The Club's Results

When the time comes each year for Winter Head 2 Head it invokes memories of painful races with scratch crews and miserable weather. This is what I was expecting from the event this year, and in one of the two cases, was pleasantly surprised.
In our race plan I had insisted that we rate no higher than 30, preferably 28, recalling past experiences with too high rates, too early in term (Uni IVs). On the first leg, with the help of the stream and a hefty tailwind, the reach flew by and we were able to develop a nice rhythm with lots of ratio.
On crossing the line, it started to rain. The Met Office had promised me that after a week of miserable conditions, it would not rain today. The Met Office lied. It poured. Thornton and I inspected our wounds in the stern, concerned about contracting one of the many diseases the H2H Safety document implied the Cam contained.
We had a solid start in the second leg, rating 30 with good length and ratio. Our Plough Reach Burn was slightly frantic, but we recovered coming around Ditton. Unfortunately, our wind for the finish induced a larger adrenaline shot than I had intended, as we caught a crab by the white house. In the stern, I wondered if we were towing a fishing net, but Thornton's response soon allayed that fear. A quick analysis of the situation by our cox allowed us to cross the line with 7 people rowing and some creative steering. A shame to end on a low note, but as our first training pieces, the race was a success overall. (Julia A.)