Category: W1

So the Tab asks “can Murray Edwards keep the Blades dream alive?” No pressure, uh huh. While it’s GREAT that both W3 and W2 have bumped today (and in such good style) there were some nerves in the boat as we faced up to the task of chasing Sidney, who failed to catch Pembroke II yesterday. At the Boat House, we talked strategy for a bit (read, “faffed”) and basically decided it’s too risky to pretend we are going to row a head piece, and a quick start will be essential (wow, rocket science!).We managed to push off in due course and marshalled in good time (yay for meeting early). As boats parked around us, and Percy Pigs and Haribos were passed around, we talked more strategy, focusing on the fact that we have caught Sidney before, and we probably can do it again. After M3 raced past us we pushed off again, and were told we actually do get two practise starts today (yay for catching up on schedule). Awesome.The row up was fairly uneventful. First practise start on the windy reach was ok, but the second one off the Plough was better. We put lots of distance between us and Sidney. Some of our best steady-state rowing is on the row up to Bumps and today is no different. We stayed loose and focused, maximising drive through the water and maintaining good balance. There was lots of cheering from our girls on the bank especially around Grassy to First Post, giving us encouragement to squeeze down that little bit more power and keep the bladework tidy. We spun, parked (really far from our station), spoke to the SU, and settled down to wait for the 4 minute gun.

Mark gave a little speech of sorts at the station, commenting that both Sidney and Pembroke II have “competent starts”, so we should expect the first whistle to come in time, but until we get it, we should get the legs down and keep pushing. He speculated on the possibility of Sidney catching Pembroke, suggesting (as we have agreed) that we go off hard and not expect to have the full river to catch Sidney. He also waxed lyrical on how station 5 is the “best station for pushing out, well past the outflow with a nice straight line to the corner”, while I was more interested in thinking about whether it is a good idea to row without zephyrs, as it was getting chilly sitting around. Of course, a cruiser was trying to get to the lock as 18 boats of 8 girls + 1 girl/guy slowly lose body heat parked at the start…

The 4 minute gun came as a surprise; it was still very loud at station 5. Decided to row without zephyrs, so it felt like an even longer count down than normal as it was really getting quite cold. 1 minute gun came and went, and Mark collected the pole (with somewhat nervous prompting from us) and pushed us out, blades square, all good, and we were off. The start was reasonably strong, not our very best, but felt like a good start though not sure what rating we were. I think I heard Mark shouting “just outside a length” for a little, then entering first post we got a lot of calls of “toes-heels-swing” and we got to one length, one whistle. Chloe called “give me their cox” and we responded with power, though getting a touch sloppy with bladework. I heard “three quarters” from Mark, the two whistle followed, and Chloe started calling for push for 10, which collected us a bit and gave us a good surge out of the corner. I think I heard 3 whistles after that, and I remember Chloe calling “this is it girls, push for 10”, and that was a good push. We tidied up and put our legs down and the boat moved. The whistles went to continuous and it was a bump going into grassy. Not a bad location considering that most of our supporters are on that bit of river.

It was only afterwards that we found out how close Sidney was to Pembroke — apparently it was down to half a length at one point (and apparently nearly gave Mark a heart attack) but all is well, the bump is done, and we can look forward to catching Pembroke II a little sooner tomorrow. Not  sure what will happen on day 4 yet. We will take it one race at a time…

For today, we’ve kept that Blades dream alive. Still lots of bumping to do before the dream comes true. But hey, 3 crews, 2 days, 6 bumps— WELL HARD.

Wing Ying Chow, W1, 7

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Marina Steketee, W1, 5
 
After a very successful Head to Head race for W1 in which we came first in our division, we were determined to end the Champs Head race with even better results. The weather was windier than we would have liked but the presence of the sun was enough to get us fully into racing mode as we rowed down to the lock for marshalling. As we were sat waiting for the division to go off, the wind was getting steadily more powerful, prompting a lot of discussion from the crew as to how we should deal with this during the race. After a long period of waiting, we were finally pushing off and making our way to the start line.

The start was not as clean as we liked. It was definitely not helped by the man who called it; i.e. practically whispered “go” as we were sat at front stops. We quickly regained our focus, though, and fully geared up into our race pace as we approached Ditton Corner. Around the corner we were met with a barrage of wind, prompting Chloe to remind us to sit tall and drive with the legs. Our piece down the reach was messy due to the choppy water, and exhausting, but we kept it up and got ready for a “mental re-start” under the railway bridge. The boat speed visibly picked up at this point, and we kept powering all the way through to the finish line.

