The Club's Results

Yeeeeeesssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Pia)

Row was not too bad, but a good result. No reason to be happy yet though. (Andy)

Surprisingly, I was more nervous for this race than I have been for at least the last three years. The start wasn't great. They held you well and I was having doubts. But along plough reach you were incomparable. A great result that you guys thoroughly deserve.

Thanks. (Dan)

Well I'm excited even if you're bloody not! RA RA 1st and 3rd!! (Joff)

Got the bump pushing out of Ditton. Dan - doubts? Even coming into the Gut I thought there was no doubt. The roars of triumph through the crew at the moment they got them were awesome! Yes there are three days to go... but it was a fantastic sight. (Martin P)

The wind conditions were probably the worst I've ever rowed in. The start wasn't affected as badly as I thought it would be, but as we rounded First Post Corner the wind got worse and progress down the Gut was really quite slow. Plough Reach was pretty calm and we really stormed up on Caius whilst rating around 36-37. Rounding Ditton we were less than a canvas off their stern, but when we hit the 30mph headwind the boat more or less stopped. I was struggling to get the blade in the water at all, and everyone was rowing half slide at best. At this point a number of us thought we'd thrown it away, but somehow Caius struggled more and we hit them about 10 strokes later. They then just sat in the middle of the river with our bow wedged under their stroke man's rigger whilst we celebrated (read, 'acted like total dick heads'). They looked devastated, and probably hated us for all our shouting, but they managed something resembling a three cheers (more than I think I would have been capable of in their position) - a great display of sportsmanship.

The fact that we dominated all term, took the headship and comfortably held onto it still amazes me. We had no 'superstars' in this crew, unlike Caius last minute addition of last years CUBC president (there was a rumor Jesus also dropped in a 2006 Goldie rower, but I don't know if that ever actually happened), and only three of us had ever rowed in the 1st VIII before. This was also pretty much the same crew that took a beating from 4 other Colleges in Fairbairns, and so at the start of term I really thought that our training would be an exercise in damage limitation. We worked very hard all term, binned almost all commitments to get quality water time, and reaped the rewards. However, there are a number of people without whom we would have struggled: Rachel and Pia for excellent captaincy last year, putting the club back on the winning road; Ming for his incredible coaching all term; Neil Talbott for making us believe we could do it; Richard Church for his words of wisdom from a man who's done it all many times before; Iain Law for being generally great and Clare BC for making us realise (in Pembroke Regatta) that every race is a fight. (Phil)

"We had no 'superstars' in this crew"

For 'no', read 'nine'. (Neil T)

Phil's report definitely strikes a chord with my own experience in the crew of 2000. We similarly had only three previous 1st VIII rowers, had been well off the pace at Fairbairns, and decided to bin everything to get quality water time. I think the only major difference seems to be that we certainly didn't dominate things all term!

Perhaps this sort of thing is what makes good bumps crews? I've often felt that trust, commitment and determination count for more than rowing ability in these bizarre races. Where better to find these things than in a dedicated crew who have trained together for two solid terms, made sacrifices together, and who have learned what it means to have to fight?

An echo to Neil's comment - you are all legends. (RTT)

Overall an okay row, but a little scrappy in places. We could, and should, be rowing better. (Andy)

An excellent row to Ditton was rewarded with a substantial lead over Caius (see pictures) - i.e. 5 or 6 lengths. A relatively relaxed Reach saw this reduced to c. 3 lengths by Top Finish. (Martin P)

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes...... (Anything to do with being short)

No pressure from behind. Controlled row-over. (Andy)

We were more relaxed in the first half, having rowed over once already. Jesus got Caius coming round Ditton, and were probably inside station on us at Grassy. Some stops will need to be pulled out tomorrow. (Tom C)

Listening on the radio ... RA RA!! (Dubya)

Job done.

Will write a more complete, and upbeat, race report later. Though I am really happy. :-) Dinner and the smell of burning wood...

Coming into this term, the crew was pretty much unchanged from Fairbairns. Graham was taking time off rowing, but we had ample cover with Will. Who despite the teasing is still taller than me :-) Based on Fairbains VIIIs results, it was all looking pretty even at the top of M1. We'd ended up 7 seconds of the pace of Jesus, down in 5th place, so the potential was there for a bit of change at the top of Lents... To be honest, I was also considering taking it easy this term with regards to rowing. An extra-Cambridge girlfriend, PhD turmoil, the cold and wet campaigns of Lents 2004 and 2005 and starting to feel very old at the club being the primary reasons. Still, as Ming says, rowing is more important than girls. (Claire, if you're reading this, I don't agree, despite the last few weekends :-) And I wanted to bump Caius.

So first race, Head-2-Head. Not very special, despite coming 2nd of College VIIIs, were some 25 seconds off the pace of LMBC. Still, this was early in the term, and we'd not quite figured out how to deal with the windy conditions yet. Thanks to Andrew Lewis for subbing. Richard was still keen for lectures, so ended up winning a pot with M2 in another division. But something to work on.

Our next race was Head of the Nene. Solid row, in surprisingly pleasant weather conditions. We sent off quite hard, and showed a good level of fitness over the 5k course. The last half was pretty choppy, probably due to the concrete banking on both sides of the river. Ended up faster than the other college boats (though obviously, a bit off the overall lead), 15 and 18 seconds ahead of Jesus and LMBC. Which pretty much stated our intentions for the rest of term.

