Rob Roy Boat Club had five VIII’s racing the Bumping Races this year.
M1 Rowed over every race, remaining position two in Division 1.
Matt Castle sends this report: ‘Robs M1 rowed over four days in a row; it was a different scratch crew each night. We didn’t make any ground on Cantabs and whilst City made valiant efforts for the first half of the course they didn’t have the staying power over the entire distance and always finished many lengths behind us.’
M2 Was bumped down on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and rowed over on Friday, starting at position six in Division 1 and ending in position nine.
M3 Bumped up on Tuesday, was bumped down on Wednesday and rowed over Thursday and Friday, remaining position 17 in Division 1.
Kim Rutter sends this report: ‘M3 contrived, with considerable effort, to stay exactly where they started, one off the bottom of Div1. Mixed fortunes included a bump up just short of the finish on the first evening, followed by a bump down in similar circumstances the next, a row-over, and a final night drama with Xpress II, the sandwich boat, settling on a strategy of winding until death. This meant they came extremely close, possibly even an overlap, before finally collapsing in unseemly fashion – there is an excellent Youtube video for those with too much time. Already looking forward to more drama next year.’
M4 Bumped up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and rowed over on Friday, finishing third in Division 3.
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M4 Gabor Bunkoczi, Rob Oeffner, Sergej Using, Rasmus Neilsen, Ed Dakin, Luke Norman, Crispin Pugh and Joe Duffy. Cox Enya Meadows[/caption]
Rob Oeffner sends this report: ‘This year Robs 4th mens boat had the fortune of crews of questionable prowess ahead in the CRA bumps ranking as well as a boundless supply of eager substitutions for filling the boat. The campaign started off in a typical fashion; gather together those who are around regardless of their sweep oar ability, let alone what side they row on. Put them in a coxless 4. See if they float or sink. If so, they’ve passed the test.
From the onset the crew was composed half of juniors and half of senior rowers. As the week progressed senior rowers were one- by-one snatched by higher Robs crews who due to logistics were in need of substitutions. According to the rules such oarsman are subsequently barred from racing in a lower boat again for the rest of the bumping races. But with lots of help from the likes of Donna, Jeff and Anna-Rosa these athletes were easy to replace. End of the week it was almost a genuine junior crew with me being the oldest guy in the boat (OK, I admit that was always gonna be the case).
The campaign went fine. The first two days the crews hadn’t yet settled although we nevertheless bumped. But by the end of the week the crew rowed very well together akin of a decent college VIII, albeit possibly not as powerful.
My most memorable moment was Enya’s call on the second day: “I got their stern. Give me their cox!”
Verdict: up 3.
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W1 Rebecca Caroe Stroke, Carrie Beddingfield, Claire Allen, Anna-Rosa Gejlsbjerg, Katherine Webster, Andrea Bosynak, Maddy Koesterman and Zoe Rutterford cox Paddy Alton[/caption]
W1 Bumped up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and rowed over on Friday, starting position nine in Division 1 and finishing sixth.
Anna-Rosa sends this report: ‘It was very sucessful with three bumps and within a canvas from blades.’
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