Despite being in the windiest division of the day, W1 came second in their division by 2 seconds. This was not the result we had been hoping for, but still proved that MECBC are able to perform in less than ideal conditions. Bring on Bumps!

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Results:

W1 – time – 6:03.5

-2^nd in Mays 2nd division behind King’s (6:01.5)

-7^th of college W1’s behind Downing (5:52.6), Queens’, Christ’s, Emma, Newnham and King’s

                -beat 12 other W1’s (Clare, Pembroke, Jesus, Caius, FaT, Churchill, Selwyn, Sidney, Hughes/Lucy, Robinson, Wolfson and Clare Hall)

-8 of the boats W1 beat today are ahead of them in May Bumps, 7 in the 1^st division, 4 are in the top 10, and Pembroke is second from the headship

                                –W1 beat a crew who is 21 places ahead of them in May Bumps

-beat 9 men’s crews

-beat last year’s W1 Champs Head time of 6:10.5

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Emma, W1 four

Four starts, three races, two row overs and one bump – a challenging and memorable final day for W1.

Setting out to marshal for our first race chasing Churchill at the top of the second division, the crew had rage – and lots of it, not for Churchill, but for Peterhouse who had narrowly evaded our bump for the past two days. Our revenge plan seemed simple enough – bump Churchill, race again at the bottom of the first division, and bump Peterhouse back down to sandwich boat. Easy. Or not, as it turned out.

As the cannon went for the start of the second division, we powered into our start, eager to catch Churchill as soon as possible. They weren't going to give it us easily though, and the whistles did not come as fast as we had hoped. When three whistles finally became continuous, we pushed into the last few strokes, determined not to let them pull away. They didn't, and we won our second bump of the week.

As we rowed back to the marshalling point for our next race at the bottom of the first division, we were delighted with our greenery, but thinking ahead to our coming 'revenge row' against Peterhouse. After a break of Haribo eating and watching the men's second division race past, it was time for us to row back up to the start – all the way to the lock, since we were now at the end of the division. As we waited for the cannons, there were mixed feelings of nerves, anger and excitement, and as Mark gave us our pre-race talk, we focused on the challenge ahead. The four minute cannon, the one minute cannon, pushing out, coming to front stops, and we were off. We fought hard to gain on them coming out of the start, and were down to a length when confusion set in as Georgie called for us to hold it up. Ahead of us, Selwyn and Peterhouse seemed to have stopped for no reason – what was going on? Nothing, it turned out – and with no warning, the two crews started racing again. We followed suit, but not before Peterhouse had pulled ahead by two and a half lengths. Extremely angry, we channelled our rage into an attempt at a new powerful start, but we had no chance of catching them now.

We stopped racing after they bumped Selwyn and pulled into the bank – feeling cheated at the unfairness of the situation. Mark shared our anger, and after he had had a long discussion with the marshals, it was decided that there should be a re-row.

So back we went, up to the start one more time – cold, wet, and tired, but determined to catch Peterhouse. As soon as the men's division were clear, we were back in the boat and lining up for the final cannon. Pushing out of the start we knew we had nothing to lose, and gave every stroke all that we had – but Peterhouse were stronger and fresher, and bumped Selwyn before we could get within one whistle of them.

So that was that – Peterhouse got away – but only just. We went out fighting to the bitter end, and at least now we won't be chasing them at the start of next year's lent bumps.

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Reana Maier, W1, seat 5

Day 3 of Bumps, and after yesterday’s gut-wrenching row-over, W1 is facing the unpleasant prospect of chasing Peterhouse W1 again. The day is bright and sunny, however, perfect for our bumping shades. Re-rows in both the M4 and W3 division cause delays, and we spend an unusual amount of time marshalling on the reach. Before finally heading up to the starting stations, we got the pleasant task of giving a raucous cheer to our W2 as they row past, decked out in greenery signalling their first bump of the week.

The row up has a decent lift and good cover, and we’re feeling nervous but determined. We know what we need to do, but we also know that Peterhouse isn’t going to make it easy. When the starting gun goes, we make a good start, then try to settle into the long, powerful strokes that will inexorably close the gap. The row today is more spirited, more controlled and more committed than yesterday’s. We slowly gain on them, getting single whistles, then two, then three, even continuous whistles signalling overlap, but each time we squeeze close, they manage to slip away. By the time we’re on the long reach closing in on the railway bridge, we’ve had continuous whistles three times, but haven’t caught them. We chase them closely all the way to the finish line for another heartbreaking row over. The crew is frustrated and angry, but we know Peterhouse had to fight tooth and nail with everything they had to stay those few inches ahead of us. I have a feeling this is a race that’s going to stick in our minds for a long time.