Geared up a touch after the Nene. Note: three pieces is not ideal the first outing after you've moved up three notches. Won the Robinson Head, though I was taking this result with a few large pinches of salt. Jesus, LMBC and Downing hadn't raced, and Caius' time was so laughable, I figured they were just pissing around. Conditions still notably good, which they have been all term really. Also, very pleasant to avoid early mornings altogether, as we opted to try and fit in outings when the river was as clear as possible. This has probably helped us a lot, along with a good steady state that Tom has been setting all term. Got a new boat at this stage, some teething problems getting used to sitting it. Took longer to settle than I liked, and briefly wondered whether it would be better to keep the old one.

Onto Pembroke Regatta, which was good practise for us. Thus far, we'd done well in head pieces, but starts are pretty crucial in this and Bumps. The first couple of rounds were relatively easy. The third with Clare, almost caught us out. Where we were lethargic off the start, they blasted it, out to maybe three-quarters of a length by the railway bridge. (We were on the meadow side.) We came back at them slowly through our corner. It would have been very close, from there to the finish had it stayed a clean race. I would not have been confident about calling the result. As it happens though, Clare (quite rightly) tried to move onto our line through the railway bridge, I made use of our side of the river. After clashing for around ten strokes (good job kepping it together, bowside), Clare lost their rhythm and we rowed past. Still Clare gave us the kick up the arse we needed. Last two rounds much better. Maybe a couple of seats down on Jesus in the first half (meadow side again), but took plenty of distance at the bridge and over the line by about a length. At this point, we were starting to consider Caius and Jesus as the main opposition for Bumps, so this was especially pleasing, though I believe Jesus were missing a couple of rowers.

The last week before bumps was less than smooth, as a few people were away or ill. Thanks are due to Dan Jane, Graham Sills, Neil Copland, Karthik Tadinada (Christs) and Richard Mott (Sidney Sussex). Richard managed to sub in when we were sparring with M2, going on to getting bumped by M2 in bumps... Also, Clare agreed to spar with us. Very useful practise, 'bumping' them on Ditton from station and putting into perspective how bad we had been in Pembroke, when we weren't switched on.

Bumps, the first day was a bit of a head wind down the Reach(clams on). Our plan was simple, we'd go off hard from the start, race to the Railings, and then count on our fitness (which was pretty good) to grind out a result down the Reach. Caius had reinforced, though obviously hadn't been rowing together as long as we had, so we could expect them to be less strong in the wind and over the distance. It turned out pretty well, maybe a length off out of Grassy, really motored down Plough Reach, our ten unsustainable strokes going into Ditton closed up massively, and the bump happened just after Ditton. Sorry Iain, the bows got a bit of a dent, either from their stroke's blade or rigger. There were a few dodgy strokes at the end, understandable given the conditions, but overall a good performance. Pleased to get Caius, as were Tom and Pedro especially. Tried not to let people get too carried away, the week was yet young. Thanks to our bank party for collecting greenery, and apologies for not coming over the river to collect it. Wanted to get people back to the warm, and thinking about the next race. Used the same plan on Thursday (and in fact on every day). Weather was calmer(clams off), still a slight head wind. Was wary of complacency, since Caius would be that much stronger for their race practise, but in the end a comfortable lead by Ditton, which we held onto to the finish. Maybe lost a length or two from Railway Bridge to Top Finish, though not an issue by then. Caius put in a determined row to row over in front of Jesus. Strong committed row, though a few bad strokes with people getting caught out at the finish by the slightly choppy water. Dealt with it well, but better if we didn't have them in the first place. Friday, same plan, maybe marginally slower off the start, but much more controlled, looked and felt relaxed. Jesus moved quicker today, catching Caius just out of Ditton. Relaxed rowover, almost a warm down on the last half of the course. Saving energy for the last day. Saturday: first time I've felt particularly nervous in bumps for at least a couple of years. Woke up early, calmed nerves by reading about C++. We knew we ought to be faster than Jesus, but there's always that uncertainty when there's a new crew chasing you instead of one you've already comfortably rowed over in front of. Probably not the only nervous person in the crew. Still we knew we were better than Jesus, we had the results to back it up, all we had to do was prove it again. Expected Jesus to go hard off the start. They might have done, maybe inside distance on First Post corner, but thereafter falling behind. Easily the best row of the week. Fast yet relaxed rhythm. Some observors on the Reach thought we didn't look like we were trying very hard, which is a good commendation on the rest of the crew. In the end, somewhat less stressful than anticipated, and clearly showed our speed over the rest of the division. A pleasing week's, and term's, work. Good to see what looked like the entire club, past and present, gathered at the P&E and the end of the Reach. Your support has been greatly appreciated. Good bit of champagne and beer on the way home. PS: It IS tricky to steer while holding a flagpole (not just me being grumpy, honest). Very nice rowing side-by-side up the reach with W1, the other headship crew.

Boat burning was good, thanks to all those who helped to carry the Fair Maid, Magnus and myself back. There were a few hairy moments that first corner and down Chesterton Road... (Andy)

As part of the enormous contingent waiting at the Pike and Eel, I listened in on Neil's portable radio. The commentary was almost indecipherable, but we heard "First and Third... storming start" followed some tense minutes later by "First and Third pulling away". The boys came into view to huge cheers from the bank and we could see immediately that they had taken a couple of lengths from Jesus, rowing over comfortably.

