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We are here to win and expect dedication from all our members. We have a highly qualified team of coaches and structured training plans on hand to help you acheive this, If you think you are prepared to work hard for your team, this is the club for you.

We hope to meet you soon

Jeremy Rossiter
ARBC President

500m upstream doesn’t really require a race plan – I just went for it. The first two scullers didn’t pose a great challenge, I beat Jesus (van der Wilk) by 12 seconds, then Trinity Hall (Bennett) by 19 seconds, hardly going half pressure after taking lengths off of them after a few strokes.

In the quarter final however, I raced Fitzwilliam (Andrew) – finally a great match. Although being left behind half a length after the start, I managed to not let him slip away any further. It was a hard fight, seeing him in the corner of my eye for the whole race. Andrew had the better start and thus won this truly great race by 2.5 seconds, the closest margin recorded in the regatta. Andrew went on to second place overall. Well done!

A 2.6km headrace in which the boats are started in minute-intervals – one can see why it would be described as ‘the most boring race to watch’ by our supporters, but from the seat of a participating scull the STCS was an ineresting race nonetheless. Better than expected conditions made sure of a good race with some clean sculling to be seen.

As for the results:

Moritz Kottenhagen: 11:45, 9th/16
Antony Wright: 11:52, 10th/16
Solomon Mcleod: 12:12, 16th/16

This is a good start for our scullers who will hopefully cause some furore at the CUCBC Small Boats Regatta in April 2009. Good luck!

This 4 ¼ mile maximum is the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (WeHoRR), competed by 300+ crews in mid March. The course – the Boat Race course on the Thames in reverse, from Chiswick Bridge to Putney Bridge. The competition – Cambridge University Women’s ‘Blue Boats’ (deciding on final selection ahead of their Boat Race in a fortnight’s time), Cambridge colleges, Clubs (both national and international) and some GB rowers as well! Aside from boating with this daunting opposition, our W1 crew also had to cope with rowing on the ‘Tideway’ (the tidal stretch of the Thames on which the race takes place).

W1 raced in the ‘Novice Academic’ category alongside many of their college rivals including Sidney Sussex W1 (who bumped W1 on the first day of the Lents) and New Hall W1 (who were bumped by W1 on day 3). The difficult thing with Head racing is that once you cross the finish line a long and nervous wait is all that you have to look forward to unlike the immediate gratification of victory side-by-side regatta racing when you can see and respond to your opposition. Nevertheless our W1 knew hat to do – get a good, clean start, push away from the crew set off behind and hopefully overtake some of the crews set off ahead. The way to do this was by combining all they had learnt and fight for each other every stroke until they crossed the finish line. With Moritz Kottenhagen in the coxes seat, they knew they had an experienced Tideway cox in charge of steering and even had an entourage of ARBC fans along the course.

Conditions were near perfect – a strong racing stream, the faintest of tail winds and sunny, dry conditions. They got off to a strong start and found their rhythm early, making the most of the early sheltered section. By Barnes Bridge, they had gained on the crew who had set off before them and continued to grind them down between there and Hammersmith Bridge. Passing their first crew just under hammersmith, they sat tall and prepared to complete the race plan – a 2000m ‘sprint’ from there to the finish line at Putney Bridge. The bank party jumped in the minibus and drove from their viewing point at Barnes to meet up with the crew as they pulled in. The bodies and the faces of the crew told the story – they were blue-lipped and slumped with exhaustion. All that was left was to derig the boat and pack it back onto the trailer and await the results.

At about 8pm that night as crew and support were enjoying dinner in Richmond, the results cam through. A fantastic 147/300 in a time of 21:38. Not only that but they had beaten a great deal of Cambridge colleges and other universities, just reward for all their hard work in training, which continued at 6am the following Monday after a well-earned rest on the Sunday.

Day 1

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M2

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Day 2

On the second day of the Bumps, M1 had a tough head-to-head chase with Christ’s II. The start was not as good as the preceding practise starts, which also might be reasoned by the turbulent water conditions. Nevertheless, right behind the first post (after the motorway bridge) they managed to gain on Selwyn II up to one whistle. Up to the Plough it was an even race between all three crews. When they reached the Reach, Christ’s II started to attack harder and managed to overlap a few inches with M1’s stern. M1 kept away Christ’s II all the way down the Reach, but it was a rough fight which was finally won by Christ’s II only a few meters before the railway bridge.

