacksadaisical (Russism) but the guys took it up brilliantly and committedly to the finish and ended up roughly on station, with Caius under pressure. The last bit of rowing was the best I have seen you do. Go for it tomorrow!!!!! (Pia)

The first men made a courageous final attempt to bump Caius for the Headship. A phenomenal start rewarded them with a length whistle within the first 20 seconds. The crew continued to pile on the pressure, moving up on Caius steadily until Ditton and the first part of the Reach. The Black Prince moved to well inside half a length of the Headship.

However, Caius proved themselves capable of handling the pressure and thereafter moved away to clinch their 5th consecutive Lents title. The strain of the early stages of our race and effort required to finish well clear of Downing saw Dan Holland at stroke - on his 14th consecutive row over in the Lent VIII - needing first aid once across the line.

First and Third have now rowed over at 2nd place for 4 years. Once again we were the only club to beat Caius during the term and rowed away with Caius from the rest of the division in Bumps.

It is difficult to describe the mix of disappointment and pride that you feel for such great performances over such a long period of time. I can only say that I look forward to next year when the club has the historic opportunity for a double headship. I hope the next generation of oarsmen will finally crack it and at last enjoy the Headship I feel the club so deserves. (Martin P)

These pictures still make me cry.

Take pride in knowing that you were the fastest men's crew on the river. You really don't need a blade to remind you how nails you are.

We're all immensely proud of you!!! (Pia)

I don't know, I don't know... LMBC W1's calls for "Jeeeesus, Jeeeeesus!!" while beating their tree this morning sounded more like a plea to a Higher Power than their 'power in the water'...
unfortunately neither Jesus W1 nor Divine Providence yielded and we hit them coming into Grassy.

Favourite call: "Draw One-Finish here-quick catches- Oh, Maggie have taken a d... awefull line off the start!"

Favourite opposition comment: Jesus stroke to crew "We're going to get bumped tomorrow!"

A good start and all the sweeter because W2 had come back at Newnham with a vengeance!!!! (Pia)

As has already been said, not the best row, but it did the job and got the nerves out of the way. Looking forward to something a bit more solid tomorrow.

J (Jane)

This wasn't our best ever row but we did what we needed to do and did it reasonably quickly. I think first-day-of-bumps nerves got to us a little bit and so the start and subsequent stride(s) were slightly rushed and not as well together as we have been in training. Fortunately Maggie took a rather erratic line both off the start and around Grassy, making for a relatively quick bump. Tomorrow we know far more what to expect from the crews around us and should hopefully be able to find the rhythm we will need to take us through the rest of the week.

All in all, a satisfactory race, and the result we were hoping for. Job done. (Amelia)

Fined for "megaphone abuse"?? I love it! ("Light weight" Lilie)

Apparently Iain blew at full power into his whistle into his megaphone into an umpire's ear. (Martin)

From station 6 in the outflow our first few strokes were in dirty water but nevertheless our start was reasonably controlled and powerful and we settled into a strong rhythm after a couple of strides and some gentle encouragement from Jenny. Around first post Jesus, who had caned it off the start to go slightly outside distance, got to within half a length on Emma, but Iain loudly assured us from the bank that they'd gone off too hard and would be dying soon.

Anyway Jesus didn't die quite as soon as I'd hoped and although we closed to a length in Plough reach they pushed away again. Coming around Ditton we encountered a small headwind, and Jenny's instructions to sit up enabled us to finally find the crew rhythm we'd been trying to get. Before too long we were closing on Jesus fairly rapidly, and the confidence of bumping I'd had before Ditton became a feeling of certainty. We soon pushed to half a length and then quickly to a canvas and Jenny told me this one was for me. One killer push from the crew and three smashes of my blade into their stern later saw us eventually get the much desired bump, just before the railway bridge.

