St Catharine's College Boat Club

Bumped Clare I

Day 2 was, on paper, an easier race than day 1, but that certainly didn't help with the nerves. That said, the row down and practice start were much more confident, perhaps boosted by yesterday's success. 

Off the start, Trinity Hall were held pretty much on station, and there they stayed, fluctuating slightly between station and a length until they went slightly too wide round Ditton - Kings came up the inside and edged them sideways into what was for us a highly distracting (although entertaining) crash on the outside of the corner. Clare ahead absolutely flew off the start, and edged out to two lengths (worryingly close to Girton) but tired somewhere around first post where we began to reel them in. Back on station through Grassy, and perhaps just inside round Ditton we made a push on the reach and gradually caught up to canvas and eventually nudged them gently for the bump. Full credit goes to Clare for a great race - they never gave up, even from 3 or 4 feet of overlap.

The outlook for the rest of the week looks reasonable (despite the rain) - Girton on day three were nearly caught by Clare, although it might be a case of whether we can catch them before they catch Peterhouse in front.  

See the action from Alistair's perspective below.