It isn't always the fastest crew who end the week at the Head of the River, but today there is noone who can dispute it. (Erica)

The culmination of an amazing term's rowing. All the way down the course the support was unbelievable, passing the P&E, hearing the massive cheer and realising we were going to make it to Chesterton was a great sensation that I will remember for a long time to come. (Will L)

I'd be lying if I said that I'd enjoyed much of the past week up until about 4:48pm on Saturday. My first feeling on crossing the finish line was just relief after the pressure we've been under since we unwisely started winning stuff this term, but as time passes by the realisation of what we've achieved starts to sink in and the satisfaction is incredible.

If it's a sad testament to the quality of college rowing that a crew of such limited talent and experience could come from a disappointing Fairbairns result to such a successful Lent Term, then it's an even sadder testament to the quality of CUBC's selection process that we ended up with Ming coaching us this term. Without him, we'd have finished down this week. We should have been disqualified for having ten men in the boat. In his own words, while marshalling next to Caius on Friday, 'I find it amusing that they're better rowers, a head taller, have an international at stroke and you still bumped them'. Fortunately not the motivational words he used on Wednesday...

I think it wouldn't be fair not to mention how sporting Caius and Jesus have been. Despite our slightly over-exuberant celebrations on the first day, Caius were always friendly during the week. We only had one chance to race directly against Jesus but they were (nearly) the first to congratulate us when we crossed the line and again back at the boathouse. It's nice when rival crews share a mutual respect for each other that unfortunately often isn't there in the rowing community...

Finally, I'd like to echo Will's thanks to all our supporters. It felt like everyone from the club who took part in Bumps and then some was waiting for us at the P&E and the noise was deafening. And of course our travelling support - I can't believe so many of you made the effort to come! You really put the Jesus fans to shame at Ditton and we're all incredibly grateful that you all came out to support us.

It's been an amazing term - we'll enjoy it for a couple of days but then it's straight back into training for Head of the River and the Mays! This is just one step towards our ultimate goal of beating St Pauls on the Tideway... (BJ)

Link to boat burning video I took last night. Sorry it's such poor quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaJ51dQG3aw (Julijana)

Fantastic start! Wish I could be there this week... (Pia)

What more can I say, but wooooooooohooooooooo!! (Jane)

To rephrase the gibberish I came up with earlier in more coherent fashion -
a) fucken' legends the lot of you! (look will, no actual swearwords there;)) Guy told me that I'm going to have a tough time getting in the may VIII :S
b) you are way too keen. save tomorrow's bump till the reach. or at least give me a better estimate of how fast you're going to hit them!
c) heheh, i'm SO glad you bumped emma ;)
d) you guys are unstoppable now - go get that headship - you all deserve it, it's been many years of hard work coming!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (Joff)

Good solid bump on Grassy. Caius (2 in front) had been a worry, but in the race Emma made little ground on them so all was well. (Martin P)

Good stuff. Still lots of work to do this week though... (AmeLia)

Going into this race it looked like being make-or-break for us. Emma were evidently a better crew than Caius and likely to bump out at some stage, so it was a question of catching them before they caught the crew ahead. If we hadn't made this bump, it would have used our get-out-of-jail-free card (the extra day) very early on, putting us under some pressure.

We nailed the first few strokes and shot off the blocks, closing to a length almost before Iain could raise the whistle to his mouth. An awesome start which broke Emma; we continued to walk through them and they conceded just out of Grassy.

I think after this race I knew we would make the Headship. With three days to take two places and a confident and buoyant crew, we had the best chance possible. (Erica)

And again, woooooooooooooo!!!!!!
Wish I could've been there. (Jane)

Held station with Caius whilst they went all-out for a bump on Clare. Caius closed to half a length on Clare at about Grassy and then faded - bumped out of Ditton. (Martin P)

Super stylish - why bother to actually hit them when you can just overtake? i'm SOOO excited about today (Friday)!
WOOOOOOOOOOO - donkeys for everyone! (nearly..) (Joff)

Further crew illness worries. Amelia had been unwell at the weekend, Lynsey on Tuesday. Today, Jane turned up to our morning paddle looking distinctly pale and feeling queasy, and was sent home to bed. By lunchtime she had been throwing up and felt worse, so Jo was drafted in from the second eight to sub.

The row down was decent and Jo fitted straight back in to W1 in the 4 seat. Chesterton was a rather depressing place to marshal, as we attempted not to watch a Robinson rower chucking up his (seemingly very large) lunch into the river after rowing over. The crew plague had spread further than we realised - Catherine was sick at Chesterton, but did her best to hide it from the rest of the crew (only myself and Amelia realised).

Given all this, it's unsurprising that our start was not the best we have done. We took longer than usual to settle into the race, with some wobbles in the gut. Coming into Plough Reach, we found our rhythm and suddenly, from calls of "on station", we were somehow magically at a quarter-length coming into the corner. Magnificent cornering gave us a considerably tighter line as Caius swung out wide to avoid (postpone) the bump. Sticking to his guns, Magnus steered us down the racing line on the Reach, and we had over half a length of overlap without concession before we finally moved across to take them down.

As we pulled in to the bank, Jesus bumped Emma right next us. They are a good crew looking to blade in parallel with us - hope we can continue sending crews down to them.

Crew pasta cancelled in an attempt to avoid further spread of the vomiting bug. (Erica)

Oh my goooooood! You girls are soooooo awesome!!!!!! I am so happy I am going to pop! I wish I was there to see you in person but at least I was listening live! Congratulations! Keep it strong tomorrow. YAY!!! (Julijana)

Bring on the double headship! (Smiley Mark)

Legend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Anything to do with being short)

Result! (Matt)

At risk of getting repetitive: woooooooo!!!!!
I'm still pinching myself. Can't believe we really did it. Us, head???!!! (Jane)

Good strong start saw the crew move up rapidly. By Grassy the gap was down to a canvas and further reduced to just a couple of feet by the exit of the corner with a good inside line from Magnus. This awesome and dominant row was finished off in style with the crew drawing partially alongside Clare to bump them at the Plough.

Very many congratulations to the crew and to all their predecessors over the past 4 years, who have achieved what must surely be the most dramatic rise to the Head of the River of all time. From a position of 15th in 2002, today was the culmination of a rise of 13 places over 12 consecutive days racing in the Lents.
2003 Up 1, bumped New Hall
2004 Up 1, bumped Queens
2005 Up 6, bumped Christ's, Churchill and Newnham, overbumped Girton
2006 Up 3, bumped LMBC, Jesus and Downing (Martin P)

Jane and Catherine back on form, if not at full strength. Good to have a full crew back.

This is what we'd been waiting for all term. The Headship ours to take; we wanted to take it in style. Another good start and we gained a lot of ground on the corners. Clare tried to avoid the bump in the same way as Caius, by steering out of the racing line. We stuck to it and again made considerable overlap before Clare conceded the Headship outside the Plough. Much jubilation. (Erica)

We anticipated that Clare, behind, would go off hard in a last-ditch effort to reclaim the Headship before being bumped by Jesus. So it happened; they made some ground off the start and closed to around a length before fading into the distance.

As we pushed out of Ditton, to huge noise from the banks, it became clear that Clare were not going to appear behind us. The row over as Head would not be pressured at all. A beautiful day and we took the opportunity of clear water to do another great race piece almost to the line, marred only by a small incident with a log causing Julia to lose her blade completely, leaving it floating in the water behind us. Catherine at 7 stroked us across the line. (Erica)

Link to boat burning video from last night. Very very poor quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaJ51dQG3aw (Julijana)

This is to the whole Club, but seems most appropriate for me to submit to W1...

Just looking at all the reports and pictures at work and I started crying a little, oops. So happy this was achieved, I feel rewarded for all the time invested in the Club.

Absolutely fantastic results throughout the Club. Thanks for capitalising on all your potential. (Pia)

another boat burning video, complete with chanting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qt_rHn9MLE (Kristina)

Slightly overkeen pre-start 'tap' from myself and bow meant the chain snapped tight and left us going slightly backwards at the start, but good bump around first post, with a couple of extra strokes from bow 4 smacking into them to guarantee it :).

Bring on Disney (Martin 'Fantastic Catches' Yarr)

Fairly messy start, we had a whistle coming round first post, and they got two whistles on Sidney in front. We got a " go for it" call and we seemed to have overlap a couple of strokes later. Got them in the middle of the gut.

We were worried about Peterhouse bumping out before we got them, and given they were inside half a length on Sidney when we hit them it is encouraging for Thursday. (Neil)

Congratulations! I'm particularly impressed that Mr Yarr has managed to update his report at 1812, 1818 and 1839, despite having a supervision between 1800 and 1900. (Tom C)

a great first race

the start felt a little messy, but we had it back together by the end of the wind, went fairly hard, although peterhouse got their whistle on sidney before we did, when they got their 2 whistles we executed our race plan - emma called an all out push, and we did roughly what we had planned - 30 strokes, 10 into the corner, 10 coming round the corner and then 10 out of the corner.

some slight personal confusion between the calls harden and hold it up meant I took an unneccesary couple of strokes after they conceded, but eventually we all worked that we had bumped and needed to pull in.

First ever bump for 5 people in the crew - great fun! (S.J. Lings)

Phew, that was close, didn't expect Disney to be quite so slow. But we managed to get Peterhouse before they managed to convert, we rule! (Lorry)

Good work today guys. I was really impressed by the way you pulled out all the stops coming into the gut, the shift in boat speed was awesome!

Roll on Thursday, and *touch wood*a quick bump on Sidney... (Emma)

good start (even though I missed one of the draw strokes) wound it up high

first whistle just after the stride, big push for the second whistle, kept pushing through, BUMP! (S.J. Lings)

It sounded like they had cannon to the right of them and cannon to the left of them, but the crazy horses of FaT M2 charged of the start line with real aggression. They galloped after a hobbled looking Sidney crew and took them down before First Post corner, quite frankly, they could have done it at a canter.

If the thoroughbred stallions of FaT live up to their potential they can look forward to illustrious careers before being put our to stud. Some of the crews we were stuck behind on the way home are only good for glue. (Neil)

Good, quick, clean, agressive, just disappointed we couldn't have taken that one extra stroke so I could have planted my blade in that coxes back slightly harder :p

Bring on Girton (Martin 'Fantastic Catches' Yarr)

Shorter.

