Crew: Cox: Katie Earl Stroke: Chris Ford 7: Karl Anderson 6: Henry Cathcart (captain) 5: Oli Armitage (Ben Ridley-Johnson subbed on days 1 and 2) 4: Kabalan Gaspard 3: Tom Crawford 2: Nick Speechley Bow: Tayo Moore Coach: Lindsey Tate
Race reports by Henry Cathcart
Day 1 : rowed over
M4 division was unusually tight this year, with a block of 6 crews all rowing over. The threat from Corpus II behind was quickly seen off by a combination of a good start (despite several of the crew being startled by our proximity to the cannon) and a better line around first post. Hughes II in front gained heavily on Homerton II, but expended all their energy in doing so, allowing us to close to two whistles on the reach. The course was not long enough to complete the bump however, so we rowed over.
Day 2 : bumped by Corpus M2
Solid rowing off the start, earning a whistle, was counteracted when blades touched the bank around first post. The crew attempted to restart but the damage had been done and we were bumped by Corpus II.
Day 3 : rowed over
Another clip of the bank at first post laid our chances of re-bumping Corpus to rest, and put us under threat from Darwin behind (who were on for Blades at this point). Although we restarted well, the effort caused by two race starts led to a lack of pace down plough reach, leading to them gaining strongly. Matters came to a head just after Ditton, when Darwin surged to within a foot or two of their stern (allowing us a good view of the smiley face drawn on their Bowball). We rallied however to hold them for the remaining few hundred meters.
Day 4 : bumped Corpus M4
As had become the norm this year, the race was a long affair, with significant ground only gained on Corpus in front by plough reach. Our line round Ditton corner was excellent, and gave us the opportunity to close for the bump on the reach, barely 100m from the finish line.
Finished the week 7th in 4th division.