LIVE UPDATES: May Bumps

Follow the May Bumps LIVE on The Tab

13 years ago

Follow the May Bumps LIVE on The Tab here from 12:30pm.

Welcome to The Tab‘s May Bumps Live Updates. Over the next four days, we’ll be tweeting and texting from the river to give you up to the minute coverage of the entire event. Build up, in-race info, comments and analysis, it’s all here, plus we’ll have a full daily round up available each evening.

Get involved by tweeting #TabSport, emailing [email protected] or commenting below. Don’t forget you can also listen live to our partners at Cam FM, who will be commentating on the races.

READ: our Cambridge Companion to Lent Bumps by Rowing Correspondent Henry Charrington here.

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DAY FOUR

17:57 A huge thanks to the many thousands of you (and that isn’t an exaggeration) who have read our coverage over the last 4 days, to Simon who was brilliant yesterday, and to Jamie for fixing the site this afternoon. Congratulations to Caius M1 and Downing W1 in particular, but also to any crews who managed to win blades. Today’s round up will be up shortly.

17:52 Back on topic, how about that? Really strong rows from almost all of those crews, LMBC have really steadied after a poor start in M1, Robinson came very close to bumping King’s but just missed out at the last.

17:51 Some of you may have noticed that our coverage/website took a bit of a crash there, but I’m assured it’s now fixed. It still looks a bit off, but everything’s here, nice going.

17:49 So that’s it, we think only two bumps in M1 today, a very impressive performance from Caius at the head, not a bad row at all from Downing, but not quite enough to take the headship. This is how it finished:

1 Caius BLADES
2 Downing
3 Catz +1 BLADES
4 First and Third -1
5 Pembroke
6 Jesus
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Clare
12 Tit Hall +1
13 Emmanuel -1
14 Christ’s
15 Churchill
16 King’s
17 Robinson
18 Downing II

17:46 Caius retain the headship, Emma have bumped Tit Hall.

17:42 It’s early to say, but Caius don’t look like getting bumped, or anything like it.

17:41 St Catz get very close to FaT, as the thunder begins to rumble. And that’s a bump. Blades and spoons there.

17:39 Off they go, early start, Caius get off very quickly. Great start.

17:38 Only about five minutes to go, crowds are at their peak, still not yet raining, the stage is set…

17:34 Will also be nice to see if Downing II can cement a place in Division 1. I imagine they won’t quite, but who knows..

17:29 If Henry is right and Caius do hold the headship then they will celebrate double headship this year, a fantastic achievement. Getting nervy…

17:24 The Tab predictions, solid at worst and spectacular at best throughout this week’s bumps, thanks to the boatie powerhouse Henry Charrington, are as follows:

“The battle for headship is going to be great, and will be well worth a watch, even if it is chucking it down. Downing will be fired up, and eager to take revenge for losing the Lents headship, but Caius should be able to hold Downing off, especially with the headship advantage, having looked quicker most of the week.

“Catz will have no problem bumping FaT, and so should easily get their blades, while Pembroke will hope Jesus aren’t quick enough to bump them, and so avoid spoons. LMBC to pull it together on the final day and bump Jesus (maybe a little biased). Christ’s should bump Tit Hall.”

17:20 Blades are possible for Caius and Downing, but obviously not both, while Catz ought to bump FaT to ensure blades and spoons for those two. Pembroke are also on for spoons.

17:18 Here’s how they line up:

1 Caius
2 Downing
3 First and Third
4 Catz
5 Pembroke
6 Jesus
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Clare
12 Emmanuel
13 Tit Hall
14 Christ’s
15 Churchill
16 King’s
17 Robinson
18 Downing II

17:14 Time to turn our attention to the final race, the big race, the battle for the headship. Can Caius hold off Downing? If Downing can do it, it would be a huge end to a huge week for the club.

17:12 Officials confirm those results, so here is the final standings of W1 for 2011 May Bumps:

1 Downing BLADES
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Newnham
5 Emmanuel
6 Jesus
7 Clare +1
8 Lady Margaret -1
9 Queens’ +1
10 Caius -1 SPOONS
11 Trinity Hall +1
12 First and Third -1
13 Magdalene +1
14 Catz -1
15 Churchill +1
16 Girton -1 SPOONS
17 Selwyn
18 Peterhouse

17:06 That was a top performance from Downing, fastest women’s boat all week, really impressive again, they deserve their blades. Newnham will be a bit disappointed but they gave it their all. LMBC got bumped late on by Clare too, it just gets worse for them and FaT, who also got bumped.

17:03 What a race. Newnham really pushed Christ’s to the limit there, but the Christ’s girls did a great job to hold them off. Results look like this:

17:00 Newnham and Christ’s in a big tussle for third in the division. Meanwhile Queens’ have bumped Caius, spoons for them, and Churchill have inflicted the same fate on Girton.

16:59 Quite a gentle race so far, high speed but most boats keeping fairly well on station.

16:56 Dowing reasonably comfortable, very few bumps….

16:54 Off we go, last women’s race of May Bumps 2011.

16: 50 Technical issues all over the place here, I’m going to try and struggle through, race about to start.

16:44 Downing and Newnham on for Blades then, while only Caius and Girton can get spoons.

16:40 20 minutes until W1, here’s the starting order:

1 Downing
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Newnham
5 Emmanuel
6 Jesus
7 Lady Margaret
8 Clare
9 Caius
10 Queens’
11 First and Third
12 Trinity Hall
13 Catz
14 Magdalene
15 Girton
16 Churchill
17 Selwyn
18 Peterhouse

16:36 I don’t want to skip over that M2 too quickly, but we’re down to the last two races now, and I’m going to focus on W1. Downing ought not have any trouble holding onto headship, but some battles further down…

16:33 Sun is out, wind has stilled, the Cam is surrounded with people, how very lovely. M2 results are confirmed, as we suggested:

16:27 Don’t forget you’ll be able to read a full round up of all the divisions soon after the final race this evening, analysis and a full documentation of Blades and Spoons as well.

16:23 So, Downing have the highest ranked second boat now, their M1 will hope to achieve the same in terms of first boats in about 80 minutes time. Really dissapointing week for Darwin and Selwyn as well, while the middle of that division has been incredibly settled in the last few days, each crew finding it’s place it seems.

16:21 Wolfson getting quite close to Sidney, but looks unlikely that there will be any more bumps, so this is what the results look like:

1 Downing II +1
2 First and Third II -1 SPOONS
3 Girton
4 Homerton +1
5 Peterhouse -1
6 Lady Margaret II +1
7 Selwyn -1 SPOONS
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Sidney Sussex
12 Wolfson
13 Pembroke II +1 BLADES
14 Anglia Ruskin -1
15 Corpus Christi +1 BLADES
16 Darwin -1 SPOONS
17 Christ’s II
18 Queens’ II
16:19 Homerton doing much better now, close to Peterhouse indeed, LMBC II bump Selwyn as we predicted, spoons for Selwyn. Homerton have in fact got that bump.

16:18 Corpus get blades bumping Darwin who take spoons, Pembroke bump ARU, more blades there.

16:16 Selwyn, on for spoons remember, are actually pushing Homerton hard. Girton close to Downing II, who are also closing on FaT II. And a terrible corner from FaT II means Downing II bump them. That’s the ‘second headship’ over to Downing.

16:14 Here we go, M2 ready to go, there’s the cannon, and it’s off. FaT II get a much better start than Downing II, that will add intrigue.

16:11 Just 5 minutes from M2, I’m going to call LMBC II and Selwyn as the most exciting looking contest of the day, if they both row at their best it could go all the way. Elsewhere Sidney missed out on blades when they failed to catch St Ed’s yesterday and will want to rectify that now…

16:04 Only about 10 minutes to go until M2 pushes off, and after that only the two top divisions before the conclusion of May Bumps 2011. Last chance to get in touch, don’t waste it. Email [email protected], tweet @TabSport, or comment below.

15:59 Henry calls for “Downing to bump FaT to take the sandwich boat position. LMBC to bump Selwyn, having got close to them on the first day, and perhaps provide LMBC with a rare bump this campaign. Pembroke and Corpus should also be confident of bumping ARU and Darwin.” If Downing II do make that bump it won’t just mean a move up and a chance to get into M1, it will also make them the highest ranked M2 boat, at FaT’s expense. High stakes, then, let’s call it the second headship.

15:57 This has been a pretty close division, so not as many blades or spoons. Only Girton, Pembroke II and Corpus Christi can get four straight bumps, while Selwyn, Darwin and FaT II (down from M1) need a rowover to avoid spoons.

15:56 Ok, M2 running order time:

1 First and Third II
2 Downing II
3 Girton
4 Peterhouse
5 Homerton
6 Selwyn
7 Lady Margaret II
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Sidney Sussex
12 Wolfson
13 Anglia Ruskin
14 Pembroke II
15 Darwin
16 Corpus Christi
17 Christ’s II
18 Queens’ II

15:52 Good to see that there are so many spectators down by the river today, why not pop in and see our friends at CamFm, who are at The Plough. But make sure you take your internet based devices with you, otherwise I’ll get all lonely…

15:50 In fact yes, officials confirm what we had, this is how W2 finished:

1 Peterhouse +1
2 King’s -1
3 Pembroke II
4 Sidney Sussex +1 BLADES
5 Emmanuel II -1
6 Murray Edwards +1 BLADES
7 Jesus II -1 SPOONS
8 Fitzwilliam +1 BLADES
9 Robinson -1 SPOONS
10 Newnham II +1 BLADES
11 ARU -1 SPOONS
12 Homerton +1
13 Darwin -1 SPOONS
14 Clare II +1
15 LMBC II -1 SPOONS
16 Hughes Hall
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II

15:49 Theoretically we should have about 25 minutes to go before M2, but W2 started early so I’m not fully sure. We should be able to confirm thos W2 results in a moment as well.

15:43 Always nice to get some happy noises from riverside, and yesterdays LIVE UPDATES man Simon Bajkowski has tweeted that “Fitz W1 like a hot knife through butter. Brilliant bump by billyfield”. They too will be delighted with blades.

15:41 Just waiting for official results but the ones we had looked pretty right to me. M2 up next, it’s getting close to the big race of the day, M1, with that headship battle.

15:36 What a very ‘bladey’ division. Mostly as expected, Sidney justified my faith, dominating Emma II right from the start, Murray Edwards were also phenomenally quick all week. Trinity Hall looked very tired out there, but once again that was an extremely fast division.

15:31 Peterhouse have bumped King’s at the front too, Clare II have bumped LMBC II now, more spoons heading to John’s. I expect that the bottom three will all row over, which means the results look like this:

1 Peterhouse +1
2 King’s -1
3 Pembroke II
4 Sidney Sussex +1 BLADES
5 Emmanuel II -1
6 Murray Edwards +1 BLADES
7 Jesus II -1
8 Fitzwilliam +1 BLADES
9 Robinson -1
10 Newnham II +1 BLADES
11 ARU -1 SPOONS
12 Homerton +1
13 Darwin -1 SPOONS
14 Clare II +1
15 LMBC II -1 SPOONS
16 Hughes Hall
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II

15:28 Confirmation that Newnham II have their blades and ARU spoons now, Clare II closing on LMBC II. Less action at the back than we maybe expected…

15:26 Fitz close to Robinson, very close in fact. Newnham II about to catch ARU you’d think. Sidney all over Emma, very late concession but there are blades for Sidney now. Fitz have now bumped Robinson, Homerton on Darwin as well.

15:24 We are go in W2, earlier than expected. Sidney make an excellent start on Emma, Jesus bumped by Murray Edwards extremely quickly.

15:22 W3 Drama has some interesting new information about that race, I’m trying to get that confirmed from another source as well, will update on that when I know. The results haven’t changed though…

15:17 Just over 10 minutes until that goes off, send me any thoughts about Bumps, either the races gone or those last few to come.

15:15 Henry Charrington’s predictions look like this: “Expect Murray Edwards and Fitz to have no trouble in bumping, although whether Sidney can bump Emma is perhaps not such a foregone conclusion. They have, however, showed great speed all week, and no doubt will apply considerable pressure on Emma. Homerton should get the bump on Darwin. Expect a close race between the Clare and LMBC second boats.” I have to say, I disagree with him, which doesn’t often happen, I would put good money on Sidney to bump Emma, not even close.

15:13 Ok, so what can happen in this one? Well Sidney Sussex, Murray Edwards, Fitzwilliam and Newnham II are all on for blades while Jesus II, Robinson, ARU, Darwin and LMBC II are in danger of Spoons.

15:07 Only four races to go now, tension growing for the big ones now…W2 is next to go, here’s the line up for that. It’s been a very fast division all week, I’m sure that’ll continue here:

1 King’s
2 Peterhouse
3 Pembroke II
4 Emmanuel II
5 Sidney Sussex
6 Jesus II
7 Murray Edwards
8 Robinson
9 Fitzwilliam
10 ARU
11 Newnham II
12 Darwin
13 Homerton
14 LMBC II
15 Clare II
16 Hughes Hall
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II

15:04 Here are those officially confirmed results, as we expected. And another little story developing, Caius III took a terrible corner having been bumped and looking to pull over, hitting another boat (I believe LMBC III). More troubles with that boat, and surely another fine…anyway, results:

1 Queens’ II
2 Clare II
3 St. Catharine’s II +1 BLADES
4 Emmanuel II -1
5 Hughes Hall +1 BLADES
6 Selwyn II -1
7 Peterhouse II +1 BLADES
8 Lady Margaret III -1
9 Robinson II +1 BLADES
10 FaT III -1 SPOONS
11 Trinity Hall II +1
12 Magdalene II -1 SPOONS
13 Fitz II
14 Churchill II
15 Girton II +1
16 Emmanuel III -1
17 King’s II +1
18 Caius III -1

14:57 We will confirm those results as soon as the officials do, but another good race from M3. Caius III, the villians of Day 1 somewhat fittingly bumped out of the division at the very end. Karma?

14:54 Henry got the Hughes Hall bump right, they looked quick again as they picked up blades, while FaT III join their fourth boats in getting spoons. Another good row from Catz II, the whole club seem to have been doing very nicely, +10 so far across 5 boats.

14:52 Here are your full results then, assuming that Clare II didn’t catch Queens’ II at the front:

1 Queens’ II
2 Clare II
3 St. Catharine’s II +1 BLADES
4 Emmanuel II -1
5 Hughes Hall +1 BLADES
6 Selwyn II -1
7 Peterhouse II +1
8 Lady Margaret III -1
9 Robinson II +1
10 FaT III -1 SPOONS
11 Trinity Hall II +1
12 Magdalene II -1 SPOONS
13 Fitz II
14 Churchill II
15 Girton II +1
16 Emmanuel III -1
17 King’s II +1
18 Caius III -1

14:48 Robinson do catch FaT III for respective blades and spoons. Girton get Emma and King’s bump Caius.

14:47 Catz get that bump, Robinson II very close to FaT, Girton II look good at the back of the division, and despite having rowed a long way earlier, King’s II are looking to be positive from the sandwich position.

14:46 Good start for Catz II and Hughes Hall, both pushing for blades.

14:45 Right back on time now, and off they go…

14:43 And who’s on for blades? Quite a few actually: Catz II, Hughes Hall, Peterhouse II and Robinson II. Spoons? Fat III, Magdalene II and Fitz II. According to Henry Henry “Whether Hughes Hall can survive another hangover remains to be seen, but expect them to bump. Fat III will have to work extremely hard to avoid Robinson, while Magdalene and Fitz will both be under pressure as they line up today after an uninspiring week.”

14:41 Only 5 minutes until M3 head off, so here’s the running order:

1 Queens’ II
2 Clare II
3 Emmanuel II
4 St. Catharine’s II
5 Selwyn II
6 Hughes Hall
7 Lady Margaret III
8 Peterhouse II
9 FaT III
10 Robinson II
11 Magdalene II
12 Trinity Hall II
13 Fitz II
14 Churchill II
15 Emmanuel III
16 Girton II
17 Caius III
18 King’s II

14:35 Here are those official results and there is a slight change. It seems like that Clare Hall, Emma III, Newnham III collision saw Emma get the bump first, so no spoons for Emma, and no blades for Newnham. Here’s the full results:

1 Trinity Hall II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Wolfson +1 BLADES
4 Caius II -1
5 Christ’s II +1
6 Queens’ II -1
7 Girton II +1
8 Magdalene II -1 SPOONS
9 Selwyn II
10 Pembroke III
11 Catz II +1
12 First and Third II -1
13 Emma III +1
14 Clare Hall -1
15 Newnham III
16 Murray Edwards II +1 BLADES
17 St Eds -1
18 Sidney Sussex II

14:29 The sun has gone in, though I think (fingers crossed) we might be able to avoid any rain. No such luck yesterday at the Varsity T20, which Cambridge won thanks largely to an excellent bowling performance.

