The Club's Results

We should really have won this, so let's roll out some excuses. The CUCBC flag had conspired against us so that we hadn't had an outing for 9 days, let alone practised rating above 28, ever. Also there was a stiff headwind in plough reach which the earlier divisions hadn't suffered so much. And bow pair had a tough golf match in the morning.

In any case, it was good fun... rarely do I get a chance to row in such a powerful crew. (Tom C)

This was a fairly good row, with plenty of commitment, but we still have a lot of technical gremlins to work out before we are ready for Mays.

Caius M2 were 14s faster than us today. We need to - and will - raise our game and start to row with confidence and precision, to retain our position on the river. (Albert)

Our stealth start from under the willows near the Plough didn't win us any prizes and Jane and my efforts at getting us around Ditton didn't either but fortunately we got going and up to rating pretty quickly, settling to a powerful 33. We had a nice lift to take us over (under) the line in style.

Sadly not quite enough to win today but 5s off the winners (Caius) and joint second with Jesus isn't a bad result. We should be aiming to increase our speed by being a bit more together and confident in the way the boat is moving as a result; once we've done that I hope we can close the gap on the crews at the top of the division. (Amelia)

Many thanks to the numerous subs who turned up for us (Dan J, Yung-Chin and Martin Y). We spent most of our slightly ropey row down, getting used to the shiny new boat and blades. The 5th VIII were using what, up to now, had been what we were using in our outings.

Once marshalled, it started raining, so someone had the bright idea of singing 'We're Singing in the Rain' on the start line. After a couple of practices, boats marshalling near us were left in no doubt as to our singing ability. And probably more bemused by the follow-up whistling of the chorus (bow 4 can't whislte...) There was also a round of guess Amelia's weight. Still, we duly sang on the start line and were rewarded with champagne. Ironically, it was no longer raining by the time we started...

Pretty good and aggresive off the start. Unfortunately once got around Ditton, it slightly degenerated into a bit of a standard lower boats spack up the reach, not helped by myself missing (what I assume were) 'up 1 down 1s' as the cox box wasn't working. I think the last half minute was a bit more solid.

Still, it was all good practice at something approaching race rating, and at least we won *something*. Plenty of room for improvement, and hopefully we might eventually end up faster than W1... Right, best get back to the weights, else bow and three will *never* get the boat round Grassy come bumps. And I've been in boats that didn't turn round that corner... (Andy)

Just not quite together at any point - I think the standard of the singing set the tone for the entirety of the race! :) Due to various crew commitments we were pretty sub heavy, and the rowing gods had conspired against us not only with the weather but also in the fact that we had to row in Richard Church. Fortunately the only significant corner was a stroke side one (we wouldn't have had a hope at getting around Grassy).

A very mediocre row, the crew is capable of an awful lot better than this result. At least we beat the fifth men though... ;-) (Amelia)

Only 8 seconds slower than the Grad VIII! The 5th VIII turned in a very respectable time, successfully mixing it with crews higher in the Mays charts than themselves.

Focussing on long finishes paid dividends in the first half, but these shortened up as the pain set in. Some good calls from Rich seemed to bring it back together for the last pushes. Looking encouraging for Bumps. (Albert)

Disappointing. Tit Hall II beat us. Not sure what happenned. The extreme cold and wet didn't help but in the end it was just too comfortable. We'll have to do better than this. (Harriet)