The Rowing Thread!
Discussion
She had the ability to ease the turn, and should have done. However, she may have been doing so - wash can have a distinct effect on an 8s manoeuvrability...
Bloody shame, with no bias to either crew I was seriously impressed with Oxford's restart. Tight bladework, excellent power rhythm. Pulling half a length so quickly in a heavier boat and lighter crew is an achievement, and set them up for a win.
As for the swimmer, it's a pity Pinsett saw him, we could have seen how effective cleaver blades really are.
Bloody shame, with no bias to either crew I was seriously impressed with Oxford's restart. Tight bladework, excellent power rhythm. Pulling half a length so quickly in a heavier boat and lighter crew is an achievement, and set them up for a win.
As for the swimmer, it's a pity Pinsett saw him, we could have seen how effective cleaver blades really are.
Sway said:
She had the ability to ease the turn, and should have done. However, she may have been doing so - .
also consider that even if she was easing off the turn , given the calls from the umpire the Cambridge boat would/ should have been following the Oxford boat over to push them out of the turn .Sway said:
She had the ability to ease the turn, and should have done. However, she may have been doing so - wash can have a distinct effect on an 8s manoeuvrability...
Bloody shame, with no bias to either crew I was seriously impressed with Oxford's restart. Tight bladework, excellent power rhythm. Pulling half a length so quickly in a heavier boat and lighter crew is an achievement, and set them up for a win.
As for the swimmer, it's a pity Pinsett saw him, we could have seen how effective cleaver blades really are.
Sadly, they're not as effective as the first ever Dreissigacker blades in the mid-1980s. Those were banned after a year or so, because the blades were so thin that they were lethal to anything living that was in the water. There were supposedly incidents of sliced-up ducks. I used a set once ion pre-cleaver days and they were wonderful for the way they slipped in and out of the water at catch and finish.Bloody shame, with no bias to either crew I was seriously impressed with Oxford's restart. Tight bladework, excellent power rhythm. Pulling half a length so quickly in a heavier boat and lighter crew is an achievement, and set them up for a win.
As for the swimmer, it's a pity Pinsett saw him, we could have seen how effective cleaver blades really are.
Busa mav said:
also consider that even if she was easing off the turn , given the calls from the umpire the Cambridge boat would/ should have been following the Oxford boat over to push them out of the turn .
Bloody right they would have been, it's the classic 'get out of jail' card any cox worth their weight will be playing. I love the tideway for it's navigational complexity - depending on start number, there's some interesting lines in the HoR, particularly after Hammersmith.Which Cambridge position was in the clash with 6?
Zod said:
Sadly, they're not as effective as the first ever Dreissigacker blades in the mid-1980s. Those were banned after a year or so, because the blades were so thin that they were lethal to anything living that was in the water. There were supposedly incidents of sliced-up ducks. I used a set once ion pre-cleaver days and they were wonderful for the way they slipped in and out of the water at catch and finish.
yep, a guy a used to row with decapitated a duck during a race, he become pretty renowned for itBusa mav said:
Looks possibly 4 and 5 as they were rowing a cock eyed layout with 2, 4 and 5 on bow side.
I noticed the odd layout, as I'm not a rowist, why would that be? Is it an oar layout that they just thought was better than every other to a side, or something to do with them being left or right handed?
Don't think it has anything to do with handedness as there are still four on each side. I prefer rowing bow side as I find it easier to feather the blade with my left hand and it just feels more natural for some reason. Perhaps the guy selected for bow in the Cambridge boat preferred to row stroke side and they rearranged things accordingly? 
They may just have a need to shift some weight about in the boat.
I think it is gimmick though , but if they think it is doing something then all is good.
You would normally see it in a four where bow and stroke are one side , with 2 and 3 the other.
Looks like a woman at 5, so may be something to do with the power
I think it is gimmick though , but if they think it is doing something then all is good.
You would normally see it in a four where bow and stroke are one side , with 2 and 3 the other.
Looks like a woman at 5, so may be something to do with the power
Edited by Busa mav on Sunday 8th April 23:04
My college 8 rowed with a 'frig' like that, our stroke was a bowsider but our two fat boys were strokesiders and went at 5 and 4, it just made sense for us that way and worked (div1 blades). There was another college that had a double frig, with 7 and 6 on the same side and then 5 and 4 on the same side, now that looked really strange.
Zod said:
Sadly, they're not as effective as the first ever Dreissigacker blades in the mid-1980s. Those were banned after a year or so, because the blades were so thin that they were lethal to anything living that was in the water. There were supposedly incidents of sliced-up ducks. I used a set once ion pre-cleaver days and they were wonderful for the way they slipped in and out of the water at catch and finish.
Until a couple of years ago Concept2 Vortex Edge blades were banned for college clubs on the Cam, as the river's so narrow that blade clashes between boats going in opposite directions are commonplace (there are bits that are too narrow for 2 eights to pass without one pulling blades in). The pre-2009 blades are still outlawed.I was sorry to miss it - a holiday meant that I have seen none of it.
When I was an oarsman, I hated the cox trying to steal water in a race. Once the blades are overlapping, it becomes a lottery, especially if both crews are of equal or similar experience. Clashes are just too unpredictable. As an oarsman, I wanted to beat the crew next to me by being better, fitter, stronger - and if we snapped a blade or lost our rhythm all my months of brutal training (we were doing 30 hours a week at times), I would not have been a happy bunny.
That said, I wouldn't want the cox to cede water to a crew. All I wanted to know was that I had the same stream - no worse. Then I was happy to flog myself to death.
When I was an oarsman, I hated the cox trying to steal water in a race. Once the blades are overlapping, it becomes a lottery, especially if both crews are of equal or similar experience. Clashes are just too unpredictable. As an oarsman, I wanted to beat the crew next to me by being better, fitter, stronger - and if we snapped a blade or lost our rhythm all my months of brutal training (we were doing 30 hours a week at times), I would not have been a happy bunny.
That said, I wouldn't want the cox to cede water to a crew. All I wanted to know was that I had the same stream - no worse. Then I was happy to flog myself to death.
Highway Star said:
My college 8 rowed with a 'frig' like that, our stroke was a bowsider but our two fat boys were strokesiders and went at 5 and 4, it just made sense for us that way and worked (div1 blades). There was another college that had a double frig, with 7 and 6 on the same side and then 5 and 4 on the same side, now that looked really strange.
It's about power and weight distribution. It's only done rarely.I rowed in an eight with a bowside stroke for several years. The best stroke was better on bowside, so we rigged it that way.
RichB said:
As this thread has reopened can I ask the experts a question; do they run the race on a rising tide? And if so why not time the start for the turn of the tide so there is no current? In that way there would be no advantage to either side? As I have never rowed what am I missing?
The bit that you are missing is that there is always a current on the thames. 
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