May Bumps - Thursday 2010: Reports

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May Bumps - Thursday 2010

1st Women's May VIII - 12th in 1st Division - Bumped Magdalene
[ Add More Photos ] When we met at the boathouse you could feel the weight of pressure and anticipation had been lifted in comparison to the day before and spirits were high! We had a much better row down, the feeling was more relaxed and we all knew what we had to do. We settled into a much better race pace and didn't panic when Catz came up to within a 1/4 of a length on us just before 1st post. Kate called a perfectly time change up and we responded brilliantly, walking away from Catz and taking half a length off Magdalene round 1st post and in the gut. This time when we heard whistles we knew we were not going to let them get away today so coming round grassy we put in an extra squeeze, aided by Kate's perfect inside corner, and bumped them just after grassy. A long awaited bump for some of us and a first ever bump for Lydia!
C: K. Richards S: C. Drury 7: A. Robbins 6: G. Long 5: H. Miller 4: L. Gayle 3: C. Wheeler 2: D. Malinova B: S. Knight

2nd Women's May VIII - 5th in 3rd Division - Bumped Wolfson
We were told FAT II had gained slightly on Wolfson the day before. As we had caught FAT easily, going faster than the boat in front was not today's worry. However, yesterday's race results had also shown Girton II (today starting ahead of Wolfson) to be having an exceptionally poor year. We knew we did not have a full course in which to catch Wolfson. A fast start and a possible over-bump were planned. Again we were unfashionably early for marshalling and sang another tuneless Bohemian Rhapsody but uncertainty made the row up tenser than Wednesday. Having bumped our way out from under the motorway bridge the day before, Thursday's start was far more pleasant however. As expected, the boats all got very close together within 90 seconds of the gun. I particularly like the CUR 1350 commentary from behind First Post corner, so will give them the floor: "And i can see the boats coming. It's Wolfson on Girton and Wolfson are gaining. Coming round the corner they have got it down to three quarters of a length. Yes, Wolfson are definitely gaining ... oh, ... Wolfson appear to have more pressing problems. Queens' are about 6 feet away and gaining and the cox is looking around and yes, Wolfson have been bumped." Grudges last in Bumps and Judy, Grace and Alicia were particularly pleased to have levelled the score with Wolfson from last Mays.
C: C. Clark S: L. Tate 7: N. Dickson 6: A. Davies 5: J. Milne 4: F. Gillanders 3: G. Hu 2: A. Smitton B: S. Brooke

3rd Women's May VIII - 13th in the 4th Division - Bumped by Kings II
So dawned our second day of racing as we found ourselves in a tough position. We had the tidy Kings 2 behind us and Magdalene 3 in front of us once again. We would have to go off hard just to stay ahead of the boat behind us and pull off something special to catch the crew that held us at station over the whole course the day before. Everyone knew the score and there was a solid push off of the start. We gained on Magdalene to just shy of one whistle and held them there with 100% of our concentration focused on pushing ahead of kings. Navigating through the remains of the upper half of the division, we made it as far as grassy before the superiority of Kings 2 showed and we were forced to concede. Despite the result, it was a very good race and we gained experience in trying to stave off the chasing boat. Spirits were dampened and bodies were tired but we gained resolve to take back that place on the following days.
C: T. Honnor S: K. Manhart 7: A. Martines 6: A. Francis 5: A. Bell 4: I. Martin 3: R. Kiff 2: G. Bhosale B: A. Hadkiss

2nd Men's May VIII - 14th in Division 2 - Bumped by Sidney M1
Today the whole crew knew our race would realistically only last until just about Grassy, knowing that we were quicker than the Wolfson M1 crew ahead but Sidney were the timeline we had to get them. After a good row down being inspired by the words of KC, we were very much prepared at the job at hand and had no intention of ever letting the rate drop or having anything left in the tank. From the gun we had a good start taking about half a length from the approaching Sidney boat and eating into Wolfson, coming into first post the whistles started coming for us and buoyed by this the crew pushed even harder but Sidney behind were now motoring and eating into us. Coming out of grassy we came to within half a length of Wolfson when Sidney gave there huge kill push unfortunately taking an inside line and bumping us as we came into plough reach.
C: E. Thompson S: M. Jones 7: E. Kwong 6: M. Clark 5: M. Varley 4: D. Pattinson 3: R. Blencowe 2: C. Hansford B: T. Mitchell-Williams Coach: C. Adams Coach: K. Coventry

4th Men's May VIII - 3rd in Division 6 - Rowed Over

C: S. Makinson S: D. Keeley 7: J. Wood 6: J. Burgess 5: H. Cathcart 4: J. Baxter 3: W. Hirsch 2: A. Piotrowski B: J. Maheswaran Coach: M. Varley Coach: M. Jones

3rd Men's May VIII - 16th in 3rd Division - Rowed Over
After yesterday's success, M3 came in buzzing and with the sights on an admittedly strong target - Robinson II. The start was sharp, and the rowing solid, and the pushes extremely impressive, but as it turned out, we weren't quite quick enough to catch Robinson before they got the bump ahead. With little trouble behind, as Jesus were bumped out again, we went for it anyway, and even had Rachel calling "Go for the Overbump," perhaps ambitiously. A decent row over, amongst tough competition.
C: R. Brown S: L. Bargery 7: B. Srigengan 6: G. Steele 5: B. Wright 4: T. Moore 3: K. Lim 2: N. Bookbinder-Ryan B: A. Lepper

1st Men's May VIII - Rowed Over- 6th in Division 1
After a frustrating Day yesterday, we came down to the boathouse early again. We had had a good morning warm-up on the water, but we were quiet in the Boathouse. Clearly I had had problems cornering in Suzi in rough water round Grassy. We had a good row up and sat on station with some nerves buwe knew that we could gain on Downing like we had the day before. Our start was OK, and we kept the rate high going into First Post. Unfortunately, Pembroke had bumped LMBC the day before, meaning Downing were now chasing LMBC and they bumped them coming out of Grassy. However, as Maggie refused to concede, this led to a Plough Reach full of confusion for all. By the time we got to the reach, the boats ahead and behind had bumped out too, so I took it down to about 24 as we entered the second half of the Reach and we rowed over to the Top Finish. Frustrating, but that's Bumps.
C: J. Cribb S: P. Mildon 7: N. Gates 6: M. Richly 5: H. Dietert 4: M. Wigley 3: G. Savell 2: A. Morgan B: C. Sturrock