Bumps race

"Bumps" redirects here. For other uses, see Bump (disambiguation).

A "bump" during Torpids at the University of Oxford, 1999: Jesus College Men's 1st VIII catch Hertford College.

A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each boat attempting to catch and "bump" the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.

The form is mainly used intramurally at the University of Cambridge, since 1827,^[1] and at the University of Oxford since 1815. Bumps racing in fours is also the format of intramural rowing at Eton College and at Royal Shrewsbury School. It is particularly suited where the stretch of water available is long but narrow, precluding side-by-side racing. Bumps racing gives a sharper feel of immediate competition than a head race, where boats are simply timed over a fixed course. Few rowers worldwide frequent rivers as narrow as the Cam or the Isis, but bumps races are also contested elsewhere ( v. infra.)

Racing practice and procedures

The starting gun. There are three: 4 (or 5 in Oxford) minute gun; 1 minute gun; and the starting gun.

Bumps races are typically raced over several days. The starting order of each day's competition is based on the previous day's results; the first day's starting order each year being determined by that left from the last day of the previous year. Each day the boats line up bow-to-stern, usually along the bank of the river, with a set distance between each boat and the next (usually about one and a half boat-lengths of clear water).^[2] The starting positions are usually marked by a rope or chain attached to the bank, the other end of which is held by each boat's cox. Boats wait along the bank, and may be poled out just in time for the start, to avoid drifting. At the start signal the cox lets go of the rope and the crew starts to row, attempting to catch and bump the boat in front while simultaneously being chased by the one behind.

Poling off: LMBC in the 2009 Mays

A bump is made when any form of contact is made with the boat in front, however, outright collisions are neither necessary nor encouraged. Alternatively, if possible, an overtaking-bump occurs when the stern of the chasing boat completely passes the bow of the boat in front. This is relatively rare simply because it is easier to make contact with a rival boat than it is to overtake it. A bump of this kind usually only occurs when a boat crashes. Under the current Cambridge rules, to overtake requires only bowball to bowball overtaking; side by side is good enough, and in the early part of the course a bump is deemed to occur when the bowball of the chasing crew passes the cox of the crew being chased.^[3]

Generally, and at Oxford during Eights Week, once a bump has occurred both crews pull over to the riverbank and take no further part in that race. At Oxford during Torpids a bumping crew pulls over but the bumped crew must continue racing over the entire course and can be bumped by more than one crew per day. As bumps racing usually takes place on narrow stretches of water, when contact does occur it is possible for two or more boats to become tangled up or not to clear the river quickly enough leading to the racing line becoming blocked. This can be very dangerous and the possibility of boats getting damaged is high. To avoid this, the cox of the boat being bumped can concede as soon as slight physical contact occurs or even once it is inevitable. Nonetheless, collisions involving several boats are common. Crews in Torpids tend to concede bumps early to avoid being entangled with the crew that caught them: should they be unable to continue, other boats may row past, overtake and 'bump' the stationary crew. Any crew that has been bumped starts behind the boat or boats that caught it; they switch places. A boat which reaches the finish line without either bumping or being bumped is said to have 'rowed over' and stays in the same position.

Corpus III bumps Girton III at the 2005 May Bumps in Cambridge

Organisation

As the length of the racing course is limited, large regattas are organized into divisions of twelve to twenty boats.^[4] Each division races separately, but they are ranked to achieve an overall order of crews; e.g. the top crew in the second division is considered to be one place behind the last crew in the first division. The first day's starting position is based on the final positions from the previous year, though in the bottom divisions the boats may be placed according to qualifying getting on races held a prior to the event.^[5] This allows boat clubs to introduce new crews. On each day of a bumps regatta the division races are rowed in reverse order. A crew finishing at the top of a division race goes on to compete in the next-higher division later that day (starting last). Alternatively, a crew finishing last in a division must race in the next-lower division the following day (starting first). This is referred to as a sandwich boat and allows crews to move between divisions.

Overlap. No bump yet.

Cox raises hand, acknowledging the bump.

General view.

Trinity Hall II and Clare II, Lent bumps 2011.

Since all boats row at the same time, it is possible that the boat in front of yours may catch the boat ahead of it before you catch them. Since (except at Oxford during Torpids) these boats both then drop out, you must now attempt to catch the next boat ahead of you still racing (most often the one which started three places ahead). Success in such a case is called an overbump and, in exchanging places with the boat you bumped, you move a full three places up the start order. Further still, it is possible, though very rare, to double-overbump (move up five places). Very few triple-overbumps (seven places) are known of.^[6] Overbumps, and variants thereof, are most common in the lower divisions where the quality of the crews varies greatly year-on-year.

