News – Page 5 – Billygoats Society

1970 & 1971 Headship Blades

In May 2018 the Boat Club was notified that a pair of FCBC Headship blades were to be auctioned in Scotland. Both the College and the Billygoats considered the purchase of these but as we already have copies at College we decided not to. Intrigued by the question of how they came to be up for auction I contacted the crew, in particular Charles Lowe, with whom I had been discussing next year’s 50th anniversary of the 1969 Headship. Charles realised that they must belong to Ken Fraser, sadly deceased, and contacted his widow Susie, who later sent a heart-warming email:

Hello Dan, Charles Lowe passed on to me your email about the 1970 and 1971 oars which were auctioned in Scotland in early May. They were, indeed, the oars which belonged to my late husband, Ken Fraser, who was a member of both crews. We had had them originally but they must eventually been left behind in Ken’s mother’s house, in Carnoustie, Angus, when she died. Ken had already predeceased her.

After a roundabout series of events, I was able to buy both oars and have them delivered, one to each of my daughters, who are absolutely delighted to have such splendid mementoes of their father. And I am really pleased to see them again, after all this time. I knew all the members of both crews very well, so they bring back lots of great memories of riverbanks on the Cam – as well as at regattas all over the place. Thank you very much for alerting Charles to the auction. Without that, the oars would have disappeared forever from our family!

It is wonderful that Susie was able to secure the oars for her daughters, so they can be enjoyed by those who appreciate what they represent, as a memento of their father. She was happy for me to share this story with the Billygoats, some of whom will remember Ken Fraser, and all of whom greatly appreciate the achievements of the Head crews of 1969-71.

Many members of these Head crews will be returning to College for a 50th anniversary celebration at the May Bumps Dinner in June 2019, and of course, other Billygoats are invited to join them.

Dan George

Fitzwilliam College Boat Club and some Bathing Beauties in the Sunday Pictorial 25th March 1956

This may well be the one and only time that Fitzwilliam oarsmen have appeared in a photograph in the national press with some bathing beauties. As our two crews were about to go out for a practice row for the forthcoming London Head of the River Race in 1956 a photographer arrived with three of the finalists of the Butlin Holiday Princess contest and asked if he could take a photograph of these girls and our two crews. The girls did not win but had a week’s holiday in London with all expenses paid. The photograph was duly taken and the full version of it is reproduced here. Unfortunately the reporter assumed that the crews were from London Rowing Club as we were using their boathouse as our base for the few days before the actual race so Fitzwilliam does not appear in the brief report accompanying this photograph. There appear to be 12 oars in the photograph so obviously four oarsmen were either too late to be included or decided they did not wish to be in the photograph.

With the help of many of those on the photograph and those who rowed in these two crews we think that the people on the photograph are as follows from left to right cox Peter Lambert, David Warrington, Mike Hall, John Dyson, John Jenner, Hilda Holt 19 of Manchester, Richard Salmon (hidden behind Hilda), Brian Wicks, Alan Warren, Jean Piggott 17 of Manchester, Tony Page, Ida Gillett 22 of Blackburn, Noel Pilling, David Robinson and John Hankin (?? behind John). The actual photograph printed in the paper excluded Peter Lambert and David Warrington on the left and David Robinson and John Hankin and ?? on the right. Whether the fact that we had this photograph taken with these bathing beauties made any difference to our success or otherwise in the actual race could be debated. The 1st VIII retained its starting position of 64th in Division 3 in a time of 21.34 and the 2nd VIII distinguished themselves by rising 96 places starting at 228 as a new entry and finishing at 132nd in a time of 22.21, both were rowing in clinker boats.

Submitted by I K Drake (1953) and A Warren (1953)

The Ken and Vivian Drake Flag presented to the Fitzwilliam College Boat Club at the May Bumps Dinner 2018

It was first mentioned at the 2016 May Bumps Dinner that Ken and his wife Vivian would like to present a flag to the Boat Club as part of their Diamond Wedding celebrations, which was actually on 23rd June 2016. Many college crews winning their blades fly a very distinguished looking flag to commemorate the fact. The Fitzwilliam one was not in that category and Ken felt that he would like to present a flag which really was worthy of the college.

The aim was to obtain a flag of high quality and initially this proved far from easy. Indeed Antony Moule rejected quite a number as not being of high enough standard. He was only finally successful in finding a suitable manufacturer and design in 2018 and having agreed to go ahead the actual flag arrived a few days before the 2018 Mays. It was naturally hoped that one or more Fitzwilliam crews would win their blades and have the privilege of flying the flag but unfortunately that did not happen.