In summary, a good hard row against some determined and strong opposition. Tomorrow we're hoping to catch Emma before they get Downing, who are currently on for spoons. I can't wait! (Amelia)

Good race girls! I really enjoyed bank partying you today, it was Very exciting, YAY! Good luck bumping Emma tomorrow :) (Clair)

Thoroughly pleasing and purposeful rowing from boating to deboating. We did all we could but with all due credit to our speed, a bump on Emma on First Post was never going to happen!

On the bright side... the one way we could have avoided today's unfortunate starting constellation would have been the Headship for Caius... ahem... you have to admit there are worse trade-offs! ;)

Also very happy to see that all crews but the 1st VIIIs bumped today!!!!

Tomorrow W2 and W1 will strive to become the 3rd and 4th FaT crews to bump Downing this week. (Pia)

Today we rowed as we had intended to (and ultimately failed to) row all week, rather than battering up and down the slide and getting nowhere fast. Unfortunately even our best efforts, strong rhythm, desire to bump (and no doubt Downing's attempts to avoid spoons) were not enough to get a bump on Emma. We had a good start and pushed Jesus away, but even before First Post Emma had whistles on Downing and bumped them shortly after exiting the corner. Jenny managed to steer us through the bumped out crews and we refocussed on trying to make up ground on Caius, but unfortunately today it was just not meant to be.

It's gutting to be denied our blades, but it's happened to many crews before us and will happen to many again in the future. I guess that's just Bumps. We'll be fired up for chasing Downing tomorrow and hopefully can find the same easy rhythm we got today. From 14th to 5th in seven days of racing is certainly not a bad result! :D

PS Well done to Emma for a very quick bump. Yes, you were outside distance on us. I'll look forward to some good racing at the top of W1 next Lents! :) (Amelia)

I'm sure giving Downing spoons will be more satisfying than winning your own oars... (Tom C)

Today we had a much better start and reeled Downing in pretty much as we had intended. Towards the end when we were at a canvas/overlap it was incredibly rocky and as Jo says, we spacked around a bit, but fortunately it didn't matter too much. They eventually followed Jenny's eloquent instructions to concede as we exited Grassy, and became the fourth Downing crew of the week to succumb to a FaT crew.

Up 3 for the week, well done everyone! Training for Lents 2007 begins now.... :) (Amelia)

For the first time this week, we actually nailed the start, which helped us move up on Downing pretty quickly. After that, we did as instructed from the bank, and rowed clinically. Then we got to 1/2 a length and reverted to overenthusiastic spacking for a while - which meant we didn't finish the job quite as quickly as we should have done.
We got them round grassy, but they took an age to concede (a recurring theme), risking serious damage to yet another of their boats.

It's been a really fun week. I'm delighted to have been part of FaT women's journey up the first division, and I can't wait to watch the crew take the headship next year.
jo (I know it says graham, but its not!) (Graham)

We talked before the race about relaxing at the start and not panicing, but our first 3 draw strokes were a disaster. However we managed to get it back together pretty quick, and our mighty start kicked in and we got back the couple of seconds start we'd gifted the crews around and soon got a whistle for a length off Wolfson. We had a nice stride and had apparently gained more before they had some sort of huge push in the gut and got CCAT before grassy. We'd also dropped Queens who got hit in first post reach.

From then on there wasn't much contact with other crews, we were told we gained on Downing but the overbump was never really on. We kept the rate and pressure up but it was sometimes a bit scrappy, and I'd forgoten how dirty the water is in bumps, even when your not right behind someone.

On this display we're definitely faster than CCAT, and if we get our draw strokes right and row to our ability we should get them! (Neil)

Nice work guys. First "proper" bump for the 2nd Lent VIII since 2002! (Richard)

Nice work guys. First "proper" bump for the 2nd Lent VIII since 2002!

I coxed that boat! (Becca)

Hearing Magnus's "Bumps 10. Go!" as the crew came charging by with 4 feet to go was absolutely great. A good solid bump, the crew looked chuffed to bits, what a great result. (Martin)

We really showed the crews around us how it should be done after a bit of a dodgy performance yesterday :) We had an awesome start - we decided we couldn't be bothered with giving the other crews a head start this time, so we decided to allow sterm pair to join in as well this time.

