It was all Light Blue on the Tideway for the internal Trial Eights races, as Cambridge raced Cambridge.

First up were the women, and last year’s Blondie Eloise Etherington stroked ‘Baby Spice‘ to victory over two-time winning Blue Carys Earl in ‘Ginger Spice’.

Cambridge women's crews approach the start for Trial Eights

Carys Earl’s ‘Ginger Spice’ (left) finished five lengths down on Eloise Etherington’s ‘Baby Spice’.

The men followed, in far rougher conditions as the wind picked up in the second half of the course. Maintaining overlap into the final bend around Barnes, the ‘Slop’ crew featuring Boat Race 2025 rowers Simon Nunayon, Simon Hatcher and Noam Mouelle were defeated by their counterparts Gabriel Obholzer and Luke Beever by one and a half lengths.

2 CUBC men's crews race past Harrods Depository

‘Beans’ (left) and ‘Slop’ vie for position passing Harrod’s Depository.