M2 started their race with a very good start and quickly gained on Sidney Sussex II with about a boat length. The turbulent water conditions made it quite difficult to maintain the pushes and M2 fell back to station. Selwyn behind got bumped and Sydney in front also bumped Downing III just before Grassy Corner. Nevertheless, our crew kept on pushing nicely through Grassy Corner and Ditton, but Homerton still was too far ahead to get over-bumped. Overall, it has been a very good row over from ARBC M2.

W1could enjoy one day off.

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Day 3

Since M2 already had two very good rowing days before, it was their goal to keep up that power. After an awesome start with a straight line steering ahead, they gained on Downing III shortly after the motorway bridge. Homerton II who has been chasing M2 fell far behind. Solid and strong pushes brought our crew up to continuous whistle right before Grassy Corner. A final push for kill ten made it final, ARBC M2 bumped Downing III.

Since Sidney Sussex already bumped W1 on the first day, their main goal was to keep away from Caius II all the way through. As expected, Sidney Sussex has bumped Murray Edwards quite fast (right after the motorway bridge), but both crews failed to clear the river immediately which forced W1 to hold it up. By the time the other crews have finally cleared the river, the cox of W1 called for a second even harder start. Despite, the unexpected re-start Caius II could not gain on our crew and W1 managed to settle back into a solid rhythm quite quickly. W1 succeeded in keeping them away but having a rough and exhausting row over up to the finish line.

M1 could enjoy one day off.

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Day 4

On the forth day, M1 had a very good start but did not gain on the crew ahead fast enough. This gave Christ’s II the opportunity to bump Churchill II right after the first post corner. Jesus III got as close as two whistles but also got bumped out just before Ditton. With a big gap in front and behind them, M1 enjoyed best conditions for a row over.

The solid start allowed W1 to gain on Murray Edwards straight away. They did not even finish the starting process when W1 heard the first whistle which encouraged the crew to push even harder. Within seconds they have gained another whistle and a few strokes later the sweet sound of continuous whistles echoed through the air and the cox called for the final push for killer ten. The day ended with a happy W1 crew all proudly wearing greenery in their hair.

M2 could enjoy one day off.

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W1

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Day 5

It’s the last day of the Bumps. M1 had an average start but St. Edmund’s took the opportunity and gained rather fast on ARBC. With strong pushes, our crew got up to one boat length closer Churchill II. Nevertheless, right before Grassy Corner M1 got bumped by St. Edmund’s.

Overall, ARBC M1 dropped three positions down to pos. 5 in the third men’s division.

It’s the day of revenge and to gain back what our M2 crew has “lost” during the second race. After a few rather bumpy first strokes our M2 was rowing as one big unit. With great lengthening strokes they gained very fast on Sidney Sussex II. It was a powerful and totally committed row were every single stroke got M2 closer to Sidney. Downing III was far behind and had no chance coming closer since the race was already over at the first post corner. ARBC M2 bumped Sidney Sussex II and ended the Lent Bumps 2009 with 4 successful races.

At the end, M2 gained three positions up to pos. 6 in the fourth men’s division.

For our W1 the Lent Bumps ended with a very tough and exhausting race. After a very solid start, our crew gained quickly on Pembroke II. Right after the motorway bridge W1 got up to three whistles, but then the unexpected happened. The cox called for the final kill ten pushes slightly too early. Pembroke II also had a hard push and our crew could not get close enough to bump them out. After pushing all the energy out of our W1 crew, we needed a couple hounded meters go get back to powerful rowing. W1 tried hard, pushed through the pain but only gained one boat length Pembroke II. On the Reach W1 tried to power as much as they could but it was not enough. Murray Edwards was no danger since they were far behind all way through but Pembroke II still had quite a bit more energy and kept us away. It was a very painful row over.

Nevertheless, ARBC W1 held their position 10 in the second women’s division.

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Photos are now available in our gallery.

We pulled ahead with our well composed start but couldn’t quite shake off Christ’s who then overtook us after 300 meters. NW1 started to fall apart with Christs now having increased their lead to over one lenghts!

As we approached the railway bridge, Christ’s bow girl caught a crab and we saw our chance. With a well composed push we managed to draw level on the finish line. Stroke by stroke, the boats pulled ahead of each other.

Finish. Nobody actually knows what happened, it could have been called a dead heat. No cheering, no nothing. After what proved to be the longest minute in my entire life, the finish marshal declared us winner. Fastest Novice Crew in Cambridge!

Well done ladies!

Steph and Ollie, our Captains, decided to scratch the remaining three crews due to the serious risk of catching hypothermia.

Afterall, there is a reason for the regatta season taking place during the summer…