14:25 Almost exactly half way through Day 4 now, and attention must gradually be turning towards the big battle for headship at the top of M1. Remember, Downing looking to bump Caius, and reverse the Lent Bumps action…That coming up at around 5:45 we hope.

14:21 M3 is up next, the most controversial, delayed and generally ridiculous division of May Bumps 2011. They should be going at 2:45, and my sources indicate that the marshalls will have us back on time by then. We can hope.

14:17 While the results are confirmed, please do get in touch…you know how by now. Love to hear from you particularly if you got blades this afternoon, how will you celebrate?

14:12 Congratulations to Wolfson, who had to work pretty hard for those blades but eventually caught Caius, while it’s been a horrible time for Magdalene II, spoons including an overbump on Day 1. The girls colleges at the bottom both did very nicely too, blades for both Newnham III and Murray Edwards II.

14:10 Looks like that’s most of what we’re going to get, here are the results:

1 Trinity Hall II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Wolfson +1 BLADES
4 Caius II -1
5 Christ’s II +1
6 Queens’ II -1
7 Girton II +1
8 Magdalene II -1 SPOONS
9 Selwyn II
10 Pembroke III
11 Catz II +1
12 First and Third II -1
13 Clare Hall technical rowover
14 Newnham III +1 BLADES
15 Emma III -1
16 Murray Edwards II +1 BLADES
17 St Eds -1 SPOONS
18 Sidney Sussex II

14:06 Bumps galore, Christ’s on Queens’, Newnham on Emma are the most recent. Wolfson bumped Caius as well I think, very close at the end, while there have been some post bump crashes nearer the back, a bit ugly.

14:04 Off they go, Girton II look to have bumped Magdalene II early. Wolfson and Corpus very close to bumps at the front. Catz catch FaT II.

14:02 Now that’s cleared up, focus back to W3, it should be going off in about 3 minutes…

13:56 Here are the official results for M4 then: Neither blades nor spoons for the two Jesus boats, King’s did catch Newnham and Pembroke III caught Wolfson before Clare Hall could get the bump they needed. King’s will be the sandwich boat for M3 (the division of death as we are now calling it!)

1 King’s II +1
2 Queens’ III -1
3 Pembroke III +1
4 Wolfson II -1
5 Clare Hall
6 Downing III +1
7 Darwin II -1 SPOONS
8 Jesus III
9 Clare III +1
10 Selwyn III -1
11 Catz III
12 Tit Hall III
13 St. Edmund’s II +1
14 First and Third IV -1 SPOONS
15 Jesus IV
16 Christ’s III +1
17 Corpus II -1 SPOONS
18 Magdalene III

13:54 And your TabSport W3 predictions: “Murray Edwards should be able to catch St Edmunds, similarly Newnham should have no problem with Emma. Christ’s should be confident of catching Queens’. Magdalene will also be pushed to avoid Girton.” And don’t forget that our call about Sidney bumping Jesus to be in this division has already come true.

13:52 Lots of blades possible here, in fact (before the fourth day) W3 was the ‘bladiest’ division: Wolfson, Selwyn II, Clare Hall, Newnham III, Murray Edwards II all eligible, while Emma III, St Ed’s and Jesus III are all spoons eligible.

13:50 Ok, even without those results from M4, I’ll bring you the W3 starting order:

1 Trinity Hall II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Caius II
4 Wolfson
5 Queens’ II
6 Christ’s II
7 Magdalene II
8 Girton II
9 Selwyn II
10 Pembroke III
11 First and Third II
12 Catz II
13 Clare Hall
14 Emma III
15 Newnham III
16 St Eds
17 Murray Edwards II
18 Sidney Sussex II

13:43 Sorry about the lack of updates, I’m having some pretty horrible technical problems, and also still waiting for the official results. W3 will be up reasonably shortly, I’ll bring you the full running order, blades/spoons and predictions in the next 10 minutes, as well as those M4 clarifications.

13:34 If you are down by the river, and think you saw any of that clearly, do send your thoughts in: [email protected], @TabSport or in the comments section of this page. In the meantime I’m going to wait for the officials to clear it all up.

13:29 Just to clarify the bumps which looked most likely to happen were Catz on Clare and possibly even Darwin II on Clare Hall, but that was a hugely competitive race and many of them went right down to the wire.

13:26 Difficult to tell what’s happened at the front, two spoons for sure at the bottom, lots of very close races at the front, but no confirmed bumps as yet, will fully update when we get the official results through.

13:24 St. Ed’s bump FaT IV, spoons for them, Christ’s III catch Corpus II, more spoons.

13:21 All very congested at the top, Pembroke III and Darwin II are doing their best to upset that Clare Hall blades charge. Queens’ doing quite nicely at the front, no early bumps yet.

13:18 Getting back towards time I think, M4 almost ready to go, we’ve had the 4 minute cannon. Also, if Queens’ III do get the rowover at the front that will make it 7 in a row, which is remarkable.

13:15 Time for some Charrington predictions: “Clare Hall will hope not to join the rowover ‘fun’ at the top, and should be able to bump Pembroke. Downing should be confident of bumping Darwin II, while St Edmund’s will hope to catch the falling FaT IV. King’s to bumps Queens’ III this time, after coming very close today.” I have to say that the King’s vs Queens’ battle at the top yesterday sounded excellent, can’t wait for another one of those.

13:10 We’ve had an optimistic comment from ‘Corpus M2’, they’ll be looking to bump Jesus IV back in the next race. It’ll be tough though, Jesus are one of those on for blades, along with Clare Hall, whilst Darwin II, Jesus III, FaT IV and Corpus II could all get spoons…

13:05 Only about 10 minutes until the scheduled start of M4, so I’m going to push on ahead and give you the line-up:

1 Queens’ III
2 King’s II
3 Wolfson II
4 Pembroke III
5 Clare Hall
6 Darwin II
7 Downing III
8 Jesus III
9 Selwyn III
10 Clare III
11 Catz III
12 Tit Hall III
13 First and Third IV
14 St. Edmund’s II
15 Jesus IV
16 Corpus II
17 Christ’s III
18 Magdalene III

13:03 Official results for W4 then:

1 Sidney Sussex II +1
2 Jesus III -1 SPOONS
3 Addie’s
4 Homerton II +1
5 Darwin II -1
6 Christ’s III +1
7 FaT III -1
8 Fitzwilliam II +1
9 Churchill II -1 SPOONS
10 Hughes Hall II
11 Peterhouse II +1
12 King’s II -1
13 Selwyn III +1
14 Queens’ III -1 SPOONS
15 Pembroke IV
16 Clare III
17 Jesus IV +1
18 Trinity Hall III -1

12:59 Official W4 results in a second and then it’ll be time to look ahead to M4. But before that I just have to correct the M5 results. Seems like Pembroke never caught Sidney II, no blades for them then, sorry about the confusion.

12:53 Just had word from a bumps follower in Canada, anyone reading this from further afield do let me know, it’s always interesting to see how long after they leave and over what distances people stay in touch with this event. Should get those W4 results confirmed shortly, and then we can move on to M4, which should be a good’un today.

12:48 Well Jesus IV did indeed manage to turn up today, and bumped rather easily, Trinity Hall III don’t look out of place at the bottom there. Addies avoided spoons because everyone around them bumped, one of the gentlest rowovers you’ll see, while Sidney II will get a shot at discretionary blades in W3 later after piling on the misery for Jesus III. It’s not been a great week for Jesus so far (though their M4 and W1 have both looked good).

12:46 Almost everyone bumping at the bottom, so here are some results for you:

12:43 Sidney get the bump on Jesus, spoons on that, Churchill II have spoons as well, while Addies have definitely avoided them barring at triple overbump.

12:41 Sidney II look fabulous, closing in Jesus III at the front, should be a bump. Addies look surprisingly comfortable, as Homerton bump Darwin II. Christ’s III bump FaT III.

12:39 Another delay, but not a long one. 1 minute cannon goes.

12:37 W4 is now ready to go, four boats on for spoons remember, no blades possible unless they’re discretionary.

12:35 A bit of a mysterious message in from ‘Camwatch’: “LMBC VI controversy?” he asks. Would you like to expand sir/madam? They got a bump today to sit only one place behind their clubmates earlier.

12:29 With a bit or rain on the way (by the way, glad to see that loads of you have clicked on that radar!) CamFM have gone for a bit of “weather with you”. Classic track, let’s hope it stays dry, because there’s quite a nice crowd down there. W4 should be very near to starting, but, rather predictably, isn’t.

12:26 It’s been a little slow on the comment front this morning, I’m still here and would love to hear from you…email, twitter or at the bottom of the page…

12:23 Time for some predictions for W4, Henry reckons that we could see some discretionary blades a bit later: “Jesus IV ought to get that bump back if they bother to turn up, while Christ’s III will fancy their chances of catching FaT III. With Jesus III, eligible for spoons, coming down from W3, Sidney II will be confident of a bump and a chance to row as the sandwich boat, which would leave them an outside chance of discretionary blades. Darwin II may not be the fastest boat on the river, but they should catch a freefalling Addies.”

12:20 Blades and spoons possibilities? Well, actually, no blades possible in this division, Murray Edwards II bumped up into W3 yesterday and they were the only possibles. Plenty of spoons in sight though, Addie’s, Chruchill II, Queens’ III and Jesus III.

12:18 But now to W4, here’s the line up:

1 Jesus III
2 Sidney Sussex II
3 Addie’s
4 Darwin II
5 Homerton II
6 FaT III
7 Christ’s III
8 Churchill II
9 Fitzwilliam II
10 Hughes Hall II
11 King’s II
12 Peterhouse II
13 Queens’ III
14 Selwyn III
15 Pembroke IV
16 Clare III
17 Trinity Hall III
18 Jesus IV

12:16 Wow, what a performance from Queens’ IV. Three blades, five spoons, M5 has been enthralling across all 4 days.

12:14 Official results, and the big news is that both Pembroke IV and Queens’ IV made those late bumps, which leaves it looking like this:

1 Magdalene III +1
2 LMBC IV -1 SPOONS
3 Homerton II +1 BLADES
4 Christ’s IV -1
5 Pembroke IV +1 BLADES
6 Sidney Sussex II -1
7 Hughes Hall II +1 BLADES
8 First and Third V -1
9 Robinson III +1
10 Churchill III -1 SPOONS
11 Sidney Sussex III +1
12 Caius IV -1 SPOONS
13 King’s III +1
14 Jesus V -1 SPOONS
15 Queens’ IV +3
16 Girton III +1
17 Fitz III -1 SPOONS
18 Addenbrooke’s -3

12:11 We still have 8 (yes 8!) divisions to go today, and after we confirm those results to M5 it will be over to the women’s divisions, W4 due to get going in around 20 minutes, but more likely 30 I’d think…

12:08 As morning turns to afternoon let’s take stock…Magdalene III will move up to the sandwich position, while LMBC IV get their club’s first spoons of the week, only a few minutes after LMBC VI had earned the first positive bump on what has been a terrible Bumps for John’s.

12:04 If, and it’s a big if, Queens’ did make that overbump that would make them an incredible +4 for the day, +6 overall. Meanwhile two boats definitely have blades (Hughes Hall II were the first crew of the year to confirm theirs with a very quick bump on FaT V), and another four have spoons. Ouch.

12:03 Here’s how I think it finished, though there were a few close races coming up to the end, noticeably Pembroke vs Sidney II and Queens’ IV vs Addies:

1 Magdalene III +1
2 LMBC IV -1 SPOONS
3 Homerton II +1 BLADES
4 Christ’s IV -1
5 Sidney Sussex II
6 Pembroke IV
7 Hughes Hall II +1 BLADES
8 First and Third V -1
9 Robinson III +1
10 Churchill III -1 SPOONS
11 Sidney Sussex III +1
12 Caius IV -1
13 King’s III +1
14 Jesus V -1 SPOONS
15 Addenbrooke’s
16 Girton III +1
17 Fitz III -1 SPOONS
18 Queens’ IV

12:00 Two blades confirmed, and Pembroke IV pushing hard on Sidney II, Fitz have spoons too, while Queens’ IV might just get an overbump on Addies. Outside shot, but you never know…

11:58 LMBC IV have been bumped, spoons for them. Hughes Hall II get their blades with a bump on FaT, Homerton II have caught Christ’s IV as well. Robinson III inflict spoons on Churchill III, and Sidney III bump Caius IV.

11:54 You’d think that the organisers (who have been excellent at getting this epic event to run as smoothly as possible so far) will wait until the more proficient boats are racing to make the time back, but we seem to have lost even more time in this one. So I thought I’d take you through some of my favourite delays so far: Obviously we had ‘The Georgina’ pleasure cruiser, Selwyn had a snapped line, and the huge controversy between Caius III and FaT. Right, the race is now ready…

11:51 Quite a bit of a crowd beginning to form along the banks of the Cam now, which is nice. Expect many more by the early evening if the weather holds up. Get yourself down there if you can.

11:45 While we sit this delay out, how about you send me in your thoughts. [email protected], @TabSport or below. Anything from shout-outs and predictions to excuses and corrections.

11:41 5 minutes from the projected start, I’d imagine we’re still running a bit late though. In fact, no 4 minute cannon yet, so we are indeed delayed. Just want to add to the predictions that Sidney III ought to cement those Caius IV spoons, they’ve been excellent this week, while I’d be shocked if Robinson don’t catch Churchill III, hangovers permitting of course.

11:38 “Christ’s bumped Magdalene on Thursday, so they might hope to bump them back again today, it really can get confusing towards the lower end of bumps. Homerton look likely to catch them first, however. Similarly, Hughes Hall and Pembroke should both be confident of celebrating blades tonight.”

11:36 Homerton II, Hughes Hall II and Pembroke IV are all on for blades in this one, while Churchill III, Caius IV, Jesus V, Fitz III are in the dangerous spoons positions. What does Henry think…

11:35 Ok, M6 is done and dusted for another year, let’s have a look at the M5 line up:

1 LMBC IV
2 Magdalene III
3 Christ’s IV
4 Homerton II
5 Sidney Sussex II
6 Pembroke IV
7 First and Third
8 Hughes Hall II
9 Churchill III
10 Robinson III
11 Caius IV
12 Sidney Sussex III
13 Jesus V
14 King’s III
15 Addenbrooke’s
16 Fitz III
17 Girton III
18 Queens’ IV

11:32 Official results for M6 then, the final positions for them for May Bumps 2011, it’s as I called it, which is nice:

1 Queens’ IV +1
2 Pembroke V -1 SPOONS
3 LMBC V
4 Lady Margaret VI +1
5 Christ’s V -1
6 Magdalene IV
7 King’s IV
8 Downing IV
9 Emmanuel IV +1
10 Clare IV -1
11 Churchill IV
12 Corpus Christi III +1
13 Girton IV -1 SPOONS
14 Selwyn IV +1
15 Downing V -1 SPOONS
16 Queens’ V
17 Hughes Hall III
18 Sidney Sussex IV SPOONS

11:28 That M5 will see three boats going for blades, or maybe even four. What do people reckon? If Queens’ IV get a bump, making it two in a day (unlikely I’d say, but possible) should they get discretionary blades for a +4 score in the week. A lot of boaties seem quite snobby about those, but I’d say go for it!

11:24 Still waiting for official confirmation of those results, but I have to say I’ve really enjoyed M6 as a division this week. Not always that high in quality, but always exciting. M5 theoretically 20 minutes away but I expect it to be a bit longer than that.

11:20 What a start. Queens’ IV earn themselves another row, they’ll be the sandwich boat after a nice early bump on a dreadful Pembroke V boat. All spoons that were on confirmed, while Clare IV finished badly in one of the most topsy turvy performances of the year. Bumped up twice in the first two days, then overbumped yesterday and down another today.

11:18 King’s don’t look like they’ve done it, if they did it was right at the end, we will confirm the official results when we get them, but for now this is how we’ll call it:

11:14 Corpus do catch Girton IV, that is spoons for Girton, while Sidney don’t look like making any impression, so all four spoons look like they’re on. King’s pursuing Magdalene hard, but not can they get the bump they need for blades?

11:12 Looks like Corpus and King’s IV are both very close to bumps. Selwyn catch Downing V, Emma IV bumped Clare IV too.

11:11 Pembroke V struggling to hold off Queens’ IV. LMBC VI close to Christ’s. We have our first spoons confirmed, Pembroke V are bumped.

11:09 Right, we should be ready now. Quick reminder, King’s IV on for blades, Pembroke V, Girton IV, Downing V and Sidney IV for spoons…

11:05 Still not ready to go, I’m not sure if I think it’s annoying, or if I sympathise for other users of the Cam. After the university does seem to rather monopolise it for this week, is that ok?

