The Club's Results
Champion of the Thames Eights Head, May Term 2008
A Head race for eights from the Plough Pub to the Penny Ferry.
Sun 18th May
The official results published by the organisers, Champion of the Thames RC, can be found here. At the bottom of this page there is a summary of the results of college crews and a link to Cambridge weather. Club members, please go here to add (or correct) results, crews or race reports.
1st men's VIII, Men's 1st Div. Mays
2nd fastest college VIII, racing time only
Time: 4:24.4
Time: 4:24.4
Pants. We regained the course record for 71 seconds. Kudos to Downing and Ian Watson for raising the game.
Apparently the wasters on the forums reckon I'm an "awesome townie" (they obviously weren't watching) and a "pikey". How flattering :-)
Apparently the wasters on the forums reckon I'm an "awesome townie" (they obviously weren't watching) and a "pikey". How flattering :-)
2nd men's VIII, Men's 1st Div. Mays
6th fastest college VIII, fastest 2nd VIII
Time: 4:36.1
Time: 4:36.1
Not a bad race all in all. Two subs into the five and six seats is never ideal, but in the end we dealt with it very well. (Cheers for helping out lads!)
Some nice confident paddling on the way down and the starts were looking less disastrous than Friday's attempts. In the race the start was ok, rating a little higher than planned (what do we expect with Mr Canada in the stroke seat). About as tidy as could have been expected. We dealt with the corner well, emerging at rate 37 with catches intact.
The reach was hit and miss. Kept the rating on target til around 2 minutes where we sagged briefly - some committed pushes resurrected the rate and a 'bow-four catches' call worked wonders to pick us up under the railway bridge.
The last minute was a hard slog, bringing the rating up to 38 by virtue of a lot of grunting and wheezing. The stroke side lean grew progressively as technique began to fall apart...
Although it wasn't exactly a comfortable race, I'm pleased with this result. Its good to find out our limits. We're in a good position to move things on again technically in outings this week. Good job lads.
Some nice confident paddling on the way down and the starts were looking less disastrous than Friday's attempts. In the race the start was ok, rating a little higher than planned (what do we expect with Mr Canada in the stroke seat). About as tidy as could have been expected. We dealt with the corner well, emerging at rate 37 with catches intact.
The reach was hit and miss. Kept the rating on target til around 2 minutes where we sagged briefly - some committed pushes resurrected the rate and a 'bow-four catches' call worked wonders to pick us up under the railway bridge.
The last minute was a hard slog, bringing the rating up to 38 by virtue of a lot of grunting and wheezing. The stroke side lean grew progressively as technique began to fall apart...
Although it wasn't exactly a comfortable race, I'm pleased with this result. Its good to find out our limits. We're in a good position to move things on again technically in outings this week. Good job lads.
An excellent result, considering we were missing the experience and aerodynamism of the Doctor. But I don't know what Jesus did to beat us to most impressive start; maybe we didn't shout loud enough.
3rd men's VIII, Men's 3rd Div. Mays
35th fastest college VIII, 9th in Mays div 3, 3rd fastest 3rd VIII
Time: 5:08.5
Time: 5:08.5
Not a bad start winding to 38 but a pretty messy row after that with a crab from me 5 strokes from the finish line to top it all. According to Peter bow 7 hang massively at the catch so we really need to work on this over the next week.
The results reflect the shoddy row. The only M2 crew we managed to beat were Kings who are an entire division below us. If we want to go up in Bumps we need to get about 15 seconds faster.
Most of the crews around us in bumps were a little faster but not by much. Unfortunately the crews on either side of us didn't enter.
Queens M2 (5 in front): 4 sec
Churchill M2 (4 in front): 3 sec
Pembroke M2 (3 in front): 13 sec
Maddalene M2 (2 behind): 10 sec slower
Fitz M2 (3 behind): 18 sec
Christs M2 (4 behind): 13 sec
Clare M2 (5 behind): 15 sec
The results reflect the shoddy row. The only M2 crew we managed to beat were Kings who are an entire division below us. If we want to go up in Bumps we need to get about 15 seconds faster.
Most of the crews around us in bumps were a little faster but not by much. Unfortunately the crews on either side of us didn't enter.