We had 3 good draw strokes and wound well, up to the low forties I think. We held for 10 and got the 1 length whistle. Magnus decided that we were gaining so well on CCAT by this point that it would be churlish to stride and we held for another 10 before striding down to a nicely relaxed 35.

After a 10 stroke push we got to within half a length of CCAT, who were probably rueing the day they took up rowing. CCAT then took a wide line into First Post Corner. We could hear the glee in Magnus' voice as he called the 5 stoke push into the corner and then informed us all of the CCAT cox's lack of steering ability.

Half way around the corner, we got a 6 feet call from Iain and Magnus decided now was the time for a bumps 10. It was a bit scrappy - I'm not sure bow pair were prepared for quite how bad the water water would be this close. After 2 strokes we had overlap and we were closing in fast.

CCAT refused to concede and kept going. It wasn't until Will Thorne (I think) told us to hold it up that we finally stopped. I was worried that we had been caught up in Wolfson's bump as Magnus hadn't told us that we had bumped. As it turned out, we were told to stop before Igor ended up in CCAT's boat...

As a special bonus to CCAT for not conceding, they got a hole in the side of their boat. They decided to pull in straight away, depite our bow being somewhere under stroke's rigger. To add to the fun, Jesus II bumped Queens's II and decided they wanted to park on our bit of bank. This led to some interesting double parking and us holding onto Jesus' oars to stop them floating into the racing.

Wolfson managed to bump Downing II somewhere in the Plough Reach, so we should be able to nail them tomorrow. Let's have more of the same! (Tom)

Took it to 40 off the start, maintained for 20 and they knew they were in trouble. Strode down to a powerful 35 and were within half a length into First Post Corner. Their cox let them down on the line and halfway through the corner we got the "six feet" call and we took it up for the Bumps Ten. For some reason they didn't concede but the marshals on the bank called to hold it up. The row was short, focused and aggressive, and Darwin behind were never a contender. Bodes well for tomorrow. (Magnus Jones)

Much more relaxed draw strokes today and we had the length call after not to long. We strode down to 35 apparently, but it felt light and lower. As we were coming round first post corner we got a 6ft call and did our bumps push; a few wobbly strokes but it did the job. They took a bit long to concede and their boat took a little damage pulling in, and Jesus also decided to park on top of us.

Anyway, job done. We just need to do exactly the same tomorrow. Chasing Downing. (Neil)

Interestingly my house mate was in the bank party for the Downing crew. Always amusing to hear their side of the story too...

But well done guys. So far this is the highlight of the bumps for me! (Dan)

The Senior Umpire was certainly screaming at Downing to stop rowing. Yes, an overtake clearly counts as a bump - all umpires get told this at the pre-bumps meeting. I'm sure that all coxes get told this too. Perhaps this is one cox that didn't go to that meeting? (Richard)

Well today's plan was for a patient bump, and that plan was executed. We found a very relaxed and sustainable rhythm, with CCAT behind not dropped early like you'd expect after yesterday. When the distance calls started to come we new we just had to continue with the same and by the plough we had overlap.

Downing had a cunning plan to evade us by going ridiculously wide round Ditton, and Magnus resisted the urge to steer for the bump. We then became aware that the water had become far less dirty, and lo and behold, there were Downing rowing along beside us. Our bow balls must have past half way round Ditton and I thought that constituted a bump (I'm sure someone will clarify this soon!). Anyway there seemed no call from the bank and their cox must have had his arms bound to his sides as he still didn't concede. Perhaps they were counting on a secret pressure push they'd been holding back to take back a couple of lengths and shoot off up the reach, or trying to let CCAT bump them first for the up two, and to screw us up.

By the end of Ditton corner we had about another 3/4 of a length but still no concession! Magnus was obviously frustrated, and began edging over the river leaving them nowhere to go. I think it was eventually our stroke or 6-man's blade that hit their bowman's. He then had the good sense to stop rowing and tell his crew to do the same!

