Results and reports by Event

Day 1: The scene was set. The first bumps campaign in two years, the wettest week of the term so far, a record low for bumps experience across coxes from all colleges, and an M1 who didn’t quite get to 20 outings this term.

Captain Osbourne rallied the troops before we got in the boat, trying to recall the faded memories of what a bump is, and the all too familiar sound of Gripper shouting ‘you’re going to be late’, the campaign begun.

A strong paddle down in the drizzle made us feel confident, we had Christ’s behind, us who we knew we didn’t need to worry about, and Catz in front of us. We knew they had set a fast time at Fairbairns last term, but this isn’t a marathon, no, this is bumps.

As we marshalled up at our starting station the 4 minute canon fired, the first taste of the chaos of bumps for some of the fresher faces in the boat. We de-kit, refocused and got prepared for the main event.

A fantastic push out from Gripper and some superb tactical tapping from Phil meant we had a perfect position to cut out the bay off the start and make an early move, and by god that’s just what we did.

The canon fired and we had the customary, overly stiff, overly spinning start one would expect from day one of bumps, but despite this, we gained our first whistle before we even got to the motorway bridge.

Coming under the bridge the days of rain prior to the event meant the outwash was at full force, it struck strokeside so hard that Sam S at bow ended up getting the blade stuck in the water at the finish, but not to worry, his parter in crime, his bow pair wow pair buddy, Ben K at the 2 seat was so in tune with what was going on he decided to do the same thing on the very next stroke, cancelling out any effects of the original offence, and putting the boat back on course with Catz in the sights.

A further whistle was gained just before First Post, as the lumbering Empacher of Catz barely took the corner, as foretold by Jedi Master Gripper, the Clare Cruise Missile that is our Filippi (or Philip-eye according to Captain O) glided effortlessly round.

Down the gut we held our distance getting ready to launch the attach. We reset, re-engaged and re-ignited the afterburners that are middle 4, and after a racing like around Grassy Corner that the likes of Max Verstappen would be proud of we pounced.

We fired down Plough Reach, putting on a show for the determined few who had come to watch, and we gave them one hell of a show. Up to three whistles, we knew this was it it was only a matter of time before we’d get to Ditton and the job would be done.

Catz hit Ditton and the almighty bell sounded. The coup de grâce was imminent, and then we were rewarded. Never has a scream of ‘HOLD IT UP’ from 4 different people simultaneously ever felt so good.

After we had congratulated our opponents we adorned and embellished ourselves with foliage and started the paddle home. We had done it, day one was complete, and we had well and truly vanquished out foe of Catz, never to see them again… or so we thought…?

Uploaded Tuesday 22nd March, 9:55

Day 2: As the sun rose on a another dismal day in Cambridge, we prepared to race again. Behind us was Catz, a defeated foe who posed us no meaningful threat. Infront, however, was Kings, who had just been bumped down by Magdalene, and we were hopful of carrying yesterday's momentum into another bump.

Tragedy, however, struck when our 6 seat and most powerful oarsman, Jeremy, fell off his bike on the way to the boathouse causing a potentially carrear ending injury to Knee and Elbow. After a quick dip into the first aid kit, he stood ready to brave his way through the race, with it being too late to find a sub. We pushed off with a comfortable margin of time, and had a strong paddle down to the start.

The bend of the river meant that today's starting position was unfavourable compared to Kings, having to navigate around a bend just before Newnham bridge, while King's could cut it off. Nevertheless we made good progress, earing a whistle, maybe even two by first post corner. Unfortunately Jesus, having bumped Robinson up ahead of us, failed to clear the river, and caused both Kings and us to have to hold it up, and causing a re-row for the rest of the devision.

Annoyed that we lost the progress we had made, we turned around and headed back to the starts, where Kings now had clear water (before Jesus had managed to cause too much trouble, Magdalene had slipped past and rowed through), which meant our job would be harder this time.

Once again we set off, and made progress on Kings, earning a whistle by first post corner, and even an optimistic second whistle from Grip by grassy. In the plough reach, however, Kings started to pull back away from us, and by Ditton we had lost both whistles. Settling in for what would be a gruelling reach, we soldiered on, hoping to hear at least a whistle before the bridge. Whilst we did hear this, it was more of a moral boosting tactic from Grip than anything, and before we knew it we had rowed through, with plenty of water to Catz behind.

