Results and reports by Event

Day One

Today we had a plan and we pulled it off. It definitely felt like we were a tiger stalking Magdalene in the woods. Slowing closing in, waiting for the right moment. Then bang, and it was all over; Magdalene were lying in pieces.

Day Two

Fitz are catchable, there is no denying it, today we just didn't cut it as a crew. They moved away off the start and held us outside of station for the majority of the course. We got our act together after the railway bridge to bring it to a length at the finish. The cheer came from Fitz over the line showed clearly they thought they'd put in a huge effort to hold us off.

Day Three

I am not going to lie, the race is a bit of a blur for me today. We had talked about the aggression and attack that we lacked the day before. From the row down to the practice starts we were sharper, more cohesive and better. Our start was better today and we settled a fair few pips higher than yesterday. Hitting a good rhythm early on we moved inside station, unfortunately so did Emma. Up until ditton I was getting confused between which whistles were for us and which were for Emma behind. With 300m of the reach rowed Emma basically had overlap on us and Fitz were maybe a quarter of a length off us. The final push, brought out the best in the crew and we moved quickly away from Emma behind and for the second day I could feel a hefty bump at the bows.

Uploaded Saturday 16th June, 9:13

Day One

Chasing Jesus, Being Chased by LMBC

Sometimes you put in a good row and the circumstances just don't go in your favour. Admittedly, our start was a little panicked - I think we were all a bit thrown by the cannons - but we settled onto a strong and solid rhythm. Unfortunately, Jesus scented blood on Emma and dispatched them shortly after Grassy, as we remained on station. We focussed in and set our sights on Newnham for the overbump. Frustratingly though, as we came round Ditton, they had bumped out on Christ's, leaving us to row over at a solid 28 up the Reach, dropping to 24 as we came past Morley's Holt. We're ready to attack it tomorrow

Day Two

Chasing Emma, Being Chased by Queens'

Another solid row down, but this time followed by a much stronger start. We took the cannons in our stride and hit a good rhythm. We could have had more attack in the first few minutes - "where is the whistle?" syndrome kicked in, leaving us on station with Emma for much of the first half of the course. As we came round Ditton though, a tight line plus a second wind launched us into our first whistle, but it was another long slog to claim the second. Spurred on by the scent of a bump, we swiftly got a third, and as we came up to the Railway Bridge, the bell was sounded. Credit to Emma, who steered a good line to avoid the bump, but our belief held us strong and we got the bump just under the bridge. Great stuff!

Day Three

Chasing Christ's, Being Chased by Emma

The attack was much stronger today, resulting in a quicker first whistle. We maintained our focus, chipping away at them with 10 stroke moves. Our corners still need some work, as we lost speed compared to Christ's, but strong pushes recovered any ground we lost. As we came straight on the Reach, we gained our third whistle, and the bell soon followed. Christ's fought valiantly to the end, and we had overlap for a long time before contact was made, but the bump finally came just before The Railings. We know what we need to improve for tomorrow, and are looking forward to going out there and doing it.

Day Four

Chasing Pembroke, Being Chased by Christ's

Another race where it only really kicked off on the Reach, as we began to reel Pembroke in in the midst of the mother of all headwinds. Unfortunately, just after our third whistle on them, a crab in the bows brought us to a stop. A rapid restart ensued, but we had dropped back to about 4 lengths away. Nevertheless we were back inside station as we crossed the line, showing once more that this is a crew that never gives up. On another day we'd have had them, but that's the way Bumps goes sometimes. The important thing is that we went Up 2 overall, and are now in a prime position for next year. Roll on Mays 2013 - and watch out Pembroke!

Uploaded Wednesday 20th June, 15:16

Day 1

Chasing Queens II, being chased by St. Catharine's II

First day nerves is a perennial problem in bumps racing, but this year was one of the first times it didn't seem to affect us. The row up was a bit nervy, but as soon as the start gun went, we were well focussed in. Our start went well and very quickly gave us the length whistle on Queens'. Unfortunately that's about where it stayed as we failed to capitalise on it. We did get to within 3/4 a couple of times. But Queens' were consistent at holding us. It was, however a decent row. We might have been able to keep the rate a bit higher and push more effectively, but it was consistent, collected and powerful. The best part of the race was watching Catz disappear lengths and lengths away behind us, which showed us at least that us and Queens' were substantially faster than much of the rest of the division. More of the same tomorrow I think, but with a bit more speed and a bit more bumping.

Day 2

Chasing Queens II, being chased by St. Catharine's II

We knew what we had to do today - get Queens' off the start before they hit their rhythm on the reach. So it was do or die for us - a three minute sprint to the Plough. Our start was fast, up at 43 or 44 and we soon got whistles for a length. Round Grassy and into Plough Reach, we inched to 3/4, but Queens' held us well. Out of Ditton, we got half a length and made a move to try and finish the job, but with Queens' having clear water themselves and us dealing with their wash, we were unable to finish the job. Our strength lasted until the railings, where we started losing serious ground and it was clear we'd had our chance.

We didn't get the bump, but it was a well executed race. We sprinted as we'd agreed and we clung on for longer than we might have expected. Our rate apparently didn't drop below 37 or 38 until after Ditton, which is certainly an achievement. The race clearly also took its toll on Queens' who took until the Reach to hit Darwin in the following division and looked truly exhausted by the time they'd finished. We'll have a tired and demoralised Darwin crew to go at tomorrow. Kudos to Queens' though - they rowed well and deserved their bump to the 2nd division. Here's to following them tomorrow!

Day 3

Div 3: Chasing Darwin, being chased by Hughes Hall

Div 2: Chasing Queens' II

Wow, what a day! This was to be a tough one, sandwiched between a blading Hughes Hall boat consisting of several blues and a spooning Darwin boat. Or so we thought.

The race went approximately as follows:

Bang-3/4-1/2-3/4-straight-onto-winding-wow-this-is-winding-high-lengthen-45-you-say-Oh-first-whistle-that-was-quick-better-push-a-bit-more-ah-now-its-two-whistles-hang-on-where-are-hughes-this-is-very-fast-actually-who-cares-there's-another-whistle-bit-more-pushing-and-there's-a-third-whistle-we'd-better-not-screw-this-up-now-BELL-lets-kill-it-I-can-do-an-awesome-20-strokes-now-1-2-3-4-5-crash-no-we've-cocked-it-up-and-someone-crabbed-no-no-no-ah-that-was-the-bumps-hold-it-up-breathe-and YESSSSSSS!!!

I don't believe the race can have lasted more than about a minute* or 300m. We went like a rocket and Hughes never even moved on us. It was probably one of the best (and fastest) executed bumps I've done. So, Hughes denied blades and a place in division 2 for Clare M2.

The final chapter of the story is our race in our new division 2. We tried the same start as before and quickly got our whistles on Queens. We closed to an optimistic 1/2 length by the time they took out ARU somewhere on Plough Reach. The following rowover was very tough in the conditions and whilst we made some ground on Wolfson, the double overbump was never seriously on.

Its all down tomorrow to row over head then bump ARU to secure our place in M2 - back where we belong.

[EDIT] *Apparently it was over in 40 seconds :)

Day 3

Div 3: Being chased by Darwin

Div 2: Chasing Anglia Ruskin

Today was not a day we were worried about, but we went out with the aim of setting M2 up into the best possible position for next Mays. We first has to row over head of the M3 division ahead of Darwin. Darwin did a very creditable start to their race and didn't drop back much until after grassy corner. However, they succumbed to Hughes somewhere on Plough Reach, leaving a big gap behind us. Coming round Ditton, we hit a headwind that can best be described as ferocious - one of the worst I've had in bumps. It completely killed our rate and caused some mild alarm in the crew that the boat 3 behind us seemed to be closer up on us than we'd expected. It quickly became clear that the wind had affected them at least as badly however and when that pair bumped too, we took the rate down and rowed the rest of the course at a chunky 24 or so.

After a spin and a chat, we rowed back to the start for our final race. We knew we were faster than ARU and we'd also had practice racing into in the headwind. Our final race was pretty clinical. We got whistles quickly and focussed on rowing together into the wind rather than attempting heroic pushes. We could almost sense they were floundering in the conditions and the bump came by halfway down first post reach, with us rowing strong annd neatly right until the end. This was a great week's racing from a crew that rowed very well together and was able to execute race plans time after time. We might have done better without a strong Queens' boat in front of us, but we achieved our objective of a place in division II whilst denying half the blue boat blades :)

Uploaded Sunday 17th June, 13:27

Day One

Chasing Jesus III, chased by Selwyn III

An excellent start to the Bumps, guys! After a tidy paddle down from the boathouse, we stayed together in a group during the long wait for a (klaxoned) W4 division. Once we were back in the boat, we kept the cohesion, leading to some excellent builds and bursts down the Reach and through to Grassy Corner. Before long, we were on station, and a solid start saw us get to one whistle on Jesus III very quickly. A push for 10 on the legs brought us to within half a length, and the kill call sealed a speedy bump coming into First Post Corner. Although Jesus were slightly late conceding, we were sharp in holding it up and got out of the way well in time for the crews below to come barrelling through. Let's see more of this tomorrow, then ...

