The Town Bumps is an annual race in which Cambridge clubs compete over a week to determine who will receive a wooden spoon, who will receive blades and who will take home the headship. Crews line up, spaced between baits bite lock and fen Ditton corner in starting order (determined by a time trial or the previous years placement) and as a cannon goes off the crews begin. The crews aim is to ‘Bump’ the crew in front of them without being ‘Bumped’ by the crew behind them. A ‘Bump’ is the action of a crew catching up to another crew and either physically making contact with that boat or the bow-ball going in front of the caught crew’s cox at which pint this crew concedes. If a crew makes a ‘Bump’ this is the end of their race and both crews pull into the bank to allow other crews to pass and in the following night of racing their position in the starting order swap. The crews who get ‘Bumped’ four nights in a row recieve a wooden spoon and the crews which bump on every night of racing, moving up four places in the starting order receive Blades with their crew’s names, cox and coach in their club colours. A crews aim is to reach the highest position in the order by the end of the weeks racing, with the leader of division 1 winning the ‘Headship’.
Bumps is a unique race because there is no definitive distance for the rowers so the length if time they may be rowing greatly varies. Rowers may row for 30 strokes or they may row for the full 2km-2.5km course depending on how quickly they are able to catch the crew ahead of them and make the bump. For this reason, the widely agreed upon tactics is that you need to go out hard and try to catch the crew ahead as quickly as possible rather than expecting to row for the 2kms. This is also because you need to catch the crew ahead before they catch the crew in front of them because then they cannot be caught. this tactic is ideal for lighter crews because they are able to get up to speed far faster than the heavy weight crews, this means that a light crew can actually be faster over the possibly shorter distance despite having less power. Hills Road Boys were a key example of this, in the 2019 bumps they finished 4th in Division one despite being considerably smaller than most of the men’s crews around them, This was due to technical, light rowing getting them up to speed very quickly making up the distance between their competitors and making the bump. Many other heavier crews rely on a longer distance in which they can build to a higher top speed and then close the distance. This guarantees exciting racing at high rates and rapid speeds right from the canon as crews compete to achieve supremacy against their rival clubs and crews
The packed banks of passionate locals, buckets upon buckets of Pimm’s at the plough and prosecco corks popping left and right. The Town bumps brings the biggest crowds of any cam race and the atmosphere is brilliant. It really is a pleasant evening of watching some top class rowing battling out some interclub rivalry’s. The feeling of rowing past the plough pub having made your fourth bump of the week, securing you blades, Im sure a feeling like no other and it really is a brilliant accomplishment which all spectators can appreciate and celebrate.
Bumps is one of my favourite race, the high rates, exciting chases and the crowds of invested locals and fellow rower. It might not be as prestigious or civilised as H.R.R. or as competitive as Nat. Schools Regatta, but the brilliant atmosphere and competitive interclub spirit makes this unique race a truly amazing race to spectate or be a part of. I know all Cambridge rowers preparing to take part in 2020 were devastated when it got cancelled due to Covid 19, but I know that everyone will just hit bumps 2021 harder than ever and I cant wait to see some truly intense and inspiring rowing (I also hope that Cantabs can win back the Men’s Headship and join the women as rightful heads of the cam)
20/20 Rowing Guide 