Molesey BC won today’s Tideway encounter with the Light Blues of Cambridge in a fixture designed to give Molesey a competitive outing before the Eights Head and Cambridge another run-out on the Thames before the Boat Race on April 7th.

Cambridge got the better, but only marginally, of a rolling start in a strong crosswind from Putney and led for the first two minutes of the Race. They built on that early move and were half a length ahead by the Black Buoy which marks the end of the run of boat-houses along Putney Reach.

As the race moved past Fulham, Cambridge were warned several times by the umpire, Molesey seized the initiative and drew level.

In rough conditions on the straight the London club, home to many GB internationals, including world champion Andy Hodge who stroked today’s eight and was formerly a Boat Race winner with Oxford, Molesey moved to a two-thirds lead by the Harrods Wall.

As the crews rounded the Hammersmith bend, the wind dropped a little and Cambridge put in a big push to regain the lead at St Paul’s. Molesey counter-attacked and began to open up a lead which was about a third of length down Chiswick Eyot and three-quarters of a length by the finish.

“I was disappointed”, said Cambridge coach Duncan Holland after The Race. “Molesey rowed very well but we didn’t row the way we planned. We didn’t execute our race plan”.

Oxford race tomorrow against a Leander eight.

MOLESEY (from bow to stroke plus cox)

Simon Fieldhouse

Mike Blomquist

Mohammed Sbihi

Peter Marsland

Jonno Devlin

Hugo Lee

Tom Lucy

Andrew Hodge

Acer Nethercott

CAMBRIDGE (from bow to stroke plus cox)

Kip McDaniel

Dan O’Shaughnessy

Peter Champion

Jake Cornelius

Tom James

Kieran West

Sebastian Schulte

Thorsten Englemann

Russ Glenn