The ultimate achievement in such a competition is to finish first in the overall order; that crew is said to be 'Head of the River'. This is only realistically possible for crews starting a bump race in the top 5 places. A more attainable goal for any crew, apart from moving up towards the headship, is to bump up a place (or more) on each of the four days. The crew is said to have "won its blades", or achieved blades.^[7] Traditionally, members of such a crew can purchase a rowing oar in the crew colours and inscribed with the crews' names and the boats they bumped to hang on their wall. Conversely, crews that go down four places win a wooden spoon, achieving spoons. The bottom crew at the bottom of the last division is known as the 'Tail of the River'. A bumps chart is a graphical representation of the week's results; each boat's fortunes can be traced as its line on the chart rises and falls.^[8]

At Cambridge, the most successful college boat club over the four days of the May Bumps is awarded the Pegasus Cup, sponsored by Milton Brewery.

First and Third Trinity Boat Club celebrate the double headship of the Lent Bumps 2007 by burning a boat, the Fair Maid of Kent.

Races

Both Oxford and Cambridge Universities host two sets of university bumps races per year, one in early spring and one in early summer, each lasting four days. At Cambridge these are called "Lent Bumps" and "May Bumps" respectively, while at Oxford they are "Torpids" and "Summer Eights". The races are for eights (i.e. eight rowers with a cox steering), each representing one of the university's various colleges. Larger colleges may put in several crews.

In both Oxford and Cambridge, there are also separate Town Bumps races in which local clubs compete. Oxford's races, run by the City of Oxford Rowing Club (CORC) are open to all-comers and are raced in fours, all races taking place on the same day.^[9] Cambridge's races are run under the auspices of the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association (CRA) and are run exclusively in eights. There are typically four men's divisions with 17 boats (plus a sandwich boat) in each division, and two women's divisions.^[10] The bumps are fiercely contested, and the ideal that the bumps should be for local rowers can lead to disputes over whether crews are 'legal'[1].

The United Hospitals boat club hold a bumps race over three days each May after exams on the River Thames, racing from upstream of Kew Bridge adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ending at the UL Boathouse at Chiswick. Traditionally involving only medical school crews, in recent years alumni and non-medical crews have been allowed to enter as invitational crews.^[11]

Eton College, where bumping races were first devised and then carried to Oxford and Cambridge by ex-pupils, still has an annual bumping race.^[12] It takes place over four evenings, in early May. There is usually one boat entered per house, and one boat entered by college. Because of the dangerous nature of the sport, only fours are used, and only the second and third years may row. On the fourth evening there are prizes for the leaders of the chart and also a 'Bumping Cup' for the boat who has made the most bumps over the four nights. The event is marshaled by senior rowers and rowing prefects called The Monarch. The crew training is mainly pupil driven. Previously races were run every day until there were no more bumps (i.e. until they were nominally in speed order). This historical set-up could lead to weeks of racing and was therefore abandoned in favour of a four-day version more than a hundred years ago.

See also

• Cambridge Bumps:
  • Lent Bumps: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
  • May Bumps: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• Oxford Bumps:
  • Torpids
  • Eights Week

References

1. ^ The Bumps:An Account of the Cambridge University Bumping Races 1827-1999, John Durack, George Gilbert & Dr John Marks, 2000, ISBN 0953847519
2. ^ http://www.cucbc.org/bumps
3. ^ "Racing regulations". CUCBC. http://www.cucbc.org/system/files/racing_regulations.pdf. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
4. ^ http://www.cucbc.org/bumps/how_bumps_work
5. ^ http://www.cucbc.org/mays/gor
6. ^ "Bumps chart for St John's Women's Eights". http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/rowing/bumps/sjoh/sjoh_we.html. Retrieved 7 June 2010. 
7. ^ http://www.cur1350.co.uk/index.php?action=view&id=256&module=newsmodule&src=%40random45e376afe781e
8. ^ http://www.cucbc.org/charts?year=2010&event=M&day=Fi&sex=M
9. ^ http://www.oxfordrowingclub.org.uk/bumps.html
10. ^ http://www.cra-online.net/bumps/index.asp
11. ^ http://www.uhboatclub.co.uk/9.html
12. ^ http://www.etonrowing.org.uk/

External links

• Introduction to Cambridge bumps from the Trinity College boat club
• "Bumps": an explanation
• Oxford Bumps Charts — archive of the past 25 years' results
• Cambridge bumps charts — archive of results 1992-2005
• Pegasus Cup Standings from Milton Brewery
• Oxford University Rowing Clubs
• Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs