Piracy! Yarr!
Had two boats out today. We - InebriVIII - were in the Peter Frost, and since the A crew couldn't row in the same boat at the same time they took the Vera Frost, a rather sleeker boat.
Rowed to somewhere around First Post and back. 7-8k total distance. Did some practice of racing starts and some technique work, but mostly just trying to get in time and
Emma Sprints is fancy dress and, given suggestions of "Tramps" and "Bond", the choice was obvious. White shirt, black tie, shaken, not stirred.
(The new film is fantastic, BTW. Go watch it if you haven't.)
So, various approximations to black tie for a sprint regatta - 500m near the Railway Bridge, side-by-side (or preferably in front of) another boat.
First race was against FaT (Trinity) D. Did a pretty good start and left them standing. Won by a couple of hundred yards, but didn't know when to stop - ended up with half of the boat cheering and half still rowing at race pace for a couple more strokes.
One of the race marshals mistook us for Jesus - we row with macons bought from The King's School, Canterbury, which are dark blue with a red stripe - instead of normal yellow Clare blades.
Second race was against Jesus - Annihilate, apparently their novice A boat though we didn't find that out until later. Started half a length up but had a bad start and lost the lead and then some. Managed to match their pace after that but couldn't make back any distance. Lost by two lengths. Jesus - Annihilate went on to win the division, so there's not too much shame for us there. Rowed back to the boathouse with a quick stop for doughnuts near the Pike & Eel, and very few other interruptions - which means another 6 or 7k distance.
The Clare A boat, Pieces of VIII, won against FaT C and then lost to Jesus - Devastate (B boat), who made the division final.
So, 13-15km this weekend, and no deaths yet.
Another outing first thing tomorrow, then it's Clare Novice Regatta for three days before the Boat Club Dinner on Saturday. Busy week.