Winter league 2017, leg 3

It looks like I didn't write this up at the time, so I've hurriedly written this just after WL1, 2018. Here's leg 2 and leg 1.

The results are on RowClock.

Of the men

M1 (total 28:42.5) 3rd leg 9:24, a recent record we think. 1 / 7 in IM3. 7th overall after masters adjustments but 5th on raw time, beating Press in particular. Behind Tabs 1 (duh) City 1 (duh) and Nines 1 (duh), and Lysander. And yet, somehow, we threw this away in bumps.

M2 (total 31:46.4) 3rd leg 10:19.5, 19th overall. 5 / 7 in IM3.

Of the women

W1 (IM3; total 34:48.1) 3rd leg 11:24.40,  3 / 8; 50th.

W2 (Nov, total 35:54.9) 3rd leg 11:47.40, 1 / 8. 58th.

Head of the Cam, 2017

The Head of the Cam, 2017 will be on

Sat 22nd April

Usual head course, usual rules, usual classes. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Students: Notice that Easter term starts on Tuesday the 25th of April. Think ahead!

See the Head of the Cam page for full details.

Winter league 2017, leg 2

Wx: cold, grey, some drizzle, slight tailwind down the Reach; slightly faster conditions than leg 1. For comparison, see leg 1. For full results, see RowClock.

Men A (9:28.5; video): Leg 1 was good but we could do better, especially with Conor back in and Kate ("like a female Steven"- anon) subbing in at seven while the hen-pecked Steven was forced to go to Paris to watch some egg-kicking. With the boat now stroke rigged (it's unnatural I tell you) and a month's coaching from Will under our belt, we're sharper and a little more professional. First Post flowed very well, the Gut/ Grassy / Plough was OK, we kicked well out of Ditton onto the Reach and pushed home from there. We pulled back the 6 seconds we'd lost to Press on leg 1 and are now exactly equal: all set for an exciting leg 3 (Press are Masters; that's raw time. We're leading IM3 by 13 seconds over City 2). 

As noted in the 2016 post, we got 9:28 in 2014. Twice.

Women IM3 (11:38.8): six seconds faster than leg 1, so they've crept up on their rivals:Tabs and Press were both slower than leg 1.

Men B (10:22): 40 seconds faster than leg 1, well done.

Women Nov (12:00.1): again faster than leg 1, and maintain their lead over rivals Hills Belles now out to 27 seconds.

Women 4x-: (13:14.5): "rowed more like a four than a quad" or some I'm told.

Keith (14:00.7): currently 4/9, or 4/7 of those who have done both legs.

Winter league 2017, leg 1

Wx: generally good, wind not detectable and stream light. For comparison, see 2016.

This year we have two IM3 men's VIII's (we now have enough points that we cannot scratch a novice VIII together), an IM3 and novice women's VIII, a women's quad and Keith holding up the sculling end.

Results from leg 1 are:

Men A: 9:49.8 (2/6 by 1.8 secs to City) [Compare an average of 10:07 last year; fastest men Tabs 1 9:05] [Vidz: by Dawn] [GPS trace]
Men B: 11:04.9 (6/6) [Vidz by Dan]
W IM3: 11:44.9 (6/8) [Fastest women Tabs IM2 10:07] [Vidz by Dan]
W Nov: 12:07.4 (1/8 well done) [Vidz: by Dawn]
W 4x-: 12:35 (2/2)
Keith 1x: 13:43 (5/9) [Vidz by Dan]

Full results are online (and appeared very fast too, well done City).

Post division 2 coffee outside Stir in the sunshine: L to R: Amanda, Dave, Josh, William, Paul looking hard, Lorraine looking cool, Rachel, Simon, Dan's ear.

Ely boats head

Update: M VIII second overall, and both IV's win their IM3 category! Pots (nearly) all round.

It was only as we drove towards Ely with an VIII on the trailer that I realised this was a touch odd for a "small boats head". But it has been re-branded and is now a "boats head" (archive of current state). They have a big river so throwing in a few VIIIs is hardly a problem, particularly this afternoon when after a glorious early-winter sunshine morning we had bitter cold and rain that put off a few of the smaller boats. The Mad Max style industrial landscape is still there, and the boating stages make an odd contrast to the not-yet-gleaming work in progress of CUBC's new boathouse on the opposite shore.

