St Catharine's College Boat Club

Bumped by Queens W2

If we're being entirely honest, there's very little point in discussing the actual rowing for this race, since due to circumstances entirely beyond our control, the bump came almost indecently quickly. With that in mind I've gained extra words to moan about the shambolic start procedure, which I shall now do:

With the cannon delayed ("The cannon's got a flat tyre?!") the start took on a mildly farcical nature, as 18 banksmen with synchronsed watches began to chant loudly, before shouting bang in (not in any way perfect) unison. Ignoring the obvious problems with crews jumping the gun (by which I mean of course jumping the word 'bang') this also led to the entirely unforseen problem that Steve's calls to bow pair went unheard in the clamour of chanting bank parties. With bow pair not squared in, the boat wonky, a gallant effort from Catz was always doomed to failure.

Despite a slick recovery of the racing line by Harriet, and a gorgeous final push by the crew, two quick crabs decided the matter, and a neat looking Queens tidied up. Being chased by a downwards moving Murray Edwards now offers Catz's best chance of the week of salvaging some pride, and we look forward to seeing them do it.