In slightly more temperate conditions than Kingston Regatta the week before, CUWBC embarked on another campaign for wins and points at Molesey Regatta.
In the morning, the W.IM2.8+ event was a strictly Cambridge affair, with the “Twin” crew beating the Filippi in the semi-final, and going on to win against the “Joan” crew in the final. In the W.Sen.2- final, Claire Watkins and Melissa Wilson beat Holly Game and Emily Day (although a rematch at our Ireland training camp is definitely on the cards!). The W.IM3.4+ were bested in their final by a nippy Thames crew, but Fay Sandford romped home to a 1/3L win over Maidenhead in the W.IM2.1x final.
After a break over lunch (in which several members of the squad unleashed their ‘inner child’ on the fairground rides), the afternoon racing got off to a strong start, and soon the medals were rolling in once more. In W.IM2.2x, Fay Sandford and Holly Game beat Thames, in what was the culmination for Fay of 3 years of racing for CUWBC. The 4- beat LEH by 4l in their W.IM2 final, and Claire Watkins and Melissa Wilson once again put in a strong showing in the 2- to win against HSBC in their W.IM3 final.
The final race of the day proved to be the most exciting, though. The “Twin” crew, having beaten the “Joan” crew in the semi-final, were up against a strong Filippi crew, slightly reshuffled from the morning. Coming off the start, the Filippi was up by about half a length, but the solid power of “Twin”, combined with the inside of the bend, put them a seat up with 300m to go. The Filippi responded with a series of well-executed up-2s, putting them at a seat’s lead once more going into the last 200. Twin hit back, turning the screw by increasing their power and holding their length at the lower rate. It was neck-and-neck coming past the enclosures, with bow-balls changing places on every surge. A final lift call by cox Esther Momcilovic saw a late-stage surge by the Twin crew as they pushed out the last ten strokes to the line, but it wasn’t clear whether it had been enough, and both crews sat on the line, unsure who had won. The final verdict was a win by 2ft to Twin, but both crews felt like winners after such a close race!
All that remained after that was to de-rig the boats one last time, and pose for a squad photo with all our medals. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Dev Squad, improving their rowing and gaining valuable race experience. Keep it up through the summer, and see you all in September!
