There was a strong Billygoats presence at the Fairbairns this year with a IV joining the traditional President’s VIII, which unusually raced in the Mens Senior Division at 9:30 (presumably as there was no 1st VIII this year). Again ably arranged by Adrian Tollet, the event went like clockwork on race day itself, despite our managing to somewhat disconcert ourselves the day before by questioning at the last minute whether it was necessary or wise to have a practice outing at 7am, and the danger of a lack of breakfast. It was either too late to change the arrangements or our email skills were not up to the task and, hair shirts donned, we set the alarm and tried to limit the alcohol consumption on Thursday night.
Despite our 9.30 race start causing us to rush breakfast (and, even worse, eat less!), the VIII had a good row, going over most of the course at a rating of about 30 (though there seemed to be some question in the minds of the bank party whether this rating was set by 8 or 6!). Perhaps being at least nominally Senior Men fooled us into rowing better. It certainly was the President’s VIII this year as the President once more stamped her authority on it from the cox’s seat, steering an excellent course (with no help needed!), and keeping the rating up and the quality high by calling for length and timing when she could see us flagging. Some may feel that she took it a step too far on the way back when the red mist descended and she called for those 10 stroke bursts at race pace to successfully hold off (honest!) Oriel (the winners) as they were trying to overtake us, especially for the older or more girthsome in the crew, but I wouldn’t dare think that.
We came 53rd out of 62, in a time of 17:33, lagging 3:22 behind the winners, Oriel Oxford. We were 1:04 quicker than last year when the crew lagged the winners by 4:12 so we felt it was a creditable performance. I think we can all agree that this photo demonstrates the professionalism and organisational skills of all concerned (including super-sub Roly Beevor who took it), and the flag looks nice.
President’s VIII : David Birtwhistle (Bow), Paul Wallace (2), Robert Doe (3), John Roberts (4), Nick Francis (5), Tom Watt (6), Neil Gardner (7), Dan George (Stroke), Carole Wright (Cox)
Fitz Fairbairn IV : Adrian Tollett (Bow), Clive Woodman (2), Chris Radford (3), Fabien White (Stroke), Robert Machado (Cox)
Chris Radford writes: The Fairbairn IV met for the first time as a crew at 7am on a very pleasant Friday morning to have a practice outing. We started off feeling our way and the boat was a bit wobbly, but by the time we got to the Long Reach we were rowing comfortably and Robert got us to do some short pieces at race pace on our way back.
For the race, we stepped into the boat at 14:20 and were started by 14:30. We had planned to go off at rating 22, but somehow we seem to get up to 25 and 26 and keep that going for the whole 3400m to the finish at The Plough. Some patches were much better than others but we held it together and maintained a reasonable balance of the boat and were able to send it away consistently. Two (much younger) crews overtook us on the Long Reach. Our average age was around 60, so we were pleased to put in a solid row and end up 43rd out of 55 boats. We all look forward to trying again next year.
On Saturday afternoon we had Pudding Races, once more organised by Robert Doe. Three crews made up of a selection of Billygoats, experienced student men and women, and novice student men and women raced over about 4-500m up and down the Long Reach.
In the Billygoat, the crew ‘Christmas Carole’ consisted of Carole Wright (Cox), Jeff Lyness (Str), Chris Radford (7), ??? (6), Brian Smith (5), Jared (4), Hilary (3), Ritwik (2), Jemima (Bow)
In the Ken Drake, ‘Reindeer Rob’ comprised Rob Machado (Cox), Tom Watt (Str), Tom (7), Matt Bergin (6), Irene (5), Paul Wallace (4), Conor (3), Nikita (2), Cassandra (1)
In the Ray Kelly, ‘Holly Helen’ (or was it Holy Helen) was Helen Holmes (Cox), Dan George (Str), Andre N-B (7), Will Marks (6), David Birtwhistle (5), Miguel (4), Izzy (3), Tim (2), Harriet (1)
Marshalls: Antony Moule, Robert Doe, Emily, Maya, Alan
Thanks very much to Robert for organising, the Marshalls for marshalling and apologies for the lack of surnames for the students.
It was an exciting event. The crews paddled down to the bottom of the Long Reach, doing a few 10s and practice starts on the way, with Christmas Carole the first to arrive and Holly Helen the second. These two crews lined up for the first race. HH went off the start like the proverbial rocket, building a lead of about a length fairly quickly. The 36+ rating (which over-rated CC by at least 3 or 4 pips) was maintained all the way down the course, though certain crew members may have flagged a bit towards the end. Victory gained, HH went off to pant uncontrollably and cox declared that she had remembered a concept called “the stride” from her time at Fitz and wondered whether we had any use for it.
Reindeer Rob having arrived, the next race was lined up between RR and CC. It seemed to take a while to get straight but eventually, off they went, and RRs freshness told as they won, setting up a final with HH. The organisers now demonstrated their ingenuity by setting up a Bronze Medal event between CC and Alan Marron in a single. Having narrowly lost both their races, CC were not about to lose to a single, and nor did they.
There was a bit of a delay before the final, as the umpires let some other crews come down, the rest no doubt approciated by both crews. At the starting gun, the same story was repeated with HH building up about 1 length off their high-rating start but then a new strategy was tried – the stride that cox had remembered. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work that well, and coincided with a big push from RR that enabled them to pull back to about 1/3 length deficit a little after the halfway point. HH 7 man called for an “up 2”, their rate went back into the stratosphere, and HH pulled ahead, and seeing this RR lost heart and dropped back. So Holly Helen won the Puddings, and the moral of the story undoubtedly is “the higher the rating the faster you go”.
Thanks to Emily Lees for the Pudding Races photos.