Heavy rain earlier in the week failed to dent proceedings for the 2010 Henley Boat Races, where Oxford were once again the dominant university on Race Day, winning the four-race programme 3-1 and keeping the Victor Ludorum Francombe Cup in the Dark Blue camp for yet another year.
With a strong stream, and a freshening south westerly tailwind, fast times were always in prospect. However, on the day, only the women’s lightweight race came close to the record, with Oxford just one second outside the six minute barrier established in 2006.
The programme kicked off with two new races for College crews to add further colour to the race programme. Queens’ College Cambridge took a narrow win ahead of Worcester College in the women’s race, but First and Third (Trinity College, Cambridge) were more dominant in the men’s race. They exhibited the sort of style that helped them retain the Lents headship as they romped home ahead of Balliol.
Now that the Nephthys/Granta race is in abeyance the women’s reserves crews, Osiris and Blondie, started the main programme for the first time in ten years. The Cambridge reserves went off fastest, at 42 strokes a minute, but Osiris squeezed ahead and were half a length up at the bottom of the Enclosures. Blondie kept up the pressure, but the Oxford crew had moved out to a full length at Remenham, where both crews were at 35. At Fawley there were eight seconds between the crews and Osiris were now on cruise control, dropping the rate to 32 past the farm while Blondie were still battling along at 35. It made no difference – the Oxford crew crossed the line in 6 mins 10 secs, twelve seconds ahead of Blondie, with an official verdict of 3 ½ lengths.
Cambridge once again had the higher stroke rate off the start in the women’s lightweights race, going off at 45 against Oxford at 42, but this time the race was a much closer affair. The Dark Blues only managed to sneak out half a length at Remenham, where both crews had settled at 37. Through the middle of the race the stroke rates were fairly even but Oxford were the better technical crew, maintaining the rhythm as the Light Blues started to look scrappy. There was a glimmer of daylight between the boats at Fawley, and Oxford kept their heads through the second half. They crossed the line nine seconds clear, in 6 mins 1 sec, just one second outside the 2006 record.
At the start of the Women’s Boat Race the umpire’s launch jammed its steering and the event organiser Robert Treharne Jones, who was the official timekeeper in Enchantress, the spectators’ launch, stepped forward into the bows to take over. Without any flags or megaphone to warn the crews, his job was made easier when Oxford quickly took the advantage, minimizing the risk of any possible foul. Despite boating the lightest crew for ten years, and giving away more than 10kg per athlete, the Oxford superiority was evident as they crossed the halfway mark at Fawley ten seconds clear. They extended the lead to four lengths (15 seconds) at the finish, which they reached in 5 mins 56 secs.
The tightest race of the day was the men’s lightweights where Oxford were determined to avenge their defeat last year. The Dark Blues rocketed off the start at 49 strokes a minute, against Cambridge at 48, and they were still at 40 passing Remenham where they had moved out to 2/3 length advantage. Time and again Oxford moved over to Bucks, effectively pushing Cambridge off the best of the stream, and umpire Mike Williams, now supervising the race from Enchantress, was kept busy warning them back on station. But Cambridge never gave up, and were moving back into contention at Fawley, where the Oxford lead had been whittled back to just one second. Once again the Oxford cox went for broke as she steered her men too far over and risked disqualification, but Cambridge rallied yet again with 200m to go, kept their heads and squeezed home in 5 mins 28 secs to take a 2 feet verdict on the line.
Related Links: