On 13 th October, W1, M1 and M2 competed at the Autumn Head race, a 2.6km time trial over the Bumps course. W1 finished 2nd in their category, M1 finished 3rd and M2 came first!

W1 rowed an impressive race in the challenging conditions of the fourth division: the wind had picked up since the morning and we braced ourselves against it, the first 400m from the Motorway Bridge being particularly tough. We demonstrated excellent commitment and had confidence in our strokes. We finished second in our category, with a time of 13:21 minutes, a mere five seconds behind the winners who had benefited from less gusty weather earlier in the day. We agreed we scored a moral victory and look forward to racing with
confidence in University Fours next week.

M1 have many returners from last year’s Mays crew and have been clocking up the miles since the start of term. We used this race to test our speed. We had an aggressive start and our cox, Holly, continued to drive us against the strong winds on the reach. The crew finished with a time of 10:03.8, finishing 3rd out of the college first boats. We are encouraged by the result and are back in training to
prepare for Winter Head next month.

M2 performed admirably in this year’s Autumn Head despite the less than desirable drizzly and windy conditions. After starting strongly, the crew settled into a strong rhythm and after some great lines from our cox through Grassy and Ditton, we were set to post a respectable time.

Down the Reach we had to contend with a stiff headwind that may have fazed lesser crews but, to their credit, the whole crew reacted positively to push into the wind and towards the finish. With a tremendous final push under the railway bridge, and a drop in the wind, the last 500m were the strongest of the race and showed the impressive stamina and composure of this term’s M2. Our efforts were not unrewarded as we finished top of the M2 division with a time of 10:54.6, and we unanimously agreed that such a composed performance so early in the term is uncommonly promising for Fairbairns and beyond!