St Neots Rowing Club entered three boats into the 2023 Cambridge Rowing Association Town Bumps, one women’s and two men’s boats.

There was a great mix of experienced bumps rowers and first time racers with good weather and racing conditions throughout the week. Although as expected, it wouldn’t be Bumps if there wasn’t a little drama.

As a result of the success of previous years’ W1 boats, the Women’s 8 started in 7th position in Division 1, directly under the A14 bridge and the closest station to the start cannon. Tuesday allowed the Women’s boats to get their bearings and figure out how they compared to the other crews on the river. The bumps on the subsequent evenings came as a result of a mixture of faster crews starting behind the high 7th position and some challenging pile up situations on the river ahead. However, the reaction and drive from the women’s boat in response to some fast crews chasing them was a positive reflection of their rowing and increasing cohesion as a crew.

M1 started 4th in div 2; two calm evenings of row overs with clear water between them and the chasing crews started their week of racing. Day two and three delivered the most excitement with big pushes from the start in an attempt to chase down the crew from Xpress in front. Before getting bumped around Grassy corner on the third evening of racing they caught up to half a length, but the bump eluded the top boat of St. Neots men for the second year running.