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Georgie Field, W1, Cox

W1 were excited for the second day of bumps, and as it was only my second bumps race I had that feeling of nervous excitement as we rowed down to the start (in our awesome matching sunglasses 😉 ). We were chasing Peterhouse in the race to claim the top spot of the division. The row down was strong and we were getting some nice cover. We did two practice starts on the way down, one technical and one with power to get ourselves ready for those all important first few strokes off the gun.

We pulled in at our station filled with excitement and anticipation- and a slight sugar high caused by copious amounts of wine gums! We heard the one minute gun and prepared to be pushed out. When the final gun fired I dropped the bung and we were off!  The start was looking strong and we gained some ground on Peterhouse and coming onto the long reach had three whistles on them. Unfortunately the dirty water and Peterhouse’s strong will got the better of us and we rowed over, to fight for that top spot another day.
As always I praise Octopussy’s beautiful steering capabilities and secretly hope that through some act of God the sun will come out so that we actually have justification for the sunglasses!

Tomorrow is looking up- we are all fired up and ready to finish off Peterhouse and get into that first division! Remember girls, sit tall and lets show them what we are made of!! MECBC- WELL HARD!

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It’s barely a week into the term, and MECBC is already back racing on the Cam.  Yesterday was City of Cambridge Rowing Club’s annual Winter Head 2 Head event, a 2x2km timed race from the railway bridge to the motorway bridge and back.  While we’re always excited for a race, there was a little extra anticipation this time – it was our first race in our brand new, and as yet unnamed, boat.  Set to race in the first division of the day, we arrived at the boathouse bright and early to find a very windswept river awaiting us. 

 

Georgie called for our rolling start just before the railway bridge, and as soon as we were onto the reach, it became obvious that we were in for a real fight.  Though the wind was in our favour in the first leg, it made the water on the reach, where there’s no protection from the wind, extremely choppy.  Our blades hit the crests of the waves as we squared, making the boat difficult to balance and giving us all the kind of epic backsplash normally only seen from Marina, our Captain of Boats.  We were soaked within a minute.  Once off the reach, however, and into a bit more shelter, we managed to level things out a little and get some decent lift going, though still not up to the level of finesse and power that we had accomplished by the end of last term.

 

After completing the first leg, we spun and marshalled again, glad of the rest, but not wanting to wait too long before heading off on the second leg – the wind was chilly, and our damp kit wasn’t helping.  Mark warned that, with the wind against us, we’d really have to push hard and push together on the way back, especially once we got back onto the reach.  The mood in the boat was focused and determined as we rowed up to the starting line.

 

The rolling start to begin the second leg was more stable, and it quickly became clear that we were moving the boat along with more power and control than we’d had in the first leg.  Counterintuitive though it may be, we almost always row better in a headwind.  In between her usual calls, Georgie gave us the added incentive of closing the gap on the King’s boat in front of us.  As we rounded Ditton corner, we all sat up in preparation for rowing the reach, knowing the wind would be strongest there.  The combination of the headwind and the narrowing gap between us and King’s brought out a palpable fighting spirit in the boat, and we pushed hard toward the railway bridge.  As we drew near the finish line, from behind me, I heard Ola shout, “I can hear them!”, meaning that she could hear the King’s boat’s catches.  We were really close now.  A last set of ten power strokes brought us under the bridge and across the finish line, less than two lengths behind King’s.  Our first race of term and our first race in the new boat was finished.

 

The results posted later that afternoon showed that we had completed the first leg of the race with a time of 7:48 and the second leg with a time of 8:49, for a combined time of 16:37, placing us 1^st in Mays Division 2 (a full 40 seconds faster than any other Division 2 women’s boat) and 6^th of the college W1’s.  We also managed to beat half a dozen Mays Division 1 boats.  A respectable result, though, as always, we have much to improve upon before our next fight on the Cam.  The prize for topping our division turned out to be glass tankards which we happily used to hold our celebratory drinks later that night.

 

Reana Maier

MECBC W1

Lower Boats Captain 2011-2012

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