Wolfson got Peterhouse halfway down the reach, so we should get them tomorrow. (Neil)

Good, patient start, wound it right up. Ahead on Downing. Settled in to our long maintain, strode it down comfortably. Downing up a bit on Wolfson - clearly they've gone hard off the start. We're in rhythm, looking good.

Come round into the Gut, we get a whistle. Stay focused and cut a better corner than Downing on Grassy. Wolfson have pulled away and we take a ten push into the Plough Reach. Six foot call almost immediately.

Call for Bump Ten, and we've got overlap on their bowside. I'm taking the line for Ditton, and their cox can't steer in or they'll be bumped. He keeps the outside and takes a ridiculously wide Ditton Corner. We simply overtake on the inside.

Halfway through the corner, we're level. Unbelievably, neither their cox nor their bank party give any indication that they realise they've been bumped.

Coming onto the reach, we're practically clear of them, and I edge over onto their side, lightly clipping their bowblade with our sixblade (!). Their bowman stops rowing and starts shouting to concede. I start steering for the bank to pull in.

They just keep going at race pressure. I can't believe my eyes, but start steering out again to re-clip them. Thankfully, the marshals at this point call the bump. It's over.

Good effort guys, we held it together well even through the insanity of the last few seconds. This if anything proves that we can keep our eyes in the boat and execute our plan regardless of circumstances. More of the same tomorrow. (Magnus Jones)

CUCBC Handbook:

84. That a boat be considered fairly bumped when it is touched by any part of the boat behind it
before its stern is past the finishing post, drawing level with a boat being considered equivalent
to a bump, provided the bow balls are level.

Sounds clear to me... (Mike)

Got to 3/4 of a length early on the reach, but couldn't take it any further. Didn't row badly: we hadn't rowed better previously. Up 2 is a pretty respectable result. A good crew to row in an we were pretty happy.
Well done guys. (Neil)

We went with the same long distance race plan as the previous day, intending to really attack it on the Reach. The rowing was pretty good, perhaps not quite as good as on Friday, but still an effort to be pleased with. Closed to about 3/4 length soon after Ditton but unlike our opposition on pervious days Peterhouse showed some ability and determination, rowing away from us at the Railway Bridge.

Ultimately up 2 is a good result from a quick 2nd VIII which overcame a number of set backs during the term. A bump on Peterhouse was always going to be a tall order, and I think we can all be proud of our efforts throughout the week. (Phil)

As we thundered past the Plough, I called "We will execute our race plan to the letter." And so we did. Going for the Head Piece (Head Peace) approach, we settled into a strong 35 off the stride and dipped into a consistent 33ish long-distance rhythm. We were surprised, however, by the grit showed by Peterhouse in front, who we had closed to 3/4 with but who matched our series of pushes down the Reach. Nevertheless, this was a strong effort and a worthy end to a successful week of racing. (Magnus Jones)

The start was ok, but the rhythm was never 100% there, probably because of the dirty water. Catz II were never a threat, and we nailed Clare II hard in the Gut, causing them to spin sideways and block the river. The next six crews to come round first post corner had to hold it up.

This was the first time I've been responsible for carnage, and I loved it :-D (Albert)

We were in a win-win situation today; either we bumped Christ's or they bumped LMBC, in both cases we start behind LMBC on Friday. In the event, Christ's were about the same speed as us, so we had to settle for the latter option. There was some optimistic talk of an overbump, but one by one we gave up hope and pressure, maintaining the rate just to look cool. (Tom C)

Not quite convinced it was win-win... Personally I prefer up 1/short race to staying level/long race. (BJ)

We'll need to get a move on and put some hard work down on Friday to make sure we get clear of Caius. Let's hope all goes well - it's not often we get the luxury of chasing a Maggie crew in a downward spiral... (Albert)

The race felt different from the 5 seat...

