The second leg of Cambridge Winter League saw Cantabs crews continue to finish with the fastest times in their events, with some making improvements and others pipped by their opposition, meaning all will be to play for in the 3rd leg.
Mirroring 2022's Men's Championship 8+ event, the Cantabs vs Nines men's top eights fought it out once more, this time with Nines emerging victorious by 3 seconds after leg 1's narrow victory for Cantabs. It will be exciting who takes home the silverware after the 3rd leg with only 2 seconds separating the crews after the 2 legs. The Senior Men had another good performance in the Men's Club A 8+ event, this time finishing the fastest in their event after a narrow loss to Nines in the first leg. With less than 1 second separating these crews, it will be another hard fought race in the final leg! In Men's Club B 8+, Hunter Crew are now 2nd.
We had our best time in a Winter League race for at least 6 years. This was despite an overtake on Grassy, a manoeuvre our cox Carrie took in her stride. Only half a length separated us until Ditton. On the Long Reach, the crew recaptured their rhythmic, efficient groove, opening the gap up with every stroke all the way to the finish line.
Paul Robinson, Hunter Crew 8+
The Hills boys raced leg 2 of Winter League, racing well to post a time that would have been the fastest in Club B 8+. In the masters events, the Aquaphobes were 2nd in leg 2 and go into leg 3 as 3rd overall in MasCDE 8+, with Poachers in 6th.
We beat our leg 1 time, racing nicely to our plan and benefiting from recent training. Unlike leg 1 where we got to chase a boat to the finish, this time we were the ones being chased. We managed to hold off the crew behind all along the course, with some great steering by our cox.
Tim Walker, Poachers 8+
In the women's events, the Senior Women's 2nd 8+ finished as comfortable victors in the Women's Club A 8+ event, and the fastest women's crew of the day. Their 3rd 8+ won the Women's Club B 8+, with the Intermediate Women finishing 3rd, and Racks Out 6th. The junior girls continued to dominate the Junior Women's 8+ event, and now lead the league by nearly 2 minutes ahead of their nearest rivals from Rob Roy. The Progression Squad raced hard and finished 3rd in Women's MasDE8+, putting them into 2nd place going into the final leg.
The junior girls had an exciting race being chased by the Senior Women. The girls had an aggressive start and held the Senior Women off initially, but down the reach the gap closed and the boats were overlapping at the finish line. A good row from the juniors and exciting race too.
Jon Winch, coach of Junior Women's 8+
Elsewhere, Cantabs had 2nd and 4th place finishes in the Men's Club 1x, 3rd in Mas2x, the fastest M4+ for the Junior Boys, fastest W4+ for the Hills girls, and fastest JW4x for the Junior Girls.
The race got off to a good start but unfortunately, around Ditton corner, 2 seat's pin shared off meaning that the crew had to paddle home with just stroke and bow rowing.
Billy Hodge, Motley Crew 4+
Full results can be found here. The final leg of Winter League is Saturday 11th March.