May Bumps

Last night we headed over to the Cam River to watch the 'May Bumps' a regatta race between all the colleges of Cambridge University. The May Bumps are similar to the May Ball in that both are University events that take place in June. (I don't know why~ it might be because it comes at the end of May Term, or it might be to mislead people like you and me, or maybe a little of both...)

We needed a map to get there, and Andrew drew one for us, see below. He is pointing to the river in his map~


We were able to park right in a field on the Cam River (all right, that's our van, not the other car~)



This swan wasn't very happy to see us and he was quite territorial. Who knew swans were so mean?? We all gladly gave him his space~


We saw several different races, men and women, and the whole concept of the "Bumps" are fascinating. Basically, each crew (or boat) is separated at the start by a distance of about 1½ boat lengths and the point is to bump the boat in front while not getting bumped from behind!

Here are some crews heading downriver toward the start~



Here's how Wikipedia describes the Bumps:

Once the "go" signal is fired, a crew must attempt to catch up with the crew ahead of it and bump (physically touch or overtake it) before the crew behind does the same to them. A crew which bumps or is bumped must pull to the side of the river to allow other crews to continue racing. A crew which neither bumps the crew ahead nor is bumped by the crew behind before crossing the finishing post is said to have rowed over.

A crew which bumps then swaps places with the crew that it bumped in the following day's racing. A crew which rows over stays in the same position in the following day's racing. If a crew finishes at the top of a division, apart from the first division, then it may row at the bottom of the next division to try and get into that division. This crew is called the sandwich boat. The process is repeated over four days, allowing crews to move up or down in the overall order of boats. The finish order of one year's May Bumps are then used as the starting order of the following year's races.

The ultimate aim is to try and finish Head of the River (also said as gaining the Headship), i.e. 1st position in division 1. This is only realistically possible for crews starting in the top 5 places. For other crews, the aim is to rise at least 4 places to try and set themselves up for an opportunity to take the Headship in future years."

OK, so why were we there, you ask? Beside enjoying the races, our friend Hunter rows for Selwyn College so we went to cheer him on

Here is Hunter (waving) as they warm up, going downriver toward their starting place~




Hunter & Laura's two boys were there to see their Daddy race!



Fifteen minutes later we heard a cannon boom in the distance and we knew the race was on!!

Here they come up the river... it looks like they're close to the boat in front of them!



Sure enough, they were right on the heels of Gonville Caius College (btw., Caius is pronounced "keys").

They're closing in!!


We were all yelling and shouting from the shore! Even the normally reserved Brits were cheering and screaming.

They did it! The coxswain's hand goes up to acknowledge the "bump."


And now the victors from Selwyn start off slowly home.


Notice the greenery in their hair. When you pull over after a "bump" the tradition is for the winning boat to decorate themselves and their boat with branches from the shrubs along the shore (a bit like laurel wreaths.)

A fun evening at the May Bumps!