Bring on Cats (Who are now down 12 places in their past 11 rows) (Martin 'Fantastic Catches' Yarr)

From when the Trigger was pulled, the Black Beauty that is TR1 shot off like a Champion. Perhaps the saddle-sore looking Girton crew ahead of us threw a shoe, because the whistles came quickly, they were like a Boxer on the ropes and we bumped out coming in to first post corner. A mere Fatty Lumpkin to our Shadowfax they compounded their shame by rowing home half naked.

Tomorrow we hope we will row with a cox at the back, like a train in the night, fetlocks blowing in the wind. We will earn the right to be showered with sugar lumps. (Neil C)

Vorsprung durch Pferdemedizin.


Understandably this result was somewhat overshadowed, but bumping 4 college first VIIIs without getting past the exit of First Post is very impressive. We were the highest "up 4" mens boat and it's annoying that we couldn't have a few more days to get the 2nd VIII headship and into the first division as we would definately have held our own in the bottom third.

Personally it's nice to finsh with blades in the fastest crew I've rowed in. I hope you guys go on to ensure FaT domination for many years to come (Neil C)

Four 1st viii's dispatched, four awesome bumps, aproximately four minutes of quality rowing and four crew members in the river, foursome guys! (Martin 'Fantastic Catches' Yarr)

3rd bump in a row before 1st post corner,

the only question that remains now is:
do we get Macons or Cleavers?
(obviously we get crew weights in Imperial because it's more old school and classy) (S.J. Lings)

For me the first day sealed our result, having hit Peterhouse it was just a set of clinical bumps on crews we were simply better than. If we missed them it would've been just an up three, which nobody likes ;).

I would like to thank Seb, David, Neil and Pete for their wonderful coaching, Iain for pushing us out, Graham for subbing on saturday, Emma for some great coxing and the rest of the crew for pulling their weight (except maybe bow pair :P)

Good job guys! (Lorry)

Great term's work guys, we got what we deserved. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to this crew. I love the lot of you! XXX

PS Just like to wish Neil good luck for life after the PhD. (Emma)

Finally we realised what we´d been working for all term: Our huge committment payed off as we absolutely dominated all the crews around us and left no doubts how we were going to do.

Thanks to David and Seb for their reckless coaching and the supply of "Sebisms", which make rowing so much fun. A huge thank you to everyone in the boat for making this day a very special one that I shall not forget. (P.M. Preiss)

Good start procedure; we didn't panic, which is probably what made a major difference between us and some of the other crews. Scary stuff at the end, but we held it more or less together. I'll work on louder calls for tomorrow :). And sorry that Christ's cox. The late concession threw me for a stroke, and that stroke was just enough to flatten her and bend our bow rigger. whoops.

Anyway, solid-ish row, must be improved upon for tomorrow, where we face Homerton I. (Jij)

Started with swan-like grace and composure. The crew looked as relaxed as if it was a normal piece and ground Christs down slowly and definitely. Christs didn't concede until Sam was level with their cox, we were right in line with them so the boats locked and Christs were sent on up the bank. They rowed home so hopefully their boat isn't broken.


An excellent start but tomorrow is looking much tougher. I back us to pull something out of the bag if we hit the stride well and don't let the wind put us off. ('Wind' as in the weather, not the start procedure) (Dan Newton)

Quite fun. Fantastic first three draw strokes and controlled wind. Little bit of confusion about the stride, because half of us were already gunning for the bump. In the end we settled to a leisurely 35 and reeled them in before first post. From position six...

A dangerously late concession from the Christs cox, and quite a lot of lip on the way home. And I thought we were meant to be the arrogant bc! Still, at least we can row, although perhaps our holding it up needs working on. (Dan)

An excellent performance. We had an awful start but dealt with it calmly. By the time we were back straight and winding Christs had made quite an impression. Once we got going we held them but Homerton in front had already bumped out and Selwyn three in front followed shortly after.


The conditions were oceanic, especially on the reach, and Christs were a good deal faster than yesterday. The boys held it together admirably in what was a baptism of fire for many of them - having had no real rough water or wind experience.


We would probably have not caught Homerton with a good start and so the result was fair - just Christs got a little closer than we would have liked. Looks positive for the last two days as we collect Homerton's driftwood. (Dan Newton)

*sigh* Plenty of good things to take from this race, but not the result we were looking for.

Horrendous start (we need a bigger bankparty, guys!) with no-one in the bows ready for the first stroke. School boy error. Didn't crash altogether though (Well steered, Jij!), and Igor deserves special mention for a controlled wind with his blade half in.

After the crap draw strokes and tentative wind we got back into it, hitting a very comfortable 39 sprinting speed; the control in the start is such a plus. Nowhere near fast enough to catch Homerton though (well done, guys), and they bumped out in front of us by first post.

