Town Bumps Day 2 – Cantabs Up 7 More, M1 and W1 Row Over Head

Day 2 of Town Bumps was another successful one for Cantabs, and saw the club’s crews go up a net of 7 places overall for the day, 18 for the week so far.

Men’s Division 4

M11 (Activ8), M12 (InVeterEight), M13 (Hunter Crew), M14 (Motley Crew), M15 (After Eights)

After a successful bump on M12 on Tuesday (awkward!), Hunter Crew bumped again on Wednesday, this time a corporate crew from ARM rowing as X-Press M7.

M11 rowed over, though the remaining Cantabs boats in this division had less of a good time with M12 bumped by City M12, M14 bumped by Nines M8 and M15 bumped by City M13.

Women’s Division 3

W7 (J15s), W8 (Hills W1), W9 (Progression Squad W1), W10 (Hills W2), W11 (J16s), W12 (Progression Squad W2)

It was another row over for W12 who, on Thursday, will be looking to take on Nines W6 ahead of them who have been bumped both days so far. W7 also rowed over and will similarly be hunting down Chesterton W3 on Thursday.

W9 with their willow

There was a controversial Cantabs-on-Cantabs bump in this division, with W11 bumping W10 along First Post Reach, and W9 bumped X-Press W3. Barbara Blacklaws, from W9, reports:

After a good pole out we worked through our start into the race. We had less rhythm than Tuesday but managed to hold the Hills Road W2 behind and gain gradually to 1L behind X-Press W3 before First Post Corner. On the call for a push out of the corner, we bumped very quickly in the gut.

W11 will be looking to take on X-Press W3 on Thursday.

Men’s Division 3

M7 (Hills M2), M8 (Poachers), M9 (Past Masters), M10 (J15s)

There were bumps for all Cantabs crews in div 3, with M7 making it round First Post on Wednesday without incident, and getting a bump on City M8 at the top of div 3. Abdel-Hadi Haque reports:

Hills Rd M2 arrived at Cantabs keen to make up for Tuesday’s disappointing race, with Ben Whitelaw subbing in as cox for the injured Angus Hutchison following Tuesday’s race. The crew boated slightly later than usual so the row down to the start was more a rate 32 piece as opposed to a warm up! The crew had discussed that the start needed to be improved so everyone was delighted when we produced one of our best starts of the season. We heard 2 whistles in the first 20-25 strokes and we had 3 whistles around First Post. However, we came into small contact with First Post Corner and lost quite a bit of speed, but the crew in front of us didn’t get too far away. We ramped up the pace once again and bumped City 8 outside the Plough. The whole crew was absolutely delighted with such a great performance. However, we had now bumped back into sandwich boat, so we prepared to row once more. Another great start in our 2nd race meant that we were in contention for a bump, but we would have to go for the overbump following Chesterton 2’s bump on X-Press 4. The crew closed the gap to about 4L before First Post but were absolutely knackered, following an intense warm-up and exhausting first race, allowing Radegund to row away from us, and leading to us rowing over!

M8 had a good race, getting their first bump of the week on City M9. Cantabs M9 made it 2 for 2 on Champs crews so far this week, bumping Champs M5. M9’s bump on Champs M6 on Tuesday sent them down to Cantabs M10 to bump on Wednesday.

Women’s Division 2

W5 (Intermediate Women), W6 (J18s)

J18s with their willow
Credit: Gabriela Dumitru

It was a 2nd bump for W5 as they bumped Champs W5 on Wednesday, avoiding rowing past the A14 bridge for the 2nd night running. W6 enjoyed a bump on Nines W4 after W5 sent them down to them on Tuesday.

W5 and coach Sam with their willow

Men’s Division 2

M5 (Hills Returners/Senior Men), M6 (Aquaphobes), M7 (Hills M2)

After both M5 and M6 bumped on Tuesday, both had row-overs and will start behind the same crews again on Thursday. Lucio Cicolecchia from M6 reports:

What a difference a day makes! Aquaphobes were determined to continue their winning streak, and not let some minor traffic crises put them off – having rowed with a sub to the start, they were reunited with the last member of the crew who, cycling like the wind, managed to beat the traffic and get in the boat before the cannon went. The City crew that Cantabs chased was in a different mood from the day before, when they’d been bumped before First Post by Nines, and responded to all the Aquaphobes’ attacks. Radegund, on the other hand, were rowing with revenge in mind, so the crews rowed very hard over the full length of the course, concluding the 2nd day of Bumps with a row over for all 3. Let’s see what changes today brings!

M7 will be hoping to bump up into this division on Thursday.

Women’s Division 1

W1, W2, W3, W4 (all Senior Women)

There was another good set of results for the Senior Women’s crews on Wednesday, with W1 rowing over comfortably at head, and W2-4 all bumping.

W1 rowing over

W2 enjoyed a bump on X-Press W1. Coach Jon Winch, reports:

W2 had a better start than on Tuesday and started closing on X-Press who were gaining on City. W2 got inside 1L approaching First Post Corner and continued to close thanks to a great line from cox Isabel Nimmo, who was able to take a much tighter line than X-Press. Exiting First Post Corner, W2 got to 1/2 L as X-Press started to tire after their attempt to catch City. Going into Grassy the gap was down to 1/4 L. Another great corner from Isabel allowed the crew to rapidly close the remaining distance and get the bump as they started to exit Grassy.

W3 also had fun around Grassy, bumping COWs on the way into the corner. COWs had closed within 1L on Robs W1 ahead of them, with W3 looking forwards to Thursday’s race.

W4 got an easy bump on City W4, which took them to being the highest ranked W4 on the river. Frustratingly, an overbump means that on Thursday they’re going to be starting behind the same crew (Robs W2) as they did on Tuesday!

Men’s Division 1

M1 (Senior Men), M2 (Hills Returners), M3 (Senior Men), M4 (Hills M1)

M1 successfully rowed over at the head of the river ahead of St Neots M1, an unknown quantity, bumped Robs M1 on Tuesday, finishing 5L ahead of them at the finish. M2 had their 2nd row over of the week, starting again on Thursday between City M1 and City M2.

M3 suffered their 2nd bump of the week, this time being bumped by Nines M2. M4 rowed over.

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