May Bumps 2017 – Reports

We had a nervy start and first two corners in front of a quick Clare crew, and gave them most of a length and a half because of it. With a bit of a resurgence we managed to fend them off until the top half of the reach where they surged and caught us, a quarter length off the Caius boat in front of us.

Thursday. Row over.

A last minute injury cost us our 5 man for the remainder of the week, and Clare managed to bend one of our riggers during the warm up, but in spite of this we rallied and had a good start to the race, gaining slightly on Clare and dropping the pursuit. Both the crews ahead and behind us bumped out on the reach, at which point we had an easy row over.

Friday. Row over.

Saturday. Row over.

Despite a nervy start, W1 pulled away from the big Jesus crew behind them immediately, moving inside station on Christ’s W1 up First Post Reach. Jesus’s tactic was evidently of the ‘fly or die’ variety, and they put in an enormous push coming into First Post to try and move up on us. A shaky rhythm coming into the bend saw Christ’s walk away and Jesus make some headway, but a big push through the Gut saw order restored and Jesus pushed back out to station. W1 established a better rhythm exiting Grassy, allowing us to walk away from Jesus with some ease. Still holding station with Christ’s, W1 gave chase down the Plough Reach, but a decisive move by them saw us pushed outside station on the Reach, and we completed our row-over tired but determined to row better tomorrow!

Thursday. Row over.

A much smoother start than yesterday saw us move rapidly on Christ’s, gaining a whistle by the motorway bridge. W1 held the momentum as Christ’s attempted to lengthen out, and the whistles kept coming up First Post Reach. The pace proved too much for the chasing Jesus boat to handle, and they were quickly dispatched by the boat behind them before First Post. With no pursuing boats to worry about W1 established an excellent rhythm and attempted to hold Christ’s through the Gut, but Christ’s were also quickly gaining on the crew in front of them. Smelling a bump, Christ’s put in an enormous move down Plough Reach and pushed us outside station, before bumping on Ditton Corner. We wound it down and rowed over strongly from there with a great rhythm. Onwards and upwards!

Friday. Bumped by Peterhouse I.

Saturday. Bumped by Fitzwilliam I

Pembroke M2 pulled away from Sidney on their start and held station with First and Third. We found our rhythm and there was a big push down first post reach and we got our first whistle on FaT. The second whistle was gained after grassy corner and through plough reach. FaT were fast approaching on Clare and we dropped back down to 1 whistle after Ditton Corner. We knew we had to do something fast so gave it everything and fought back to nearly half a length but at that point FaT bumped Clare half way down the reach which also forced us to stop. Since Sidney were close behind us, the decision was made to re-row Sidney chasing us at the start of the M1 division.

In the second race, we had clear water and knew we had to row over to keep our spot. We fought hard and rowed a fantastic piece through the corners. Sidney had a canvas on us round Ditton and we managed to avoid a bump with a powerful rate build. Sidney were on their last legs but maintained a constant overlap and finally managed to secure the bump. A very disappointing day but we will come back tomorrow with a vengeance and make them pay.

Thursday. Row over.

Friday. Bumped Clare II!

Saturday. Bumped Darwin I

Thursday. Row over.

Friday. Bumped Robinson I!

Saturday. Row over.

Thursday. Bumped Homerton II!

Friday. Bumped St. Edmund’s II!

Saturday. Bumped Sidney Sussex II

A good start saw W3 settle comfortably in front of Selwyn II and in pursuit of Jesus III. Despite a strong performance from all the girls, we fell outside of station with Jesus as they aimed for the bump in front. With Selwyn bumping out behind us we tried our best to hold a good rhythm and keep pushing on Jesus. However, a very strong Lucy Cav crew came from behind to take the overbump shortly after the plough. With a first taste for the excitement of bumps, W3 is setting their sights on Selwyn II tomorrow.

Thursday. Bumped by Girton II

Friday. Row over.

Saturday. Bumped by Churchill II

Thursday. Bumped by Trinity Hall III

Friday. Row over.

Saturday. Bumped by Clare IV

The old adage that anything can happen in Bumps proved true today for M4 as 7 out of 9 of the crew powered through their Bumps debut. A solid start to their race saw Emmanuel M4 pushing for a second whistle underneath the motorway bridge before both crews promptly had to hold it up due to carnage further up in the division, resulting in a rerow.

This rerow saw Pembroke pushed hard down First Post Reach by Emma, culminating in a bell on Pembroke as they rounded the corner after having to quickly hold to navigate the carnage of the boats ahead of them. The crew held an immense composure around Grassy as they pushed Emma back whilst skillfully navigating boats sticking out of either sides. Pembroke pushed Emma back to half a length by Ditton Corner and, with the chasers well and truly broken, extended their lead to half the length of the reach for a textbook finish to a race that had been anything but.

Thursday. Row over.

Today was another trial by fire for M4. Hungry for revenge on our narrow escape yesterday, Emma IV pushed off like a bat out of hell, pushing Pembroke M4 hard – culminating in overlap coming into First Post Corner. Despite this, the crew knew they had broken Emma once, and an incredible display of composure saw them fight to do it again – holding overlap through the gut and pushing it back to a quarter of a length coming through Grassy. Emma continued to fight hard, but Pembroke continued to break away, returning back to station before the broken Emma IV relented three quarters of the way down the reach.

Friday. Technical row over. The Motorway Bridge. Such carnage. Very technical row over. So bumps. Wow.

Saturday. Bumped by Emmanuel IV