Two alumni crews graced the Fairbairn Cup this year, with a third (2010 women) sadly having to pull out at the last minute.
The Presidents VIII, though missing the current President, did boast a past President and a future President. Carole Burton Wright (President 2015-18) coxed, with David Wright (elected President Dec 2024) at stroke. Ian Clarke (President 2021-24) was going to join us to race in the Winter Head on Saturday 7th but that was cancelled due to the weather.
The perennial fear that someone would oversleep our traditional dawn practice outing proved unfounded (as always) and we had a paddle down to the bottom of the river to look at the race finish. We managed to find a decent rhythm, though there was some doubt about whether the race rating should start with a 3 or a 2. In the end we settled for a respectable 28 and got back to the boathouse in good time for some of the crew to rush back to their hotel for a quick breakfast.
Crew – Carole Burton, David Wright, Neil Gardner, Clive Woodman, Tom Watt, Dan George, Andrew Goulden, John Roberts, David Birtwhistle
Suitably refreshed we re-convened ready to slot in at position 255. We were a bit concerned to see an Oxford College crew behind us but luckily they left a large gap and, in the end, did not overtake us until grassy corner. Carole’s shouts of “you’re making them angry because they can’t pass you” drove us on (and hopefully upset them!) and in the end we finished in a creditable 17:42.7, beating 7 crews and a mere 4:07.2 behind the University crew that won it.
This was a G crew and it would have been interesting to race in the Winter Head against opposition of the same age but sadly it was not to be. Thanks to Ian Clarke, Piers Copham and Tom Swallow who were ready to step in for those who could not stay for the Saturday.
The Billygoats AGM and Dinner took place on Saturday 7th and a good time was had by all.
FCBC 1990s & 2020s
The idea of getting a 1990s Billygoats crew out for the Fairbairns arose a few months ago when Pete, Dom, and Rob (and a few other non-rowers from the 1990s) met up in London for a drink. Eventually, in September this started to become a reality as more 1990s Billygoats were recruited. Unfortunately, not quite a full boat was recruited, however there was also a 2020s Billygoats crew forming with a similar problem. So the two merged, and a boat (with a spare) was formed a few weeks before the race.
The evening before, some of us met up for a curry to begin fuelling up for the race. Rob (our cox) was called into work at the last moment, so would have to drop out. With lightning reaction speed, Aurora Barrera James (FCBC Captain of Boats) is able to recruit a replacement for Rob. Our pre-race preparation of a couple of drinks and curry done, we retire for the evening.
The crew meets up on race day for a 7am rig check and pre-race paddle. Aurora coxes this early morning row, and her excellent cox-seat coaching helped gel the crew into a smooth unit. The paddle goes well, we end up rowing all the way down to Baitsbite and with the builds and bursts we put in, it’s like we’ve never been away. After the paddle, many of us head over to Tishka’s café nearby for a welcome breakfast.
Come race time, we are placed towards the end of Division 2. We boat in Jonathan Price II with race cox Megan Tubb (current FCBC member). We set off with a strong (if a little rocky) start, and settle into a good pace. Drama then unfolds at the Gasworks where we catch up with a Crustaceans’ crew (Christ’s alumni). Oars clashed, words were exchanged (mainly coming from the Crustaceans), and then we followed them slowly just past the Green Dragon bridge where we could cleanly overtake. The remainder of the row was gutsy, and the finish was welcome!
The result: Officially, due to attempting to overtake before the Green Dragon bridge, we were Disqualified! The unofficial result was 16:42 (including ‘stoppage’ time), and even less official was our subjective estimate that the stoppage cost us at least 40 seconds. Ofcourse, the main result is that we enjoyed getting back into a Fitz boat, rowing the old course. We’ll be back, and next time will make sure there’s a larger gap in front before we set off.
Crew line up:
B: Mark Taylor (1990), 2: Jonathan Kerl (2020), 3: Peter Matthews (1991), 4: Babak Eftekhari (1990), 5: Clark Cossin (2022), 6: Peter Maynes (2011), 7: Dom Adair (1991), Str: Neil McCulloch (1990), Cox: Megan Tubb (sub for Rob Clemmitt (1991)), Spare: Gautham Venu (2014)
