I’m calling for Oxford in both races this year. Unusual for me to want one or other crew to win.

3…2….1…..Until chippy inverse snobbery threads arrive…

Cantab FTW, natch

Cambridge in some pretty nasty water there.

That looks pretty rough.

Cambridge going under!

😯

Yay for Oxford though. Got to cheer the local team.

I had money on Sunderland polytechnic but they went out in the quarter finals.

Brutal!

Once one boat is more than a full length ahead are they allowed to choose any line they want, or do they have to maintain the nominal ‘lanes’ like they do when alongside or overlapping each other?

The rules of the Races are essentially very simple, the crews must keep to their stations (Middlesex or Surrey) unless they have a lead of “clear water” when if they wish they can use the opposite station. The other rule of note is that both crews must row through the centre arches of Hammersmith and Barnes Bridges.

Cheers. The answer is now quite evident on the TV as well.

A mate was driving the rescue RIB for Cambridge Ladies, glad he wasn’t needed.

Well done Cambridge.
They did that 3-3.5 minutes quicker than we did it going the other way. 😳

I’m breathless now.
good contest too, Oxford stayed 2-3 boat lengths for most of the second section.

Up yours Pinsent!! 😆

I’d be interesed to know how many tons of water Cambridge were hauling along with them at that point and how quickly the pumps got it out. Anybody know anything about this? Presumably they have quite big pumps running on something like motorcycle batteries?

Excellent work Cambridge! They looked very good.

I’d be interesed to know how many tons of water Cambridge were hauling along with them at that point and how quickly the pumps got it out. Anybody know anything about this? Presumably they have quite big pumps running on something like motorcycle batteries?

The figure thrown around by coaches seems to be that they carry an extra 100kg, which is like having an extra crew member who isn’t pulling their weight. I’ve never come across pumps in boats before and a couple of boat maker web sites I’ve looked at don’t offer pumps as an option, so not a widespread thing, or possibly homemade (but obviously not illegal in the Boat Race).

It’s not just the weight of the water, it’s that it’s moving around which messes with how the boat runs.
I think pumps are just a boat race thing or possibly a Thames thing. Splashboards were all we had whenever we rowed there, but we were not quite the same standard as the Boat Race.

Splashboards were all we had whenever we rowed there, but we were not quite the same standard as the Boat Race

🙁 We didn’t even have splashboards, whatever they are. 🙁

Splashboard are the horizontal panels that extend outwards. Normally under the riggers to stop water that hits the rigger and splashes inboard. In our case, normally bodged out of whatever we could find and fixed on with packing tape. Now, I guess, carbon.

A bit like a crud catcher then? No, we didn’t have anything like that, hard northerners see? 😀

Daughter #1 rows – apparently no pumps, no bailers, basically nothing to get water out other than tipping the boat up.

I guess pumps are not really needed on smaller calmer rivers. I’m surprised they don’t have a manual pumping system attached to the seats that pumps any water out through the action of the rowers sliding back and to on their seats and save carting around electric pumps and heavy batteries.

I guess pumps are not really needed on smaller calmer rivers. I’m surprised they don’t have a manual pumping system attached to the seats that pumps any water out through the action of the rowers sliding back and to on their seats and save carting around electric pumps and heavy batteries.

You know how the extra friction from a bike dynamo knackers you out. This.

I was thinking manual pumps rather than electrical generators to power electric pumps.

There’s still going to be (unwanted) resistance, isn’t there?

Just guessing, but you could do something really simple like put a paddle under the seat, and every time you move it pushed a load of water down a pipe, down the middle of the boat, or shape it like a snowplough and have it go straight overboard? No water would mean no resistance, and presumably carrying water would add more drag than pumping it out?

Failing that, they’re easily fast enough for a self bailer to work, open a hatch and woooshhhhh the water’s gone out the back/bottom.

Venturi boat drain?

My club has them on some of our 6 man outrigger canoes.

We had venturi drains on dinghies in the 60s. They work and can be lowered or retracted as needed.

Personally I don’t think there’s a need for all this fandangelry as I not sure there is a problem that exists. Sinking boats is not a regular occurrence and if the Cambridge girls had kept their hands a bit lower at the catch they wouldn’t have destabilised the boat and taken on water. 😛
When rudders are as small as a credit card and not really used as they create drag, I can’t see add ons to the hull being readily accepted either.

When rudders are as small as a credit card and not really used as they create drag, I can’t see add ons to the hull being readily accepted either.

You’re probably right,though venturi’s can be recessed so there’s minimal drag. Ours lie flush with the hull.

When it’s that rough there’s not much you can do. The waves hit the riggers and end up in the boat. The more water you ship, the lower you get, so you ship more. The pumps helped once they got to a calmer part of the river.

A pump will prevent them from sinking but not keep them competitive and sinkings not really a big issue with so many support boats following either.

I hated rowing on the tide way for the chop of the water! I only ever did the 4’s and 8’s head, even then slightly begrudgingly 🙂

If we saw white horses on the waves when we were boating we would do an ergo set instead! To be fair though the Thames doesn’t get quite as choppy at Henley and we were not a really high standard crew!

I am always torn in the boat race, Cantab for the men’s, but the Oxford ladies crew boated and trained at my clubhouse so I had some great times with them!

I am always torn in the boat race, Cantab for the men’s, but the Oxford ladies crew boated and trained at my clubhouse so I had some great times with them!

Same but different here. Cambridge train at Ely, just up the road from here. So have to support them.
Often see them in Tesco between training sessions. 6ft+ blokes buying food amongst the locals always looks a bit amusing.

Pumps are a new idea, didn’t have them in my day and of course they are not really needed for the vast majority of rowing(even on the tideway). But water sloshing around in the boat has quite a big effect so perhaps they should be more widely used

Pumps are nothing new it’s just that like mtb lights, because batteries are now much lighter they’re getting more practical.

Anyway, decent races. I’d say that the Cambridge women lost due to coxing. Not to say that she really screwed it up but as a long time Tideway rower, the best coxes would have read the water better and got them out of the worst of it.

And that’s the interesting thing, we often raced boat race crews in the run up to the race and beat them, often not from being faster but through dealing with the river better (which is exactly why they came to race us )

Not to say that she really screwed it up but as a long time Tideway rower, the best coxes would have read the water better and got them out of the worst of it.

It’s not easy water to get right though, even the experienced can read it wrong.

When Oxford sought shelter they were already well ahead, Cambridge were never going to win doing the same thing so I assumed that the Cox just tried to do something different in case it paid off.