Oxford / Cambridge boat race now in a Dyke

[Blueboatman]

I think they should use submarines and snorkels and run it at night

Nothing to see here move along

 

[bedouin]

Surely the umpire can't follow the race in one of the normal launches - would create a terrible wash on a cut like that.

 

[SaltyC]

A friend this afternoon told us that she know of a couple whose garden runs down to the bank of that stretch of the Ouse. They are planning to invite a couple of friends to watch the race from their garden, as permitted under the current rules. However some officious p**t has tried to tell them that they are not allowed to watch the race!!!

Unfortunately, being Ooop Norf (ie North of the M4), as quoted elsewhere, they weren't aware of the 'Boat Race on the Thames' being moved to their bit of water, and just had friends around to celebrate the little bit of freedom they had been granted??

 

[penfold]

A friend this afternoon told us that she know of a couple whose garden runs down to the bank of that stretch of the Ouse. They are planning to invite a couple of friends to watch the race from their garden, as permitted under the current rules. However some officious p**t has tried to tell them that they are not allowed to watch the race!!!

How does that work then? Will there be a man from the council erecting a screen at the wet end of their garden in case they catch a glimpse of some people rowing? It's enough to turn you libertarian.

 

[Pump-Out]

Surely the umpire can't follow the race in one of the normal launches - would create a terrible wash on a cut like that.

Its not the umpire launches that cause the worst of the wash on the traditional course, its all the launches that feel that they have a right to follow - PLA, Lifeboats, and so forth. In recent years the traditional umpire launches have not been used, as the PLA decided that they are "charter boats" and hence the petrol engines breach some MCA rule, as I understand it.

However the one that belongs to OUBC I saw on the BBC report this morning, so we will find out, I expect.

 

[Alfie168]

And those fen dwellers, and their blow-pipes, haven't changed much since!

There will be a bloke in plus fours and a flat hat lying doggo with his punt gun trained on the Oxford boat..mark my words. Also, for those that don't know, this stretch of channeled river ( as has already been said) is not a dyke and in that part of the world the dykes are called drains.....as that's what they do, and they are managed by drainage boards.

Cambridge is just up the road, so expect skulduggery in their favour......mines, torpedos, fishermen snagging the rudder, large pike biting chunks out of the Oxford boat...that sort of thing..

 

[Adios]

I know the stretch of river well, we started our boating on a little 20’ Viking riverboat there. It’s not really a dyke though it is straight from Ely up to Littleport and is not the most enticing waterway to cruise along.

A friend had a similar boat at littleport and I went down that stretch on it with him. It had an outdrive that could not go in a straight line which really stands out when you have nothing but miles of perfectly parallel embankment to taunt you.

 

[Adios]

I thought passage under Hammersmith Bridge was available to be booked in advance, so you would have thought they would have enough warning to make a booking?

I just checked that as I was planning a trip down the Thames end of April. Hammersmith Bridge Vessel Transits

Vessels requiring to transit under Hammersmith Bridge can book a controlled transit, providing the following conditions are met:

1. The transit is essential and necessary. The requirement cannot be delayed to a later date or conducted elsewhere.

So that's boat races and any leisure boating excluded.

 

[westhinder]

I know the stretch of river well, we started our boating on a little 20’ Viking riverboat there. It’s not really a dyke though it is straight from Ely up to Littleport and is not the most enticing waterway to cruise along. It is the main course of the Rover Ouse from Bedford to The Wash though there is a drainage channel (as designed by Vermydun sp?) the famous Dutch engineer who drained the Fens which runs from Earith to Denver Sluice which regulates the water level in the Ouse as it passes though Ely and onward to Denver Sluice. The tributaries off the main river there are pleasant enough cruising. I Would define a dyke as being a drainage channel, normally a cul-de-sac of water, that is purely for land drainage with current only arising from field drainage. The Ouse where the race is to be held most definitely has a current as it is a significant waterway given that it is the culmination of many rivers, principally the Gt Ouse and the Cam. Having said that it’s nothing like The Thames of course. When we first started boating it felt as though it was The Amazon!

Here is a photo of us navigating northward, as will the rowing boats, from Ely to Littleport. From the helm of our Nimbus 3003:

Cornelius Vermuyden
Cornelius Vermuyden - Wikipedia

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Yea well, from a quik glimpse of the TV News item i get the understanding that thats what the organisers are planning ; watch on tv or not at all

Part of the rational I understand from having the Boat Race ooop norf is that it will indeed make it a Covid free event (except for the rowers that is who are clearly within 2m of another?)

As a Yorkshireman, can I point out that anywhere south of Sheffield is "darn sarf"? And I'm being nice to Sheffield at that! Ely and Littleport are certainly NOT "oop north"!

And as a resident of the area, I think there's quite a lot of annoyance that all sorts of local rights of way are being closed. That said, I think that the cameras covering the event will a) have a much better view than a random spectator will get and b) will probably create enough hazard of their own along the towpath.

While much of the course is indeed dead straight (I think the Bishops of Ely straightened the river back before Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries), there are one or two bends at the end near Ely.

Of course, there is no tide in this stretch, which does give a lot more leeway for scheduling.

 

[Stemar]

And there was me thinking it was an April fool thing.

Well, half way right, just leave out the April bit.

 

[Daydream believer]

No use you trying to butter me up. If I was Harbour Master only Remainers would get berths!

And illegals ????????????????????

 

[Poignard]

And illegals ????????????????????

Not the right forum for that topic.

But if you'd like to start a thread in the Current Affairs forum I would be more than happy to contribute to it .

 

[Bobmeades]

It will certainly be, the oddest Oxford & Cambridge boat race - ever.

 

[Leighb]

It will certainly be, the oddest Oxford & Cambridge boat race - ever.

Actually they raced over the same course in 1944, but then there were large crowds of spectators.

 

[Sandy]

Many thank fo all the postings, so far ; just seems to be to be a travesty that OUR Boat Race

I always thought it was Oxford and Cambridge's boat race, do we all have to participate?

 

[Daydream believer]

Not the right forum for that topic.

But if you'd like to start a thread in the Current Affairs forum I would be more than happy to contribute to it .

You started it with your attack on the democratic majority of the country.

 

[Poignard]

You started it

From this:

No use you trying to butter me up. If I was Harbour Master only Remainers would get berths!

to this:

And illegals ????????????????????

Where is the connection?

 

[Daydream believer]

I always thought it was Oxford and Cambridge's boat race, do we all have to participate?

Yes definitely. Surely it is the public interest that adds to the pride the winning team feels & even the pride any participant can feel to perform in front of so many who care to take the trouble to watch & cheer them on

 

[st599]

Perhaps they could turn it in to a championship and find the 2 best universities to race.

If it was an actual covered a sporting event of note, the fella with the garden overlooking could have sold the space to one of the European Broadcasters. People near Wimbledon make a fortune as front gardens are used for commentary positions and the nearby flats end up festooned with satellite uplinks.