Race was made slightly more interesting by the terrible start and Christs II behind us going hell for leather for the bump back. They got within 3/4 of a length (although their bank party were positive it was 1/2), but were never in touch to be honest. Awful conditions on the reach meant the crews bunched a bit, but Jesus III didn't have what it takes alas, and bloody Christs II kept us rowing above 28 the whole way. (Dan)

I know I said I was looking forward to racing past first post corner for the first time in a bumps race, but come on, this is ridiculous! :P

Good recovery off the abysmal start, let's keep focused on friday and hopefully we won't have to do this ever again! (Sam Z)

Think the pictures capture something of the conditions - though I missed some of the choppiest stuff at the start of the Reach. (Martin P)

An imperial performance. Today's mission was codenamed 'Assassin' and to be executed quickly, cleanly and professionally.

Our swan start put us up on Binson immediately. When things were looking beyond doubt Homerton, who had bumped out ahead of Binson, started to swing out from their inside of the corner clearing position. Binson squeezed through and we had to take the corner very wide. Stroke side did a fabulous job swinging us back round and once straight the onslaught began in earnest. We were soon back to a length, half a length and then bump. Moved up consistently and powerfully, bumping just before grassy.

More of the same tomorrow barring any unforeseen mishaps. (Dan Newton)

Just like day 1, a buff start set us off well for the race. We drew, wound and sprinted well, didn't really bother striding until we saw Homerton looming in our path. A wide line and a gut-busting pull from strokeside neatly avoided a big crash.

Robinson went strong off the start, trying to avoid the fate that they'd suffered at the hands of our boathouse-mates. However, our boys had fire in their bellies after Mo's curry last night and it really showed in the push for the kill.

Good row lads, more of the same tomorrow please. It's been a pleasure coxing, make me proud tomorrow! (Jij)

More of the same. A powerful start and reeled them by about the time we strode.

The focus for the row home was 'sexual'. 'Sexual' rowing is achieved by using either 'blue steel' or, for softer water work - 'le tigre', along with much flexing of the muscles (pronounced 'moose-clays'). The aim of 'sexual' rowing is to make as many females pregnant as possible merely by rowing past them. We obviously won't know quite how sexual we were for a month or so but there were definitely a few weak knees on the towpath. One lady even fell over. This may have been due to the crew 'wave' which M3 have incorporated into their one arm rowing exercise rather than leave their spare arm hanging uselessly behind their backs. (Dan Newton)

Up 3 lads, we might have deserved more but I'm immensely happy that the first time I did bumps I had such a crew behind me (or in front of me, really). Today's race was the day when all that training was given the chance to slice, dazzle and quite possibly outshine them all.

Our spirit carried us to the bumps, through the bumps and back from the bumps. And quite possibly a new call - bullet time slides, complete with sound effects. This was a performance we can really be proud of, from the May colours to the first timers. Go M3! Go First and Third!

It's been great. Hopefully won't be the last time I row with you guys. (Jij)

In hindsight we were probably unlucky in not joing the top four boats and winning our blades... but then again hindsight is such a wonderful thing. Two dubious outings leading up to Pembroke regatta left me fearing for my bumps average, but an excellent result on the day plus a week of good solid outings set us up nicely for bumps. Three quick bumps and a rowover in the most amazing head wind has made for a most enjoyable four days of racing. Not too bad at all :) (Sam Z)

All bumps races should be like this.

On the wind, Iain called one length. We had overlap by the power call. Clare Hall finally conceded just after the motorway bridge.

Special mention goes to Clair for last minute subbing in, and to Ulrike who we hope is recovering well.

Looking forward to tomorrow. (Harriet)

Girton acknowledged coming into first post. (Dubya)

Our start was good given the head wind, but coming under the motorway bridge we hit a massive gust that caused us to completely lose rhythm. At the same time, Clare were busy aiming for the bank, their bow girl having 'defended her ears' rather than take the first stroke. Girton were a quarter of a length off them when they managed to pull away, which left us feeling quite nervous. We seemed to be a length off for ages, but then pulled it back together and closed quickly just before First Post.

After we held it up there was lots of confusion about what had happenned, as New Hall II were still spacking around in front of Girton, their bow completely covered in mud. A few of the less obedient crew members refused to row until Jenny and John told us the good news - New Hall had in fact been bumped by Clare ages before but were having trouble clearing. Can't wait to chase them on Friday...

And in case anyone was worried, Dami and I got C6 :) (Harriet)

for "some of the less obedient crew members..." in the above report, read "the crew member in the three-seat began to panic that we might have been thwarted in our bump, and so caused a BIG fuss..."

thank you girls for having me in your crew, i feel very honoured to row with you all. i had fun, but i very much hope ulrike is better soon :) ! (Clair)

Let's take up the confidence from the AMAZING results in M1 and W1 and blitz these next two races. We are so capable of doing it, let's do it in style and make them proud. Woo hoo! (Jo)

Definately best row of the week and even shorter than tuesday. Awesome!

Yes, New Hall got pushed out by the outflow (this will not happen to us tomorrow, coz Iain and our bankparty are amazing) and so I just kinda concentrated on being in a good position to pull in for greenery. hehe. Didn't make a power call, totally unnecessary when you'd have bumped by the 2nd stroke after it. You girls rock. (Dami)

Wow those cannons are loud!

