The Club's Results
Novice Fairbairn Cup 2024
A 2700m timed head race on the Cam for Cambridge College novice VIIIs.
Thu 5th December
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1st men's novice VIII, 1st division
Won NF
Time: 9:54
Time: 9:54
Not our best rowing but a result to be proud of nonetheless. We went into this race riding on the high of our victory at Clare Novices but knew it was our race to lose. We had some questionable coxing calls but rowed on undeterred. We rowed home thinking we may have bottled it. I will never forget the collective roar we let out upon learning of our 0.3s victory margin.
As the first crew to finish we then had the joy of seeing all other astounding results come in. This year's novice term was absolutely amazing and I am honoured to be a part of a crew which achieved historic results. Every single person who went out in a FaT boat ought to be proud of themselves and those who coached, coxed and organised ought be even prouder. All I can say now is this: Lents won't know what hit it!
2nd men's novice VIII, 2nd division
Fastest NM2, 4th Overall
Time: 10:15
Time: 10:15
Having done a 10:12 over a similar distance in practice, we thought that sub-10 was there. After cycling through the entire chain of command to make sure that we had actually closed our gates this time, we got a decent start and quickly overtook Lucy Cav which slightly compromised our line and cost ~10 seconds. It appears that one of their rowers got self-conscious that we could now see him and completely stopped rowing to adjust his hair.
The race went smoothly, but conditions were slower than expected and we were disappointed with the 10:15. Upon reaching the boathouse, NM1 informed us from the balcony that we came 4th overall, and I received the only direct acknowledgement from Bomber of my life: "you won". From what I hear, this is as good as it gets. We were extremely pleased with this result, beating 28/31 NM1s. If we didn't have to overtake, we probably would have come 3rd (1st and 3rd for First and Third). Nonetheless, we won our division comfortably with a one minute gap to Jesus NM2 meaning that we narrowly escaped the dreaded Regulation 15d.
It's worth nothing that our NM3 beat all other NM2s with a fantastic 10:30, and my personal favourite: our NM1, NM2, and NM3 all beat Maggie's NM1 which, as we all know, is the true win condition.
I'm very proud of my crew for what we achieved this term, and it was a real pleasure to row with them. It's great to have been part of such a successful novice campaign, with NM1, NM2, and NW1 sweeping every competition, and NW2 placing highly as well (much to the dismay of anonymous Rowbridge posters).
Luke and I put them through their paces three days before with a double lock run including about 5k at race pace. We did something roughly equivalent in length as a little confidence booster, despite some of the crew being really quite hungover. It seems to have worked.
Other than getting a bit spooked by Lucy and fucking up Green Dragon as a result (sorry) this was solid, really solid. The rate was 31-32 for most of the course with a big push (and a crab) down the reach.
The result is fantastic, 1st, 4th and 8th is our best ever result in Novice Fairbairns and I couldn't be more proud of these guys for their commitment to making the boat go fast and for putting up with me for four weeks.
Roll on Lents!
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1. NM2 racing in Fairba...
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3rd men's novice VIII, 2nd division
Fastest NM3, 2nd NM2, 8th Overall
Time: 10:30
Time: 10:30
Novice Fairbairns was the first race for NM3 this term and we weren't quite sure what to expect going into it, having never been timed over such a distance. We knew that we had had far more training than the other NM3 crews but where we would place among the NM1 and NM2 crews was a mystery. Despite this we were confident and the race started well with our cox Andrew and our stroke Tony quickly setting us into a fast but sustainable rhythm.
We stayed smooth throughout the course of the race and even were able to overtake the Christ's boat ahead of us. It was only in the last 30 seconds of the race that we fell more out of time, but at that point the overall damage was negligible.
Beating every NM3 and NM2 crew (aside from FaT of course) and coming 8th overall gave us the best placing for a FaT NM3 in history. Learning this on our return to the boathouse was an uproarious occasion. Needless to say that other colleges will have a lot to improve if they want to rival FaT in the future!
1st women's novice VIII, 1st division
Fastest NW1, 12th Overall
Time: 10:46
Time: 10:46
The draw was released, and we saw the girls were chasing Emmanuel NW1. Goody, we thought - a catchable crew but certainly not a walkover; no need to request a time gap. How wrong we were. Coming round Cantabs corner a mere half length off Emma, there was general concern amongst the bankparty about what the least disruptive way to lose sufficient speed to make it to Green Dragon without overtaking would be.
It is a testament to this crew that they are incredibly coachable. They make changes so quickly it's almost telepathic. Indeed that was the case today, when Julia sensed the need for (less) speed, and caught an overhead crab - recovered in a single stroke - which took off just enough boat speed to make it to the bridge without disqualification!
Coming round the corner, they overtook with alacrity (the word of the term), and achieved overlap on Caius NW1 out of the railway bridge. This seemed to give a second wind to Caius who held off for 10 strokes, before succumbing to the Behemoth that is FaT and they too quickly drifted into the long and distant past.
A phenomenal row the crew should be insanely proud of - finishing a mere 3s off the course record.
Commiserations go to Churchill NW1, who finished with the fastest time of the decade, only to have that accolade taken from them a minute later.
2nd women's novice VIII, 2nd division
4th NW2
Time: 12:35
As a side note, I took this crew out as a sub cox for their first outing post crew selection and immediately begged to be the official cox of NW2. Great vibe, really enjoyed going out with everyone, and thanks for having me. Hope to see you all in Lent!
Time: 12:35
We had our target rate at 26, but then stayed around rate 30 during the whole race. After a few “up 1 down 1”s, the rowing feels strong and connected. Definitely our best rowing of the whole term.
The weather does not work in our favour, people racing in later divisions (most of other NW2s) have an advantage because the conditions got a lot faster. Nevertheless, we managed to beat several NM1/2s in our division and should be very proud of ourselves.
Michell Cup points
There is no data on this race.
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