As it was intended to be available for the 2017 season any crews winning their blades in that year ought to have been the first to carry this flag. The only crew to qualify was the Women’s 1st May crew and their name will therefore be inscribed on the metal plate attached to the pole which will record the crews who qualified for and from now on actually flew the flag.

At the May Bumps Dinner 2018 Ken made a short speech and then very slowly unfurled the new flag which was being seen for the very first time by virtually everyone, including Ken. As it was finally open for all to see there was a spontaneous round of applause. Ken then presented the flag to Robert Machado, next year’s Captain of Boats expressing the hope that the flag would be proudly carried by many Fitzwilliam crews in the future. Rob must be the best qualified Captain of Boats ever in terms of rowing or rather coxing for Fitzwilliam as he has been involved with coxing the Women’s first crews since the Fairbairn of 2012 and for 18 terms he has been at the helm apart from one when he was Coxing Representative on the Boat Club Committee.

Ken Drake presenting the new Ken and Vivian Drake Flag to Rob Machado, the Captain of Boats for the 2018-19 year.

The inscription on the pole will read

The Ken and Vivian Drake Flag presented to commemorate their Diamond Wedding on 23 June 2016 at Mays Bumps Dinner2018.

Winners

W1 2017

Fitzwilliam Women’s Squad Competing in Venice

The women’s squad of rowers of Fitzwilliam College Boat Club were challenged by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice to a race on Venice’s Grand Canal, for the first ever all-women’s competition in the historic galeone boats, as part of their campaign to get a women’s race included in Regatta of the Ancient Italian Maritime Republics during its 64th edition in 2019.

The galeone is a 15-meter long boat, weighing over 750 kg, which is almost eight times as heavy as the shells used for rowing on the Cam. The galeone’s seats are fixed, meaning a very different style of rowing than we’re used to – the benches we sat on had a sort of shiny area on which you could slide back and forth a little, but there was a lot less leg power than we’d usually use!

Our crew was formed of current Fitzwilliam students (Ashton Brown, Jess Halliday, Alisha Levermore, Hazel Walker, Melody Swiers and Emily Lees), alumnae (Helen Fishwick and Andrea Stefkova) and two of the CUWBC team who along with Ashton, were the first to row in the Women’s boat race on the tideway in 2015 (Hannah Evans and Claire Watkins).

We were treated with exceptional hospitality by our hosts from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice – they greeted us on Saturday with local pastries, took us across to their training island and gave us a brief lesson in how to operate the galeone. On Saturday evening the crews went for dinner with the Dean of the university, who was very supportive of their campaign, and even rode in the launch behind the boats during the races!

We raced on Sunday, down a section of the Grand Canal, from near the Rialto Bridge back to the University, with police boats diverting the other river traffic to give us a clear run. Unfortunately, the Fitzwilliam crew lost both of the races, the second one only by a small margin, having learnt a lot about how to improve our technique during the first race. Full credit must go to the Venetian team who were very quick off the start line and rowed strongly and consistently over the course on both occasions.

This was an incredible opportunity for both crews to make history as the first all-women’s crews to row these traditional boats in competition, and we hope it will be a great step in the University’s campaign for the inclusion of women’s boats in the Regatta Storica next year.

We feel very lucky to have been invited back to compete again next September (hopefully in the Regatta Storica) and have been offered an extra day of training to even the playing field! We also plan to invite the Venetian team to try their hand at rowing on the Cam in a return challenge.

The crew would like to extend their thanks to the Billygoats society for their support with this trip.

Henley 2018

Billygoats Henley Dinner – Leander Club Friday 6th July

Attendance:

BillygoatsHenleyDinnerAttendees

This year some Billygoats generously subsidised 5 students to attend the Henley Dinner at a reduced price, and others donated Stewards’ badges, so they could experience HRR in all its glory (in some cases for the first time). We hope to make a tradition of this so will repeat again next year. The students were very grateful:

On behalf of the five students who attended the Billygoat’s Annual Dinner at Leander Club on the Friday of Henley this year, I would like to offer my sincere thanks both for the subsidy of the dinner ticket by the Billygoats, and also the anonymous donation of Steward’s passes to the five of us. For many of us it was our first opportunity to spend time in either Stewards’ or Leander and we all had a fantastic time exploring all that Henley had to offer. Aside from the enjoyment of the day itself, I feel that watching the racing that day really reminded us all of how much we love the sport and fuelled our desire to push on and achieve even more in the season ahead. Next year will likely be my last year in Cambridge before graduating and seeing the standard of rowing and reward on show at Henley has made me realise how much I want to push my rowing and see just how far it can take me and the rest of FCBC in the season ahead. Once again on behalf of the five of us, thank you for the generosity and hospitality that the Billygoats showed us at Henley this year, we had a fantastic time and are all looking forward to the season ahead and HRR 2019!