On to tomorrow.

Uploaded Tuesday 22nd March, 9:54

Day 3: After a frustrating day 2, the crew was eager to get back in the boat to show Kings who the real Kings are. As always, Gripper had formulated the perfect race plan for us: fly and die, just as how 2k erg tests should be done.

As we set off, we were fueled with anger, confidence and the mighty Owen, the stroke of M2 who courageously subbed in for the injured Jeremy, jumping into the M1 boat just minutes after rowing over in the M2 division.

A strong start to the race meant we gained a whistle off the start and a second before first post corner, by the gut we even gained a spectator, the infamous William Connolly. A strong line into Grassy corner gave us our 3rd whistle, all was going well, or so we thought.

Suddenly, we noticed something was off, the boat stopped steering and we were making a B-line into Grassy corner, our rudder had malfunctioned. Before we knew it, bowside blades had collided into Grassy corner. Despite losing our gains on Kings, we made a swift recovery and stormed into Ditton corner where Phil improvised by plunging her arm into the river to perform a handbrake turn.

On the reach, the crew was both physically and mentally exhausted, we were moving on remnants of energy and from the distance was Catz gradually creeping towards us. Despite a brave effort to fend off Catz down the reach, we were eventually bumped at the railway bridge.

The result was unfortunate, but the morale in the boat was high knowing full well we had done everything we could have. The focus was shifted to the next day where we would hope to get revenge on Catz.

In conclusion, we found out that despite M1 having 5 engineering students, it was not enough to have a working boat.

Uploaded Tuesday 22nd March, 9:54

Day 4: After the tragedy of a broken rudder and subsequent bump on Friday, M1 were looking for vengeance on Catz. With a fixed boat and the prospect of any rerows very unlikely, they knew they had a fantastic chance to bump Catz for a second time. After a strong paddle down to the start, a powerful start gave them one whistle on Catz fairly quickly. However, Catz were also adopting a fly and die strategy to try and bump quickly, and so they held Clare off for longer than on day 2. Eventually, the crew ahead of Catz bumped out. Their spirits crushed, Catz rapidly deteriorated, giving Clare another whistle as they thundered down plough reach. Phil, Clare’s cox, helped the crew gain their third whistle with a tight line around Ditton corner and as the crews opened up into the reach, there was a glimmer of overlap. As the bell started tolling and the bank parties screaming, the final dregs of energy being squeezed out of the crew, Clare started inching toward their prey. An usually long final chase was ended as Clare made contact with Catz, ending their Lent Bumps campaign in spectacular style.

Uploaded Tuesday 22nd March, 9:53

Day 4: W2 rowed down to the start in probably the wettest weather of the week, but we didn’t let this dampen our spirits! Our start was the best it had been all bumps, and we were able to distance ourselves from Christ’s. Although the supporters on the banks managed to see us row past The Plough, unfortunately we eventually got bumped on the Reach. We made a really good go of it though, with our cox giving some great calls round the corners, and lots of Power 10s. Bring on Mays!

Uploaded Thursday 10th March, 9:39

Day 3: Starting off Friday in a tricky position between Pembroke (In front) and Caius (Behind - followed by Eddies who were unlikely to bump) we were expecting a short race. With a fairly strong start, we settled into a nice rhythm and held Caius off for a while before being bumped on First Post Corner. An unsurprising but slightly disappointing result - we will be looking to hold off Christs for longer tomorrow!

Uploaded Monday 7th March, 15:26

Day 2: After a flying start, W2 gained on Queens to close the gap between us to one length. We held them there heroically until first post corner, when Pembroke made their move and gained on us. We valiantly tried to hold them off for as long as we could, eventually succumbing to their strength and speed in the gut, where they bumped us. We departed the bumps course with bruised egos but heads held high.

Uploaded Monday 7th March, 15:22

Day 1: Going in to the race with a cox-box that didn’t show our rate and a crew that had largely never rowed bumps before wasn’t going to be easy but we were reasonably optimistic about making past at least first post corner (especially given we were top of the division). We had a slightly rocky first couple of strokes before settling into a fast but strong rhythm. Maggie W2 made steady gains on us and sadly bumped us in the gut. We were disappointed to have been bumped, but at least we aren’t the sandwich boat tomorrow!

Uploaded Monday 7th March, 15:22