Tuesday 28th June 2005
Today, Jesus College BC (Cambridge) ran their annual spare pairs race for crews attending HRR. Run from the Barrier to the Finish line, the races take place during normal training time for the regatta, and are organised and officiated by the incoming and outgoing JCBC Captains. This year, 3 crews entered including Cornell University, Brunswick School and Westminster School. The draw placed the two US crews against each other in the semi-final, with Westminster gaining a bye to the final.
In the semi-final, Cornell, starting on the Berkshire station, took a very early advantage right from the first stroke, overrating and overpowering Brunswick. They quickly established a healthy two-length lead, although Brunswick did well to hold them to this for the first third of the race. Towards the end of the race, Cornells superior fitness started to show, and they eventually moved out to win easily.
The final was a very different race, with both crews starting fast and staying level for the first minute. Cornell eventually got their bows in front, and from then on slowly built a lead. Westminster, racing on the Bucks side, did very well to stay in touch for most of the course, but by the end they had tired considerably, and the older, stronger Cornell crew marched on to take a 4L victory, and the Spare Pairs title.
JCBC would like to thank the committee and officials of HRR for their help and cooperation in running this race. It is hoped that next year, given better publicity, more crews will enter, not only to improve the degree of competition, but also to give a greater number of spares the opportunity to race on the famous course at Henley.