This year Hertford entered 4 boats into the regatta: 2 men’s, 2 women’s. However, nature had other plans and an Amber flag blocked most of the racing.

We have compiled race reports from the some of the crews across the racing that was able to take place. Challenging conditions for all, but a really great effort from all boats across the board, and lots of fun getting in that first racing experience!

Men’s A

Wednesday – Report by Jakob Timmermann

Right in the very first race of our lives, our boat’s team spirit and dedication was put to a test as we lined up against Corpus Christi MA, who entered Linacre Regatta as one of the top contenders for the title. Corpus had made it into the finals of Nephthys Regatta just one week before, so that they were now considered one of the strongest boats out on the Isis. When the flag came down, we had a miserable start allowing Corpus to get an early lead on us. By ChCh boathouse, Corpus was leading by almost an entire length, but at the same time we started picking up some pace as we found our rate. The moment when we arrived at rate unleashed our full power, and we quickly caught up to Corpus who were now starting to struggle as we came closer and closer. At the end of boathouse island we finally overtook Corpus, and with about 200m to go, we knew that victory was in sight. In our final sprint we even managed to increase our lead allowing us to win our first race with clear water behind us, beating the feared Corpus MA.

Saturday – Report by Jakob Timmermann

After racing on Thursday and Friday had been cancelled, we were eager to continue our winning streak with our 2nd round opponent being Christ Church MA. Given that we beat Nephthys’ finalists Corpus MA on Wednesday, we had high hopes for the next races. This time, our first three strokes were perfectly synchronized and we managed to catch our rate right from the start. Christ Church had a good start as well, but we built up a small lead stroke by stroke. By the time we arrived at Univ boathouse, we were leading by a little bit less than a length. But then, as we came to the end of boathouse island, with only a few hundred meters left to go, misfortune came upon us: one of the gates opened and a blade on bow side fell into the Isis, leaving us with no other choice than to stop and abandon the race. Our disappointment was great, especially after we had had such high expectations after our first win on Wednesday. Even so, the regatta was a fantastic experience that will stick with all of us for the rest of our lives.

Women’s A

Wednesday – Report by Mabel Williams

In the lead up to Linacre Regatta, our boat was looking and feeling strong. We’d raced together once before, and hoped that we’d be able to give our all to take on New College A, our formidable opponents for the first race. 

We all headed down to the boathouse nice and early, where a quick braiding, nail painting and lipstick warpaint applying session took place to ensure we looked the part. Liv, our wonderful Women’s Vice Captain and Cox, provided a spectacular array of antlers to complete our look, and then after a warm up in the erg room we were ready to head out onto the water!

After a couple of gorgeous practice starts, we paddled up to the start line. The antlers were off to show we meant business and after some readjusting against the strong stream we were underway! We had a powerful start and looked ready to pull ahead of New, when we were struck with a difficult crab and had to easy there. Our second race start (spoiler: there’s more to come!) was also fabulous and we started to bring it back, according to Liv who informed us we were gaining on them and swears she ‘wasn’t even lying’. We kept pushing through, determined to enjoy what was left of the race.

Sadly, luck was not on our side and a seat came off as we were making our way down boathouse island, with Eloise, our lovely 7 seat, arms only rowing for the remainder of the race. As if that wasn’t enough, my blade became completely tangled up in one of the marker buoys, so we had to stop once again in order for Liv to detangle it. Race starts had become second nature by this point, and we pushed on to the finish cheered on by a large quantity of Hertford supporters, as well as some unexpected support from Boathouse Island. We reached the end, cheered for New, and decided it was the most fun we could have possibly had racing! Not feeling disheartened, we took it as our bad dress rehearsal and regrouped in the boathouse, congratulating each other on making it through and hyping ourselves up to smash it in the repechage.

Thursday – Report by Mabel Williams

Day 2 came around and we repeated our preparatory routine, raring to go and take on Lincoln B. We pushed off, and in paddling through the gut to warm up we came into more technical issues, with a collar coming off one of our blades with others looking sketchy, as well as some last-minute problems with footplates. We turned around to land at Longbridges to sort it all out, only to be told that the Flag had gone amber and we would not be able to race that day.

The river gods were unfortunately not on our side, as racing on Friday was cancelled too. Due to our draw and spate of bad luck, we were not able to race again on the Saturday as they cancelled the repechage due to time constraints. Many of us went down to support the other boats though!

Overall, the regatta was not what any of us were expecting! We had a lot of fun in our chaotic race, but were left feeling frustrated that we were not able to demonstrate our full potential. Linacre wasn’t all bad though – we can hold our heads high as the most coordinated boat on the river and can’t wait to bring the warpaint back out. Watch out for our Torpids campaign – needless to say we are ready to give bumps our all and show everyone what we can really do!