Due to a few availability issues, 5 of NM5 were bolstered by borrowing the stroke of NM2 and using 2 female coxes. With the valiant Neil Ibata stepping in to cox his first race, we ventured forth from the boathouse, almost a scratch crew with little or no experience of high rate. Nevertheless, we had a fairly decent practice start and stride and sauntered up to marshalling feeling pleased with the outing so far. King's NM2 had a poor start and didn't pull away nearly as quickly as we thought. However our lack of rowing as a crew unfortunately showed about 20 strokes in, and, although there were patches of some nice strokes, King's were smoother and took the win. (J. Armstrong)