Day Two

Chasing Darwin II, chased by Jesus III

Once again, a super day. Our start sequence, described as 'electric', took us to one whistle very quickly. Although Darwin held out for quite a while between the first and second whistle, we kept moving, with a 'lift' coming together, so we made it to two whistles about halfway between the Motorway Bridge and First Post Corner. On hindsight, I may have made the 'kill' call a little too early, as it took us to within a canvas but failed to seal the bump. Matters were further complicated by a parked Downing crew, which forced me to take a slightly wider line than I would have liked coming into First Post, but we were still tight enough behind them to get the bump right at the entrance to the corner. Technique today was very strong, in spite of the slight crosswind, so let's build on this going into tomorrow.

Day Three

Chasing Wolfson II, chased by Darwin II

We set the tone for another strong day of racing today with some amazingly well-sat pauses and strikes coming under Chesterton. Sure enough, our start was once again extremely quick, due largely to Anton's inspired decision to fit our oars with clams going into the headwind, and we got one whistle on our fourth 'lengthen' stroke. Wolfson didn't give up, though, and it took a 'lift' call for us to make it to two whistles. Taking it up one on the legs brought us to a canvas, at which point we pushed for the bump and made it about five strokes before First Post. For the third day in a row, we had an excellent result: now we just need to focus on tomorrow.

Day Four

Chasing Clare Hall, chased by Wolfson II

We went into today fairly confident that we could hold Wolfson II, and determined to earn our blades with a solid bump on our boathouse partners, Clare Hall. No-one had any doubts that it would be our toughest race so far, and we were fully prepared for an epic chase to Ditton Corner and beyond, in stark contrast to our previous races when we'd never had to go beyond First Post. A series of delays before the start didn't help our nerves, but we calmed down slightly thanks to some textbook starts coming under the Railway Bridge and on Plough Reach. Once we were on station, Anton briefed us on the task to come: it wouldn't be easy, but we could do it. Downing III had proved the previous day that first boats could be bumped by third boats, and we knew that we had it in us to grind them down. After the start, Wolfson II dropped off behind us, and we were left to focus on closing in on Clare Hall. It took quite a while for us to get our first whistle, and indeed Anton was sat with the whistle in his mouth for the best part of a minute. It did eventually come, though, and we lifted out of it. They went wide coming out of First Post Corner, and I went for the inside line, safe in the knowledge that, as well as gaining a quarter of a length on them round Grassy, I could rely on James and Matija to get us round tight.

And then we stopped.

About half the boat immediately thought that we'd got the bump, and for a couple of seconds after the 'hold it up' call I was just repeating, 'that's not a bump, boys; there's carnage ahead'. Before long, what had happened became clear: King's II, having bumped Caius II at the top of the division, had let their stern get caught by the wind on the inside of Grassy, leaving almost the entire length of their boat blocking the course around the corner. Thankfully, we held it up pretty fast (unlike a certain crew, who shall remain nameless, and who gave us the interesting spectacle of the cox of the boat in front literally jumping into their stroke-man's arms to avoid being impaled by their bow-ball). At first, it was looking like there would be a re-row, but it soon transpired that, given the delays, there wouldn't be enough time. That meant that we'd have to wait for technical results to be decided. We were all sat there, waiting in silence, for our JU to make the decision: had we been close enough to Clare Hall that a bump was likely?

That question was answered by bow four exploding into cheers. Standing up, I looked for Anton, who confirmed that we'd been awarded the technical bump. I don't think I've cheered so much in a long time, and I certainly wasn't alone. Greenery was swiftly donned, garish sunglasses were put on (thanks Sam!), and a great deal of noise was made by the amazing Clare support on the bank around Grassy. We'd done it: after four days of racing, never once making it past the Gut, Clare M3 had got blades. We'd shown that third boats can bump first boats; we'd opened up the chance of M3 making it into Division 3 next Mays; and, together with M4 and M5, we'd shown the astonishing depth of talented oarsmen that Clare has in its squad.

