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FaT memorabilia on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/oar-from-ca...

from Sam Z, Wed 11th Apr, 4:08pm

Apparantly FaT 10th May VIII won blades in 1970...

by Erica - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 4:49pm

Sam Z said: Apparantly FaT 10th May VIII won blades in 1970...

...bumping CUW 1 and sinking Corpus VI! That's a fantastic blade! Much more interesting than some of the randoms in E1!

by Phil - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 4:57pm

Out of interest, does anyone know why there's no University crest on the blade? I know that some clubs have the rule that only University blades can have the University crest on, but I'm sure I've seen it on FaT, non-University blades. What is the official line on this one?

by Simon - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 5:34pm

Phil said: Out of interest, does anyone know why there's no University crest on the blade? I know that some clubs have the rule that only University blades can have the University crest on, but I'm sure I've seen it on FaT, non-University blades. What is the official line on this one?

In theory, a captain can award a Club blade for anything. My impression is that to get the University crest as well, you need to have done something which gets you a University medal: i.e. Head, or Uni 4s or small boats (although not the men's 1x, for which you would have an LMBC blade as they organise that).
So when Lents 2001 was called off (half way through, because the towpath was shut), we told the crews residing on head station the previous night they couldn't have the University crest on any oars (or rudders or prows) they chose to award themselves. I know some people were already up 3 after 2 or 3 races (depending on division) and their College Club let them get a trophy.
We also didn't give out medals, which was a relief as we had nearly run out.

by Richard - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 5:34pm

Looking at the charts - it would seem to be a genuine bump-at-every-opportunity blade - no sandwich boat thingy. This one does have a Uni crest on it. Maybe it's changing attitudes in the club to the rule that you mentioned?? Interesting to see the bump on CUW on there. It was one of only two years that they finished higher than they started - out of 13 years that CUW competed in the Mays

by Simon - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 5:40pm

Simon said: (although not the men's 1x, for which you would have an LMBC blade as they organise that).

Sorry, I meant crest, not blade. A navy blue blade with our crests and the LMBC one...

Also to add that while what I wrote is/was theory, in practice it comes down to personal choice although as Phil notes some clubs have a rule.

And that there is a trophy oar in College [bumper to the first person to identify the one I'm thinking of] which is navy with gold flecks on the end of the oar - i.e. there's no requirement to have it in the current racing pattern. I've seen a recent Selwyn trophy oar which does not use their current race oar design.

by mjb - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 5:51pm

Also, this is for sale.

by Bullock mark II - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 8:45pm

Simon said: ..My impression is that to get the University crest as well, you need to have done something which gets you a University medal: i.e. Head, or Uni 4s or small boats..

In fact, our own constitution suggests otherwise:

"Any crew which earns the right to University blades in the Lents or Mays may emblazon them with the University crest."

by Simon - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 8:49pm

The Club Constiution says: "Any crew which earns the right to University blades..."

OK, now define "University blades"...

by if i'm going to fail finals, I might as well do some good procrastination - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 9:08pm

yea, that's the one flaw eh? It does suggest however that Uni blades may be awarded for Lent and May bumps, and in addition, the guidance for awarding college blades (College blades shall be awarded at the Captain's discretion, but generally to crews which go up four or more places, bump on three or more occasions, and are not bumped, in a given term. ) suggests to me that Uni blades would be awarded for any crew which goes up at least four places, bumps on every opportunity and (by implication therefore) is not bumped, OR which finishes the week at head of the river. I'll see if I can find anything official (there's nothing in the CUCBC handbook that I can see).

by joff - Wed 11th Apr 2007, 9:46pm

I've had this discussion a number of times with people, and have never managed to find a satisfactory answer- might be worth asking cucbc, and/or badgering them to make a decision and write it down (if it bothers anyone in the world other than me..!) surely they are the ones who should be able to 'award' university blades? they certainly list blading crews on the cucbc homepage after bumps, or highlight them on their bumps charts (or have done in recent years)

Having said all this, I've just had a look at last year's CUCBC lents pages, and they do say in the introduction "Lower crews cannot expect to achieve this [the headship], but can win their "blades" by bumping up every day." and interestingly they stuck to this by 'awarding' Peterhouse W1 blades who went up 4 despite not bumping on every occaision (sandwich boat on the last day) and not to Homerton M1 who also bumped up 4 (also sandwich on the last day) but missed the bump on the first day. So I guess that gives a definition of sorts.

by jpd - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 7:48am

CUCBC doesn't deal with blades at all - they may document them and highlight them on the charts as they are an interesting part of bumps, but they also mention other quirks that are not "official", such as the wearing greenery after a bump (colleges have different conventions for this as well).