10:59 Motorboats on the river means a brief delay, but there should soon be some racing…

10:58 By the way, if you are thinking about going down to the river today, and worried about rain, I just found this little gem of a site. Find a geographer near you and ask them what it actually means, but now we can all be forecasters!

10:54 ‘Little mistake’ points out that Newnham W1 did manage to catch Emma right at the end yesterday, will change that in the round up. That means of course that they are now on for blades. 5 minutes to go to M6 gets going.

10:50 ‘Robinson’ has commented to wish ‘Good luck to all the hungover Robinson boats today’. I can only echo that, sport with a hangover is something that everyone should try, but perhaps not too often, it hurts! From what I heard it was a really good, if slightly damp Ball, I’m sure you can find out more a bit later on The Tab.

10:47 I forgot to ask you to get in touch! How amiss of me! By now you should know how, it’s back to [email protected], @Tabsport if you prefer to tweet, or comment via the bottom of the page. This is your last (7 hour long) chance…

10:44 What about those predictions then. This is always the most difficult one, so much can go wrong in the lower boats, but here’s what Henry has to say: “Clare bumped Downing on day two, and so should be able to bump them back today, despite having a bit of a shocker yesterday. King’s IV will have to work hard to cap off a good week if they are to catch Magdalene who will be riding high after their overbump today. Corpus should bump Girton, while Downing will be lucky to avoid Selwyn.”

10:39 Tiny correction, in that Sidney IV could also get spoons, having sat at the bottom of the pile the whole way through. A little unfortunate for them, they only found out that they would be competing at 10pm on tuesday, and most of the boat were in Cindies that night. Not ideal preparations…

10:37 Of those 18 boats, only one is still on for Blades, that’s King’s IV, while Girton IV and Downing V could both get spoons by 10 past 11.

10:35 All right, let’s have a look at M6, here’s how they’ll start:

1 Pembroke V
2 Queens’ IV
3 LMBC V
4 Christ’s V
5 Lady Margaret VI
6 Magdalene IV
7 King’s IV
8 Downing IV
9 Clare IV
10 Emmanuel IV
11 Churchill IV
12 Girton IV
13 Corpus Christi III
14 Downing V
15 Selwyn IV
16 Queens’ V
17 Hughes Hall III
18 Sidney Sussex IV

10:33 Should probably start looking forward to M6 quite soon, but before we do, I’d like to appease ‘blu-tac’ who is determined to let us know that “Hughes Hall had nicholas edelman at stroke, not hardy” as was reported yesterday. A huge apology to both, hope that’s clarified that.

10:30 If rowing doesn’t quite do it for you (in which case why are you here?) or you feel like you need a short break from it, why not read up about how the Blues cricketers got on in yesterday’s Varsity T20 HERE.

10:27 CamFM are online with their excellent coverage, full commentary and some top tunes as well. Just had Kid Rock and Nickleback, but they still won’t play my requests! Make sure to check it out, the perfect companion to the live text.

10:24 The good news is that it’s slightly brighter today, the rain might well hold off, so do yourself a favour and get down to the river. You might not get the bigger picture so well, but the atmosphere is well worth it, and you can always keep up with me via your iphone (or other portable device).

10:20 In case you missed it, you can find out what happened yesterday (including full listings of blades and spoons potentials) in our daily round up, which is HERE.

10:18 Yes, that’s right, the end is nigh, but each division has one more race, each boat on a bad run has one more chance to avoid spoons, and the frontrunners need one more push for blades. And, if you didn’t know, there’s a big battle for the Men’s headship expected.

10:16 Here we are then, after three glorious days of racing, just a few more hours of May Bumps 2011. And this is where it gets good…

DAY THREE

20.01 And speaking of tomorrow, the action is all TWO HOURS EARLIER than it has been on these three days, so these are the new division times for tomorrow.

11am – M6
11.45am – M5
12.30pm – W4
1.15pm – M4
2pm – W3
2.45pm – M3
3.30pm – W2
4.15pm – M2
5pm – W1
5.45pm – M1

It should be brilliant, whatever the weather. Make sure you check out the updates. That’s all from me for today. Thanks for following, commenting, and watch out for our Day 3 roundup coming later tonight. Our report of the Varsity Tewnty20 should be up soon too – another piece well worth reading!

19.56 Pembroke and FaT II will be hoping to avoid spoons tomorrow, while Catz, Downing, and Caius are all going for blades. Downing chasing Caius tomorrow means one of them will be disappointed though. It’s set to be an absolutely terrific fight. They have been the best two teams this year, and Caius snatched the headship from Downing on the last day of Lents, so will there be some sweet revenge, or will the Caius boys romp to victory? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

19.54 After another terrific race, this is how the boats stand going into the last day..

M1 Results

1 Caius
2 Downing +1
3 First and Third -1
4 Catz +1
5 Pembroke -1
6 Jesus
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Clare
12 Emmanuel +1
13 Tit Hall -1
14 Christ’s
15 Churchill +1
16 King’s -1
17 Robinson +1
18 First and Third II -1

19.51 The headlines will focus on the bumps at the top and bottom of the division, but the tussle in the middle between Queens’, Fitz, Magdalene, and Clare was an absolute belter. Top rowing. Results up shortly

19.48 Bumps at the bottom for Churchill and Robinson, knocking King’s and FaT II down

19.46 Emma bump up on Tit Hall, some interesting tussles in the middle going on

19.43 Downing get the bump on FaT as expected, and Catz continue their quest for blades by bumping Pembroke at the top

19.40 Not long to go now, and we’re even early! Can Caius keep the headship? Can FaT hold off an impressive-looking Downing? Can Clare break the “rowover trio” of Queens’, Fitz, and Magdalene

19.32 It’s an interesting if but let’s delve into counterfactuals for a minute here. FaT II currently have the prestige of being the best second boat in the mens’ divisions. So, if Robinson were to bump up on them today, which is easily possible, they would then have to race in the M2 division tomorrow, where Downing II could take their mantle as best second boat if they get the bump.
The decline of FaT has been much spoken about this year; Downing sparked this in the Lents by taking the headship off them in M1 on the first day – and should bump them tonight – so it may well be a fitting end to a pretty wretched year for FaT if these events unravel as outlined. Interesting eh? Well, I reckon it is anyway!

19.30 Once more, I don’t feel I can express myself anywhere near as well as our rowing correspondent Henry, so here is what he has to say on this race.

Caius to stay strong at the top. Downing should be able to bump FaT, as should Catz on Pembroke. LMBC will have to put in a strong row to get close to Jesus, while the Queens’, Fitz and Magdalene trio is looking pretty set at the moment. Clare will, however, hope to break this up, while Christ’s should be able to continue their upward trend against Emma. Robinson have, amazingly, rowed over as sandwich boat 12 times consecutively – if we count last year – and this is probably the best chance they’ll have of cementing their status in the M1 division. Back them if they’ve held off Downing in M2.
Robinson have held off Downing II, so a bump on FaT II for them could secure their place in the division. Full of knowledge as always Mr Charrington, although the predictions for the last race were slightly ripped up!

19.25 And this is how they shape up..

M1 Lineup

1 Caius
2 First and Third
3 Downing
4 Pembroke
5 Catz
6 Jesus
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Clare
12 Trinity Hall
13 Emmanuel
14 Christ’s
15 King’s
16 Churchill
17 First and Third II
18 Robinson

19.20 Only one race, but plenty of excitement still. M1 lineup is coming up

19.16 Nearly all over for the day – just one race to go. It’s been another long day, worth pointing out that all race times are TWO HOURS EARLIER tomorrow, with M6 kicking off the day at 11am, and M1 wrapping things up at 5.45pm

19.14 So five bumps in that race – is that a little bit high to say it is the top division? Credit to Selwyn though, they pushed hard and been rewarded with a place in W1 for the final day tomorrow. King’s will have to stave off a strong Peterhouse boat in W2 to earn the right to chase their conquerors

19.13 The rundown of W1

W1 Results

1 Downing
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Newnham
6 Jesus +1
7 Lady Margaret -1
8 Clare +1
9 Caius -1
10 Queens’
11 First and Third
12 Trinity Hall +1
13 Catz -1
14 Magdalene +1
15 Girton -1
16 Churchill
17 Selwyn +1
18 King’s -1

19.10 What was I saying? Selwyn bump King’s at the last after a stupendous second half. Results up soon

19.09 Top Five all row over, and looks like the bottom three will be too. All bump action in the middle of the division then today

19.07 Caius bumped by Clare, another prediction that we missed!

19.06 Almost on station at the top, LMBC bumped by Jesus though

19.04 At least Downing are ever reliable. They’re coasting along today for another easy rowover. Magdalene catch up with Girton

19.02 All predictions out the window – Christ’s not looking like bumping at all, and Catz actually caught by Tit Hall

18.59 Should be underway very soon. Good to be back on schedule!

18.55 Our rowing man predicts bumps for Newnham, Jesus, and Catz, although Tit Hall will chase Catz hard. Expect some very tight contests in this division. Downing look strong to retain the headship – they also had it in Lents – but Christ’s may well catch Pembroke behind them.

18.52 Predictions to follow soon. For now though, we’ve had a comment from “bitterselwynrower”, who laments that their 6 seat lost her seat, thus meaning they could only row in sixes mostly. It’s a real shame for them if true, they were on for blades before today.

18.46 About fifteen minutes to go, here is how the teams shape up in W1

W1 Lineup

1 Downing
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Newnham
6 Lady Margaret
7 Jesus
8 Caius
9 Clare
10 Queens’
11 First and Third
12 Catz
13 Trinity Hall
14 Girton
15 Magdalene
16 Churchill
17 King’s
18 Selwyn

18.39 The attention now turns to the top two divisions. W1 up first, lineup and predictions to follow. And we should hopefully be back on schedule after that rerow, looking at a 7pm start

18.33 Anything to glean from the results? Well, Girton, Pembroke and Corpus remain on track for blades, while Selwyn will have to hold off LMBC if they are to avoid spoons tomorrow

18.30 Results, then. Just like that.

M2 Results

1 Robinson
2 Downing II
3 Girton +1
4 Peterhouse -1
5 Peterhouse +1
6 Selwyn -1
7 Lady Margaret II
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Sidney Sussex
12 Wolfson +1
13 Anglia Ruskin -1
14 Pembroke II +1
15 Darwin -1
16 Corpus Christi +1
17 Christ’s II -1
18 Queens’ II

18.26 Homerton finally catch Selwyn, Wolfson take ARU, Corpus bump Christ’s, and Pembroke bump Darwin

18.24 Lots of good battles going on, not so many bumps

18.22 Girton have bumped Peterhouse, Downing are looking good money to take the headship from Robinson

18.19 And we’re underway, and almost on schedule. And almost on station for a lot of the boats. Some good contests so far

18.15 I’ll hand you over to our rowing correspondent for the predictions for this race, as I can’t put it better myself. He says: “Robinson continued their trend of rowing over well today at the top of this division, though four consecutive rowovers, over two days, could take its toll on them when Downing line up behind them tomorrow. Sidney have looked strong both days, and will be confident of catching St Edmunds. Pembroke should be able to bump Darwin, while Homerton shouldn’t have much problem dealing with Selwyn.”

The prediction is just one of many highlights of our daily roundups, the links are at the top, check them out if you’ve missed any of the action over the last few days.

18.11 M2 looks like this at the start of the race

M2 Lineup

1 Robinson
2 Downing II
3 Peterhouse
4 Girton
5 Selwyn
6 Homerton
7 Lady Margaret II
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Sidney Sussex
12 Anglia Ruskin
13 Wolfson
14 Darwin
15 Pembroke II
16 Christ’s II
17 Corpus Christi
18 Queens’ II (sandwich boat)

18.07 Some bumps were missed out there. Pembroke were caught by Peterhouse, which will please Mr Charrington, and Clare bumped up on Hughes Hall. Bit of a surprise, that one. Rescuing those bumps for the results table were our official partners CamFM. Well worth a listen, the coverage really is good – 97.2 FM. M2 coming up shortly

18.05 ..excellent racing once more. The power four continuing their push towards blades is the main story once the dust settles on this one, and its hard to see any of them not getting them. Newnham, Murray Edwards, and Fitz are all chasing teams tomorrow that are on for spoons, and while Sidney have the toughest task arguably being up against an Emma team that is +2 for the week, they have been very impressive this week and will look for a perfect finish

18.03 So, very good news with the cricket. I saw the team take Surrey to pieces a few weeks ago in glorious weather at Fenners, and from what our sports reporter tells me they completely outclassed Oxford today, despite a late wobble. As far as rowing goes..

17.57 Ok, the W2 provisional results then..

W2 Results

1 Selwyn
2 Peterhouse +1
3 Pembroke II -1
4 Emmanuel II
5 Sidney Sussex +1
6 Jesus II -1
7 Murray Edwards +1
8 Robinson -1
9 Fitzwilliam +1
10 ARU -1
11 Newnham II +1
12 Darwin -1
13 Homerton +1
14 LMBC II -1
15 Clare II +1
16 Hughes Hall -1
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II

17.53 In the meantime, how about this? Cambridge have WON the Varsity Twenty20 match, BEATING OXFORD BY THREE WICKETS. Come back later tonight to check the full report.

17.52 Race of the day this one for me, some titanic tussles in there. Great rowing all round. Results up in a sec

17.48 Fitz copy Newnham, Murray Edwards, and Sidney. Bumps for all four today. Another excellent battle in the LMBC/Homerton/Hughes Hall race

17.47 Newnham do the same, bumping Darwin. Meanwhile, unexpectedly there is a fantastic tussle between Selwyn and Pembroke at the top – Peterhouse shortly behind

17.45 Sidney get the bump on Jesus, while Murray Edwards keep up their push for blades with an early bump

17.43 The race is about to start, plenty of bumps expected. Let’s see if it’s as competitive as it has been so far

17.34 As a good friend recently pointed out though, Newnham have looked very impressive this week too, and are another of those seven piling up the division. Rowing Correspondent Henry Charrington expects further bumps for Hughes Hall and Peterhouse. Selwyn took the head of the division from Pembroke yesterday, so they will be hoping that Peterhouse do bump up to give them a relatively easy race

17.27 A fiercely competitive division this, with seven teams still on course for blades going into this race. The trio of Fitz, Murray Eds, and Sidney are all involved in that, and they have been singled out all week so far as being particularly strong – expect that to continue

17.24 Here we are..

W2 Lineup

1 Selwyn
2 Pembroke II
3 Peterhouse
4 Emmanuel II
5 Jesus II
6 Sidney Sussex
7 Robinson
8 Murray Edwards
9 Anglia Ruskin
10 Fitzwilliam
11 Darwin
12 Newnham II
13 Lady Margaret II
14 Homerton
15 Hughes Hall
16 Clare II
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II (sandwich boat)

17.22 Shall we move on to W2 now? Lets. A bit of a delay from that rerow, but it will hopefully be starting as close to half past as possible. Lineup to follow

17.13 On paper, that was a very predictable race. Catz, Hughes Hall, Peterhouse and Robinson were – and are still – eligible for blades, while FaT, Magdalene and Fitz are still on course for spoons. The actual race was a lot closer than that makes out though. Lies, damn lies and statistics, as Disraeli said. The results just don’t tell the full story

17.11 Make that three minutes, my bad..

M3 Results

1 Corpus Christi
2 Clare II
3 Emmanuel II
4 St. Catharine’s II +1
5 Selwyn II -1
6 Hughes Hall +1
7 Lady Margaret III -1
8 Peterhouse II +1
9 FaT III -1
10 Robinson II +1
11 Magdalene II -1
12 Trinity Hall II +1
13 Fitz II -1
14 Churchill II
15 Emmanuel III
16 Girton II +1
17 Caius III -1
18 Queens’ III

17.08 Lots of bumps there, but also lots of exciting contests in that one. Results to follow in a minute

17.06 Some crafty coxing sees Robinson get the bump on Magdalene – well done there, still on for blades

17.03 Bumps for Catz, Hughes Hall and Girton. Hughes Hall led by ex-Tab columnist Hardy Cubasch in the stroke seat – on for blades

17.02 FaT continue their slide down, as do Fitz – they’re bumped by Tit Hall.

17.00 Underway, just fifteen minutes late. Lots of action, but not so many bumps so far

16.53 Some decent scheduling here from the organizers. The W3 rerun has just begun, while the M3 race will more or less follow straight after that. Wolfson bump Queens’, leaving Caius to row alone down the road (river) to safety. Results are updates @16.14. M3 to come soon

16.46 Not too long to go now before the start. Weather is pushing itself just past the ‘grim’ mark, hopefully tomorrow will be even better!

16.41 So attention on M3. This one saw seven bumps as well yesterday, and there is also plenty of excitement in store if the week is anything to go by. Caius upset a lot of people with that bizarre crash outside The Plough on Wednesday. Expect bumps for Hughes Hall, Peterhouse, and Robinson, and an exciting three-way fight between Catz, Selwyn and Emma.