As for the row back, it's doubtless something that we'll all remember for a long time: the rowers will probably remember it for the ridiculous headwind, while I'll remember it for the extreme challenges involved in steering while carrying a massive flag. Let's not forget, of course, the other way in which we celebrated winning our blades; for the second time in a month, my rowers conclusively demonstrated that they can throw me a long way into the Cam.

It's been a long term: a term of early mornings, panicky phone calls to potential subs, Doodle polls, Google documents, constantly modified warmup routines, and so much more. Thanks to everyone who's helped out with M3 in some way this term. All that's left for me to say is this: although 'yellow fire' may be our unofficial motto, I think that, today, we can be permitted to alter our official one slightly. Gentlemen of M3, it gives me great pride and pleasure to say: cave adfuimus.

Uploaded Sunday 17th June, 0:14

Day Two

Chasing Pembroke IV, Being chased by Murray Edwards III

Bumps are inherently unfair, and sometimes a better row is rewarded with a worse outcome. Your start was phenomenal, and you absolutely gunned it, getting whistles on Pembroke no problem. As you came under the Motorway Bridge, the third whistle was imminent and Pembroke were crumbling. Unfortunately, an ill-timed crab meant that Murray Edwards were able to nip in for the kill. Don't be disheartened by today - you rowed well and didn't panic under pressure, and put in a far better performance than yesterday. It's just a shame the result doesn't reflect it!

Uploaded Friday 15th June, 0:50

This was a bit of a frustrating race. The first attempt at the division had you pointed quite out of line off the start, but within a few strokes you got it back and powered onto Pembroke. You took it down to a length before the motorway bridge with some great, strong rowing - looking very together too.

The next thing we knew was an umpire screaming at us on the bank to stop rowing - in the confusion it took a little while for everyone to realise what was happening. You held it up in time, casually evading the cluster of Maggie/Robinson/Tit Hall behind you, who crashed spectacularly into each other.

We had to hang around for a while as the re-row was sorted out and I think this made you all a bit jittery. Your second start was more together though and once again you sprinted after Pembroke, taking it down to a length pretty quickly.

I think maybe you didn't quite believe you were going to do it, or got a bit disheartened when the second whistle didn't come straight away. For most of the race you held them at station or just inside. On the reach we could see from the bank that Pembroke were dying and in response to push/up 2 calls from Jin you moved right into them. On your final pushes after the railway bridge you got down to 1/2 a length off them and you finished so agonisingly close! You rowed so much better than Pembroke did, and with a little more sustained "grrrrr" you would definitely have got that bump.

I think what you've learned from today is that you need to attack the race from the beginning - tomorrow you're going to beast off the start like rhinos on steroids, but with all the togetherness you had in your race today. Be determined and it will happen!

Uploaded Wednesday 13th June, 16:54

Day 1 - Chased by Corpus III, Chasing Emma IV

We went into day 1 confident of our abilities, although apparently not as confidently as Corpus III's 3 man who stood up and shouted "Spartans, what is your profession?" at us. The gun went, we set off, Emma crumbled very quickly, not even reaching First Post. First bump done. Spanner Spotter analysis later showed that Emma's 4 seat had decided that it was more effective to row with the blade out of the gate but quickly changed his mind. It also showed us that our 4 seat has the neck rigidity of a blamange.

Day 2 - Chased by Emma IV, Chasing Corpus III

The eagle eyed may have spotted Corpus III's change of position. They overbumped around us on day 1, and tried to make a deal for day 2. The deal involved allowing them to bump Christ's V and us to cheekily overbump LMBC V. We decided against this and took Corpus III on First Post. This was the hardest day so far, and we met up with Corpus in the carnage on the row home. They were hopeful of overbumping around us again the following day. It should be mentioned that Corpus had the most impressive array of hats I have seen in bumps, possibly only outdone by the Crayola boat in Cardinals.

