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	May Bumps, May Term 2008 re At Ditton by Martin P - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 8:26pm Yay. Thanks for the pictures Sonya.

by Martin P - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 8:35pm
And I love the kit!!

by dw229 - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 9:11pm
Well done chaps! As a dumb old buffer will someone humour me for a moment and explain a) where the Empacher came from and b) why we're rowing with white blades?

by Thomas - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 10:45pm
a) According to the message boards it's an OUBC cast-off. b) M1 decided New Hall would have a better chance of catching Caius.

by Mark - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 10:52pm
And also, listening to the cur1350 race commentary: "...maybe the [white] blades intimidated Caius..."

by Proud ex-captain - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 10:56pm
Pictures like this give me a warm glow in my soul. Because you know that Caius know. But I feel as a buffer I have to express my displeasure at having neither the traditional coloured boat, nor blades, nor zephyrs! Wouldn't have happened in my day. Nevertheless, awesome effort fellas.

by Peter - Wed 11th Jun 2008, 11:19pm
The blades are mostly due to Ian's unfortunate incident with another cyclist and the road.

by Phil - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 7:20am
But I feel as a buffer I have to express my displeasure at having neither the traditional coloured boat, nor blades, nor zephyrs! Wouldn't have happened in my day. The kit is of the '67 vintage, so still pretty traditional.

by Martin P - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 8:48am
Phil said: The kit is of the '67 vintage, so still pretty traditional. Instantly recognisable from the old photos in the boathouse, too. I do like it. Although was it Lents or Mays kit in '67?

by Fitz'67 - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 10:35am
Certainly vintage 1967 kit. As one who knows.. Coxswain of both the Lent and May boats. The 'wasp' design was first used in the 1967 Lents and Black Prince, our wooden shell (purchased for £400) was first painted black for the 1967 Mays and Ladies Plate at Henley.

by Simon - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 10:35am
Martin P said: Instantly recognisable from the old photos in the boathouse, too. I do like it. Although was it Lents or Mays kit in '67? I thought that vest like that were the traditional Uni 4s tops. I was fairly sure that Will Thorne and I had bought the last ones (in the old heavy cotton material) in Clothiers back in the late 90s - think both were XXL though so actually not at all useful for rowing in. I got my Mum to take mine in (which meant that the stripes didn't quite match up at the sides) but then lost it in the boathouse in the early part of this decade. I assume these are lycra rather than cotton?

by BJ - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 10:38am
Simon said: I assume these are lycra rather than cotton? They're standard JL all-in-ones (with a black bottom half).

by Simon - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 10:45am
BJ said: They're standard JL all-in-ones (with a black bottom half). Very good. Here's the one photo of the old vest that I've been able to find.

by Fitz'67 - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 10:54am
See Friday of 1967 Lents - Desmond Hill - Daily Telegraph for first mention of the kit.

by Simon - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 11:55am
While we're talking tradition: - what's happened to the little (about 3 inch by 3 inch) flags that the first eights used to have attached to the bow canvas. They used to appear just for Lent and Mays race days. - why does the empacher not have a lion painted on its bows next to the name. For those confused about the photo I posted earlier - look between the stroke's legs.

by BJ - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 12:12pm
Rowing is the first priority... The blades arrived just a week before bumps. To paint them properly would have been a three-day job and we weren't prepared to wait that long to use them. A quick job wouldn't have been worth it as they would still have looked bad, just in blue. The boat arrived only a week before that and the sign-writer hasn't had a chance to put the crest on yet. It's yellow because they come in yellow and a proper black coat certainly wouldn't speed it up even if it didn't slow it down. The boat and blades were very generous gifts from old boys.

by Simon - Thu 12th Jun 2008, 9:21pm
Another question: - where is everybody? There were 15 less crews entered into the mens races this year than a decade ago (based on GOR finishers). Yet more people noviced across the university in Mich 2007 than in Mich 1997. (The comparison isn't chosen entirely at random - 97/98 was the last year with a student grant and no fees.)

by Martin P - Fri 13th Jun 2008, 8:50am
Fitz'67 said: See Friday of 1967 Lents - Desmond Hill - Daily Telegraph for first mention of the kit. Fitz, interesting link this, including from a technical website design point of view! - can you remember how you go to that page? There is an odd mix of Lent and May bumps in the so-called 'breadcrumb' trail at the top - erroneously including 'May Bumps' despite being the Lents. I'm trying to work out where there must be a bug in the linking...?

by Martin P - Fri 13th Jun 2008, 8:52am
Martin P said: Fitz, interesting link this, including from a technical website design point of view! - can you remember how you go to that page? There is an odd mix of Lent and May bumps in the so-called 'breadcrumb' trail at the top - erroneously including 'May Bumps' despite being the Lents. I'm trying to work out where there must be a bug in the linking...? The link I'd expect is this, i.e. with Lent Bumps in the trail rather than Mays...

by Tom C - Fri 13th Jun 2008, 9:38pm
Simon said: Another question: - where is everybody? There were 15 less crews entered into the mens races this year than a decade ago (based on GOR finishers). Yet more people noviced across the university in Mich 2007 than in Mich 1997. (The comparison isn't chosen entirely at random - 97/98 was the last year with a student grant and no fees.) The reason is that students don't have as much time for extra-curricular activities as they used to. But many consider rowing to be part of the "Cambridge experience" and will have a go. Most freshers who sign up for rowing now are really only interested in doing it for one term. On that basis I'd expect the same number to novice but fewer to carry until Mays. The increase may be because 1) there are more students now, and 2) clubs are aware that retaining novices is harder, so they're more active in recruitment. Some people say that the Mich term programme isn't very good for teaching people to row. But they're missing the point; it's just about having fun and getting to know some people in your year.