At the Isle of Ely Small Boats Head on 10th November there were 11 Cantabs crews racing in the main 5Km event and three junior 3km “Mini-head”. Our Senior Men entered three crews, which finished 1st, 2nd and 6th overall. The Cantabs W.J18A.4x- was the fastest women’s crew of the day. Many of the Cantabs crews didn’t have any competition in their categories, which was disappointing, although racing over the longer course was good practice. In the Mini-head the W.J15 4x- were the fastest crew overall. Photos are online here.
The following weekend was the Cantabs Winter Head – a highlight of the year’s racing on the Cam! The Senior Men entered four crews, three of which won their event, with two qualifying for prizes. The IM2 4+ won the cash prize for the fastest crew after adjusting for boat class. Both of the Senior Women’s IVs came second in their categories (W.IM2.4+ & W.IM3.4+). The W.IM3.4+ were disappointed that their row was disrupted with an equipment-related problem, but were pleased that the winning spot went to the one of the Cantabs Dev Squad IVs.
At the end of the month came the long-awaited Fours Head, held much later than usual due to tide timings. Three crews raced from the Senior Men:
- IM2 4+ (Finn, Simon M, Simon K, Jimmy) came 4th out of 67 IM2 coxed 4s
- IM1 4- (James, Hadi, Charlie, Ali) came 16th out of 42 IM1 coxless 4s
- IM2 4+ (John M, Will R, Chris, Petr) came 56th out of 67 coxed 4s
Overall this was a solid performance despite missing a few squad members from illness or injury.
Three women’s crews raced:
- Junior quad (Freya, Lilith, Laura, Eve). Despite some good racing in the weeks leading-up to four’s head, the junior girls felt like “they never really got going” when they finally got to race on the Tideway. They finished 27th out of 30 boats in a strong W Jun 4X- category
- W2 WIM2.4+ – the second four of Robert, Elly, Ailsa, Gill & Sarah N finished 33/50 in their category – a massive improvement on last year’s second four result. Despite most of the crew having suffered from viruses in the preceding weeks, they still managed to beat nine’s first IV.
- W1 WIM2.4+ – Unfortunately, the first four weren’t happy with their row either! Despite this, Callum, Millie, Becca, Sarah & Georgie finished 13th out of 50 boats & were the 4th fastest town club. The row itself was rather scrappy & the crew felt they didn’t attack the start hard enough, allowing OUWBC to catch them up.
Overall the race was good Tideway racing experience and the training in fours has been helpful for making technical improvements, but the Senior Women will be looking for more Tideway and other off-Cam experience ahead of WeHORR.