16.33 “Laughing@LMBC” clearly shares the view that John’s haven’t had the best time of it this Mays. Their III boat in this division stands at -1 for the week. He also slams FaT, accusing one of their boats of ruining the chances of getting blades for three teams by their own poor performances. A bit harsh perhaps but the point is fair. With Jesus having not performed so well either this year, are we seeing a changing of the guard? Historically dominant John’s, Jesus, Trinity are all falling while the likes of Downing, Caius, and Catz (and Murray Eds, Newnham in the womens’ divisions) surging up. We shall see!

16.31 In the meantime, lets push on to M3. They line up like so..

M3 Lineup

1 Corpus Christi
2 Clare II
3 Emmanuel II
4 Selwyn II
5 St. Catharine’s II
6 Lady Margaret III
7 Hughes Hall
8 First and Third III
9 Peterhouse II
10 Magdalene II
11 Robinson II
12 Fitzwilliam II
13 Trinity Hall II
14 Churchill II
15 Emmanuel III
16 Caius III
17 Girton II
18 Queens’ III

16.23 There is in fact a re-row between that trio of Caius, Wolfson, and Queens in W3. Caius caught a crab and pulled over to the side, telling Queens’ to stop (can that happen?). Whether Queens’ slowed down as a result or not, they were then caught by Wolfson, who obviously hadn’t got the message. Interesting

16.20 A very good day for Murray Edwards II, they’ll be hoping that the first can maintain a blades push later on today. Lots and lots of bumps once more, but Tit Hall II manages to stave off the threat of Corpus to stay head of the division, and they will race in

W2 shortly

16.14 A provisional look at the results, but there may be some change!

W3 Results

1 Trinity Hall II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Caius II
4 Wolfson +1
5 Queens’ II -1
6 Christ’s II +1
7 Magdalene II -1
8 Girton II
9 Selwyn II +1
10 Pembroke III -1
11 First and Third II
12 Catz II
13 Clare Hall +1
14 Emma III -1
15 Newnham III +1
16 St Eds -1
17 Murray Edwards II +1
18 Jesus III -1

16.10 Caius don’t know what’s going on, and neither do we. I’d be very surprised if Girton were given a double overbump, but then they did row past the stationary Caius boat – stranger things have happened! It all hinges on that Caius/Queens’/Wolfson trio. Will put up some provisionals, but may well change.

16.08 Some confusion with Caius, but definitely bumps for Selwyn, Clare Hall, and Murray Eds

16.06 Caius II bump up on Corpus, Newnham take the scalp of St.Eds

16.04 Underway then, and Wolfson and Christ’s bump, fulfilling two of seven predictions

15.57 Slight crisp break while waiting for the start of the next race. Seven boats here on course for blades – very impressive. Should be underway shortly

15.48 Another hectic division this yesterday, with seven bumps in all. Henry seems to have gone overboard with this predictions as a result, suggesting that bumps could be on the way for Newnham, Clare Hall, Catz, Selwyn, Murray Edwards, and Wolfson.

Doesn’t look like they’re fans of rowovers in W3

15.43 Just under twenty minutes to W3 race time, they line up like this

W3 Lineup

1 Trinity Hall II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Caius II
4 Queens’ II
5 Wolfson
6 Magdalene II
7 Christ’s II
8 Girton II
9 Pembroke III
10 Selwyn II
11 First and Third II
12 St. Catharine’s II
13 Emmanuel III
14 Clare Hall
15 St. Edmund’s
16 Newnham III
17 Jesus III
18 Murray Edwards II

15.37 W3 is our next race of the day. Lineup and predictions will be up shortly.

15.33 Well, I don’t think Maggie would be smiling reading the John’s results. LMBC IV were bumped just now, but in fact all eight of the John’s boats are in negative figures for the week so far, falling down the ladder with a clatter! Unless I’m overplaying this? Any Johnians want to argue against it? Anybody else agree? Let me know in the comments below

15.29 So highly competitive rowovers from the top quartet, lack of bumps there didn’t make for a lack of contests. Good stuff. Plenty of bumps down the division too, with Clare Hall staying on track for blades come Saturday. Christ’s III can have a celebratory coke tonight for bumping up, while more bad news for LMBC

15.26 As promised..

M4 Results

1 Queens’ III
2 King’s II
3 Wolfson II
4 Pembroke III
5 Clare Hall +1
6 Darwin II -1
7 Downing III +1
8 Jesus III -1
9 Selwyn III
10 Clare III +1
11 Catz III -1
12 Tit Hall III +1
13 First and Third IV -1
14 St. Edmund’s II
15 Jesus IV +1
16 Corpus II -1
17 Christ’s III +1
18 Lady Margaret IV -1

15.24 All over, provisional results will be up in a sec

15.22 A cracking race between King’s and Queens’ is still ongoing. Clare bump Catz though, slightly spoiling an otherwise excellent week so far for the latter

15.20 Jesus catch Corpus, while Christ’s III have had a good day, bumping LMBC to cement a place in the division for tomorrow

15.19 Bumps for Downing and Jesus, and Tit Hall on FaT

15.17 No sign yet of that bump for King’s. More success for Clare Hall too

15.14 Just about to get started here, expecting plenty more bumps

15.10 The tussle at the bottom looks potentially pretty tasty – be interesting to see what happens between Corpus, Jesus and LMBC

15.08 Not long now until we get underway again. Mr Charrington reckons good days for Pembroke, Clare Hall, and King’s – who would take over as head of the division from Queens’. Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts below

15.00 The M4 lineup then, with Christ’s III racing as the sandwich boat having escaped the clutches of Christ’s IV a short time ago. Seven bumps in this one yesterday – hopefully set for more excitement

1 Queens’ III
2 King’s II
3 Wolfson II
4 Pembroke III
5 Darwin II
6 Clare Hall
7 Jesus III
8 Downing III
9 Selwyn III
10 St. Catharine’s III
11 Clare III
12 First and Third IV
13 Trinity Hall III
14 St. Edmund’s II
15 Corpus Christi II
16 Jesus IV
17 Lady Margaret IV
18 Christ’s III

14.55 Just to confirm my earlier guess – W4 is indeed the only division where no boat is still on for blades (depending on Murray Edwards II later today), but I imagine that might change come 8 o’clock tonight. Still seven races to go! M4 is in about twenty minutes time

14.53 Thanks to ‘hasher’ for your comment. We did catch the result but I suppose I didn’t discuss it properly. Seems to have been a cracker of a contest, with Magdalene rowing brilliantly in the M6 division to catch Clare just before the finish line. Good effort

14.47 So no bump for the “exceptionally strong” Selwyn, but seven others in the division. Murray Edwards keep top spot to earn the right to race in the W3 race at (hopefully) 4pm. Interestingly, they are the only boat still eligible for blades. I’ll have a quick sift through divisions but I reckon that possibly an exception to the rest.

14.44 Yep, it was an honorary bump. Turns out that Jesus IV actually didn’t row, so Tit Hall just had to row the three lengths past the station where Jesus would have been to earn foliage. Thanks to Chris and the gang at Cam FM for clearing that one up

14.40 A little confusion, Tit Hall may well have been celebrating an honorary bump, but it shouldn’t make a difference to the standings I would have thought.

W4 Results

1 Murray Edwards II
2 Sidney Sussex II +1
3 Addie’s -1
4 Darwin II
5 Homerton II +1
6 FaT III -1
7 Christ’s III +1
8 Churchill -1
9 Fitzwilliam II
10 Hughes Hall II +1
11 King’s II -1
12 Peterhouse II +1
13 Queens’ III -1
14 Selwyn III
15 Pembroke IV +1
16 Clare III -1
17 Trinity Hall III +1
18 Jesus IV -1

14.36 Looks like there were very early bumps for Pembroke and Tit Hall at the bottom of the division. Peterhouse are also celebrating – a lot of bumps once more. Results to follow

14.35 Bump for Hughes Hall on King’s. Darwin and Fitz look like joining Murray Edwards in rowing over, with bumps around them

14.33 Sidney take Addie’s at the top, so Murray Edwards should get the chance to race again today, providing there isn’t anything extraordinary in the next few minutes. Homerton bump FaT too

14.32 Race underway, and Christ’s get the first bump, taking Churchill

14.25 Five minutes to race time. Predictions from our rowing correspondent that Sidney, Selwyn and Homerton will bump. Selwyn “exceptionally strong” in his words

14.18 And ‘muse986’, of course you can have a shout out for Murray Edwards. I can only take your word that they’ve hit off in the last 18 months, but they do look exceptional this week (and their first boat did in Lents.) Their firsts are powering through the field in W2, and their seconds today will be looking to maintain their place at the top of the next race and possibly even move up to W3 by the end of the day. We’ll be keeping an eye on that one. Both boats currently on for blades – very, very good

14.16 ‘Coxswain’ reports that Magdalene in fact overbumped Clare in the M6 division earlier today. Frantically trying to get confirmation of this, but am feeling fairly liberal today so will update on the basis of the two comments on it. On your heads be it!

14.14 Here’s how the boats are lining up then, on what is a fairly miserable day for June. Fifteen minutes until race time

1 Murray Edwards II
2 Addenbrooke’s
3 Sidney Sussex II
4 Darwin II
5 First and Third III
6 Homerton II
7 Churchill II
8 Christ’s III
9 Fitzwilliam II
10 King’s II
11 Hughes Hall II
12 Queens’ III
13 Peterhouse II
14 Selwyn III
15 Clare III
16 Pembroke IV
17 Jesus IV
18 Trinity Hall III

14.10 Onwards and upwards. We turn our attention now to W4, the first womens’ division of the day.

14.03 A look back at that race then and what it means. Magdalene spoiled the all-Christ’s affair at the top, while Homerton, Pembroke, and Hughes Hall are still on for blades after three quarters of their week. Girton managed to cement their place in the M5 division with a bump on Pembroke. A very good day’s work for them

14.00 Delightful. Think that’s how it went down anyway. 8 bumps, meaning only two out of the eighteen boats rowed over. Crazy!

13.58 M5 results

1 Christ’s III
2 Magdalene III +1
3 Christ’s IV -1
4 Homerton II +1
5 Sidney Sussex II -1
6 Pembroke IV +1
7 First and Third -1
8 Hughes Hall II +1
9 Churchill III -1
10 Robinson +1
11 Caius IV -1
12 Sidney Sussex III +1
13 Jesus V -1
14 King’s III
15 Addenbrooke’s +1
16 Fitz III -1
17 Girton III +1
18 Pembroke V -1

13.55 As expected then, not many boats made it to the end of the course. Provisional results and comments will follow

13.54 King’s III have rowed over in a wave of isolation, suggesting bumps all around them. Addie’s, Girton, and SIdney look like they have been the latest bumpers

13.52 And the bumps keep on coming. Magdalene take Christ’s IV, spoiling the internal club battle, meaning Christ’s III will row over

13.51 Bumps for Robinson on Caius, Homerton on Sidney, and Pembroke on FaT.

13.48 Off and running. Hughes Hall get a bump in early on, a strong performance taking Churchill.

13.46 M5 set to start. Excitement and tension building

13.41 Our correspondent was less keen on backing others – I’ll stick my neck on the line and plump for King’s and Homerton. Heart says Fitz M3 will bump too, but head isn’t as confident.

13.38 Back to M5 for now, it is only ten minutes away. Six bumps in this yesterday, and I realise now I can answer my own question! Christ’s boats are competing against each other at the top of the order for the chance to row in M4 later today! I’m tipping Christ’s IV to get the bump and the “cheeky internal club scalp”, in the words of Mr Charrington

13.35 Had another comment in from Eddie, in response to my earlier question. He says “I was parked after bumping in M5, 2008. As LMBC V came by, they crashed, ejecting one of their rowers, who swam to the bank, climbed out and got back into the boat. They continued rowing, only to shortly be overbumped by LMBC VI.”

Thanks for that Eddie. So it’s happened at least once! Any more?

13.31 Just quickly back to M6, had a comment from BLT that FaT results are saying there has been an overbump in the division. Can’t say I am totally sure on that one, but will investigate further!

13.29 Here we go with the list..predictions to follow

1 Christ’s III
2 Christ’s IV
3 Magdalene III
4 Sidney Sussex II
5 Homerton II
6 First and Third
7 Pembroke IV
8 Churchill III
9 Hughes Hall II
10 Caius IV
11 Robinson III
12 Jesus V
13 Sidney Sussex III
14 King’s III
15 Fitzwilliam III
16 Addenbrooke’s
17 Pembroke V
18 Girton III

13.25 M5 is on its way shortly. A heck of a lot of bumps in this one yesterday, can we see more of the same? Lineup to follow

13.22 A decent start to the day that one. Not climaxing too early, always nice.

13.19 It is a shame that John’s VI boat couldn’t get a bump today. It would have been interesting to have them chasing their own college today! How often has that happened? Anybody involved in that? Let me know

13.17 Well its not often I get to say this, but Henry wasn’t entirely correct there. King’s did bump but Clare rowed over – and my tip of Churchill was right too. 1-1 some might say. Not as many bumps as expected perhaps today too

13.15 Ok this is how it seems to have gone..

1 Girton III
2 Queens’ IV +1
3 LMBC V -1
4 Christ’s V
5 Lady Margaret VI
6 Magdalene IV +3
7 King’s IV +1
8 Downing IV -1
9 Clare IV -3
10 Emmanuel IV
11 Churchill IV +1
12 Girton IV -1
13 Corpus Christi III +1
14 Downing V -1
15 Selwyn IV +1
16 Queens’ V -1
17 Hughes Hall III
18 Sidney Sussex IV

13.09 Sorry about the lack of updates, slight technical hitch there. I can add to those bumps that there was success for Churchill, Corpus, Selwyn. Results to follow

13.03 John’s continue their wretched form this week, their fifth boat is bumped by Queens’ IV. Downing

13.01 And they’re off. A surprising but encouraging lack of bumps so far. King’s hit Downing though to set the trend

12.59 M6 to get underway very shortly then

12.57 Just before the racing starts, ‘Cantabulous’ has got in touch to ask for some love for Clare M1 today, as they look to continue their blades campaign. A bump today would take them into the top 10 – a good effort. I’m not sure I can extend love without knowing them, but let’s hope for Cantabulous’s sake that they do well I guess. Any other shouts for a boat club? Or just a crew? Comment at the bottom and I’ll make sure you’re given a mention

12.51 There always seems like there’s more excitement for the neutral (?) in the lower divisions due to the utter carnage that can unravel across the river. Our trusty rowing correspondent predicts more of this today as the crews who aren’t as used to racing on consecutive days will tire. He is tipping King’s and Clare for bumps today. I quite like the look of Churchill too.

12.50 M6 Lineup then. As ever, eighteen boats in a division all starting a length and a half apart. Here’s how it looks.

1 Girton III
2 Lady Margaret V
3 Queens’ IV
4 Christ’s V
5 Lady Margaret VI
6 Clare IV
7 Downing IV
8 King’s IV
9 Magdalene IV
10 Emmanuel IV
11 Girton IV
12 Churchill IV
13 Downing V
14 Corpus Christi III
15 Queens’ V
16 Selwyn IV
17 Hughes Hall III
18 Sidney Sussex IV

12.46 So first race of the day coming up is M6. I’ll give you lineups and predictions on that very shortly. If you missed any of the action yesterday, don’t forget to check out our roundups at the top of the page. And while you’re at it, get listening to Cam FM if you’re free, they shall be doing their exceptional commentary and coverage for you again today

12.43 Welcome (back) one and all to our Bumps updates, where the rowing ahead today promises to be much better than the weather. I’m fairly convinced that nobody involved with editing The Tab this term will be up or sober enough to follow this today after a particularly lethal meal last night, so please do keep your comments coming in at the bottom of the page, or you can email me at [email protected]. Corrections, views, predictions, rumours – all are welcome!

DAY TWO

20:05 That’s your lot, I’m off, it’s been a pleasure spending the last 7 1/2 hours with you. The Day 2 round up will be up soon, with some top quality analysis and predictions. So many of the predictions were right today that you’d be mad to ignore them.

20:02 So, final results are confirmed, and it’s as we called it:

1 Caius +1
2 First and Third -1
3 Downing +1
4 Pembroke -1
5 Catz +1
6 Jesus -1
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Clare +1
12 Trinity Hall -1
13 Emmanuel
14 Christ’s +1
15 King’s -1
16 Churchill +1
17 First and Third II -1
18 Robinson

19:56 Just waiting for official results, but I’d like to say a big thank you to the thousands (literally) of you who have followed today, and an even bigger thank you to those who wrote in. Tomorrow you’ll be in the more than capable hands of Simon Bajkowski, I’ll be at the Varsity T20, but they’ll be plenty of bumping to be had. Don’t forget to leave your comments at the bottom.