From where I was it appeared that Caius dropped out of our radar completely and would never have got close to bumping us - Maggie will probably still spoon as a result of downwards momentum but I think the coveted 3rd VIII headship is ours fair and square!

And I never heard the Man In The Water call, which might explain why it was scrappy...

But yes, it was nice actually to row properly for the first time, especially after the frustration of yesterday. If we do it again we'll have a decent shot at Christs and hopefully save Homerton in the process. (BJ)

This is probably the greatest victory I've had in 3.5 years of college VIIIs racing, even better than beating Caius in Newnham short course. We really didn't think our superiority would be quite so devastating, with some people on the towpath prediciting a sandwich. Humble sandwich for them. (Tom C)

Today was always going to be the important day - bump LMBC and go head 3rd VIII, or get bumped by Caius and end up with a mediocre set of Lents results.

On the row down, something felt different from the previous days. The catches were quick, the finishes were together, and (gasp) was that actual work going down in the water? Surely not...

We were smooth and relaxed out of the blocks, absolutely in control and perhaps letting Caius inside distance momentarily. But then one stroke after the wind, we hit a powerful rhythm that we haven't had since Newnham Short Course, and proceeded to reel the Red Scum in. The hooters came in short order, and we forced a slightly scrappy Man In The Water Push while cornering at First Post. It was all over in The Gut, about twice as quickly as we had expected. A triple whammy of sorts - 3rd VIII headship, denied Caius blades, and helped Maggie on their way to spooons. (Albert)

Will Thorne is a very silly boy. (Albert)

Thanks Will for pushing us off every day, for your fine bank partying and hooting and for making what would otherwise have been an uneventful row-over a bit more interesting...!

On the plus side, it gave us a chance to show Maggie III we really are much quicker than them.

PS Albert thinks there should be some sort of report saying what actually happened: there was carnage at First Post so Will told us to wind it down. We paddled through only to be told to wind it back up again (he trusted our ability to row over more than the SU's to give a technical rowover...) by which time Maggie were half a length off us. We chased an 'imaginary boat' up the reach and re-opened a comfortable lead by top finish. (BJ)

Unfortunate. Nothing more to say really. We were clearly the strongest boat in the group surrounding us and we should have bumped Clare easily had we not had problems as we had already moved to only a length apart with our first five strokes. However, obviously it just wasn't to be today. We'll prove ourselves tomorrow. (Lyns)

Well done girls!!! I was so proud, Newnham were right up behind Tit Hall for the entire race but couldn't pull off a spectacular push like our girls that gained them over a length to get the well deserved bump!!! (Amy)

YAY! This has been a long time coming... (Harriet)

That was so exciting!!! and not at all "wierd"!...I'm getting better at analysing rowing now!!! That push was amazing, I can't believe we took a length with it! But we're back on form and ready for more racig on friday! Well Done girls! I'm so happy!! (Fran)

Class girls, absolute class. We gained the length we needed to bump them after the motorway bridge quickly, bumping them just before the corner, while they couldn't close the quarter of a length they'd held on Tit Hall since the motorway bridge. Mahahaha!

Look ahead now... Friday, we get Tit Hall!! (Lyns)

On our row up to race we saw Newnham III coming back looking extremely dejected and minus greenery and we guessed you must have bumped, and sure enough it didn't take long for you to come along bedecked in leaves - whooo! Congratulations! I knew you could do it. :) Fingers crossed for more bumpage and greenery tomorrow. (Amelia)

Finally!!! This was a thoroughly overdue and well deserved bump! With the knowledge that you have such killer pushes in you, the rest of this week should be good fun... ;)

Very proud! xxx (Pia)

Awesome, so well done! You must be absolutely stoked :) Roll on Friday and Tit Hall - you can so get them!

