[CUCBC Contacts] Scullers vs 8+s

[Michael Thornton]

All

I want to re-iterate what I said at the Novice Coxes meeting in Michaelmas regarding scullers. Once again CUL Dev Squad have taken to the water in a flotilla of singles, and I want to pre-empt anything else dangerous happening after today’s little incident with LMBC. If you take one thing away from this email, it should be this: In the event of a collision, right of way is not an excuse. It is the responsibility of both parties to take avoiding action and should a collision occur, both parties will be expected to defend their actions.

Yes, the CUL flotilla is a bit annoying - far more so in Michaelmas when the river is also full of Novice 8s. Overtaking 15-20 scullers in one move is impossible on The Cam unless they’re stationary and tucked in somewhere. You might be able to take a few boats here and there if you’re lucky, but ultimately, if you don’t want to get held up, you’re going to have to be smart about what you do. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to row through a group of scullers, smashing through their blades as you go. If you’re looking to do a piece and you’ve seen CUL on the river, have your coach talk to one of the CUL coaches and find out what their intentions are. Tell them what your intentions are as well - I’m sure the dev squad will happily spend an extra 5 minutes doing stationary drills whilst you get spun and have a quick chat before your piece if that means they don’t have to deal with you trying to overtake them at race pace up Plough Reach.

If you do have to overtake, or if the dev squad is coming the other way, show some intelligence. If they’re in the middle of the river, it almost certainly isn’t intentional. Give them a nice loud (and early) “scull, ahead" or “scull, steering” and they should get out of the way (if you give them enough warning). If it looks like it might get tight should a scull mis-steer (most of the dev squad started sculling this term), give them lots of warning that you are present so that they’re extra-vigilant, and give them as much space as possible. Coxes, you are far more aware of what’s going on than the scullers. Most scullers will be trying to keep to their bank, and checking there’s nothing directly ahead of them. Boats on the other side of the river are probably not relevant to them. A dodgy stroke in Plough Reach however could make you their problem very quickly if they don’t know you’re there.

We all have our own goals that we’re working towards on the water. There’s no reason for anybody to not have a productive session but we need to start pre-emptively talking to each other more, and shouting at each other mid-collision less.

Best
Michael