19:54 I must stress that the middle of that could change, but the big news is Caius taking the headship, and Downing’s pace meaning that they could challenge on Day 4. Another great row for Catz as well, while Christ’s pushed really hard to get a late bump and preserve their chances of blades.

19:53 Provisional results look like this:

19:51 Clare have now bumped Tit Hall, Christ’s are chasing King’s hard, and get the bump.

19:49 Queens’, Fitz, Magdalene and Tit Hall are all close to bumping each other, but they’ve all tired in the second half. Could easily be 4 rowovers.

19:48 There it is then, Caius bump FaT, and almost immediately after Downing and Catz get their bumps at Ditton Corner.

19:46 Tit Hall near to Magdalene, Catz close to Jesus, while Churchill bump FaT II. LMBC could well get a rowover here, because Fitz are very close to Queens’. And CAIUS HAVE TAKEN THE HEADSHIP.

19:45 This race is fast. Very fast. No early bumps, but in this wind I expect some slowing up towards the end.

19:44 For the first time in May Bumps 2011, we’ve started early. Not a bad start for FaT, Downing go off very well from 4th.

19:41 Wind has picked up again, another factor to build the drama. It’s almost time…

19:37 There’s real tension building, the sun may have gone in but there are still plenty of supporters out there. Just over 5 minutes, which means (if some of the cockier Caius boys are to be believed) about 7 minutes until a new headship.

19:30 And Henry’s predictions. He should know about this, as he sits at 3 in the LMBC boat: “Caius to go head. There will be an interesting race between Downing and Pembroke, although Pembroke may be helped by the clear water they should get if Caius bump FaT. Catz to bump Jesus quickly. Fitz just managed to hold off Magdalene yesterday, and will need to produce another great row to do the same, expect Magdalene to make the bump though. Churchill should be confident of bumping Fat II.”

19:29 15 minutes to go, here is the final line up of the day:

1 First and Third
2 Caius
3 Pembroke
4 Downing
5 Jesus
6 Catz
7 Lady Margaret
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Trinity Hall
12 Clare
13 Emmanuel
14 King’s
15 Christ’s
16 First and Third II
17 Churchill
18 Robinson

19:26 So, this is the big one. Men’s first division, basically billed as Caius against FaT by most people out there. Shouldn’t be a walkover, but this is a phenomenally strong Caius boat.

19:24 Confirmed results, no change:

1 Downing
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Newnham +1
6 Lady Margaret -1
7 Jesus +1
8 Caius -1
9 Clare
10 Queens’ +1
11 First and Third -1
12 Catz
13 Trinity Hall +1
14 Girton -1
15 Magdalene
16 Churchill +1
17 King’s -1
18 Selwyn

19:16 Only one more race to go, and it’s the big one. Will Caius take their second headship of the year? Official results for W1 coming shortly. Don’t forget that our daily round up will be available soon after M1 (earlier than the last one), and is well worth a look.

19:14 Very insightful comment from Trollhard who shouts “SLOW HALL”. Thanks for that…

19:12 Closer than we thought then, good solid row overs for the top 4, Newnham looked excellent and will hope to catch Emma tomorrow. Queens’, as expected, bumped a poor FaT very early on, while Selwyn will remain in W2 tomorrow evening.

19:10 Churchill do get King’s, so I think I can give you some provisional results:

1 Downing

2 Pembroke

3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Lady Margaret -1
6 Newnham +1
7 Caius -1
8 Jesus +1
9 Clare
10 First and Third -1
11 Queens’ +1
12 Catz
13 Girton -1
14 Trinity Hall +1
15 Magdalene
16 King’s -1
17 Churchill +1
18 Selwyn

19:08 Churchill close to getting that bump back on King’s from yesterday I think, Selwyn probably to row over. Christ’s getting a little bit closer to Pembroke, but unlikely to bump I’d say.

19:06 The front 3 look like they’re more or less back on station, Newnham bump LMBC, Tit Hall have got Girton, Jesus very close to Caius, while Queens’ bump FaT.

19:04 What a start from Downing. Lightening! Newnham pushing hard on LMBC, early bump looks likely. Nothing further back yet…

19:03 1 minute cannon goes, that was a long 3 minutes, but no matter. Here we go…

19:00 Some great pre-race stats being given on CamFM. When Pembroke took the May Bumps headship, Downing were 11th. Great achievement from Downing to catch up over the last couple of years. Christ’s have also been good in recent years, and they start 3rd. A bit delayed, not sure why, 4 minute cannon went a while ago, but no 1 minute yet.

18:58 It’s turning into a rather lovely evening as the women prepare for this one. Almost half way through May Bumps, and hasn’t it flown by!

18:54 Right, I’d say it’s almost time for W1. Yesterday the headship changed, and while I can’t see a repeat of that today, it should be a great race, this is, after all, the pinacle of female sport at Cambridge.

18:45 Thanks very much to Sidney Love, very kind of you to share, but it is you (and Sidney W1/M1, both on for blades) who is wonderful! Keep your thoughts coming in, [email protected], @TabSport and at the bottom of the page.

18:42 And the predictions too: ” Downing to stay head, all week. Christ’s have a good chance of catching Pembroke, while LMBC will be pushed to keep Newnham off their tail. Whether Catz can bump Queens’ before Queens’ hit FaT will be worth a watch. My guess is that FaT will be the first to be bumped.” Selwyn ought to have a good shot at Churchill too, if they’ve got enough left after a long row in W2.

18:40 ‘Tell me the running order for W1!’ I hear you shout. Well, as you ask, here it is:

1 Downing
2 Pembroke
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Lady Margaret
6 Newnham
7 Caius
8 Jesus
9 Clare
10 First and Third
11 Queens’
12 Catz
13 Girton
14 Trinity Hall
15 Magdalene
16 King’s
17 Churchill
18 Selwyn

18:33 We’re into the last two races of the day now, the big ones, matters of headship up for discussion. In the meantime an email in from Katelyn Bush: “Wanted to shine a light on the Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish women rowers – these ladies continue to move up the ranks consistently with each May and Lent Bumps cycle. The W1 women are extremely dedicated and full of unmitigated tenacity, as evidenced by their late bump on Downing II yesterday halfway down the reach (repeating a similar bump on the last day of Mays last year on Corpus to break into the W2 division). The W2 women are showing similar promise, overcoming a row over yesterday to bump today. Keep your eye on this club throughout this week and in the coming years!”
I can’t promise anything for the coming years, but will be sure to look out for them in the rest of the week, another good bump for that W1 about an hour ago.

18:32 Results confirmed, as we called it:

1 Robinson
2 Downing II +1
3 Peterhouse -1
4 Girton +1
5 Selwyn -1
6 Homerton +1
7 Lady Margaret II -1
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Sidney Sussex +1
12 Anglia Ruskin -1
13 Wolfson +1
14 Darwin -1
15 Pembroke II +1
16 Christ’s II -1
17 Corpus Christi +1
18 Queens’ II -1

18:26 Very impressive from Downing II, after a slowish start they really motored it, and the pace they showed will mean that Robinson are likely to be less than fresh going into M1 as the sandwich boat. Homerton did catch LMBC in the end but it took some time, while St Ed’s while not getting bumped, looked very slow. Lots of bumps at the bottom, good entertainment.

18:24 So, here’s the result, a bit of confusion on my end, I may have had the starting order a bit awry, I think this is now right:

18:18 Homerton bump LMBC II, Downing II bump Peterhouse, not much going on in the middle, but the bottom has seen Sidney bump ARU, Wolfson on Darwin, Corpus on Queens’ II

18:16 Some bumps at the back, not that many of the bottom half are going to row over it seems. Girton have bumped Selwyn, Downing II very close to Peterhouse at the front as well.

18:14 And off they go: Selwyn, Downing II and Girton all having a bit of a bunch up, that could get interesting. Homerton closing on LMBC II.

18:12 M2 ready to start in a minute or so, bit of a wind picking up which could make it tricky.

18:09 Further thoughts on M2? I have a feeling about Homerton, partly because I’ve heard they’re fast, but mostly because LMBC have had such a terrible two days as a club, I just feel they ought to fall again. Any other thoughts? Send them in…

18:03 Another very high quality division is M2, some very fast boats, lots of first boats in there. About 10 minutes until that gets going.

18:01 Predictions look like this: “LMBC could potentially reverse yesterday’s bump today if they produce a similar start to their one yesterday, but they will have to be on top game, as Girton otherwise look sure to bump Selwyn. Caius II will be able to hold off Jesus II. Sidney should have ARU, who didn’t look particularly strong yesterday. Corpus will hope to get out sandwich boat position by bumping Queens’ II.”

17:59 M2 now, and here’s the line up:

1 Robinson
2 Peterhouse
3 Downing II
4 Selwyn
5 Girton
6 Lady Margaret II
7 Homerton
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II
10 St. Edmund’s
11 Anglia Ruskin
12 Sidney Sussex
13 Darwin
14 Christ’s II
15 Wolfson
16 Pembroke II
17 Queens’ II
18 Corpus Christi (sandwich boat)

17:57 Confirmed results for W2:

1 Selwyn +1
2 Pembroke II -1
3 Peterhouse
4 Emmanuel II +1
5 Jesus II -1
6 Sidney Sussex +1
7 Robinson -1
8 Murray Edwards +1
9 Anglia Ruskin -1
10 Fitzwilliam +1
11 Darwin -1
12 Newnham II +1
13 Lady Margaret II -1
14 Homerton
15 Hughes Hall +1
16 Clare II -1
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II (sandwich boat)

17:52 About to turn our attention to M2, not long now before the big battle for the headship, but I think it’s time for a little recap. We’ve had crashes, a rerow, overbumps, and more bumps in one day than I thought possible. Any highlights? Let me know.

17:47 I should also mention how strong some of the boats in the middle of that division looked. Sidney have been one of the quickest boats on the water all term, so no surprise that they caught Robinson, beware Jesus tomorrow. Murray Edwards also looked excellent again, as did Fitz. Three really quick boats all on for blades and performing above their status.

17:43 We await confirmation from the officials, that bottom bit could change, but the big point is that Selwyn will be the sandwich boat in W1, well done to them, against expectations, they showed good second half pace.

17:41 Lots of bumps then, here’s what we have:

17:39 Selwyn have caught Peterhouse, and LMBC fall to Newnham eventually, it looks like Emma have also bumped Jesus.

17:38 Newnham very close to LMBC, surely a bump on there.

17:37 Hughes Hall bump Clare II, bit of bunching at the front, no bumps yet though.

17:35 Good start for Pembroke II, Sidney bump Robinson, Murray Edwards catch ARU.

17:34 We’re almost set for W2 now, about a minute to go.

17:28 I’d like to encourage everyone to be a bit more commentful. After a good start they’ve dried up somewhat. [email protected], @TabSport or below please. If you’ve been down at the river and just got home tell us how it was. If you got a bump earlier share the glory, if you were bumped share the shame (or the excuses).

17:23 And Mr Charrington’s expectations: “Sidney to close on Robinson early on, and FItz and Murray Edwards to do the same to Darwin and ARU respectively. LMBC will have to work hard to keep off Newnham, they’ll be hoping for the boats above them to bump out ahead of them to give them some calm water. Peterhouse to get very close to Selwyn, and should have the confidence from yesterday of their ability to make the bump.” I’d add to that that Tit Hall II could well bump Downing II and maintain a place in the division.

17:21 We’re into the big boys now (or is that big girls…that sounds wrong). Here’s the W2 line up:

1 Pembroke II
2 Selwyn
3 Peterhouse
4 Jesus II
5 Emmanuel II
6 Robinson
7 Sidney Sussex
8 Anglia Ruskin
9 Murray Edwards
10 Darwin
11 Fitzwilliam
12 Lady Margaret II
13 Newnham II
14 Homerton
15 Clare II
16 Hughes Hall
17 Downing II
18 Trinity Hall II (sandwich boat)

17:15 M3 results confirmed, and having blown Queens’ trumpet, it turns out that the reason they caught Girton was because of the bump in front not clearing quickly enough, so technical rowovers there. Shame, that’s four consecutive rowovers in 2 days. Exhausting. Results in full:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Clare II +1
3 Emmanuel II -1
4 Selwyn II
5 St. Catharine’s II +1
6 Lady Margaret III -1
7 Hughes Hall +1
8 First and Third III -1
9 Peterhouse II +1
10 Magdalene II -1
11 Robinson II +1
12 Fitzwilliam II -1
13 Trinity Hall II +1
14 Churchill II -1
15 Emmanuel III +1
16 Caius III -1
17 Girton II technical rowover
18 Queens’ III technical rowover

17:11 Well, I said Queens’ needed a big row, but that was something special. Only two row overs, many of those bumps were as expected but LMBC very nearly caught Selwyn, several good bunches in that race. I wonder which Caius cox it was in their bumped boat?

17:06 Great finish there. Girton looked like they would bump Emma, but when Emma got Caius, Girton eased off, and Queens’ caught them, making up a huge amount of ground. All that means that the results look like this:

17:02 Robinson II bump Fitz II, and Clare II catch Emma II at the front. Girton II could catch Emma III, but if they don’t then Emma might catch the (unpopular) Caius III boat.

16:59 Hughes Hall get FaT III. Ahead of that three close boats, Catz II, LMBC III and Selwyn II. Catz make the bump, relieving Selwyn, Tit Hall II bump Churchill and Peterhouse II get Magdalene II.

16:58 Off we go. Strangely slow start from Emma in second…

16:56 Another pleasure cruiser related delay, but we are more or less ready to start now.

16:52 As we head back to the river, don’t forget to keep in touch, via email, twitter, or at the bottom of the page. Bragging, predictions, pedantry, complaints or anything else on your mind, it’s all welcome.

16:46 In case you’d forgotten, and I’m sure you hadn’t, this is the division which produced THE controversy yesterday. Blame has been discussed, again and again, plenty of you have had your say, Caius were fined for dangerous coxing. So fair to say that everyone might be a bit tense today…

16:42 Here we go, not long til M3, boaties readying their boats, about 3 minutes to go in theory and I think we are back on time.

16:37 I’m also interested to see how Queens’ III get on in the sandwich boat. They’ve looked comfortable in M4 both days, but made little impression here yesterday. A big row needed.

16:34 And The Tab predictions of what might happen: “Catz II to bump LMBC III, while Hughes Hall (or ‘Blues Hall’) would hope that the calibre of some of their crew is enough to take down a slow FatIII. Both Robinson and Peterhouse should continue their upwards ascent. Tit Hall should get the bump on Churchill, and will hope to do so quickly, having been slowed down by them yesterday after they bumped out.”

16:33 So, onto M3, another one with a lot of bumps yesterday, and here’s how they line up today:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Emmanuel II
3 Clare II
4 Selwyn II
5 Lady Margaret III
6 St. Catharine’s II
7 First and Third III
8 Hughes Hall
9 Magdalene II
10 Peterhouse II
11 Fitzwilliam II
12 Robinson II
13 Churchill II
14 Trinity Hall II
15 Caius III
16 Emmanuel III
17 Girton II
18 Queens’ III (sandwich boat)

16:32 W3 results are confirmed, no changes:

1 Trinity Hall II +1
2 Corpus Christi -1
3 Caius II
4 Queens’ II
5 Wolfson +1
6 Magdalene II -1
7 Christ’s II +1
8 Girton II -1
9 Pembroke III
10 Selwyn II +1
11 First and Third II -1
12 St. Catharine’s II +1
13 Emmanuel III -1
14 Clare Hall +1
15 St. Edmund’s -1
16 Newnham III +1
17 Jesus III -1
18 Murray Edwards II

16:23 M3 coming up in 20 minutes, that should be another good one, will hopefully confirm that W3 result momentarily too.

16:17 Another Trinity Hall bump, another Newnham bump, while FaT fall again. It is getting a bit polar for some clubs this week. Only halfway for each division after today though, plenty of time for everything to change.

16:13 I think W3 is my new favourite division, again just 4 boats row over. Henry again spot on with all of his predictions, that boy’s getting a reputation for those (although I’m sure he’d swap it for a better result in M1 this evening).

16:10 Tit Hall II bump Corpus to move into the sandwich position, and these are the results:

16:09 Every place being hotly contested here, Emma III bumped by Catz II, Clare Hall on St. Ed’s as well.

16:07 Selwyn II bump FaT II and I think Newnham III have bumped Jesus III. Wolfson did catch Magdalene II as well. Tit Hall very close to Copus at the front.

16:06 Wolfson closing on Magdalene II, as expected. Christ’s II bump Girton II.

16:05 Cannons sound, off we go…

16:02 Nearly time for W3 to go, lovely bit of remixed Elton on CamFM right now, our partners for May Bumps are the only place to hear every race live, check it out (but make sure to stay with me too, don’t want you leaving me all alone!)