Luckily Dami didn't need to call much, just "wind 1, wind 2... and thats a quarter of a length, keep winding... and stop rowing!" (Harriet)

Yay! We bumped again. The start was better that previous days, althogh that cannon can surely be scary. Tomorrow we're right in front of it. Apparently New Hall's bows were not straight when they started, so they took time straightening while we went right at them for the bump. The row was short, but not bad. I don't remember hearing a power call from Dami, maybe because we were so close to bumping. Good work everyone, let's keep it strong for tomorrow! (Julijana)

This row felt really strong and confident - even if we were chasing a much stronger crew I'm pretty sure we would have got them. All we have to do now is what we've done the last couple of days. I'm very very excited. (Jo)

Congratulations!!! (AmeLia)

Blades!!!!!!!

Quotes of the day by Dami:

"Blades 1, blades 2, blades 3..."

After 2 bottles of champagne:
"Arrgh, there's a boat coming. I'm scared." (Harriet)

I cannot be happier! We got blades and a place for W2 in Lent Bumps next year. Our last day was the best row during all of Bumps, even though our start was maybe the worst, a consequence of starting right next to the cannons and the outflow. An excellent job by Dami and Iain for getting us straight. The row was a bit longer than previous days (though we always managed to bump before or at first post corner), but we went into it strong and confident to catch St Catherine's and win our blades. It has been a pleasure being a part of W2 and rowing with you all term. A shame Ulrike couldn't row with us for Bumps, but many thanks for Clair for subbing in. We justified our hard training and great motivation. Many thanks to Neil and John for coaching us. It has been trully amazing! More goodness to come in Mays! (Julijana)

Crews ahead bumped out. Crew behind bumped out. Went for the overbump on Caius. Solid effort from the crew, over a distance longer than we have rowed so far this term. We took five lengths off them, but needed six and a half. Same commitment tomorrow, but with more time on the slide, and we'll be flying. (Magnus)

The crew got off ok, and moved slightly towards Clare II ahead. Unfortunately, Girton II behind were moving up much more quickly. They made contact in 1st post reach.

On Friday, maybe another shot at the overbump on Caius III looks likely. (Richard)

At the risk of sounding too cocky - the possibility of a double overbump on LMBC is not as silly as it sounds... (Dan Newton)

A good start, but Eddies just opened up a little ahead, and Peterhouse closed slightly. Peterhouse seemed to have some very optimistic whistles. The crew held Peterhouse well at about 3/4 length all the way to Grassy, but I'm not sure what happened next as we didn't make it round the corner. We parked on the outside and Peterhouse rowed past for the bump. Gutting. (Richard)

A combination of wind and some, shall we say, "controversial" positioning led us straight into the bank by the third wind stroke. We managed to pull back and hold Christ's off at 1/4 length for what seemed like eternity, before they finally went for the bump just after the motorway bridge. It was a good row and I couldn't be prouder of us all for coping so well with what was just bad luck. Let's do it double tomorrow :D (Kristina)

I agree with Kristina - there are plenty of positives that we can take out of today's row, even though obviously we're pretty disappointed. We managed to hold off Christ's for quite a while as they never went in for the kill, which bodes well for tomorrow. We never really found our proper rhythm, but what we had felt OK from where I was, not too rushed, and we pulled together nicely for a decent push under the motorway bridge. The less said about the start the better - these things happen so we need to refocus and get ready to bump tomorrow! (Charley)

See you tomorrow Christ! (Alex)

I feel I probably should apologise to the crew for this one. The wind caught the bows and the chain went taut, skewing us round a bit. We ended up pointing a little towards the far bank and in trying to get round, we clipped strokeside blades on the foliage. After we were back together, Christ's had their first whistle, and closed on us going into the first corner. The gap closed to a few feet round the corner, but the girls pulled it together well to push off them for a while. We were finally hit just beyond the gunsheds. Disappointing for me in mucking up the push-off - especially given that Emma III ahead were potentially bumpable. Sorry, girls (Richard)

Looked pretty neat coming past first post corner! (Dubya)

Once again disappointed not to have cracked this Bumps thing but still a row to be proud of :) A MUCH better start than yesterday (i.e. rowing in water, not grass!) saw us gain a bit on Christs II, although they unfortunately pulled away and bumped Emma III pretty quickly, leaving us an almost clear river to just keep going...and going. Rowing over is a world of pain, especially in such horrific conditions, but we sat up well into the wind and kept it together for a strong and committed row. The rhythm went a bit towards the end, but luckily Pembroke IV spacked it up by going into a barge, and even though we were told to pull over before the race actually finished we held them off no trouble. I can feel our first ever bump coming on on Friday...please! (Charley)

A decent push out this time, and the girls got a better start than yesterday. Christ's II ahead got a bit away from us as we settled - and went on to get the bump on Emma III pretty early on. Meanwhile, the 12 crews ahead of Emma also bumped out pretty early on. We had no-one to chase!

It seemed that most of these bumping crews seemed to bump out on 1st post corner - Sarah's coxing to avoid this obstacle course was excellent.

Going around Grassy, Pembroke seem to head for the Ditton bank and hit a barge. We settled into a nice lower-rate row to take it home. Unfortunately, the incredible wind in the reach seemed to take our bows out a bit wide and we had some blades get close to the far bank. We pushed off, but seemed then to head to the near bank - again catching blades on the bank. Pembroke, however, were still nowhere to be seen - we eventually got moving again and paddled the 50-100m or so to the lower finish to row over.

