Bilge pumps and boat races

[Michael Rogers]

(This has nothing directly to do with Swallowboats - er, yachts.)

It was more fun in the old days, they just sank. Now they have bilge pumps; which at least enabled the Cambridge women to finish. They really looked, at one point, as if they would row the bows under, but did anyone else notice the gush of water out of the topsides on stroke (= port) side just aft of stroke's rigger? By the time they finished, the boat seemed to be riding normally, which is a tribute first to the girls' stamina and pluck - the boat must have weighed an extra ton with all that water inside, not to mention the sloshing effect - and second to the pumps they used. I wonder what they were: presumably something quite high capacity, with li-ion batteries and a waterproof set-up.

Anyway, BIG respect to all of them, the right result in the men's race for a change, and both races a bit less of a procession than some years. Nothing like as impressive as Graham's more-than-three-knots-for-hours-on-end, though.

[Peter Taylor]

I agree, it was most disappointing that they didn't sink!  Apart from the bilge pumps I think they must have added buoyancy since at one point the Cambridge women's boat was well waterlogged but still afloat. Boo!
Peter