15:56 Dare I say it, it might be turning into quite a nice day out there. A fair bit of blue sky, sun is out, still a bit windy though. Hopefully this will hold for the cricket and garden party tomorrow, while it’s also an open invitation for everyone to get down to the river. Maybe that’s why your comments have dried up. Come on people, you know where I am…

15:52 And Henry’s predictions:

“Newnham III to rise up the ranks, as the rest of their club appears to be doing so convincingly at the moment. Wolfson should have a good chance at bumping Magdalene after Magdalene’s poor performance yesterday. Expect Christ’s II to bump Girton, and Selwyn to bump FaT.”

15:51 Attention switches back to the women then, here’s the W3 line up:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Trinity Hall II
3 Caius II
4 Queens’ II
5 Magdalene II
6 Wolfson
7 Girton II
8 Christ’s II
9 Pembroke III
10 First and Third II
11 Selwyn II
12 Emmanuel III
13 St. Catharine’s II
14 St. Edmund’s
15 Clare Hall
16 Jesus III
17 Newnham III
18 Murray Edwards II (sandwich boat)

15:50 Confirmed results then, and both Jesus battles did result in a bump:

1 Queens’ III
2 King’s II +1
3 Wolfson II -1
4 Pembroke III +1
5 Darwin II -1
6 Clare Hall +1
7 Jesus III -1
8 Downing III +1
9 Selwyn III -1
10 St. Catharine’s III
11 Clare III +1
12 First and Third IV -1
13 Trinity Hall III
14 St. Edmund’s II +1
15 Corpus Christi II -1
16 Jesus IV +1
17 Lady Margaret IV -1
18 Christ’s III

15:46 Thanks to bka26 for his correction, King II are indeed on for blades. I thought it couldn’t only be two, and if bka is correct, and they are much quicker than Queens’, then it will be even more important for Queens’ to bump up a division in about an hour’s time.

15:44 After those results it will be W3, the bumpiest of all the divisions yesterday, should be something of a treat…

15:40 I think it’s time to remind you about how you can get in touch, those comments have dried up somewhat…[email protected], @TabSport, or on this page. Official results for M4 in a moment.

15:35 Another strong performance from Pembroke III and St Ed’s II, and unless the confusion about the Jesus boats results in bumps they are the only two boats in the division still on for blades at the half way stage. Queens’ looked very good again, but will they have enough in the tank to make more of an impression than yesterday in M3? We shall see.

15:32 Clare Hall pushing very hard on Jesus III, but they might just hold on. Here are the results then:

1 Queens’ III
2 King’s II +1
3 Wolfson II -1
4 Pembroke III +1
5 Darwin II -1
6 Jesus III
7 Clare Hall
8 Downing III +1
9 Selwyn III -1
10 St. Catharine’s III
11 Clare III +1
12 First and Third IV -1
13 Trinity Hall III
14 St. Edmund’s II +1
15 Corpus Christi II -1
16 Lady Margaret IV
17 Jesus IV
18 Christ’s III

15:30 Really competitive at the front, a late(ish) bump for Pembroke III and King’s II

15:27 Downing III catch Selwyn III. Crash at the back, St Ed’s bump Corpus, but don’t pull over quickly enough. LMBC IV might have been bumped, or maybe been awarded a technical rowover, not sure. Clare III also bumped FaT IV

15:26 No early bumps, but Queens’ III look very good at the front, as they did yesterday.

15:24 Ok, here we go, M4….

15:15 Back towards time I think, boats preparing for M4. Keep your comments coming in, [email protected], @TabSport and below on this page.

15:11 And some predictions for you to mull over: “Kings II have looked fast all term, so one would expect them to bump Wolfson quickly. Downing should have a chance at Selwyn, provided they can keep off Catz behind them.” Added to that I’d back Jesus IV to push their LMBC counterparts very hard.

15:09 But enough of that unpleasantness, let’s move on to M4. This is the line up

1 Queens’ III
2 Wolfson II
3 King’s II
4 Darwin II
5 Pembroke III
6 Jesus III
7 Clare Hall
8 Selwyn III
9 Downing III
10 St. Catharine’s III
11 First and Third IV
12 Clare III
13 Trinity Hall III
14 Corpus Christi II
15 St. Edmund’s II
16 Lady Margaret IV
17 Jesus IV
18 Christ’s III (sandwich boat)

15:08 After Homerton II bumped Churchill II, they allegedly repeatedly crashed into the Churchill boat. Heavy fine there I expect, not very clever.

15:04 Confirmed results time from that W4 race:

1 Murray Edwards II +1
2 Addenbrooke’s -1
3 Sidney Sussex II +1
4 Darwin II -1
5 First and Third III
6 Homerton II +1
7 Churchill II -1
8 Christ’s III +1
9 Fitzwilliam II -1
10 King’s II
11 Hughes Hall II +1
12 Queens’ III -1
13 Peterhouse II
14 Selwyn III +1
15 Clare III -1
16 Pembroke IV
17 Jesus IV
18 Trinity Hall III

14:58 While I wait for those results, let me point you once again in the direction of our Day One round up. Also, a quick plug for the Varsity Twenty20 which takes place tomorrow at Fenners, should be a great day, The Tab will of course be there!

14:54 We really have been spoiled for bumps today, another 6 in that last race, which added to a good haul in M6 and the carnage of M5 means that overall it’s been an action packed early afternoon. So much more to come though, after we confirm those W4 results it’ll be time to look ahead at M4, as we get towards the faster boats. Don’t forget, in the climax of today’s rowing we’re expecting a new headship…plenty to look forward to.

14:50 Rather pleased with my predictions there, and Henry got all his right too. Murray Edwards II will be the new sandwich boat in W3, very strong performance from them, while Tit Hall III had another disappointing outing and remain bottom of the pile.

14:48 The last boats still going, but not much chance of any more bumps by the looks of it, so here’s the provisional results:

14:45 Murray Edwards have caught Addenbrooke’s, Selwyn bump Clare, Hughes Hall bump Queens’.

14:43 Sidney bump Darwin, Homerton right on the tails of Churchill, another bump.

14:41 As we get going the sun comes out, which is rather lovely. Good start by Addies, Sidney II very close to Darwin II, no early bumps though.

14:40 Ah, some cannons, W4 is about 3 minutes away now. In fact there’s the second, just the one minute now.

14:38 No sign of a start yet in the W4, but we must be getting near the time. May Bumps seem to about as full of delays as a Cardiff Test match right now!

14:33 Ok, they might not be ready down at the river, but I am…so I’m going to make some more predictions… Murrar Edwards II to catch Addies nice and early, and Homerton II to catch Churchill II. I’m not sure what I’m basing those on, but I have a very strong feeling…

14:28 Still a bit of a wait for the W4 to get going. While you wait, please let me know your thoughts. @TabSport, [email protected] and below.

14:23 J.R Hartley writes in “Have those emergency Werther’s Originals on hand for Christ’s M3…”. I have to say, I’m not entirely sure what he’s talking about, but Christ’s III will get the chance to bump back up into M4 in about an hour’s time after a very comfortable rowover.

14:20 And the predictions for W4: “Christ’s will hope to make amends for yesterday, and look good to catch Fitz. Selwyn to catch Clare, while Sidney should be confident of catching a slow Darwin crew.” Trinity III will also be looking to make amends for yesterday’s overbump, which has damaged their club’s otherwise fantastic record.

14:18 Attention turns to the women now, W4. Line up as follows:

1 Addenbrooke’s
2 Murray Edwards II
3 Darwin II
4 Sidney Sussex II
5 First and Third III
6 Churchill II
7 Homerton II
8 Fitzwilliam II
9 Christ’s III
10 King’s II
11 Queens’ III
12 Hughes Hall II
13 Peterhouse II
14 Clare III
15 Selwyn III
16 Pembroke IV
17 Jesus IV
18 Trinity Hall III

14:12 That was quick, Homerton get the bump, so that’s that. I’ll bring you the official results when they come through, but I need a moment to get my breath back. What a division M5 is!

14:10 Off goes the rerow, Homerton II closing on FaT V.

14:07 That rerow will be coming up shortly, not at the end of the day I believe. So further delays to the timetable, don’t expect W4 for some time yet.

14:04 Well, the rerow is going to be Sidney II, FaT V and Homerton II. Everyone else to get what they got, except Sidney III who are given a technical rowover. This is what CamFM think it might look like when the dust settles…I’m still not sure

1 Christ’s III
2 Christ’s IV +1
3 Magdalene III -1
4 Sidney Sussex II rerow
5 First and Third rerow
6 Homerton II rerow
7 Pembroke IV +1
8 Churchill III -1
9 Hughes Hall II +1
10 Caius IV -1
11 Robinson III +1
12 Jesus V -1
13 Sidney Sussex III technical
14 King’s III +1
15 Fitzwilliam III -1
16 Addenbrooke’s +1
17 Pembroke V -1
18 Girton III

14:00 I don’t really know what to post now…no point posting the provisional results as I have them, I have a feeling they’ll be meaningless. Just sit tight I guess. But if you are down by the river and have any inside information, tweet me @Tabsport with details.

13:57 What a mess. Half the boats are celebrating bumps (Robinson III, Fitz III, Girton III and Hughes II), while the rest of the boats are turning around and heading back to the start. There will be some form of re-row, but not sure who that will involve.

13:56 Sidney II have stopped rowing and turned around, looks like a re-row, but Christ’s III at the front don’t seem to have been told, they’re carrying on.

13:52 Off we go. Very quick bump by Christ’s III on Magdalene. Big pile up as a result. Carnage.

13:50 Just about ready for M5, or are we…motorboat on the river.

13:45 Confirmation that the races are a little bit behind, otherwise we’d have started by now. I expect the delay isn’t much more than 5 minutes, due to the (uneventful) rerow earlier. While you wait, drop me a comment: @TabSport, [email protected] or below.

13:43 Sorry about that, I forgot to change the sandwich boats, it will of course be Girton III chasing Addies and looking to move up, while Christ’s III were bumped down yesterday. Magdalene III aren’t the fastest boat around but they’d hope to put pressure on Christ’s at the top.

13:37 So what should you expect from this one? Well I will be shocked if Sidney II don’t bump Christ’s back, seat problems aside they would probably have caught Magdalene yesterday. Henry says: Homerton to catch FaT. Kings to bumps Fitz, Sidney III to catch Robinson after a quick bump on Fitz yesterday.” That was in fact the quickest bump of the day yesterday.

13:34 Ok, to M5. Here’s the line up:

1 Christ’s III
2 Magdalene III
3 Christ’s IV
4 Sidney Sussex II
5 First and Third V
6 Homerton II
7 Churchill III
8 Pembroke IV
9 Caius IV
10 Hughes Hall II
11 Jesus V
12 Robinson III
13 Sidney Sussex III
14 Fitzwilliam III
15 King’s III
16 Pembroke V
17 Addenbrooke’s
18 Girton III (sandwich boat)

13:31 Results in, and they are as called. A bit disappointing for Queens’ no blades for them after such potential yesterday:

1 Girton III +1
2 Lady Margaret V -1
3 Queens’ IV
4 Christ’s V +1
5 Lady Margaret VI -1
6 Clare IV +1
7 Downing IV -1
8 King’s IV +3
9 Magdalene IV +1
10 Emmanuel IV -1
11 Girton IV -3
12 Churchill IV +1
13 Downing V -1
14 Corpus Christi III
15 Queens’ V
16 Selwyn IV +1
17 Hughes Hall III -1
18 Sidney Sussex IV

13:29 Still waiting on the official confirmation of M6 results, and then we’ll power on to M5, which should be a good one based on yesterday.

13:25 Official results agree with Hughes, I’ve just changed that on our Round up, and will make sure it doesn’t happen again. No Hughes hating here.

13:23 Hughes has commented that’ Hughes Hall bumped Downing II in W2 division’ yesterday. I’ll have a quick look into that, if we have missed anything then apologies, we’ll correct it….

13:18 Another tough race for LMBC, and Girton will get the chance to move up in the next race. Top performance form King’s IV, that was a really quick overbump, helped by a quick bump by Magdalene IV on Emma IV. And despite my pre-race optimism Sidney IV looked a bit off the pace at the back. Really good start to the day though…

13:16 Unofficial results, with barely anyone staying still:

13:12 In fact, it looks like it was in fact Girton III who caught LMBC V first. Clare IV bump Downing IV. Elsewhere Churchill bump Downing, Magdalene on Emma, and an overbump for King’s IV on Girton IV. This is getting exciting.

13:11 LMBC VI bumped by Christ’s V, Queens’ IV closing on Girton III, and that’s a bump too, Queens’ still looking good.

13:10 Wolfson have held off Christ’s in that rerow, and M6 has now begun…

13:05 No, my bad, the cannons were for that M2 rerow. Will bring you that result when they finish. In the meantime, yesterday’s round up is online, give it a read here.

13:02 Ok, we’re almost ready now, two cannons have gone, just awaiting the third (starting) cannon.

13:00 Looks like a late start, though hopefully not by much. Just a minor organisational problem I believe. Not that it can be easy, with over 1500 people involved in the event every day! And that’s before you factor in marshals, umpires and supporters.

12:56 Oddly there were only 4 bumps in M6 yesterday, so I reckon we’re due a belter. Any thoughts about this race, or a later one, you know where to let me know!

12:52 Just under 10 minutes to go til Day 2 proper gets underway (a few re-rows happening at the moment), and it’s pretty gloomy out there. Sporadic rain, though still reasonably warm. The best place to be is near a computer, with this page open, and CamFM on. Lovely bit of Coldplay right now…

12:48 Thanks to Cantabulous, showing some creditable enthusiasm. Well, as you can now tell, we have started, and in plenty of time for race one! Good to see you’re keen.

12:45 And some predictions from Tab rowing expert Henry Charrington: Queens’ to continue dominance of the lower divisions, while expect some chaos in this one. Also, look out for a significant improvement from that bottom Sidney boat. They only got told they were in Bumps at 10pm Tuesday night, so not the best preparation and it showed. They badly want a bump today…

12:44 M6 line up as follows:

1 Lady Margaret V
2 Girton III
3 Queens’ IV
4 Lady Margaret VI
5 Christ’s V
6 Downing IV
7 Clare IV
8 Girton IV
9 Emmanuel IV
10 Magdalene IV
11 King’s IV
12 Downing V
13 Churchill IV
14 Corpus Christi III
15 Queens’ V
16 Hughes Hall III
17 Selwyn IV
18 Sidney Sussex IV

12:40 So, to the rowing. The timing is exactly the same as yesterday (theoretically), so M6 kick us off at 1pm, and M1 finish up at

7:45pm, with races at 45 minute intervals in between. 7 glorious hours of bumping.

12:38 Last bit of housekeeping. Our daily round up has had a few troubles, but will be available very shortly. Well worth the wait, I assure you. I’ll give you a link to that shortly, so you don’t ever need to click away from this page.

12:36 And of course a reminder that our partners at CamFM are now online with their live bumps coverage, full commentary and great music.

12:34 We had a plenty of comments from you people yesterday, which is how we like it. Just a quick reminder of how you can get in touch. Tweet @Tabsport, email [email protected] or comment below. With so much to talk about, I’m expecting plenty of correspondence!

12:32 Welcome back. Or if you weren’t with us yesterday, just welcome. What a day we had yesterday, bumps galore and more than a bit of controversy. Can Day 2 live up to that?

DAY ONE

20.02 Right, after seven hours of pileups, bumps, and plenty of other talking points, I shall leave it there for today. There are two re-rows to come later in the evening, we shall let you know what happened in them in our full roundup of results later on tonight.
We’ve got a full roundup, analysis, and predictions for tomorrow for every single division. You’d be mad to miss it! And thanks for following us today, all views and comments appreciated.

20.01 Results confirmed. Thanks for all of your comments. ‘Questioner’ is being especially helpful today – thanks for that, and sorry for my gender confusion!

So good results for Christ’s, Downing, Catz, and Caius today, while Fitz just about hold off Magdalene. Will be interesting to see if the same can be said for tomorrow.

19.55 This looks like it was it then. M1 done and dusted for the day, another eventful if not entirely exciting race. Lots of strong performances though

1 First and Third
2 Caius +1
3 Pembroke -1
4 Downing +1
5 Jesus -1
6 Catz +1
7 Lady Margaret -1
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Trinity Hall
12 Clare +1
13 Emmanuel -1
14 King’s
15 Christ’s +1
16 First and Third II -1
17 Churchill
18 Robinson

19.52 What was I saying? Robinson close up on Churchill and push for the bump. Looks like it was just in vain though. Queens’, Fitz, Magdalene, and Tit Hall all row over in the middle of the division. A decent effort by King’s but they row over too

19.48 Churchill set to hold off Robinson and row over, as expected. Downing get the bump on Jesus to move into the top 4. Jesus didn’t have a particularly good Lents if I remember while Downing were just beaten to the headship at the last gasp by Caius then, so no surprise there either

19.47 All of which means row overs set for FaT and King’s. Still plenty of action left though

19.44 Usually lightning starters Caius have not had it all their own way so far, being made to work hard by Pembroke. They get it though, just by Plough Reach. Catz get a bump too on LMBC, while Clare take Emma and Christ’s take FaT II.