Queens M2 (5 in front): 4 sec
Churchill M2 (4 in front): 3 sec
Pembroke M2 (3 in front): 13 sec
Maddalene M2 (2 behind): 10 sec slower
Fitz M2 (3 behind): 18 sec
Christs M2 (4 behind): 13 sec
Clare M2 (5 behind): 15 sec
This race demonstrated that trying to spank a boat along with no particular regard for technique results in a hard row with no particular speed.
The start was good, controlled, powerful, the boat was moving. Around the corner the boat was not as nice and I felt things never recovered. Power went from the drive, which would not have been disastrous but for the lack of time on the slide. The rate got as low as 32, which considering we were rushing probably means that the drive portion of the stroke was round about 30, hence explaining the slow time.
Key points
1. Blade goes in at the front
2. Power goes on together
3. Slow on the recovery, and if it feels slow, it is probably too fast. Go slower.
The start was good, controlled, powerful, the boat was moving. Around the corner the boat was not as nice and I felt things never recovered. Power went from the drive, which would not have been disastrous but for the lack of time on the slide. The rate got as low as 32, which considering we were rushing probably means that the drive portion of the stroke was round about 30, hence explaining the slow time.
Key points
1. Blade goes in at the front
2. Power goes on together
3. Slow on the recovery, and if it feels slow, it is probably too fast. Go slower.
1st women's VIII, Women's 1st Div. Mays
13th fastest college VIII, 12th fastest 1st VIII
Time: 5:32.1
Time: 5:32.1
A simple start which effectively brought us up to racing speed and a 'tight' line around the first half of Ditton mean that we probably haven't won any prizes today. But we're not worried about that as the row was solid, the focus was there throughout the race and we never lost the rhythm for more than a few strokes. We put into practice what we've been working on this week and from here it's just going to keep getting better.
Edit: We did win a prize! Congratulations Mark, I'm sorry I doubted you.
Edit: We did win a prize! Congratulations Mark, I'm sorry I doubted you.
A strong start had us moving quickly to the bunting line, but being a little too eager for a tight corner I overcooked the first part of Ditton, just scraping the bank with Harriet's blade, and cutting the grass with the a couple of others.
Despite this the push up the Reach was solid and fast, and the pushes brought good bursts of speed where necessary.
Overall, a really good row.
Edit to Harriet: Not at all! I am just as surprised as you - clearly the judge likes his corners tight, just like his rudder strings...
Despite this the push up the Reach was solid and fast, and the pushes brought good bursts of speed where necessary.
Overall, a really good row.
Edit to Harriet: Not at all! I am just as surprised as you - clearly the judge likes his corners tight, just like his rudder strings...
Cheers for the beer Mark!
2nd women's VIII, Women's 3rd Div. Mays
