St Catharine's College Boat Club

Bumped First and Third III

On the final day, we were chasing a spooning First and Third III. However, we knew from the results at Robinson Head that they definitely had the potential to match our speed, and so we prepared to row a long race once again.

After some fun and games trying to stop drifting into the barges above Chesterton before going to the start, we arrived on station just as the 4 minute gun went. The start (unlike the practices we'd done) was one of the best we'd produced during the week, and we strode to 34, intent to grind them down over the course.

The rowing was hard work into the headwind, but we were rewarded with our first whistle halfway along first post reach. By the time we entered the corner the gap was down to almost half a length, and a brilliant line from Clare edged us closer. A determined power 10 in the gut took the remaining distance and we secured the bump on the entrance to grassy.

An absolutely fantastic performance by the crew, 5 of whom had never been in a boat before October, and despite losing 2 weeks of training to a frozen river. Many thanks to Ivan Scales, without whose coaching this result would not have been possible.

Bumped King's II

After not having to row much past the motorway bridge on either of the first two days, M2 arrived at the boathouse on Friday refreshed and ready for a sterner challenge chasing King's II.

The start of the race was slightly panicky as Clare realised we weren't particularly straight, but bow and 3 prevailed and brought the boat back round. There was something slightly resembling a stride today, but we still only dropped to about 35, a couple higher than we'd intended. However, we had our first whistle not long after the motorway bridge, and although they held us at a length for about 20 strokes, they started to fall back to us, before contact was made just as Clare was calling for the entry to First Post.