19.38 A quick word on that earlier carnage. ‘Questioner’ has it that the cox who replaced his predecessor in the chaotic Caius III boat was in fact the Caius I cox who steered his boat to victory in the Lents. Is this true? Is he coxing now in M1? Is this allowed? Questions questions questions. M1 to come

19.34 Looking past Caius then, who else is set to challenge? Don’t rule out strong performances by Catz, Christ’s, and Magdalene. Robinson will be looking to challenge Churchill to cement their own position in the division, but – having been the sandwich boat through Lents and thus rowed eight times in four days – Churchill will not be wanting any more exercise this time.

19.29 So M1 coming up in approximately 15 minutes. It’s been a long day! Just as well exams are over for most then. Looking at this division, memory from the Lents lies with the juggernaut that is Caius. They surged unstoppably throughout the week up from 5th place to 1st on the last day. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone (outside of FaT and Pembroke) who would bet against them sitting on top of the pile come Saturday evening.

19.26 And this is said lineup. Interest all down the division – today could set the tone for the week for this one more than any other division

1 First and Third
2 Pembroke
3 Caius
4 Jesus
5 Downing
6 Lady Margaret
7 St. Catharine’s
8 Queens’
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Magdalene
11 Trinity Hall
12 Emmanuel
13 Clare
14 King’s
15 First and Third II
16 Christ’s
17 Churchill
18 Robinson

19.24 I say this with baited breath, but M1 looks set to be on time. It really isn’t far away, lineup is to follow

19.18 We’ve had yet more comments on the remarkable crash earlier this afternoon. For any that missed it, there was a huge crash outside The Plough before the M3 race as Caius ploughed into the back of another boat and broke plenty of oars.
‘Astonished’ seems to suggest that Caius replaced their original cox because he was dangerous. Any thoughts on that? Do Caius have a reputation for being dangerous or for taking risks in general? Let us know

19.14 A livelier than perhaps expected race then. Mixed results for our man Henry, as Catz defied expectations, while Downing, Newnham, and – less optimistically – FaT all lived up to their pre-race billing. Can anyone take the headship from Downing now? Please do give us your views, either by commenting at the bottom, or emailing [email protected].

19.12 Provisional results for W1 then, will let you know if there are any changes. The way the stewards have been involved today, I wouldn’t be surprised!

1 Downing +1
2 Pembroke -1
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Lady Margaret
6 Newnham +1
7 Caius -1
8 Jesus
9 Clare +1
10 First and Third -1
11 Queens’
12 Catz +1
13 Girton -1
14 Trinity Hall
15 Magdalene
16 King’s +1
17 Churchill -1
18 Pembroke II

19.08 As predicted, the formidable-looking Downing bump up on Pembroke. Bumps for Newnham on Caius and King’s on Churchill too

19.06 The commentator’s curse strikes once more. Catz on Girton, although once more not without controversy. Clare take FaT too

19.04 Does greater skill/power in the higher divisions mean less bumps? It seems that way at the minute, not much excitement

19.00 An update from the M2 race – there will be another re-row between Wolfson and Christ’s after the M1 race tonight, after a steward’s enquiry ruled that to be the case. It’s been a very hectic day on the river today – all sorts going on! W1 underway shortly..

18.50 Apologies – I missed our sandwich boat off from W1, no disservice meant at all to Pembroke II. Shows the strength of Pembroke to have two boats in the first division – very well played (or should that be rowed?)
And for any that don’t know, a sandwich boat is one that sits atop a lower division. If it does not get bumped in a day, it gets the chance to race in the upper division to try and bump somebody else and move up the ladder. If they don’t, they stay in the second division. So they race twice in a day, as they are effectively sandwiched between two divisions. Simple? Probably. Don’t forget to read our Cambridge Companion to Bumps – link to it is above

18.46 Our official partners CamFM have mentioned this a few times today, but Tab rowing correspondent Henry Charrington really did make some bang-on predictions last time. He predicts strong performances from Downing in the next one like me, but he is also tipping Newnham and Emma, while not being so optimistic about FaT and Catz. We shall see..

18.42 And here we are – the W1 lineup. Downing were emphatic heads of the river in Lents, so it shall be interesting to see if they are in the same kind of form today

1 Pembroke
2 Downing
3 Christ’s
4 Emmanuel
5 Lady Margaret
6 Caius
7 Newnham
8 Jesus
9 First and Third
10 Clare
11 Queens’
12 Girton
13 St. Catharine’s
14 Trinity Hall
15 Magdalene
16 Churchill
17 King’s
18 Pembroke II

18.40 Ok, here we go. Still waiting for confirmation of those provisionals, but now we’re hitting the Premier League of rowing. W1 will try and be pushed as close to the expected 7pm as possible, line up to follow

18:32 ARU rowing through comfortably but don’t look very good, Sidney will look to bump them tomorrow you’d think. The four boats from 5-8 were all close at the end, not sure what happened there, so our results are very much provisional for now:

1 Robinson
2 Peterhouse
3 Downing II +1
4 Selwyn -1
5 Lady Margaret II
6 Girton
7 Homerton
8 Caius II
9 Jesus II +1
10 St. Edmund’s -1
11 Anglia Ruskin
12 Sidney Sussex +1
13 Darwin -1
14 Christ’s II +1
15 Wolfson -1
16 Pembroke II +1
17 Queens’ II -1
18 Corpus Christi (sandwich boat)

18:30 Girton very close to LMBC II, Homerton also very close to them, and Caius not far behind. Potential pile up?

18:28 Pembroke II bump Queens’ II which means, you’d imagine that Corpus will remain as the sandwich boat. Christ’s II bumped Wolfson, and Downing II have passed Selwyn.

18:27 Jesus II very close to St Ed’s, and Sidney bump Darwin, a really good day for them.

18:25 And they’re off: Robinson start well at the front, Downing II closing on Selwyn, LMBC II look solid too. No bumps at the start as far as we can tell.

18:22 Some predictions then: Girton ought to be fast, they’ll be hoping to make this day even tougher for LMBC, while Downing II and Selwyn should be a good battle. This should be a very competitive division, lots of fast boats about.

18:21 Ok, almost time for M2, earlier than expected. About 2 minutes until that starts…

18:15 Not too long we hear until M2. That was meant to be at 6:15, but I expect it might be close to 6:30 as the organisers strive to make up that lost time. Here’s the line up:

1 Robinson
2 Peterhouse
3 Selwyn
4 Downing II
5 Lady Margaret II
6 Girton
7 Homerton
8 Caius II
9 St. Edmund’s
10 Jesus II
11 Anglia Ruskin
12 Darwin
13 Sidney Sussex
14 Wolfson
15 Christ’s II
16 Queens’ II
17 Pembroke II
18 Corpus Christi (sandwich boat)
18:13 Right, results times, no changes to what we called earlier, but here they are:

1 Pembroke II
2 Selwyn
3 Peterhouse +1
4 Jesus II -1
5 Emmanuel II +1
6 Robinson -1
7 Sidney Sussex +1
8 Anglia Ruskin -1
9 Murray Edwards +1
10 Darwin -1
11 Fitzwilliam +1
12 Lady Margaret II -1
13 Newnham II +1
14 Homerton -1
15 Clare II
16 Downing II
17 Hughes Hall
18 Corpus

1 Corpus Christi +1
2 Emmanuel II -1
3 Clare II
4 Selwyn II
5 Lady Margaret III
6 St. Catharine’s II +1
7 First and Third III -1
8 Hughes Hall +1
9 Magdalene II -1
10 Peterhouse II +1
11 Fitzwilliam II -1
12 Robinson II +1
13 Churchill II -1
14 Trinity Hall II
15 Caius III
16 Emmanuel III
17 Girton II
18 Queens’ III (sandwich boat)

18:08 A question from Questioner: “What happened to CaiusMIII. Gather they changed their cox for the actual race after the crash. Any comments?” If that is actually the case that is big. Changing cox in the 20 minute delay before the race would certainly be unorthodox (even if the first one did break your oars).

18:05 So we’ll confirm those results (both M3 and W2) in a bit, in the meantime keep your comments coming in, and get ready for the big time, M2, W1 and M1 still to come!

17:59 Hughes Hall did catch Downing II, I’ve changed that below. That division was a bit of a strange one, a few boats in there which were just too quick (I’m looking at you Sidney and Murray Edwards), and with that much movement I expect to see a good number of boats in contention for blades come Saturday.

17:57 Lots of very quick bumps at the beginning there, and maybe I’ve called this too soon. Hughes Hall may be about to catch Downing II.

17:54 Well, looks like there won’t be any more bumps at the back, so here’s how we’re calling it:

17:53 Confirmation that Sidney and Murray Edwards both got bumps, while Newnham II are very close to Homerton

17:51 Peterhouse bump Jesus II, confusion with the Sidney, ARU, Darwin situation, while Downing II could be about to catch Clare II

17:49 Here we go, W2, Emma II close in on Robinson, while Selwyn pushing hard on Pembroke II at the front. Sidney and Robinson both bump up.

17:46 Row Hall is backing Trinity Hall to keep moving up, they’re having a good time of it, with the exception of the WIII boat, who were overbumped to be bottom of the pile.

17:40 W2 will be ready to go shortly, before the last results have been confirmed, unorthodox. I think the last one’s were fairly likely to stay though, so not too worried. Here’s the W2 line up:

1 Pembroke II
2 Selwyn
3 Jesus II
4 Peterhouse
5 Robinson
6 Emmanuel II
7 Anglia Ruskin
8 Sidney Sussex
9 Darwin
10 Murray Edwards
11 Lady Margaret II
12 Fitzwilliam
13 Homerton
14 Newnham II
15 Clare II
16 Downing II
17 Hughes Hall
18 Corpus Christi (sandwich boat)

17:36 So, back to the next race, W2: And I have been told that Selwyn, Murray Edwards and especially Sidney Sussex all have very fast boats in this. Sidney have been matching some of the top Division 1 boats this term, so will hope to bump ARU nice and early.

17:34 Nothing disgusting or conspiratorial about this next comment though, from Andrew: “I rowed in the Bumps over 25 years ago (Catz M1 – got our oars!) and I am really enjoying keeping up with the action this year through your coverage. Great stuff!”. Thanks very much, we (by which I mean I) really enjoy doing it! Good to have you with us!

17:31 W2 is meant to be starting now, I’m going to say that we won’t get that for at least half an hour. Thanks for the comments which have started to flood in, ‘Disgusted’ and ‘Conspiracy’ have sent the last two, I think that says enough about how people feel about Caius III right now.

17:29 Well, that was a bit shambolic. Trinity Hall II almost got stuck after Churchill crashed, and all of that after a delay for broken oars. Madness. Still, no real harm done, except that we are running even later. Hate to think what it’ll be like by the time we get to that re-row later!

17:25 So, a quick run down of the results so far, not official yet:

17:23 Bad boys Caius III aren’t going to get a bump today, but look reasonably safe, the back of this division is all pretty close. Queens’ III don’t look like they have enough left in the tank after their quick rowover earlier, no more bumps for them.

17:21 What a mess this is, Churchill II, having been bumped, block the river, which slows Tit Hall badly. Corpus have bumped Emma II. Girton II have hit FaT’s oars on the way past, and could get caught by Queens’ III. Clare II have stretched back ahead.

17:17 Here we go, M3 is off, expect some mistakes after such a long break. Corpus closing on Emma at the top, Selwyn also pushing on Clare II. That interruption hasn’t helped FaT, who have been bumped by Catz II, and Hughes Hall, as expected, have bumped Magdalene II.

17:15 Realist comments that Caius III, the cause of this particular delay, may be ‘just regular gonads by the sounds of things’. Quite a lot of anger about for that boat, which is a shame, Isaac really had me on their side earlier!

17:11 We’re now 25 minutes late, and no sign of a restart…can’t be long now though.

17:07 Still waiting on any restart times (how long does it take to get an oar to a boat?). In the meantime CamFM have taken my advice and are playing Eye of the Tiger. Makes me want to watch Rocky (not the first one, obviously).

17:01 While we wait for those oars, how about you drop me a comment? Write below, tweet @TabSport or email [email protected].

16:56 Caius III collided with FaT III, snapping oars in the preparation for M3, which is why the delay. A fine for Caius you’d think, we’ll wait for new oars to arrive before we get going. In the meantime, another great result for Trinity Hall with that overbump, can’t keep stressing enough how good a performance they’ve had as a club this year!

16:54 Ok, firstly the confirmed results of W3, and news of an overbump for Trinity Hall II:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Trinity Hall II +3
3 Caius II +1
4 Queens’ II
5 Magdalene II -3
6 Wolfson +1
7 Girton II -1
8 Christ’s II
9 Pembroke III +1
10 First and Third II -1
11 Selwyn II +1
12 Emmanuel III -1
13 St. Catharine’s II +1
14 St. Edmund’s -1
15 Clare Hall +1
16 Jesus III -1
17 Newnham III +1
18 Addenbrooke’s -1

16:50 A further delay to the next race, we will keep you posted on a new start time…

16:46 And of course a bit of a rich college race in the middle of that division, with LMBC III looking to hold off FaT III. Tasty.

16:42 Don’t forget, M3 includes the ‘dog’s gonads’ Caius III boat (see 14:23), while Hughes Hall ought to be very fast, so watch out Magdalene II. Queens’ III were impressive in their rowover, but will Girton II be a step too far?

16:41 While we wait for those results, here’s the running order for M3:

1 Emmanuel II
2 Corpus Christi
3 Clare II
4 Selwyn II
5 Lady Margaret III
6 First and Third III
7 St. Catharine’s II
8 Magdalene II
9 Hughes Hall
10 Fitzwilliam II
11 Peterhouse II
12 Churchill II
13 Robinson II
14 Trinity Hall II
15 Caius III
16 Emmanuel III
17 Girton II
18 Queens’ III (sandwich boat)

16:39 Only a few minutes until the scheduled start time for M3, no clarification of W3 yet though, we’ll bring you that as soon as we have it, though I expect a delay to the race and very few changes to our previous results.

16:33 So, half the day’s races are over, what do you think? As expected? No huge pileups but we do have a re-row scheduled, and we’ve had a lot of bumps. As you’d expect in Bumps I guess. M3 up next.

16:26 Wow, only 4 boats rowing over in that division, plenty of action, and one battle going right to the wire. The joy of May Bumps. As predicted that was extremely impressive from Wolfson, could be a tip for blades (or is that too early? Have I put the mockers on them?)

16:24 Apologies for the delay, having some technical difficulties here. Catz did bump St. Ed’s we think, so this is how we believe they finished:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Magdalene II
3 Caius II +1
4 Queens’ II -1
5 Trinity Hall II
6 Wolfson +1
7 Girton II -1
8 Christ’s II
9 Pembroke III +1
10 First and Third II -1
11 Selwyn II +1
12 Emmanuel III -1
13 St. Catharine’s II +1
14 St. Edmund’s -1
15 Clare Hall +1
16 Jesus III -1
17 Newnham III +1
18 Addenbrooke’s -1

16:19 Corpus have walked away with this, Trinity Hall II looking for an overbump but unlikely. St Catz pushing on St Edmund’s, but no bump yet as they come towards the forward. Almost everyone else has bumped out.

16:16 As expected Wolfson have closed very quickly on Girton II, and that looks like a bump. Caius II have bumped Queens’ II, while there are also bumps for Selwyn II and Pembroke III

16:15 Or not, doesn’t actually get going til the delayed time. But off they go now…Corpus start well, while Queens’ II, Caius II and Tit Hall II have bunched up a bit at the front.

16:10 W3 are now ready to go, still running a bit late but made up some time from the last one.

16:06 A wise Johnian has pulled me up for that comment about LMBC, particularly in M1: ‘Don’t count your chickens. It’s bumps…anything can happen in the next half hour slot’. Fair comment, but at this stage you’d back a very quick Catz boat to catch them later.

16:03 Newnham III, the sandwich boat, looked very quick in W4, watch out Addies. Wolfson should be quick too, chasing Girton II unless Christ’s can get a really good start on them. At the top Magdalene II will look to bump Corpus and get the chance to row again later.

