Cox: Olivia Hickman | Stroke: Mabel Williams | 7: Eloise George | 6: Holly Gilbert | 5: Orna Broady | 4: Harriet Wood | 3: Lucy Derrick | 2: Rebecca Bondy | B: Alice Honigmann

Report by Eloise George

The novice women’s side at Hertford has come together very nicely over this term, and with this confidence and classic sense of “what’s the worst that can happen?” we entered Nephthys Regatta.

In the spirit of a novice regatta, we got a good taste of chaos from the off, as heavy currents around Longbridges made lining up next to our Teddy Hall opponents a fair challenge. Chaos moment number two swiftly followed as the race was started whilst our cox still had her hand up. In a testament to our impressively speedy starts, this led to us cutting across Teddy, in an early practice for bumps racing. As this was not our fault, a restart was called.

Fast forward and our slightly more chilly but still cheerful crew lined up again, and this time got a straight start. Once again we had an impressive kick off the start line, and powered past Teddy. However, a crab from seven seat and the power Teddy had in the middle section allowed them to overtake us, although photos would later show us that they had also taken a seven seat crab. Balance was restored in the world.

Ultimately, this led to a narrow loss to Hertford, but spirits were high on the row back. It was a hugely valuable experience, with some moments of real synchronicity and the beginnings of power. Special mention must go to Liv, for both captaining this crew and coxing in her first race, and to Mabel, for keeping spirits high with some excellent brownies once back at Longbridges. Onwards and upwards for Linacre!