J (Jane)

Hehe, seeing you guys come back in greenery really cheered up my 12k erg :) Well done guys, more of the same on Friday! ("Light weight" Lilie)

I gave the girl in bow of Newnham III a rating of 6.5 which went down to 5.5 when she got closer...Just so you know it had dropped down to 4 by the end of the race, and i feel i was being generous...no worries, and well rowed. (Dom)

oh i am so pleased! as harriet says... 10th time lucky! good work girls, it was so exciting :D i think the trick was wearing both my pairs of gold socks, (which made my feet FAT-ter so they fit the shoes a bit more) oh how good! (Clair)

Fantastic, well done!! :) Wish I could have been there to see you get them. (Amelia)

Woohoo! Congratulations on two great bumps! You can get Downing tomorrow-- wish I were there to see it happen. Good luck! (Mika)

This just wasnt a fair contest today, Tit Hall had no chance against our women. The girls were quietly sunbathing as tit hall pulled up the start and their nonchalant attitude definitly intimidated the lesser crew. The confidence was not misplaced. It was a very short race today with the bump coming just beyond the motorway bridge, the whistles were coming so fast as you guys were doing really really really really really really really well. Superb work today girls!!! (Amy)

Well done! I actually have tears in my eyes writing this! Wish I could have been there! Katie (K.J. Birley)

Yay! Nice and easy one there. On to the next one tomorrow!!!

Special thanks to Jo - our last minute sub - fantastic row hun! Mwah! xxx (Lyns)

Fantastic result, well done! I'm so pleased for you. Next year you'll be the top placed crew in the GoR and can continue storming up the charts to finally earn a permanent place. See you at the dinner. :D (Amelia)

What can i say...add a bit of violence to a sport and it gets ten times more exciting. This was a very close race with downing within metres of the boat in front of them but this definitly did not phase our girls. They kept rowing on, as did downing...even when they were on the bank! Highlight of the lent bumps was definitly the sight of the downing crew swimming for the bank, classic! Hopefully the video footage of it came out alright. (Amy)

well...going into the bumps we had arranged 4 back up plans:
Plan B: sorcha would jump into the boat in front and hit the cox
Plan C: like plan B, but with me, the cox, running the length of the boat and jumping into the boat in front.
Plan D: Cannon rowing - sorcha inspired idea, which involved mounting the starting cannons on the bow and stern and shooting the crew infront and behind.

Oh and also if in doubt there was always plan A, plan A was there is no plan A!! cunning!

Downing did'nt concede, and so i called for an extra push, I then tried to take the inside of 1st post corner, however i had no control over the steering. It appears that we were attached to their bow! It wasnt until i saw their cox jump overboard that i presumed we had bumped (as still no consession from downing), and so we dutifully backed it down.

However by this stage their bow was riding high on the bank, and their cox seat had flooded. As each section filled up, the boat sank deeper into the river. Stern 6 eventually swam to the bank...

Sorry downing... i think that sinking the boat must have been plan E...

Well done all xxx (Dom)

Congratulations girls - 4 days of excellent racing, barring a bit of bad luck! Well done all! :o) (Erica)

Wow! These last two days of racing have been crazy and amazing - to get a chance to row in the bumps with you guys was the best thing I could have asked for, it was such a pleasure to row with you! You really are a rock-solid (and sexy) crew, you deserved every bump you got. And to sink another boat, well, it was certainly an experience I won't forget quickly!
Love you all! (Hope you're feeling better Katie!)
Jo xoxo (Jo)

Bumped... and sank Downing II! All of us gave every last bit for this last race, and it was worth it. As we closed on Downing, their bank party's hooting for their attack on Clare Hall seemed ever louder, and the crew worked hard together to get them before they forced Clare Hall to spoon. It was true "cannon-rowing" that gave us the bump :)

My favourite part? That their stern 4 waited till they were neck deep in water before abandoning ship! (Clair)

This was an awesome race!!!! It was a confident bump if not a little later than it should have been! I was very proud of our boys today, well done guys it was a thoroughly deserved bump hopefully every day will go as well, touch wood! (Amy)

BUMP!!!