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<h3><a name="selectedresults">Selected Results</a></h3><h4>College men's VIIIs</h4><p><pre><b>Pos Cat Club Crew Crew pos Time</b> 1 M1 DOWNING M1 1 / 19 4:24.1 <b> 2 TO 1ST & 3RD M1 2 / 19 4:24.4</b> 3 M1 LMBC M1 3 / 19 4:30.8 4 M1 JESUS M1 4 / 19 4:31.6 5 M1 PEMBROKE M1 5 / 19 4:32.8 <b> 6 M1 1ST & 3RD M2 1 / 15 4:36.1</b> 7 M2 LMBC M2 2 / 15 4:38.7 8 M1 EMMA M1 6 / 19 4:41.1 9 M1 CHRISTS M1 7 / 19 4:41.4 10 M1 MAGDALENE M1 8 / 19 4:42.3 11 M2 SIDNEY SUSSEX M1 9 / 19 4:42.6 12 M2 KINGS M1 10 / 19 4:43.1 13 M2 PETERHOUSE M1 11 / 19 4:43.3 14 M1 CLARE M1 12 / 19 4:44.2 15 M3 LMBC M3 1 / 9 4:45.5 16 M2 HOMERTON M1 13 / 19 4:45.5 17 MS CITY - CITY/GIRTON 4:45.6 18 M1 QUEENS M1 14 / 19 4:45.8 19 M1 QUEENS M1 15 / 19 4:46.4 20 ML CCAT M2 3 / 15 4:47.0 21 M2 JESUS M2 4 / 15 4:50.0 22 M1 CHURCHILL M1 16 / 19 4:50.3 23 M3 FITZWILLIAM M2 5 / 15 4:50.4 24 M3 JESUS M3 2 / 9 4:50.4 25 M2 EMMA M2 6 / 15 4:50.9 26 M2 GIRTON M1 17 / 19 4:51.3 27 M3 CLARE M2 7 / 15 4:53.1 28 M2 DARWIN M1 18 / 19 4:54.4 29 M3 CHRISTS M2 8 / 15 4:54.7 30 M3 PEMBROKE M2 9 / 15 4:54.8 31 ML ST EDMUNDS M2 10 / 15 4:59.3 32 M2 CCAT M1 19 / 19 5:00.7 33 M3 QUEENS M2 11 / 15 5:04.5 34 M3 CHURCHILL M2 12 / 15 5:05.8 <b>35 M3 1ST & 3RD M3 3 / 9 5:08.5</b> 36 ML KINGS M2 13 / 15 5:10.0 37 ML LMBC M4 1 / 2 5:17.6 38 M3 MAGDALENE M2 14 / 15 5:18.4 39 ML SIDNEY SUSSEX M2 15 / 15 5:20.2 40 ML JESUS M4 2 / 2 5:23.0 41 ML QUEENS M3 4 / 9 5:23.8 42 ML FITZWILLIAM M3 5 / 9 5:31.7 43 ML CHURCHILL M3 6 / 9 5:32.5 44 ML SIDNEY SUSSEX M3 7 / 9 5:34.9 45 ML DARWIN M3 8 / 9 5:53.4 46 ML MAGDALENE M3 9 / 9 6:01.9</pre></p><h4>College women's VIIIs</h4><p><pre><b>Pos Cat Club Crew Crew pos Time</b> 1 TO CHRISTS W1 1 / 20 5:07.6 2 W1 PEMBROKE W1 2 / 20 5:09.3 3 W1 EMMA W1 3 / 20 5:16.4 4 W1 QUEENS W1 4 / 20 5:20.1 5 W1 CAIUS W1 5 / 20 5:22.0 6 W1 JESUS W1 6 / 20 5:23.8 7 W2 MAGDALENE W1 7 / 20 5:25.5 8 W1 CLARE W1 8 / 20 5:27.3 9 W2 PEMBROKE W2 1 / 12 5:28.3 10 W1 GIRTON W1 9 / 20 5:29.0 11 W2 DARWIN W1 10 / 20 5:31.9 12 W1 LMBC W1 11 / 20 5:32.0 <b>13 W1 1ST & 3RD W1 12 / 20 5:32.1</b> 14 W1 JESUS W2 2 / 12 5:32.6 15 W2 HOMERTON W1 13 / 20 5:38.9 16 W2 SIDNEY SUSSEX W1 14 / 20 5:39.1 17 W1 CHURCHILL W1 15 / 20 5:42.4 18 W3 CLARE W2 3 / 12 5:43.7 19 W2 EMMA W2 4 / 12 5:44.2 20 W3 ST EDMUNDS W1 16 / 20 5:45.1 21 WL SIDNEY SUSSEX W2 5 / 12 5:49.6 22 W2 ROBINSON W1 17 / 20 5:50.1 23 WL EMMA W3 1 / 5 5:53.0 24 WL PEMBROKE W3 2 / 5 5:54.3 25 W2 FITZWILLIAM W1 18 / 20 5:54.9 26 W3 NEWNHAM W2 6 / 12 5:56.5 27 W3 MAGDALENE W2 7 / 12 6:05.8 28 WL KINGS W2 8 / 12 6:07.6 29 WL MAGDALENE W3 3 / 5 6:08.3 <b>30 W3 1ST & 3RD W2 9 / 12 6:09.1</b> 31 WL CHRISTS W2 10 / 12 6:11.0 32 WL CLARE W3 4 / 5 6:20.1 33 WL CLARE HALL W1 19 / 20 6:23.8 34 W2 WOLFSON W1 20 / 20 6:24.1 35 W3 CCAT W2 11 / 12 6:28.7 36 WL SIDNEY SUSSEX W3 5 / 5 6:31.4 37 W3 DARWIN W2 12 / 12 6:34.0 38 WL PEMBROKE W4 1 / 1 6:43.1</pre></p><div align="right"><font size="-1"><a href="#top">^ top</a></font></div><hr>
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