Results and reports by Event

First round vs Maggie: A few nerves made the start of the race a bit scrappy, but we still pulled away from the start. Settling at 38 we were still a bit manic, but managed to pull away steadily. Job one for the day: check.

Quarter final vs Emma: We knew this race would be close, but after our first round our shaky nerves seemed to have gone. We had a strong warm up and a stonking practice start set us up well. Settling lower, at 36, gave us a more relaxed, neater rhythm and we edged ahead from the start. This was probably our best race of the day- we were close all the way but stayed calm and strong.

Semi-Final vs FaT: We knew this would be tricky, but buoyed up by our previous race we were ready to give it our best shot. We had a fairly good start and kept them under pressure for a long time. However, once they'd opened up some clear water we lost some aggression and let the rate slip a couple of pips. Still, we had a decent race and finished with only a length of clear water. According to the FaT website we were their closest race of the day- this can only be a good thing!

All in all a good day for us. We improved significantly during the day and, if we can take what we learnt through to bumps, it should set us up very nicely. Well done girls!

Uploaded Sunday 14th February, 12:09

A great race to watch from the towpath. FaT moved up during the start sequence but by the time you guys executed the rhythm change, your boat speed was higher. Coupled with the bend in the reach in your favour this gave you about four seats. Taking you out to a two seat lead. Over the remainder of the reach this was slowly extended to approximately 1/2 a length by the railway bridge. A great effort through the bridge denied FaT the full advantage of the corner but the lead inevitably shortened back to 2 seats. On the approach to the final corner, the pace started to become unsustainable and although the bend was against FaT, they clawed it back to dead level with ~150m to go. The slight kink in the course back in favour of the meadow side, combined with a stronger finish from FaT gave them a canvas by the line. The result was literally decided in the last ten strokes (contrary to the FaT race report).

This was a great display of the sort of attitude that is required for success in bumps. With more work on starts, finishing moves and pushes over the next few days, you guys can look forward to some good racing in the Lents. I'll be there to watch and destroy my voice again.

Uploaded Sunday 14th February, 18:08

This was an amazing race.

We certainly didn't go into it with high expectations....FaTII are a formidable opponent for a ClareII and nearly all other 2nd boats. Being ranked 29 places above us in the bumps table, this should have been a walk over for them.

Despite this, we approached it with full commitment. Off the start they gained one or two seats, but by our rhythm call we were steaming along. The rhythm change was one of the best we have ever done, and although the rate came down, the boat speed stayed constant, if not increasing. We were now rapidly taking seats out of them and by 500m were half a length up. They responded but we maintained our half length lead up to the railway bridge and the spectating crews on the bowside corner. Everyone was cheering for Clare, and there was a flicker through everyone's minds that we were ahead of FaTII and could actually beat them. Tiredness began to set in however and the technique deteriorated. By the final corner we were on station, as FaT wound it up for the finish. Our rate had slacked and we struggled to respond, not quite enough left in the tanks for the 1100m race. The verdict was a canvas to FaT.

Nonetheless this was a huge achievement, the fact victory was so close is only a slight bitter taste of a race we should be very proud of. It had acres of commitment, with no holding back. The crew is now really psyched for bumps in 10 days time.

If we build on our strengths and focus on maintaining technique when we are tired, then the crews in front of us are going down!

Uploaded Saturday 13th February, 16:19

Well, it's interesting writing a race report from INSIDE the boat, rather than outside! We went into this race with the aim to produce the best we could, which is, ultimately, all you can really do in these situations. It wasn't a very dramatic race. Downing were just very slightly faster the entire way. We had overlap with them for about half the course and by the end they had about a length and a half clear water. Downing II then went on to win the entire division. Nothing to be ashamed of and lots of things we can tweek to hopefully go significantly faster in the next week. I, for one, am keen.

Uploaded Saturday 13th February, 19:58