Best wishes,

Joseph Everest (Captain of Boats, 2017/18)

Alisha Levermore (Women’s Captain, 2017/18)

Robbie Sewell (Men’s Captain, 2017/18)

Anna Wood (Women’s Novice Captain, 2017/18)

Louise Brett (Successful CUWBC Trialist, 2017/18)

On behalf of myself and Helen, I’d like to sincerely thank the Billygoat(s) who donated their Steward’s passes to us. We had a wonderful Friday of Henley, enjoying the many close races and it has encouraged us to both try to continue rowing as we enter working life and possibly even attempt to compete at Henley in years to come.

We, as students/ex-students, are thankful to be included in such a great community of Billygoats who congregate at Henley each year. We also, work permitting, plan to join the Billygoats in attending this dinner next year.

Best wishes,

Jordan and Helen

I had a really fun few days down in Henley!

Experiencing Henley Royal Regatta for the first time was really special (if not a bit bizarrely ‘British’)!

I’m so grateful for the Friday Stewards’ badges that were donated. Actually watching the whole race from the TV footage in the stands, and the iced coffee from the Stewards’ cafe were personal highlights. I really enjoyed the Billygoats meal, it was a lovely way to learn a little bit about the history of FCBC (we need to return to those glory days) and say hello to some lovely alumni!

Some of the other CUWBC rowers were commenting on how their college boat clubs don’t have such a strong alumni presence and they were pretty jealous of the Leander dinner, particularly after I bombarded them with food photos.

Thanks again,

What a cracking weekend!?

Lou.

May Bumps 2018

Reports on the Bumps from the Captains (and others)

This bumps campaign has been an extremely unfortunate one, blighted with bad luck. We had a solid term with good preparation, consistent ergs and weights and we were filled with hope going into day one. On day one we were off to a flyer, one whistle, two whistles, three whistles, consistent whistles, bow ball past the Homerton cox. They were on the verge of conceding when our rudder cable snapped at the most inopportune moment and we sadly crashed into the bank. This resulted in us being “bumped” despite being about 4 lengths clear of St. Edmunds. This meant that we caught loads of good crews coming up, Trinity Hall, Hughes Hall etc instead of some fairly poor ones coming down and as a result, we were bumped on Thursday and Friday, despite making it past the railway bridge on the Friday. Saturday however was a much more deserved end to an unfortunate week. Despite all of the crews ahead of us bumping out, we put in a strong and cohesive performance to power away from Corpus and row over to put an end to the rot.

Despite Bumps not going to plan, it was an extremely enjoyable term with a great crew. Ross, Emily and Seb will be missed next year but with 6 of the crew returning, we hope for more success during next season!

Other Points:

Louise Brett (W1) was a spare for the CUWBC lightweight boat this year and has since won a gold medal at BUCS in the Championship lightweight pairs and got to the semi-finals of championship lightweight pair at Henley Women’s Regatta. She is now planning on racing at EUSA later this summer (European University Rowing Championships).

Helen Fishwick also qualified to race at Henley Women’s Regatta in a double for Cantabs.

Most of W1 formed a composite with Clare/Peterhouse/Newnham to enter Henley Women’s Regatta and put in a strong performance in their qualifying race, narrowly missing out on the main draw by 5 places. However, they beat numerous Cambridge colleges including Lady Margaret in the process.

Joseph Everest & E.J. McCarthy make up the bow pair of a CUBC Dev Squad Goldie 4+ that is entering the Prince Albert at Henley this year. We have our qualifying race on Friday to see if we make it in! (Sadly, they did not qualify).

Joe Everest

Div 5: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the good-ship M3. It’s 5(ish)-week mission, to explore strange new divisions, seek out boats with never before seen numbers to bump, and boldly go where few our rowers have gone before – positive in bumps.