Day 3 - Chased by Corpus III, Chasing Christ's V

By now, Anton was telling us what he expected us to do. Christ's V was a fellows boat and we decided that smashing into a bunch of old men was perfectly acceptable. I think Christ's V had a whistle on LMBC V just before we got our first whistle. This made us go a bit sloppy but we kept the power and rate. Once whistle 2 came the rest came quickly. An optimistic CamFM claimed it was 20 seconds, 1.5 minutes is probably a more realistic estimate, with the bump once again occurring just before First Post. Hopes were high for the next day.

Day 4 - Chased by Christ's V, Chasing Fitz III

Nerves started to set in here, knowing a crab could end it all. We stayed calm, kept the start the same and managed to maintain our no-corners bumps record. Fitz came very quickly after the first whistle, with this being perhaps our fastest bump yet. 4 man deserves a special mention for his "Cat in the Hat" hat.

Sandwich Race - Chasing LMBC V

Blades were ours, we put the work in. I wanted more, as did the rest of the crew. Supporters flooded between the Motorway Bridge and First Post expecting an early bump. We had our crew huddle, where we determined that it was finally time to use our "Up 5" shout that Anton had prepared. The wind was much stronger than previous races but we knew LMBC were a rugby boat and not very technical. Eyes were kept in the boat and we set off for their cox like dynamite. Bumping before even reaching the kink near the lock, this was fast for us. Lord Ashby has a gash running under the bows for a good 2 or 3 feet, crossing over to both sides; a reminder of how we got M4 a permanent place in bumps.

These blades were just the end to a great campaign, thanks so much to Dom for organising outings and for Anton "fast hands" Wright, Mike "swing together" Hook, Dirk "keep everything the same" Simon and everyone else. We also found that having the blades flag out infinitely improves your rowing (unless you are trying to drink at the same time).

YELLOW FIRE!!!

Uploaded Monday 18th June, 10:40

Not a report, as such, but just a few words of congratulations: gentlemen (and lady), I'm so, so pleased that you got blades. Excellent work, and hopefully Michael and Dan will be able to put last year's M4 results behind them now! Although I still think that Nina and I should form some sort of 'never-had-to-take-a-corner-in-bumps' club ...

Uploaded Saturday 16th June, 23:39

Day 1: Chasing Sidney Sussex IV, chased by Robinson IV

Remember when I said that row-overs, particularly those where there's a real chance for a bump, were pretty rare in lower divisions? Whoops. Our start was pretty solid, and we got to one whistle fairly quickly (with the aid of some epic crab recovery). Unfortunately, a stationary Emma crew pointing out into the river robbed us of our momentum coming out of First Post Corner, and by the time we'd restarted Sidney IV had pulled out to a good three lengths clear. We didn't give up, though, and gained on them steadily as we came round Ditton and onto the Reach. It was obviously frustrating not to reel them in completely, but I'm confident that we can do it tomorrow - hopefully without any unexpected obstructions!

Day 2: Chasing Sidney Sussex IV, chased by Homerton III

Today's result was undoubtedly a shame, particularly since our start sequence felt really nice today. Sadly, getting to one whistle on Sidney within the first 20 strokes proved not to be quite enough, as it quickly became apparent that the Homerton crew behind us were pretty quick. They took the bump coming in towards First Post Corner, proving that, for future races, we need to focus on rowing our own race and not getting flustered by crews behind us. Let's get our revenge tomorrow ...

Day 3: Chasing Homerton III, chased by Queens' VI

Bumps is a funny beast, and we saw that again today. We know that we are faster than quite a few other crews in the division, but the way things panned out made it difficult for us to prove it. A determined Queens' crew behind us, who had already bumped up the previous day, showed their determination right out of the start and caught us at First Post, not helped by some massive air-strokes from me. Still, I know we can do better, so let's row to prove a point on the last day of Mays.

Day 4: Chasing Queens' VI, chased by First and Third VI

Today was bound to be tricky, given as how the FaT crew behind us had bumped on both of the previous two days. The bump from them did indeed come, but I'm really proud of how we held them, even when they'd got to three whistles. We certainly lasted a lot longer than on previous days, lifting quite a few times to pull away slightly, but we succumbed to the classic mistake of collapsing when subjected to sustained pressure. Nonetheless, I've really enjoyed the past four days, and I hope everyone else in the crew has. Thanks very much to Joss for coxing, to Martyn and Steen for coaching, to Jin and Matt for subbing in, and to all the other crew members for a wonderful Bumps week. Hopefully many of you will stay involved in the Boat Club next year.

Uploaded Saturday 16th June, 23:37