We started ok, strode to a length, then to half a length, then pushed to overlap. Richard then decided to overtake, and we bumped just after the motorway bridge when we blade clashed.

Awesome line on Richards part, just hope he goes for the bump rather than the overtake next time!

BUMP!! (Paul)

As we rowed up we saw Downing looking scruffy in non-matching kit and what looked like an antique of a boat, we were confident and rightly so. We gained half a length after the wind and we were into a push as soon as the stride! WE could've bumped slightly quicker since Rich decided to row along side them!! However the bump was inevitable and after a blade clash we got the bump just after the motorway bridge!

More of the same tomorrow...

Ra Ra First and Third!! (Lorry)

Bumped (almost) by the motorway bridge, good start and a good row, taking downing apart with ease.

Queen's tomorrow! (Martin Y)

Down Down(ing), deeper and down!

A good start with Queen's III in our sights for tomorrow with a weeker Peterhouse II in front of QIII, leaving an interesting day's racing tomorrow! (Andy S.)

Another sexy row from the guys. The row up to the start was definitly one of a confident crew ready to bump and their solid practice start no doubt intimidated the queens crew behind them. Everything looked in place for a good bump! And indeed one did follow and quickly!!! It was also helped by the fact that Queen's started at an interesting angle on the river, but most definitly a well deserved victory for the guys! (Amy)

What more can we say? Bumped in under 30 strokes! An awful start by Queens meant we again caught up to a length very quickly. A faulty cox box struck again in the bows but we felt the push from stern four and joined in and before we knew it we'd rammed into 'em good 'n' proper! It would have been a bit more of a bump instead of a ram if the Queens cox had conceeded when Sam hit their boat five times, but no matter. Half way to the fabled blades then. Peterhouse II lie in our way next... (Andy S.)

Wasn't feeling well so wanted a quick bump... and we got it, 25 or so strokes, on the first corner before the motorway bridge... Well done guys! More of the same tomorrow!


As an extra their cox got a fine for not conceeding, mwahaha!! (Lorry)

Lorry mentioned that he wanted a quick bump, as he was feeling ill- and he got one:) Its a great feeling seeing the other boat out of the corner of your eyes before you've been told to stride!

Pity their cox refused to concede despite being struck several times by sam's blade... but we rammed them anyway:)

BUMP!! (Paul)

Good stuff FaT M4. You're bumping almost as quickly as the 4th Lent VIII in 2003 of which I was a part. But don't get too complacent just yet. Bumps can throw up some funny situations - we'd bumped 3 times within about 25 strokes - and then something, um, unfortunate happened.... (Richard)

It was a good start, then we heard the whistle and thought ah a length, good one, then noticed the whistle was continuous so pushed those last two strokes and felt our bow hit there stern nice and hard, bumpage!
30 strokes hardly feels like a row though, but our long piece on the way home felt pretty tasty so even if we actually have to do some rowing, Peterhouse II are going to get their arses kicked!! (Martin Y)

Well its safe to say the boys have been getting a little cocky of late. Boasting of all their quick bumps but today they proved that they were fantastic at the slightly longer stretches, having to row a little longer than their usual 30 or so strokes and having to "stride for the first time" as certain members of the crew continuely pointed out. But it was a very good race and a well deserved bump, the peterhouse start was a strong one but they just couldnt sustain it throughout the race and the sight of our boys gaining on them obviously must have been disheartening!! Well done guys, tomorrow is the clincher...good luck!!! (Amy)

Not the sexiest of our rows as our bank party would say, but it got the job done! A bit of an untidy start meant we slipped down about half a length on Peterhouse II and the Queens boat that we bumped yesterday closed the gap, but we stuck to our game plan, wound up to about 38 then actually had a stride (although it was only to 36...). With the high rate, we were a bit scrappy, but we started closing the gap on Peterhouse and got to a length just past the motorway bridge. We heard Fitz bump the spooning St Catz boat (we hope!) and ploughed through the middle with about quarter of a length between us when we reached the start of first post corner where we thoroughly smashed into them, making a bit of a mess of our bow section. Strangely tired (we haven't had to take a stroke side corner in bumps before!) and having rowed pretty spackily, I was still fairly ecstatic. Just one more bump... (Andy S.)

Bumpage!!

Our start was consistent with our mood I think, confident and not too aggressive but our wind to 38 brought us the speed with needed and we even got to stride, yay!!
Damn good bump into 1st post completely smashed up our bows, now we have three pretty colours on our bows purple, green and blue!!!
It'll be claret coloured streaks tomorrow. (who in their right mind has claret coloured blades?) (Martin Y)

The row up felt quite good today- very smooth in places. We were all very up for it today, and aware that we might have to row for a slightly longer period than before. The start was smooth, and although queens maybe closed a little on us, we settled into a semi-decent stride, and quickly closed to a length, and then half a length. As we rounded first post corner, we noticed we had overlap, quickly bumped them.

Our bows are looking quite special- we've got paint on them from all the crews we've bumped.:)

Let's get Catz tomorrow. (Paul)

A controlled race with a stride! We moved up on them fairly quickly, securing overlap by the motorway bridge and bumping shortly after (about where we bumped Downing III). Blades!

The row of honour back with the flag was something pretty special (until we swapped positions outside the Cantab house and half of the men's division 2 wondered how on earth this crew had got blades). What a fantastic first Lent Bumps. Having got a taste, I'm without doubt back for the Mays.

Thanks for everyone who's helped the crew, from bank partys and Iain to coaches and LBCs who made this possible. It's been a true pleasure to work with the crew.

P.S. Good on Rich for letting us throw him in the Cam at the end (video to come...).

P.P.S. How much is a blade? (Andy S.)

I love you guys. (Albert)

BUMP!! BLADES!!! We may have been the most arrogant crew on the river, but we delivered! (Will)

Get in. Blades. Delighted.

We weren't arrogant, just well aware of our potential:) Though being told that Albert wants to have your babies is enough to make anyone arrogant;-)

The race itself was pretty good, started, wound up to 39, and then strode, briefly, to one length. A push later we had overlap, and bumped, just after the motorway bridge.

*grin* (Paul)

BLADES!!!

Good rowing paid off everyday, and even though in total we probably only rowed as far as grassy we earned our blades with many many (early) outings this term. Just need to thank all our coaches Neil, Albert, Andrew H, Andy Pickard, Dan Darley and to Iain, and to all those who helped carry me home from the lents dinner last night.

Mays here we come. (Martin Y)

Absolutely awesome!!!!! I am so proud of all you guys you really deserved this well done!!! Though on your row home i think you made a few of the other crews wonder exactly how you bladed...there was definitly some interesting coxing going on from lorry and some even more interesting rowing from rich but all in all your one damn sexy boat!!!! (Amy)

We had the measure on Fitz III from the very start but unfortunately - as seems to be our nature - seeing another boat coming up towards us got the better of us, heads went down as did the speed. Tomorrow with clear water behind us - i'm sure we can claim back from Eddies what is rightfully ours, and give them back their title of arse of the river! (Slacker)

Sorry guys, no pictures of you yet - you can blame BumpIT! I'll be sure to make it down in time to see you tomorrow. (Martin)

That was surely our shortest race... Anyway, I think we got into quite nice pace and rythm - were it not for the carnage under Motorway Bridge, we might have at least make Fitz nervous...

This Saturday - making Jesus IV get their well deserved spoons. (Mat)

Well, while the race was somewhat short, at least it snowed on the way back... (Cakeman)

Good row today guys - congratulations on retaining the 5th VIII headship for another day. Those thirty-five strokes you took before hitting carnage were well worth the row down to the lock and back :-D

In all seriousness, you looked smooth and in control today. Here's hoping for a good race on saturday and that long overdue bump on Jesus (even if they don't park it like they did today). (Albert)