The Club's Results

Final calculations could be wrong, but only in the details. Jesus won, we came second.

(For those interested and for posterity, the final number of additional points from dead heats counting double is:

Jesus     18
1st & 3rd  6
Downing    6
Peterhouse 6

This means that Jesus would have won anyway.) (BJ)

Well, I feel as Captain I really ought to enter a race report for this one.

As we lined up for the start it was clear that Jesus had a good squad and it would be a race to the line for the Michell Cup won so narrowly last year. Their dominance in small boats events has always been their strength and we knew we would need a great showing in the Bumps to thwart a Jesus victory.

The events kicked off with the University Fours, FaT winning the Women's A division with some ease and Jesus drawing with Downing in the final of the Light IV division. A decision by CUCBC to change the allocation of points and award 12 for a dead heat left us on level terms with Jesus.

Next, the Clare Novice Regatta provided some good racing as well as a further chance for points, and the Men's First Novices took home the plate and 12 more points for the club. Luckily Jesus did not win anything.

However, disaster struck in the Fairbairns when wins by both Jesus' M1 and W1 left them topping the tables just ahead of us - 24 points to JCBC, 0 to FaT. Things were not looking good.

The only event in the Lent term to earn Michell Cup points was the Bumps. Blades from all of the top four crews left us in a good position, but unfortunately we were brought down by Jesus' strategic failure to qualify an M5 for the Lents. This meants that while our scores were divided by 8, theirs were only divided by 7 - a considerable advantage. The lower boats made a good showing but unfortunately there were no points available for M5's successful defence of the 5th VIII Headship. Jesus were now well in the lead and we started to lose heart.

Not to be beaten though, we resolved to enter many many crews in the Small Boats Regatta and drown Jesus by sheer weight of numbers (if not backsplash, or accidental collision). This was moderately successful and we won several events: Helen Ralston in the Delafield Trophy (WC1x), Bryn Garrod and Dan Jane in the Men's Foster Fairbairn Pairs, Helen Ralston and Fran Rawlins in the Women's Foster Fairbairn Pairs, and finally Erica Thompson and Lilie Weaver in the Women's Magdalene Silver Pairs. The last event was tied with Hopper and Couch of Jesus. Final Small Boats count: 54 to Jesus, 48 to FaT.

So, Jesus were a good way ahead coming into the final straight: the Mays. However, we went off hard and with a string of bumps (and an overbump!) on the first day it looked like the Michell Cup might almost be within our grasp. Sadly, Jesus took a counter-push (spurred on by the Women's May Headship) and despite our gains stayed just ahead to win by a canvas, the two leaders many lengths ahead of the nearest opposition.

Interestingly, the total number of points of the winners was considerably larger than in the previous year, not solely due to the "bonus" points for ties. JCBC and First and Third have certainly raised the bar with another successful year for both clubs. Being competitive in the Michell Cup standings is a great indication of a club's quality, especially for ones with boats this highly-placed already. So congratulations to JCBC and their captains on a worthy win, and congratulations also to all those who have raced so successfully for First and Third this year. It's been another good one! (Erica)