Anyway, a better result than on Tuesday, hopefully the girls'll be able to bump Emma III when they next race on Friday - and apparently the weather is expected to be better as well! (Richard)

OK, so we have to bump Emma III, because I don't want to row all that way again... 40 mile/hr winds suck! We did awesome girls... (Narelle)

Awesome row over today girls, but please please go make them pay tomorrrow. Shame about the re-row - I think you would have got them if you hadn't stopped. Chins up, go out and kill them tomorrow (Fran)

Rowed over...again! Our first start was pretty good but then Clare Hall spacked it up by ending up horizontal under the railway bridge, so a restart was in order. We never really seemed to get it together today, I think we lost our focus a bit after stopping and starting, and although it did the job it wasn't our best row by far, not helped by my knee blowing out half way along the gut which threw me and the rhythm a bit. But tomorrow's the last day so we'll throw everything we have at Emma, although we're prepared for another row-over, hopefully getting-on-race stylee this time! (Charley)

Arse of the river! And a pretty damn fine arse as Alex pointed out. I know I wasn't the only one to end up in tears after this one, as we really thought we had the bump or row-over in us, but it just wasn't meant to be this time. Although as several people have said, just getting on was our bump and a historic achievement that we should be really proud of. I've had such an amazing time this week, you girls have made rowing so much fun, as proven when we had to row back partly as bow 6 because I was laughing too hard to row! Thankyou for such an awesome term, I'll miss the sausages and the banter, but bring on the stash!!! And thankyou to the wLBCs, Neil, Erica and everyone else who has coached/supported us this term, we couldn't have done it without u guys :) (Charley)

Grrr. Chaos reigned at the start as everyone attempted to row in their own time. Poor old Prith was buggered, being halfway through a stroke to line us up at the gun, consequently fell off his seat.

Was almost amusing watching from bow, until the seriousness of things dawned.

Still, we're going to be better tomorrow... Honest.

Tom -- sod this 'bumping back' malarkey -- eyes on the overbump ... ;) (Stu)

The first couple of wind strokes felt ok from the front of the boat if not completely together. The draw started to fall apart.
We never really strode and the boat speed fell, and despite getting the timing back together a new push never happened and we slowly caved to a boat we shouldn't have caved to.

Lets go out tomorrow, heads up, push off the start and aim for a bump back (Thomas)

Churchill ahead bumped out early on pembroke - now down 2. We pushed off an unlucky homerton and held it together, just, until the end. (Thomas)

Much better row- unfortunately Churchill bumped out so fast that we never got a chance to have another go at them.

However, at least we avoided our disaster start of yesterday, while chasing Homerton headed straight for the bank. They gained on us at first but we just about held them off at a bit less than a length.
A combination of a Homerton crab and a good line from Emma round Ditton meant that we could finish the course in relaxed style.

I'm happy not to have had to race down the reach, which was as nasty as the bermuda triangle on a bad day.

I should add that this is my first head-to head race ever in which my crew avoided the worst possible outcome. I have to say I'm delighted! (Charles)

I'm not sure I'd call it relaxed, but we didn't panic -- certainly a good, solid rowover.

Now let's bump Pembroke (?) before the M'way bridge... :o) (Stu)

Charles, that's just not true. As the coach of last year's 5th VIII headship crew I'd like to point out that on three separate occasions you rowed-over ahead of the lock. And good work on retaining that headship this year! (BJ)

Good work - even better than yesterday! At the risk of doing a Bullock, I think that's the first time a FaT 5th Lent VIII has bumped since 1998...! (BJ)

I've not checked, Bryn!

It was a good row though. Decent start and they moved well away from Homerton behind - despite them pushing off properly today. Round the first corner we had the first whistle, the 2nd came around the Little Bridge, 3 whistles under the Motorway Bridge. Overlap and the bump happened just before the Gunsheds. Homerton took quite a while to come past! Back where they started - and a good chance of getting CCAT tomorrow for an up-1 for the week. (Richard)

"Draw 4! Wind 1! Wind 3! Wind 4! Wind 8!..." :o) (Stu)

That was almost too easy after yesterday's race! The most satisfying thing was that we pulled nearly a length off Homerton in the short time it took us to bump.

This sets us up nicely for another go at CCAT- hopefully no disaster starts this time! (Charles)

The first Bump for 8 people in the crew... including one person on his 7th attempt. We are maintaining our 5th headship in style. The bump was a sweet reward for the row over in front of a closing homerton yesterday.

The race was far more comfortable than yesterday. the rating after the stride - for about 15 strokes - was lower than normal and felt better for it. As we gain in confidence we are improving.

Its payback time for CCAT for escaping on the first day after we were bumped. Churchill are faster than CCAT and homerton will get pembroke behind us leaving them no escape... (Thomas)

Congratulations guys! Knew you had it in you, well done on a good term's rowing, glad to end it on a high. Looking good for Mays! (Martin 'Fantastic Catches' Yarr)

A good start. Inside station to the motorway bridge where we got a length call. We were thinking it was going to be a long row.
A bit of spacking but CCAT had crabbed. 2 whistles and then 3 quickly followed. A last push led to a concession just before first post corner. (Thomas)

Very satisfying result. We had a tidy start this time, although with somewhat more conventional calls than on Friday. We closed steadily and CCAT started flagging well before first post. If only we'd done this on day one! (H. Braviner)