16:01 So the fact that it hasn’t started suggests that W3 is indeed delaye – Here’s the line up:

1 Corpus Christi
2 Magdalene II
3 Queens’ II
4 Caius II
5 Trinity Hall II
6 Girton II
7 Wolfson
8 Christ’s II
9 First and Third II
10 Pembroke III
11 Emmanuel III
12 Selwyn II
13 St. Edmund’s
14 St. Catharine’s II
15 Jesus III
16 Clare Hall
17 Addenbrooke’s
18 Newnham III (sandwich boat)

15:57 Pembroke III did get that late bump, so here are the official results for M4:

1 Queens’ III
2 Wolfson II
3 King’s II +1
4 Darwin II -1
5 Pembroke III +1
6 Jesus III -1
7 Clare Hall +1
8 Selwyn III -1
9 Downing III
10 St. Catharine’s III +1
11 First and Third IV -1
12 Clare III
13 Trinity Hall III +1
14 Corpus Christi II -1
15 St. Edmund’s II +1
16 Lady Margaret IV -1
17 Jesus IV +1
18 Christ’s III -1

15:55 Our friends at CamFM are Feeling Good, and who can blame them. It’s been a great start to May Bumps 2011. And we aren’t even half way through day 1!

15:52 I was about to chastise you, dear readers, for the lack of comments in the last few minutes. But then I realised that I’d accidentally disabled them, so I chastised myself instead. Should be fixed now, keep them coming in.

15:47 Not sure if we’ll try to get back on time for W3, which should be at 4, or if that will also be a bit delayed. I expect the latter. There are some fast boats in that division though, I expect some quick bumps (or am I just hoping?)

15:42 What a good start for Queens’ today, another solid rowover at the top of a division there. Trinity Hall looking to build on an extremely impressive Lent bumps did very nicely there too while it’s been a pretty tough day for LMBC, and with the expectation that their M1 will get bumped later too, this is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare for Johnians.

15:38 Well, I’m not sure they did catch up there, so I won’t call that yet. Here are the provisional results, lots of bumps in the end, almost every boat affected:

1 Queens’ III
2 Wolfson II
3 King’s II +1
4 Darwin II -1
5 Jesus III
6 Pembroke III
7 Clare Hall +1
8 Selwyn III -1
9 Downing III
10 St. Catharine’s III +1
11 First and Third IV -1
12 Clare III
13 Trinity Hall III +1
14 Corpus Christi II -1
15 St. Edmund’s II +1
16 Lady Margaret IV -1
17 Jesus IV +1
18 Christ’s III -1

15:36 King’s II have bumped Darwin II at the front just before Darwin could catch Wolfson II. Pembroke frantically chasing Jesus III right up to the finish…looked like they might get there, but very close.

15:34 Catz III bump FaT IV. Tit Hall III bump Corpus II. This is a bit better…and Jesus may have bumped to get into the division.

15:32 Queens’ III off quickly. Not a very exciting start, Clare Hall in 8th have made a good start though.

15:31 Right, delay over, here we go with M4…

15:28 Keep those comments coming in, [email protected], @Tabsport or below. Let us know if you’ve just bumped, or give your excuses if it didn’t go so well, or brag about how well you’ll be doing later (sorry for the boatie stereotype!). Also, if you do get down to the Cam, and get some good pictures, enter our photo competition, best ones will be published.

15:24 When I said 3:20 then, I meant 3:30. But you knew that…

15:20 Our first proper delay of the day…a pleasure cruiser is sailing down the cam, so we will have M4 at 3:30. While you’re waiting for that, how about giving a couple of other articles a read. Zafar Ansari is doing pretty nicely at the moment if you hadn’t heard, the Cambridge cricketer starring for Surrey the other day, while Cambridge Bowmen beat Oxford in the Archery Varsity Match last week.

15:16 We are just a few moments away from M4, look out for a strong Wolfson II boat (or so I hear), as well as Jesus IV at the bottom, looking to get into the division. We might be at the stage where these crews are too strong for total carnage…but I hope not!

15:12 So, coming up for M4, we’re getting to the business end now…ok, at least to the comfy middle bit before the business end. Not sure what you call that?

15:04 Those W4 results were as we reported, just to confirm, this is how they finished:

1 Newnham III
2 Murray Edwards II +1
3 Darwin II -1
4 Sidney Sussex II
5 First and Third III +1
6 Churchill II -1
7 Homerton II technical rowover
8 Fitzwilliam II technical rowover
9 Christ’s III technical rowover
10 King’s II +1
11 Queens’ III -1
12 Hughes Hall II
13 Peterhouse II +1
14 Clare III -1
15 Selwyn III +3
16 Pembroke IV +1
17 Jesus IV -1
18 Trinity Hall III -3

15:00 Only 15 minutes to go until M4, so even though we haven’t yet got the official W4 results, I’m going to push on with the starting order:

1 Queens’ III
2 Wolfson II
3 Darwin II
4 King’s II
5 Jesus III
6 Pembroke III
7 Selwyn III
8 Clare Hall
9 Downing III
10 First and Third IV
11 St. Catharine’s III
12 Clare III
13 Corpus Christi II
14 Trinity Hall III
15 Lady Margaret IV
16 St. Edmund’s II
17 Christ’s III
18 Jesus IV (sandwich boat)

14:57 I love a meta-comment as much as the next man, but ‘boring is boring’ seems a bit obvious doesn’t it? You can do better than that Cambridge!

14:55 Just hearing a bit of an update about the M5. We thought that Sidney II were looking to bump or at least row over, it appears that the seat of the man at 3 came off, leaving them a man short which is why they got caught. Frustrating for them!

14:52 Bit of Blur over on CamFM, is that the best pump-up song ever? I like Eye of the Tiger before a big game myself, or a bit of Muse, but I could get used to Blur before going on the river.

14:49 It’s beginning to hot up, and not just on the river. I almost thought I saw some blue sky a second ago! Next up on the Cam are M4, where Jesus, who looked really strong in M5, will be sandwiching and hoping to push past Christ’s III, while Clare Hall will be our first M1 boat on show today. Full starting order to come in a bit, plus confirmation of the W4 results.

14:46 DRS asks “Is Andrew Liquerout rowing for King’s?” I have to say, I have no idea. But if he is indeed a bear, as you claim, then I would suggest that he might struggle to hold the oars.

14:42 Our first overbump of the week, good stuff. CamFM think that Homerton II, Fitz II and Christ’s III have been given technical rowovers, though I have to say I thought that Christ’s may have caught Fitz. We shall see, but for now here are the provisional results:

14:39 Pembroke IV bumped up, as did King’s II and Peterhouse II, while bottom boat Selwyn III are pushing for the overbump on Tit Hall III. And they’ve got it, great row from them!

14:36 A three way tussle between Homerton II, FaT III and Churchill II, it looks like FaT III came out best. A possible overbump, at the bottom, while Darwin II have fallen to Murray Edwards II.

14:34 FaT III closing on Churchill, King’s II might have bumped Queens’ III, not clear. Newnham III look very quick at the front, sh0uld be comfortable for them.

14:33 W4 are off. Pretty clean start, particular from Newnham at the front.

14:27 But before that, here we go with W4. Boats just about ready, here is the first Women’s race of May Bumps 2011….

14:23 A big thank you to the literally millions (ok, not literally) of you who are following here today, and those of you who are beginning to get involved: Isaac claims that ‘Caius III are the dog’s gonads’. I’ll bear that in mind. They go off in the M4, which is coming up in just under an hour.

14:16 So, onto W4, which should be going in about 15 minutes or so. Here’s the starting line up:

1 Newnham III
2 Darwin II
3 Murray Edwards II
4 Sidney Sussex II
5 Churchill II
6 First and Third III
7 Homerton II
8 Fitzwilliam II
9 Christ’s III
10 Queens’ III
11 King’s II
12 Hughes Hall II
13 Clare III
14 Peterhouse II
15 Trinity Hall III
16 Jesus IV
17 Pembroke IV
18 Selwyn III

14:12 Right, here are the confirmed results for M5, just the one chance, Sidney II bumped by Christ’s IV:

1 Jesus IV
2 Magdalene III
3 Christ’s IV
4 Sidney Sussex II -1
5 First and Third V
6 Homerton II +1
7 Churchill III -1
8 Pembroke IV +1
9 Caius IV -1
10 Hughes Hall II +1
11 Jesus V -1
12 Robinson III
13 Sidney Sussex III +1
14 Fitzwilliam III -1
15 King’s III +1
16 Pembroke V -1
17 Addenbrooke’s
18 LMBC V

14:09 A huge thank you to ‘Boring’ for his comment below. While it must have been a shock to find a live blog about rowing behind a picture of boats on a river, the perseverance to read on, power through and comment despite your lack of interest is admirable. Keep the comments coming, tweet #TabSport or email [email protected]

14:04 25 minutes until the first Women’s race of the day, division 4, which includes the only IV boat in the women’s bumps. Wonder how Pembroke IV will get on…they start 17th.

13:58 LMBC V really slow at the end there, a demonstration of how tough it can be to row back to back races. Well they’ll have to try it again tomorrow! Meanwhile at the top Jesus looked very solid, while after a poor start Sidney II looked quick in the middle section. Loads of bumps in the middle, and a particular congratulations to Sidney Sussex III for (we think) an extremely quick bump on Fitz III. They had a bit of a go at me after the poor Lents performance, nice to see them doing a bit better this time round!

Confirmation of results to follow…

13:56 Lots of bumps in the bottom half, while the top boats look to all row over. Here are the provisional results:

1 Jesus IV
2 Magdalene III
3 Sidney Sussex II
4 Christ’s IV
5 First and Third V
6 Homerton II +1
7 Churchill III -1
8 Pembroke IV +1
9 Caius IV -1
10 Hughes Hall II +1
11 Jesus V -1
12 Robinson III
13 Sidney Sussex III +1
14 Fitzwilliam III -1
15 King’s III +1
16 Pembroke V -1
17 Addenbrooke’s
18 LMBC V

13:51 That ‘strong’ Homerton II boat have indeed bumped up, at Churchill III’s expense. Sidney II having to work hard to hold off Christ’s IV. Pembroke IV bump Caius IV and possibly Sidney III on Fitz III

13:50 And we’re off, strong start by Jesus IV at the head.

13:44 Right, here we go M5. Boats at the ready….and a bit of rain starting to fall as well as the first cannon sounds.

13:42 LMBC V will want to make the most of that rowover, as they look to replace Addenbrooke’s in the division. Those medics have been working very hard recently, so how much time can they have spent in the boat? Elsewhere Caius IV will hope to get their club off to a good start in the last event of a great year for them, but a strong Homerton II start ahead of them. Expect plenty of bumps again.

13:35 Right, 10 minutes to go to M5, time for a start order I think:

1 Jesus IV
2 Magdalene III
3 Sidney Sussex II
4 Christ’s IV
5 First and Third V
6 Churchill III
7 Homerton II
8 Caius IV
9 Pembroke IV
10 Jesus V
11 Hughes Hall II
12 Robinson III
13 Fitzwilliam III
14 Sidney Sussex III
15 Pembroke V
16 King’s III
17 Addenbrooke’s
18 LMBC V (Sandwich boat)

13:30 So, results confirmed, and a slight change. It seems that Magdalene IV were awarded a technical rowover, as were Emma IV, while Kings IV bumped Downing. Final results look like this:

1 Lady Margaret V
2 Girton III
3 Queens’ IV +1
4 Lady Margaret VI -1
5 Christ’s V
6 Downing IV
7 Clare IV +1
8 Girton IV -1
9 Emmanuel IV technical rowover
10 Magdalene IV technical rowover
11 King’s IV +1
12 Downing V -1
13 Churchill IV rerow
14 Corpus Christi III rerow
15 Queens’ V +1
16 Hughes Hall III -1
17 Selwyn IV
18 Sidney Sussex IV

A mention for that bottom Sidney boat who only heard they would be racing at 10pm last night. Not the ideal preparation. Hopefully they can push on tomorrow.

13:26 Chuchill IV and Corpus III are to have a re-row at the end of the day we are hearing. Not entirely sure what happened there, but they will be going again after M1, so at about 8 30 I’d think.

13: 24 Still waiting on those officially confirmed results, and the CUCBC website seems to have collapsed under the pressure. The one’s below are pretty likely to hold, but we will confirm them as soon as we can.

13:18 Who do you think is in for a good day today? Send me your thoughts, [email protected].

13:13 While we wait for those confirmed results we can start looking towards M5, which starts in about half an hour. Two Sidney Sussex II should be on for a bump near the top (or so they tell me!) but towards the bottom I expect there could be a similar level of chaos to the last race…full line up to come soon.

13:09 What a good start to the day for Queens’. A bump each for their two boats in that race. And if LMBC V did manage to hold off Girton they might see that Queens’ IV bump as a blessing in disguise, protecting them from a fine if their ‘slower’ boat had caught them.

13:06 So, LMBC V look to have held off Girton III, which leaves the unofficial results looking like this (full confirmation when we get it):

1 Lady Margaret V
2 Girton III
3 Queens’ IV +1
4 Lady Margaret VI -1
5 Christ’s V
6 Downing IV
7 Clare IV +1
8 Girton IV -1
9 Emmanuel IV
10 Downing V +1
11 Magdalene IV -1
12 King’s IV
13 Churchill IV
14 Corpus Christi III
15 Queens’ V +1
16 Hughes Hall III -1
17 Selwyn IV
18 Sidney Sussex IV

13:05 The expected carnage at the back, Magdalene IV seem to have broken a blade, and Downing V bumped them as well. Ouch.

13:03 Queens’ V have bumped Hughes Hall III down at the bottom, I think Clare IV have also knocked Girton IV down a bit, while Queens’ IV have indeed bumped LMBC V.

13:01 Lots of early bumps at the back of the field, but at the front its turning into a very tight battle, as Queens’ and Girton push the two LMBC boats.

13:00 May Bumps 2011 have started. Great start for Girton III, closing on LMBC V at the front.

12:59 Boats on station, 1 minute cannon about to go. We seem to be on time for now, that will all change I’m sure.

12:55 5 minutes to go….I’m getting excited. Boats getting ready…

12:52 Right, I guess that given the overcast conditions and the number of people in Cindies last night not that many of you will be making it down to the bank for the first few races, but if you are, give us a tweet, #Tabsport

12:48 While we wait for the first race to get going, CamFM have got some good tunes to build up the mood. Check it out here.

12:41 Just 20 minutes to go now, M6 boats are getting ready. LMBC V will hope for a good start, and at the very least to remain as the sandwich boat, because I think there are penalties if they get caught/overtaken by a lower boat from their own club (like LMBC VI who start just two places behind them)

12:36 Don’t forget we will be bringing you the results as they come in, but there’s also space for your comment too. Tweet, email, or comment below to have your say or shout out to a mate. Then, at the end of the day (or maybe the beginning of the next one considering the late finish time) we’ll have a full round up, with predictions and previews of the next day. What more could you ask for?

12: 29 So, line-up time: This is the starting order for Men’s Division 6:

1 Lady Margaret V
2 Girton III
3 Lady Margaret VI
4 Queens’ IV
5 Christ’s V
6 Downing IV
7 Girton IV
8 Clare IV
9 Emmanuel IV
10 Magdalene IV
11 Downing V
12 King’s IV
13 Churchill IV
14 Corpus Christi III
15 Hughes Hall III
16 Queens’ V
17 Selwyn IV
18 Sidney Sussex IV

12:24 Right, with just 5 minutes until CamFM go on air with their coverage, and 35 til we get started, maybe it’s time to take a look at M6. The most relaxed division, expect a few crashes over the four days, with plenty of bumps. Also, for those of you who’ve had the starting order pinned to your wall all week (you know who you are), there’s been a slight change, Sidney Sussex IV have been added in at the bottom of the division. I admit, I’m not entirely sure who they’re in place of, but someone must have dropped out…

12:21 So, a quick run down of what’s to come today. After M6 at 1pm we have M5 (1:45) W4 (2:30), M4 (3:15), W3 (4:00), M3 (4:45), W2 (5:30), M2 (6:15), W1 (7:00) and finally M1 (7:45). So that’s just the seven hours today, if it all goes to plan…

12: 19 A reminder of how you can follow Bumps: I’ll be here all week, and would love to hear from you via tweet or email, while over on CamFM you can hear full commentary on every race. Their coverage starts in about 10 minutes, well worth a listen. And for those of you not averse to catching a few rays, head on down and support your college from the banks of the cam (although you might not be in danger of getting burnt today!)

12:14 If you aren’t fully sure what all this Bumps business is about, have a read of our Cambridge Companion to May Bumps. If you do know what’s going on, but want some expert opinion on how it’s going to turn out, the Tab’s star boatie Henry Charrington has written this preview.

12:06 So, just under an until Men’s division 6 gets this party started. The races then go off every 45 minutes, right up to M1 at

19:45. You can find the full list of start times here.

12: 00 Crashes, mega pile-ups, overbumps, double overbumps, a re-race and a double change of Headship. This year’s Lent Bumps had it all. If the next 4 days are anything like that good we’re in for a cracking end to this term!

Jonny Singer