Twice a year, in spring and summer, both Cambridge and Oxford colleges take to the water to participate in a unique rowing races called 'Bumps'.
This collegiate form of racing evolved in Oxford in 1815 – before commencing in Cambridge in the 1820s – as an exciting alternative to traditional regattas, and essentially exists because side-by-side racing is not possible on the narrow and winding river stretches used by the university college boat clubs.
The key advantage of Bumps is that it enables crews from many competing colleges to race on a short stretch of river – crews race line astern starting 1.5 lengths apart and the aim is to "bump" the crew ahead of you without being caught by the crew behind. A ‘bump’ is made when any form of contact is made with the boat in front or an overtaking bump occurs when the stern of the chasing boat completely passes the bow of the boat in front.
Over time, with more crews participating in this increasingly popular event, Bump races were divided into divisions. In Cambridge alone, there are seven Lent and ten May divisions, each with 17 or 18 boats.
How it works (in a nutshell)
At the start of racing, crews line up 90 feet apart in their finishing order from the previous year and, on the firing of a cannon, they chase each other up the river. A bump is when one crew is touched by its chasing crew and, when this happens, they must pull over to allow the other crews to continue racing.
The following day, all crews involved in a bump swap places and the race is run again. This is repeated for each day of racing with the aim that top crews finish ‘head of the river’ or the first boat in the first division – but this is only realistically available for crews that start in the top five places.
However, the uniqueness of Bumps means crews at every level can be ‘winners’. For example, if a crew manages to get a bump every day (go up four places) they’re awarded their oars i.e. a blade painted in their college colours and decorated with their crews’ names and the boats they bumped.
That’s Bumps in its very simplest form and we haven’t even covered ‘over-bumping’, ‘bumping twice’ and ‘rowing over’– all of which form part of this unusual but charming event. For a detailed explanation of Bump racing, read more here…