We entered, as well as the aforementioned men's VIII, the Elite IV and a Ladies IV, all in the afternoon division. All the crews had good races, enjoying a mild tailwind and a 5 km straight with no bends to slow down or throw out the racing. The M VIII went off first and stayed that way, easily outpacing Champs behind us. The M IV started fourth and ended up second. And the W IV overtook two without losing any place themselves.

Results now out; I guessed 19:14 for the M VIII (Chris guessed 19:30) which fits with the 1:55-ish splits (GPS trace) moderately well.  The answers are below.

Provisional results here.

Crews:

* M VIII: Dave Richards, Chris Wood, Paul Holland, Steve O'Rouke, Brian Stevens, Michael Prior-Jones, Simon Emmings, Gerhard Smith. Cox: William Connolley. (Video; another). 19:12, second overall, pipped by Robs Quad for first place.

* W IV:  Amanda Clarkson, Catherine, Lorraine Turvill,  Jo Raskin. Cox: Robert Nimmo. (Video). 21:44, winning the IM3 4+. 2nd women's crew.

* M IV: Steven Andrews, Conor Burgess, Simon Lloyd, Dan McGreal. Cox: James Tidy. (Video; another). 20:07, winning the IM3 4+. 6th overall.

Pix: Rachel Newby. Vidz: Meg Richards.

Captain's log 2016

Here, recorded for posterity, is Simon Emmings' record of achievement over the past (September to September) rowing year.

Boston Marathon, 
Mixed viii -1st, course record.

Autumn Head, 
Im3 -3rd

Huntingdon Head - Simon forgot this infamous event and its incomprehensibly stupid draw.

Vets iv's Head

Christmas Head
First time entered 5 mixed crews, theme Christmas dinner.

Deep cleaned men's viii, over Christmas.

Winter Head
im3 -2nd
Mas -3rd
Nov -3rd

Winter league
First time ever entered 2 men's viiis
Im3- 3rd, 6th overall
Nov-1st, 27th overall

Winter Head to Head
Im3 -1st
Nov -2nd

(WeHORR - not part of men's stuff, but I'll link to it)

HoRR, great success
First time ever entered 2 viii's.
Im3- 25th in Cat, 215th overall
Nov- 9th in Cat, 309th overall

Vet's Head
Mixed viii

Training camp Sabaudia
First ever training camp! Well done Dan!

Oxford Bumps
First time we have entered 1xW and 1xM
Men up two, to 7th
women up 1 to 8th in div 2

Rad Mile
Nov- 2nd

Head of the Cam
Went well.

Spring H2H
Im3 -1st
(I also coxed women..side-by-side from Ditton to road bridge...that was fun)

City Sprints
Im3 iv- 2nd
Single -2nd

Champs Head
Novs -1st

99's Regatta
Novs -2nd

Xpress Head
M1- 1st (2nd fastest town club)
M3- 3rd,(in im3 cat)

Peterborough Spring Regatta
Sat.
Im3 viii-1st
Nov viii -lost in heat
iv -4th
single-3rd in heat
Sun.
Im3 viii- 4th
Im3 iv-2nd
single- 4th in semi

Marlow
First time ever entered viii
Im3- 10th 6:08(winning time ,5:55)

Time Race
M1-2nd overall
M3-2nd in Cat
(W1 and W2 both 1st in Cat!)

Town Bumps
M1 up 3..to 9th!(my proudest moment M1's last night bump)
M2 down 1..to 34th
M3 up 4..to 50th (M3 total joy..Prosecco and a cheese sandwich)
W1 stayed at 10 (after thinking they would get spoons!)
W2 up 1 rowed sandwich 3 times
W3 up 2 to 38
Record number still standing at 8am after party!

Named the iv "Nostromo"

Peterborough Summer Regatta
Sat.
Nov viii-1st..pot and points for old boys!
Simon Emmings
Paul Holland
Steve O Rourke
Gerhard Smith
Simon Green
Mike PJ
Ondrej
Dave Byrne

Sun
Im3 iv-lost in heat
Single-4th in final

Cambridge Regatta
Im3 - 2nd

Great Ouse Half Marathon
Im3 iv -course record

99's Regatta
Pair-lost in heat

Um. This picture is from 2013, isn't it? Still, its a nice picture and it has Simon in it. And it was the last time before 2016 that M1 went up three.

Tabs regatta

After the wild excitement of bumps a period of holidays ensued. The next mark along our endless road to victory was Cantabs Summer Regatta. A slightly curious event which I don't think I've done before. But it was there, so we put in entries for a Men's and Women's VIII, and perhaps even had a practice outing or two, I forget.

Dan is relaxed. Steve O in despair. Chris and Brian are happy. Lewis is cool, if slightly blurred  - sorry my phone camera often goes into "rubbish mode". Who's the bald bloke at 2? its Paul! And Keith in the bows. Cox was new boy Eric. My headstand-in-boat whilst marshalling drew plaudits.

The format was, interestingly, like the new BR one: time trials, followed by races. The entries were a bit thin this year - I mean, there weren't very many of them, not that the entrants themselves were particularly svelte, indeed some clearly weren't. Where was I? Oh yes: so Tabs got some of their folk to enter. That meant their men's Senior Squad were in the men's, and I think their women's Henley squad in the women's, which rather dampened our hopes for Ultimate Victory short of throwing Jo Crisall at them, which I believe was the women's plan at one point.

The time trial was decent (I'm speaking for the men here, I don't know about the ladies other than their time, which was 4:10. The course is about a kilometer). The results are here, BTW. We got 3:35, which closely matched Eric's over-the-finish-line estimate of 3:37 (I was dead impressed that he had learnt how to use the RowCoach as a timer, a feat that has escaped Tidy over centuries, but no: he'd used his phone).

And so we ended up in the B final against Champs, with Tabs 1 and Hills Road in the A final. I was a bit disappointed not to have beaten Hills, but we weren't M1 so never mind. The "A" final was a bit odd: Tabs 1 had beaten Hills by 20 seconds so to make a race of it, Hills were given a 20 second head start. They celebrated this by heading off diagonally into the bank in front of Tabs 1 before slewing round and continuing; and apparently won, eventually.

And then it was us versus Champs. They tried to beard us out, but my ragged biblical straggling was clearly superior to their rather manned effort. They tried to get ahead of us off the start, which they succeeded in, because we rather stuffed up the wind somehow; of the six starts we did that day it was by far the worst. However they only got a seat or two up, and after a few hundred metres we started to pull back, as we finally remembered how to row. Eric wanted half a length by the railway bridge by in fact we'd got clear water by then as we settled down and (perhaps) their lack of fitness kicked in; and so on over the line in relaxed style.

Rather later on we got to see the results of the time trial and realised that we'd beaten Hills by 3 seconds; Tabs had misread their results in arranging the finals. Opinions differ as to how much this matters. For me, I'd rather have an interesting race against Champs than be destroyed by Tabs 1. Chris wanted the excitement of a side by side against Tabs; I pointed out we'd only have been side by side for the first 30 seconds :-). The most interesting race would have been us against Hills, but sadly that wasn't possible.

Bumps 2016: day 4

And so we come to the last day... for the records, the weather was good, very little wind, negligible stream, as it had been all week.

W3: up (up 2 overall)

W2: row over, over(up 1 overall)

W1: down (level overall at 10th)

Closing on Robs, but Cows too fast.

M3: up (up 4 overall)

With three bumps under our belts M3 were a crew looking to ensure the week ended perfectly. The final row up was wonderful - long, balanced and connected. 

When the gun went off our start could not have been better. We’d rated up to 40 plus within 5 strokes and were motoring ahead. This bump would prove to be a lengthier affair than the mildly rude and abrupt ones of the previous days so we were not surprised not to get a whistle within 15 strokes - though it did give a moment’s worry. Tonight was the first time we’d had to row full speed through the motorway bridge and outflow - so the novices in the boat had to deal with that for the first time. However, it did not take long for a whistle. It took a few more strokes for a second whistle but once we had that the crew ahead seemed to loose heart and the third whistle came just moments before the bump as we made the final few metres in quick time.

A lovely row home with the crew with a grandstanding start outside the pPlough. We dropped off the boat for M2 at combined to walk back to Queens’ and then cycle to the beer tree for a well earned pint. Chaos then ensued.

M2: down (down 1 overall)

M1: up (up 3 overall to 9th)

Yesterday we got very close to City 2 but didn't quite close them down. Today we knew we were faster than them, and we knew that they knew, and we knew that they knew that we knew. So we resolved to go off just as hard but cleaner, and to focus harder in their wash. And so it proved. We got a whistle on FP reach like yesterday and two on FP corner and the wash was really kicking in, but we held our technique well and didn't get slowed down by bad strokes. We were close past the Plough, and a good corner at Ditton saw us still closing, and finally getting our third whistle. Overlap comes about a minute later. It was beginning to get rather tiring at that point but the wash and the whistles told us we were close and then... the blessed "hold it up!" and we were there.

GPS track. A14 to FP 1:11 (1:08 in 2013 day 4). Glorious bowcam video is here.

Reflections: three up in division 1 is good: we last did that in 2013, when we last finished at 9. Blades would have been better, and unlike 2013 we did have a fair shot at it this time, but couldn't quite close City on Thursday. If we had, we'd have had a go at Tabs 2 who we'd got to 3/4 and 1/2 a length of in 2014; but we're faster this year. But we might not have caught Tabs, and this way we get to finish on a high.

We were: James Tidy (cox); Me (stroke), Dan McGreal, Matt Woodthorpe, Conor Burgess, Simon Lloyd, Steve Penson, Brian Stevens, Keith Lee (bow). Of the "great year" of 2013 only James and I survive: James Howard is up North, Andy Southgate has retired to M2, Chris Wood is temporarily holidaying in M2, Ralph is a cyclist, Will Wykeham is a sailor, Ian Foster went to Tabs and regretted it, Dave Richards had a quiet year in M2.

Afterwards:

The Waterman for drinks until they shut around 12:30, then the City hard drinking into the small hours. I can't add pictures of that, so instead here's Tabs and City at the prizegiving. Congratulations to them.

And so... then end? Although there's still Peterborough. And Boston. And...

Bumps 2016: day 3

Ah, bumps. The anguish and the glory.

M1: row over.

A good race, at least for the first half. We got a whistle on City 2 surprisingly early - not much past the bridge, perhaps earlier than yesterday. And two at First Post I think. We had good corners for FP and Grassy, and were at three whistles at the Plough. But the chop was really rather choppy, and spaced amongst the good rowing were a few thrown-off strokes that slowed us down. Going into Ditton we were a few inches off, I'm told, but our corner there wasn't so good and we kinda lost it down the Reach. Coming into the Railway bridge they'd pulled away, and behind us was the spectacle of Tabs 3 rowing their guts out to escape Nines 2 who had overlap; but didn't quite close them down either.

M2: row over. Again! These boys like their row-overs.

M3: up, and then up as sandwich boat

A confident M3 set out from Queens’ boathouse on night 3. Running slightly late as Rob had to make his sandwiches for the sandwich boat. Some very good paddling to the start boded well for the race. The Mills & Reeve crew behind had no chance to catch us on the start as we rated up to 40 plus and gained rapidly on the Cantabs 11 crew. The bump came at almost exactly the same spot as the previous evening’s - first post corner. Now, as Dr Doubleday’s snack had foretold, we were Sandwich boat. This meant a nice row down, willow-bedecked, to the finish marshalling point for a rest and then a row back up for the third division. A very nice practice start gave us that invincible feeling and we were ready to go for a ride on the hype-train for a 2nd time in one day. Waiting at Bait’s Bite Lock was a nice change - knowing we had straight-ish stretch to get up to speed. The canon started us of and, well, we went like a rocket. Rating at plus 40 before we knew it and almost immediately we were at one whistle. The crew ahead - an ARM boat, XPress 6 — were rowing nicely but we bumped them within 28 strokes, giving them no time to get into their rhythm Two bumps, one night… sounds like a Youtube sensation. 99s ahead of ARM bumped up again so we can be confident of a good final night.

W1: row over.

