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24 March 2008: For the second successive year a northerly breeze on Henley Reach threatened to upset proceedings, but after the Women's Boat Race was brought forward by one hour it was Oxford who retained the Francombe Cup as victor ludorum with four wins to their credit, while only the Cambridge lightweight women prevented a Dark Blue clean sweep.
As wind, sleet and snow took their toll on preparations for Race Day the organisers stuck to their guns and relied heavily on twice-daily weather forecasts from meteorologist Gareth Powell, an oarsman and Oxford graduate now based in Gibraltar, whose forecasts for Henley Reach proved uncannily accurate. Nevertheless the decision was made to allow the Women's Blue Boats to race an hour earlier than planned, to avoid the stronger gusts later in the afternoon.
The first race to get under way was the men's lightweights reserves where Nephthys rowed over for the second successive year to retain the trophy. Earlier in the day the Oxford reserves had a raced a crew of their own alumni, including Paul Mattick, a losing Nephthys oarsman in 2003 and current world champion in lightweight coxless fours. He later admitted surprise that his scratch crew had quickly found a rhythm which allowed them to establish a lead from the first few strokes against the undergraduates, moving home to a comfortable win.
As spectators began to fill up the towpath vantage points the Women's Boat Race got off to an even start, with Oxford edging ahead by a narrow margin. But if Cambridge had been discouraged by their 30 second deficit in the Women's Eight Head three weeks ago they didn't show it as they challenged the Dark Blues time and again, never letting them off the hook. With less than two seconds separating the crews at Fawley there was still a chance that Cambridge might gain the upper hand as they raised the rate approaching the Farm, but Oxford responded and held the advantage to the Finish taking their sixth win in nine years by half a length.
In the women's lightweights race Cambridge chose Berkshire, the station favoured by every winner of the toss. With both crews setting off at high rates of stroking it was the Light Blues who established a narrow lead which they maintained to Fawley, reaching the midcourse timing point just one second faster than Oxford. As umpire Mike Sweeney worked hard to keep the crews apart another close finish was on the cards, with Cambridge maintaining the edge all the way to the line, winning by one third of a length - the closest verdict in the women's lightweights for ten years.
The weather worsened considerably as Osiris and Blondie got attached to the stakeboats for the start of the women's reserves race, vindicating the organisers decision to allow the Women's Boat Race to be raced earlier. As the two crews battled it out with spray flying off the blades another close contest was on the cards, but Blondie caught a boat-stopping crab after the first minute and the race was effectively over. The Cambridge crew picked up a good rhythm again but were already three lengths adrift and Osiris went on to win as they liked.
As white horses began to roll down Henley Reach the final race of the day was the men's lightweights, who had declined the offer of an earlier start. Cambridge set off strongly in a quest for their first win since 2001, and another close race was on the cards at Fawley, where just half a second separated the crews. But as the rough conditions settled over the second half Oxford found a new rhythm and moved away to a 2 1/2 length win.
Press coverage of the races is available from the Telegraph Oxford win Francombe Cup, Times Oxford women lead the way and Independent Oxford hold off Cambridge challenge to give Shore the perfect send-off.
18 March 2008: At the official weigh-in at the River and Rowing Museum the Cambridge women's Blue Boat tipped the scales at an average 74.5kg per athlete, making them the heaviest Light Blue crew to contest the race for six years. It also gave them a slight weight advantage over Oxford, who were just 1.7Kg lighter at an average weight of 72.8kg. But Oxford need not be discouraged – unlike the Putney to Mortlake race the Women’s Boat Race does not necessarily favour the heavier crew. Cambridge, who hold the series advantage of 40 wins to Oxford's 22, are looking to retain the trophy they won last year while Oxford are looking for their sixth win in nine years.
1 March 2008: The Oxford women's Blue Boat won the Women's Eights Head on the Tideway today in 19mins 32.81 secs, more than four seconds faster than second-placed Oxford Brookes. Cambridge finished in 13th position, some thirty seconds slower than the Dark Blues, making Oxford hot favourites to regain the Women's Boat Race trophy with just three weeks of preparation remaining to Race Day.
British universities had a field day in windy conditions on the Tideway, taking four of the top six places. The absence of international athletes preparing for the Olympics brought a strong showing from both regional and university clubs and a wide geographic spread of winning crews.
Full results for the Women's Head are available on the event website.
The Rules of Racing are now listed here
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