This year, M3 decided to take the bold steps of both including only people who knew how to row (and, errr… Rob) and actually, definitely, totally achieving 12 outings. These outings did pay dividends – most of the crews in the getting on race scratched after witnessing our incredible speed on the river.

Having dispatched these crews without taking a stroke, the attention turned to bumps. With a crew assembled, featuring such fan favourites as Jon “Do You Even Go Here” Harris and Matthew “Are You Actually Still Here” Bergin amongst a smorgasbord of Fitzwilliam’s oldest and weariest, the bumping began. The dream of blades was immediately, cruelly taken away on the very first day due to a technical row-over caused by the frankly, now expected incompetence of Clare College.

After this unmitigated disaster, the crew went from strength to strength, with many no doubt inspired by the return of Fitzwilliam Sports Personality of the Year 2018 Thomas Franks-Moore on Day 3. Ably guided/tolerated by our wonderful cox, Jess, M3 embarrassed such titans of the river as Tit Hall M4, Queens M5 and Lady Margaret M5 [a boat only a number away from headship.]. This meant that M3 went plus 3, begging the question, “what would have happened if we entered as M4?”

As most of the crew takes their free retirement bus-pass their separate ways, the M3 torch must now pass to a new generation. I only hope that this bumps has inspired future rowers to say no to any sort of self-respect and prestige, and to say yes to proudly being 80th on the charts. Thanks to all who bought into the M3 dream, the many, many subs who bafflingly agreed to row with us in our TWELVE outings, and to everyone else who just put up with our nonsense. Cheers.

Gautam Vanu

W1 2018 May Crew

W1 & W2

The W2 boat didn’t get the result they deserved this term sadly. Although they got spoons in bumps they have improved massively with a large focus on land training and more weekly outings than ever. The girls ended bumps with really good technique, sadly just a little lack of power due to size compared to the larger crews around them. They also experienced a little trauma being hit when they were stationary by Pembroke on the Friday of Bumps so it was great that they still raced impressively on the Saturday.

W1 had a very successful season, in the first race of the season champs head we beat Downing, Pembroke, Girton and Lady Margret W1 crews. Later in term in X-press head we entered a four using the new four John Eisold, that was named at the May Bumps naming ceremony. The four then won against Pembroke by over a minute. Bumps then sadly didn’t get off to the best start having overlap on the first day but not able to bump before Churchill bumped out in front of us leaving us to fight off Pembroke which sadly we did not succeed in. The rest of bumps was much more positive with a row over then a bump on Peterhouse and then another row over.

The Women then went as a Composite crew with 4 Fitzwilliam Women, one form Clare and Peterhouse and 2 from Newnham College to Henley Women’s Regatta where we rowed really well but sadly we were 13 seconds off qualification though we still beat all the other Cambridge colleges except Jesus.

Alisha Levermore

New IV John Eisold and Osier Holt 2018

At a Naming Ceremony at the Boathouse on Saturday 16^th June 2018, FCBC’s new boat was named the John Eisold. John has been a great supporter of the Boat Club and the Billygoats Society over the years, as Head Porter of College and, in particular, at the Billygoats’ Osier Holt Pimm’s Party, so this was a very popular choice. It is a Stampfli convertible coxed four and quadruple scull, paid for with the proceeds of the sale of the Jonathan Price (the Great Eight) and a top-up from the Billygoats Society.

Following the ceremony John was able to join us for a while at Osier Holt for another excellent Pimms’ Party. My fears that my first one as Secretary might go horribly wrong did not come to pass largely due to the great help from previous Secretary Jaume Vilar and Committee member Mike Parrott, who did most of the work, and Committee member Brian Smith who helped clear up. Sadly, we have no photos of the action, but it was very peaceful before everyone arrived.

Dan George

Billygoats Head of the Cam 2018

Alex Markham writes:

A Billygoats crew entered Head of the Cam 2018 on April 28th. 6 of the crew who won it in 2008 were present, and we had a great row. It was nice to be out in a sat boat again! We had 2 practice pieces on the row down, and a good race, although we were not quite sure where the finish was, and “last 10 strokes!” was called at least 3 times. We won our division and alumni category and were the 8th fastest crew of the day. We all won little shot glasses as a prize. The crew was:

Cox: Jess Temple

Str: Jon Harris

7: Moritz Schramm

6: Alan Marron

5: Mike Parrot

4: Andy Watson

3: Angus Fell

2: Aidan Hobson Sayers

Bow: Alex Markham