Results and reports by Event

A good steady row. A massive improvement on Winter Head. It would have been interesting to see what the results would hae been, had we trained in this crew all term. Bring on the Lents.

Uploaded Saturday 13th December, 12:50

Result!

With three substitutes in the boat (two of them being novices who'd rowed Fairbairns the previous day) and with a hefty one training outing a week for the past 6 weeks, to be the 6th fastest second boat, beating the likes of Downing II and Caius II, is something to be pretty proud of.

This was the first time I'd rowed Fairbairns, so didn't really know what to expect, apart from that it was going to be a long one. I'd planned that about rate 28 would be about all I could manage for the course, so naturally as the start was called, we immediately settled at rate 30... However, it felt pretty comfortable, and the boat was tapping along nicely, helped along by Alice's calls that we were gaining hand over fist on ARU in front of us. Soon enough we were through Chesterton corner (nice line Phil) and on to the wider stuff. It was certainly here that I began to feel it in my legs, but the boat speed was good and the rate was still up at 30. It was now that we began to drop Wolfson who I'd felt had been gaining on us slightly through the narrow stuff.

I really don't know what happened on the reach, as my next recollection is entering Ditton knowing we were well over half way there. A big push out of Ditton was called by Phil and we moved on again, never dropping the rate, although the power was naturally beginning to wane. Another superb corner by Phil around Grassy and soon enough we were onto first post reach. The rating was called up and we began our push for the line. I had it in my head that the finish was under the motorway bridge, so timed my finish accordingly, only to find we had another 150m to go... After a further pretty gruelling 15 strokes, we crossed the line apparently only 1.5 lengths behind ARU II, having pushed the chasing Wolfson away. A job well done!

I must now make an apology to Alice, for having rowed for a few years now, it appears I've become a bit cynical in my old age: although I thought we may well be gaining a little bit on ARU, calls of 'You've taken 5 lengths out of them' from the bank were taken with a pinch of salt. As it happens, Alice's prediction that we probably made up about 10 lengths on them over the course was about right, as we beat them by 30 seconds! I will certainly bear this in mind in the future...

A big thank you to Will Taylor and Tom Leger for subbing in at the last moment - especially the day after rowing novice Fairbairns, you guys did an awesome job, and I hope you've got a taste of it for next term. Another big thanks to Will Awde who jumped in at the last moment for Parker who had fallen ill and did a brilliant job at 7.

I hope this is a sign of things to come - a result like this just shows the strength in depth of the men's boat club at the moment and if we all train hard over the winter, bumps next term could be good fun...

Uploaded Monday 8th December, 17:50

First off- many thanks to our two subs Selena (bow) and Emma (3) for stepping in and braving the 4.3km that is Fairbairns! To say that Selena hadn't rowed all term and Emma only *started* rowing this term, we produced a fantastic time. We were officially the third fastest second boat on the river, although factoring in the added time that a rowlock-malfunction cost us, we are easily the second fastest, and our time in the second half of the race suggests great things await us in Bumps! All in all, a great end to a great term- it's been a pleasure to sit in a boat, pull strings and occasionally attempt to say something useful to you all

Uploaded Tuesday 3rd November, 19:37

Well, perhaps not quite the result we were hoping for but a good solid row. Very technically sound and composed, with excellent steering from Matt. LMBC's boarding attempt mid-race wasn't helpful but the time was adjusted accordingly. I obviously laboured the point about keeping the rate down a bit too much. If I'd let you go for it at rate 30, it wouldn't have looked so nice and we might have tailed off a bit towards the end but you probably would've covered the course faster. A lesson learned for me. In summary, a good way to round off your first term's rowing. I hope your achievements so far have encouraged you to stick with CBC next year. Given the strength of both the novice and senior men's squads at the moment, it's going to be a good one. You've not rowed til you've rowed bumps!

Uploaded Thursday 4th December, 18:15

Well done guys - it wasn't that far after all...

After waiting around at the start for what seemed like hours (because it was hours...) we eventually got going. The first half of the race was absolutely bang on, just as I'd hoped - good technique with a decent rate to go with it and we were moving slightly up on the Hughes Hall boat in front.

However, the cold soon began to tell and a couple of the guys started to have issues with cramped wrists. This led to a bit of a beasty crab being caught along riverside and Hughes Hall got away. However, despite the delay, everyone recovered admirably and pushed on for the finish. Unfortunately it got a bit scrappy about 300m from the end, with a couple more crustacean related incidents due to a combination of tiredness and the cold.

Although not quite the result you guys had hoped for, it was still a respectable time and a whole lot better than last year. I reckon without the stoppages we would have got a similar time to Hughes Hall (we were certainly very even at the novice regatta), putting us into the top 20 novice crews - a good term's work!

At the end of the day, this term was all about having fun and introducing you to rowing. I've certainly enjoyed coaching you! I really hope as many of you as possible stay on for next term, because if you've enjoyed racing this term, just wait for bumps...

Uploaded Monday 8th December, 18:09