The reason that crews can be highlighted on the CUCBC charts having bumped every day but missed a bump as sandwich boat is that the software was written in a hurry and it was the quickest way to get it (almost) right.

by Martin P - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 8:24am

I'm sure it's always been said that University blades are if you bump at every opportunity; this seems to me like a sensible enough definition. Hasn't bothered me that this isn't documented as such... And college blades discretionary if you row over on one or more days but go up 4 or more. However, I admit the absence of a University crest on this 1970 one does raise significant questions, unfortunately I don't have any more answers.

Cool to see Mike Proctor coached the 1970 boat!

by Phil - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 8:29am

Well my understanding of the tradition (which is probably made up from a combination of hearsay and my own imagination) is that University blades are "awarded" when a University medal is won, and college blades are "awarded" to any eligible, non-headship, crews in bumps. I seem to remember also being told that to make up a University blade you don't need your Captain's permission, whilst a College blade is always at the Captain's discretion (usually a pointless fact, but I seem to remember a Tit Hall 2nd VIII going up lots, fulfilling the usual requirements, but the Captain denied them blades because the crew was made up of 1st VIII rowers who mutinied halfway through term and formed a gents VIII - the 1st VIII subsequently went down lots). Anyway, I reckon we should still put the University crest on College blades because it looks cool.

by Simon - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 10:33am

It's sometimes a lot more simple: crests add cost to a blade, so some people will skip the University crest.

by Dubya - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 7:41pm

Simon said: OK, now define "University blades"...

At the time the constitution was rewritten (1998), University blades were defined in the CUCBC handbook, which stated that University blades could be awarded for any crew that bumped at every opportunity or finished head.

by Neil T - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 10:38pm

It is navy blue, red's all wrong (9, 5)

This seems to settle matters.

by dw229 - Thu 12th Apr 2007, 10:43pm

The blade linked to by Richard is my blade for the 2nd VIII in 2002. We bumped up at every opportunity in the Mays and the nice blade-painter man put the University crest on without us asking!

by RTT - Fri 13th Apr 2007, 1:34am

Neil T said: It is navy blue, red's all wrong (9, 5)

This seems to settle matters.

Except that I think you mean (10, 5)?

by Neil T - Fri 13th Apr 2007, 9:51am

RTT said: Except that I think you mean (10, 5)?

Er... yes. Thanks.

by Simon - Thu 19th Apr 2007, 9:28pm

This item went for £128. How much does that make the Captain's room worth?

Also currently available - an old bumps programme.

by Richard - Thu 19th Apr 2007, 10:03pm

Simon said: This item went for £128. How much does that make the Captain's room worth?

Also currently available - an old bumps programme.

Interesting - no photo of last year's Headship holders on the cover. When did that tradition start?

And do I notice a Dr. E.V. Bevan on the cover. Is that the same E.V. Bevan who won gold in the Olympics with 1st Trin in the 1920s?

by Sam Z - Thu 19th Apr 2007, 10:09pm

Something from before we became FaT?

by Martin P - Fri 20th Apr 2007, 8:31am

Sam Z said: Something from before we became FaT?

There seem to be loads of these kinds of things about, in various shapes and sizes. They come up on ebay quite regularly. It seems that it was traditional to have 'trial VIIIs' within the club, I guess as part of the crew selection process, and the winning crew often celebrated by creating tankards such as this. The huge pot with three handles in the captains room is another such item I believe - that one turned up in a antiques shop in Lisbon!

by Stanley Mills - Mon 23rd Apr 2007, 10:48am

My take is that University blades are NOT just for "winning" University events - eg Headships, Fairbairns, Univ IVs etc. They are also awarded for any crew taking 4 bumps in 4 days. Note that this is not quite the same as bumping at every possible opportunity - if so, sandwich boats would have to bump 5 times in most cases. The distinction in Bumps is that Univ blades are not awarded for Crews that only get 3 bumps including an overbump, which is very much a Club/Captain discretionary thing.

by Neil C - Mon 23rd Apr 2007, 12:27pm

Yes, I have a blade with a University crest on it, which was for 4 bumps on four separate days, however, this was not bumping at every opportunity as we rowed over as sandwich boat and, then top of the division the next day, before bumping up as sandwich boat

by mjb - Sun 13th May 2007, 9:14pm

Just browsing, and found this. Looks like it might be First Trinity related.

Also, one of the clubs' best ever rowers

by Simon - Sun 13th May 2007, 9:23pm

mjb said: Just browsing, and found this. Looks like it might be First Trinity related.

That is really nice. Atthe moment the high bidder is a badge collector from Ukraine, so might consider stepping in and doing something about that if it remains that way closer to the end.

by Not strictly FaT memorabilia, but Cambridge rowing related - Tue 15th May 2007, 12:49pm

I've never seen this board game before.

by Lyns - Tue 15th May 2007, 9:49pm

Not strictly FaT memorabilia, but Cambridge rowing related said: I've never seen this board game before.

I have it!!!!!!

by mjb - Sat 29th Sep 2007, 3:43pm

Not sure if this is technically club history ?