OTW reminiscing: What was the best boat you ever rowed in?

[Mike Channin]

Been chatting with old friend, and ended up on the topic of the best boats we'd ever had the pleasure to row in.

For me, it was Churchill Men's 4th in the Mays, 1992. We weren't the quickest on the river (obviously) but we had a lovely rhythm and we could keep that boat sat perfectly. I will never forget us gliding round Grassy Corner on the way up to the bumps start, sunlight rippling on the water through the trees, boat perfectly sat at easy and balanced only by foot pressure, then coming forward and taking the stroke without a single wobble the whole way. Just beautiful. And we got so close to getting blades...

[billwright]

A Three in One Whaler in Pompey Dockyard water. Eight Marines with eight whacking great oars and a hulking great Sergeant on the tiller giving the commands:

"Give weigh together......................"

Bill

[KiwiCan]

Bill, I know what you were rowing. In the RNZN the Tiffies used to race them over the nautical mile. We challenged all comers, both naval and merchant fleets. Our team reigned supreme over more than ten straight races. Modern sailors do not know the pleasure and aches of rowing whalers and catching a crab. All this was in the early 70's when I was young, fit and foolish.

[Thomas W-P]

The best boat I ever sat in was a scratch old boys boat at Uni.  The age range was 22-50 and included a (then) current Olympian.  It sat rock solid (effortless - no foot pressure needed) from start to finish and we trounced the Uni first VIII in a one off race.  Fitness is irrelevant to technique in a 500m race.

I was in "arguably" the best novice boat in the country in 1987.  We were "undefeated in the North" and I think came top 10 in one Head (consistently faster than S3 and many S2 boats) but our boat was blown off the trailer on the way to the Head of the River Race.  We took out the 1st VIII's boat once they'd finished and our time without the tide was close to the winners although unrecorded. With our boat on the tide we'd have most likely won.  A sad and frustrating weekend.

Winning Trent Head

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The best boat I ever raced against was one Eton boat who had a length in about the first 20 strokes.  Then they were gone. An amazing crew but they lost at Henley when a rigger broke!

The thought of Bill's whaling boat excites me. I always thought they looked terrifying fun. It's it possible to stay in the boat if you catch a crab?

I've often wondered how many Free Spirits ever rowed on water, maybe this thread will answer that. My feel is that it is much less than half.