The old enemy St Neot's.  Over the last three years they've stayed stubbornly out of reach.  Tonight was to be no different.  Without a cox box seemed only to make them go faster off the start.  They went off like a rocket and Bumped Robs before First Post corner.  City 3 behind were bumped surprisingly quickly behind by COWS.  Champs appeared around Grassy but were bumped out too.  We were left the only crew rowing with everything in front and behind bumped out.  We wound down on the Reach but had a bit of a scare as Nines appeared 12 lengths behind and started to gain.  But we took the rate up and were soon safely out of Reach at the Railway Bridge.

W2: row over and row over

Still in sandwich boat hell.  First a row at the top of Division 3.  A "glorious" row over in clear water with no threat from behind.  Then the second
row.  Chasing Robs 4 in Division 2 from the lock.   They are getting so close, with a 1/4 of a length.  Let's close it down tonight.

W3: up.

Once more at the outflow chasing Cantabs 7 but with Sarah C-Hs fresh legs.  After some discussion between bank party and cox it was decided to push off as late as possible so as not to be pushed out by the outflow.  It was tight but gave the crew little time to get tense.  They had a good start and were soon within a length and gaining fast.  The gap continued to close and the boats were soon overlapping with our bow ball way past the cox, they eventually conceded and "Hold it up" it was all over.  The bow-ball had taken a bit of a hammering but nothing that some tape couldn't fix.  A well deserved first Bump for W3 of the week.

Bumps 2016: day 2

Day 2 dawned hot again, but there are storm clouds brewing to the west. What will the evening bring?

Overall: M1 up, M2 over, M3 up. W1 over, W2 up-and-over, W3 over.

M3: up. A rapid close on Press 7 as boat 2, and the bump was concluded on First Post.

Relaxed mayhem cold describe the short and fast bump we achieved. Today’s crew included Ondrej and Mike Prior-Jones in place of Stuart and Will. It was Ondrej’s first bumps and what a row he had!
A great start left the crew behind with nothing to chase and we swiftly gained on the crew ahead - gaining our first whistle in a twenty or so strokes. The rating didn’t drop much below the start of 41, even as we hit choppy water and a few duff strokes messed with the balance.
At one point a single whistle could be hear for the X-Press 7 (Mills & Reeve) boat ahead - suggesting they were gaining on the Cantabs 11 in front of them. This gave us a momentary scare but we were reassured immediately as two whistles sounded for us, swiftly followed by three.
As we hit first post corner we hit the crew ahead and that was it - a bump in front of the pavilions and willow for all. Barney’s proud parents were there to cheer for him and Lorraine got the foliage for us. A quick stop at the beer tree was mandatory. So - day three holds the tantalising promise of becoming the sandwich boat. Whoop.

M2: row over

Are we nearly there yet?

M1: up on Tabs 3

Tabs three put up more of a fight than Nines two: perhaps they knew we are fast and so sprinted. But despite another good start we didn't get our first whistle until half way down FP reach, and I was starting to wonder what was happening. Nonetheless we kept going - we are capable of getting at least to FP in good form - and got two whistles on FP; after that they perhaps tired because we closed to three in the gut and overlap and then the bump on Grassy. Which is excellent because someone must have videoed us from the bank. Bumping too early is bad from a photographic viewpoint.

Feast yourself on the exciting bowcam video.

W3: row over.

The crew settled into their stride and started to gain coming out of the first-post corner.  They were a length off Tabs 7 and at times made up some
ground.  They stayed within a length but were unable to make up the distance by the end of the course.  Coming out of Ditton Corner they definitely looked the stronger crew so should have confidence to bump tomorrow.

W2: up.

Bumped Champs 6 at grassy taking them up to Sandwich boat but were unable to Bump the pesky Robs juniors to secure a position in Div 2.  Sandwich boat tomorrow.

W2 hold it up the ladies way.

W1: row over.

So it was St Neot's.  They've stayed elusively in front of us for the last two or three years, slowly making their way up the first division as have we.  We
had a good start but not with the same dynamism as yesterday, we stayed with them but over the course but they gradually stretched the lead.  We took it all the way to the Top Finish only winding down as they crossed the line.

Other views:

Cambridge News: "Chesterton mowed down Cantabs III on Grassy Corner" and "In women's Division Three, Chesterton, stroked by Meg Richard, bumped Champs VI to climb into sandwich boat position. They then chased Rob Roy's juniors, stroked by Freya Sutcliffe, all the way over the course in their second row, finishing just a quarter of a length behind at the line."