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Lighting Times
September 4th:
06:48-21:01
September 5th:
06:50-20:58
Posted: Thursday 10 June 2010, 12:13PM by Sam Harrison
We lined up for the first day chasing Emma II and in front of Selwyn II. We knew we should be faster than both of them, but after our races this term and last year’s Mays we also knew what could happen on a bad day.
We got a pretty clean start and as we wound it up our nerves were settled as we saw Selwyn II spear into the bank after about 10 strokes, leaving a slightly bemused Corpus to row past for the bump.
We wound it high, and the adrenaline meant we were a couple of pips higher on the rating than normal after the stride. We had a couple of wobbles going through the choppy water under the motorway bridge but we were still just inside station. We got our first whistle soon after and a couple of pushes later we had moved to half a length and got our three whistles.
Rob called a jump as we approached First Post Corner. We built up the pressure, wound up the rating and just as we were lengthening back out the boat crashed over killing our newly gained boat speed. We had to pick the boat up again and attempt a kill call for the second time with our legs already burning. Fortunately, we did so and got the bump on the exit of the corner.
After we pulled in Mike sheepishly explained that he had heard someone telling us to stop so had stopped rowing and held it up at the crucial time, which explained the sudden loss of balance and speed… All rowing all of the time is definitely something to get right tomorrow!
It was a solid start to bumps so fingers crossed for the rest of the week.
Posted: Thursday 10 June 2010, 11:07PM by Sam Harrison
Yesterday was a solid but not spectacular row. It gave us confidence but we were very uncertain going into today. We knew we should be faster than Queens’ II; based on yesterday’s race we thought they would be similar, if not slightly quicker than, Emma II. However, Wolfson were in front of Queens’ and we knew very little about them, but we didn’t think they’d be able to hold Queens’ off for long. We felt that the race would be over by the gut, whether we bumped Queens’ or they got Wolfson. Our race plan was to go off very hard and put Queens’ under pressure before they got close to Wolfson.
The other factor today was the weather. It was still refusing to acknowledge that this was May bumps, so today was windy and overcast. We raced Nines Regatta in similar windy conditions earlier in term, which had turned into an exhibition of bad rowing technique into a headwind… Fortunately today was a tailwind but was still not ideal.
We had a slightly nervy row up to the start but had some time to compose ourselves up at the lock. In the race we had a scrappy but still reasonably quick start. Our rowing improved slightly after the stride but was still not as loose as yesterday. We were slightly inside station off the start but started to move on Queens’ as we both hit the choppy water under the motorway bridge. Encouraged by the lack of whistles from the bank party ahead we pushed on and our rowing started to sharpen up; we soon got our first and second whistles down first post reach. We started to hear whistles from the Queens’ bank party but pushed into the corner and got our third whistle. We had a jump call coming out of the corner and this time we all kept rowing, eventually hitting Queens’ in the gut.
It was a much scrappier row than Wednesday but it was still quick and the end result was very satisfying, especially for those of us who were in the boat last Mays. It’s been a good start to the week, now we need to build on it for the next two days.
Posted: Sunday 20 June 2010, 9:33AM by Sam Harrison
Day three: After we had managed to catch Queens’ II before they caught Wolfson on day two we were perhaps a little over confident going into day three. We felt that based on the previous day we would be able to bump Wolfson quickly and that Anglia Ruskin (ARU) two ahead would be able to hold off Wolfson as necessary.
This wasn’t quite the case. We had a scrappy start and held station with Wolfson for the first few hundred metres. However, they were rowing well and were already closing on ARU. We got our first whistle going into first post corner but at this point Wolfson were a canvas off ARU and looked good for a quick bump. We put in a jump call into the corner, which gave us some ground, but things still looked bad going into Grassy.
Rob took an excellent line around Grassy, judging perfectly how hard he could clip the bushes on the inside of the corner while Mike could carry on rowing! Wolfson took a wider line but on the exit of the corner they were feet away from ARU with us still half a length behind. Fortunately, we managed to pick the boatspeed up and we started to make ground quickly. We made contact with Wolfson on the entrance to Ditton (pictured) while they had overlap on ARU!
It had been a scrappy row and we had seriously underestimated Wolfson but we were lucky that ARU held on so doggedly and we had just enough time. The result was there though so we went into day four in the ideal postion, up three from three.
Day four: This was always going to be tough. We were chasing ARU, who we knew could row well under serious pressure from the previous day. They were chasing a Darwin boat, which we knew couldn’t row well under serious pressure.
We anticipated it would all be over by first post corner, whoever bumped who, so the plan was to hugely frontload the race. We had a really solid row down and were all hoping that Darwin could hold off ARU for long enough for us to get them.
We had a really good start, our best of the week, and got our first whistle almost immediately. We strode down and settled into our rhythm and were just moving towards two whistles when we started hearing a lot of whistles from ahead. We passed Darwin and ARU immediately after the motorway bridge and were left chasing the unlikely overbump on St. Edmund’s. As it transpired Darwin had crabbed and crashed under the bridge leaving ARU with the simplest of bumps... Before, we were moving onto two whistles on ARU who were the same distance off Darwin.
The row over was some of the best rowing we’ve done as a crew and despite how hard we had started we still managed to really pick the boat speed up and move away from Wolfson down the Reach.
It was a shame we weren’t afforded the opportunity of a proper race with ARU but we did our best rowing of the week on the last day. That is just the nature of bumps.
Finally, many thanks to those who coached us during term and to all the supporters who came to watch during the week.
Posted: Sunday 20 June 2010, 11:16AM by Tasha Scott
After a hard term of training, W1 set out on a mission to get Emma W2, the crew they were chasing. A good row up to the start set us up nicely, but unfortunately, not long after the gun went off, we soon realised that Homerton W1 were significantly slower than both us an Emma, meaning that we were denied our bump at First Post.
Emma failing to clear caused us to crash for a while in the reeds at the outside of this corner. Once we set off again, there was nothing ahead of us to chase, so we took the rate down to a comfortable 26 after Ditton, and rowed the rest of the course solidly.
Posted: Sunday 20 June 2010, 11:17AM by Tasha Scott
Knowing that Emma W2 had caught Homerton W1 at First Post corner, we knew that we were able to catch them, if all went well. With Murray Edwards chasing us, we needed to go off hard, and did a much better start than on Day 1. Like clockwork, we managed to bump Homerton on the second half of First Post reach, giving us our first bump of the week, and keeping well clear of Murray Edwards. Overlap took a little longer than expected to happen, as Emma W2 kindly crabbed in front of Homerton, causing them to perk up a little. Rowing home with greenery made us eager to repeat the experience on Day 3.
Posted: Sunday 20 June 2010, 11:23AM by Tasha Scott
As on Day 2, we knew that we had a great chance of catching the boat ahead, LMBC W2, as Emma W2 had caught up with them at Grassy. As the gun went off, we did a decent start, and the whistles came pretty swiftly after that. We bumped them along first post reach, and this was the first bump of the whole division, a very pleasing result. Thanks must go to Hannah Taylor, who subbed for Rose Tallon on this day.
Posted: Sunday 20 June 2010, 11:23AM by Tasha Scott
To continue our bumping success, we were determined to get Darwin W1, particularly as they were coxed by a fellow Sidney member. After a questionable start, we flew towards them, enduring the significant wash to catch them at First Post corner, in front of an enormous crowd of spectators. Many thanks to those from Sidney that made the effort to come out to the towpath, the support was amazing! Up three over four days is an excellent result, and we were all very happy.