Christmas is a time when we traditionally spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves: there is news of our lightweight triallists as well as the other, calorifically uninhibited, University crews.

Last year we covered the origins of Eights, so this term seems an appropriate time to investigate how Torpids began (c.1838), and an illuminated Catz rudder from 1928 which has recently washed up on the shores of the internet.

River permitting (it's raining again as I write this), Torpids 2016, will be from 24-27th February. Torpids or not, the Rowing Society AGM & Dinner will be on Saturday, 27th February.

Thanks to Josephine Barnett-Neefs for the training camp photos.

Recent St Catherine's 1st VIII performances in IWL races, as a percentage of the winner's speed.
Term	Event	Men	Women
HT 2016	IWL-C	90.1%	91.6%
MT 2016	IWL-B		95.6%
	IWL-A	95.9%
HT 2015	IWL-E	87.9%	90.7%
	IWL-D		84.5%
	IWL-C	86.8%

Dawn outing at the Holme Pierrepont training camp

The Men's 2nd Torpid racing in IWL-C

Lucy Roberts (as President) and Anna Corderoy (cox, and blogger) are trialling for the women's lightweights. They've also been on a training camp in Ourense, Spain, where apparently it was mostly wet and windy — they could have had that at Nottingham. Their crew has yet to be announced.

Lucy Roberts (front, left) and OUWLRC in Spain.

Last Saturday, the Cambridge Blue Boats beat (although not without a struggle) their counterparts from Oxford Brookes University in a series of side-by-side races on the Tideway. Goldie, however, lost to their OBU opposition.

The following day, OUWBC rather boldly competed in the Quintin Head. I say boldly because this is a major event (200 VIIIs), raced over the latter part of the Boat Race course, attracting many of the top women's crews in the country, most of whom would understandably love to claim bragging rights in their club bar when the Women's Boat Race is shown on TV. As it turned out, OUWBC finished a good 20 seconds clear, with Osiris 4th. I'd say that gives Oxford women the edge at the moment.

No news yet from the OUBC camp.

Thus the first distinct Torpids event was held 1838, with Worcester taking the first Headship.

It had been generally accepted that those rowing in Eights were ineligible for Torpids but whether someone was actually rowing for an Eight or just subbing-in was a bit of a grey area. During the 1840 Torpids races Exeter complained that they had been bumped by a Wadham crew whose stroke had rowed for `several days' in Eights. In response, OUBC decided to crack down and bar anyone who had ever rowed in Eights from rowing in Torpids. It seems that this ruling went rather beyond what Exeter had been hoping for: only one college could put together a Torpid which complied with the new regulation, and that was Wadham, who therefore took the 1840 Headship by default. It's probably no coincidence that there are no details of any Torpids racing the following year, and fairly soon the rules were relaxed to allow oarsmen with up to 3 days Eights racing to compete.

Even so, Eights oarsmen apart, the eligibility criteria seemed to have remained rather loose, with recruits being brought in from far and wide, and sometimes even paid, to fill up the crews (2s 6d, or 12½p, was the going rate in 1849, for the bow seat in the Exeter Torpid).

The 1913 St Catherine's Torpid at the start

I have in my possession the tiller/rudder (or a commemorative replica?) from what I assume to be the 1928 St Catherine's Torpid — which is what is painted on it, along with crew.

It was in my father's possession on his death, and although I am unsure how it came into his keeping, my father's first name was Kimball — so possibly a crew member (5) was his cousin/uncle (my father was born in 1925, a few years before the event).

I couldn't find any trace of Kimball but, pursuing a different line and assuming that the rudder went to the cox, Google shows a Rev F. W. Haworth serving in the Chaplain's branch of the RAF, with the rank of Squadron Leader, from 1939-1954, and that in 1941 he conducted a graveside service for two German airmen shot down over Merseyside. The age seems about right, and would consistent with the large clerical contingent within the St Catherine's Society, so I think we've got the right man.

But none of this explains how the rudder came to Mr Brunch Snr who, apparently, had no Oxford connection let alone St Catherine's. Perhaps he was just passing a junk-store, noticed the name Kimball, and thought 'why not?'

Torpids 2016
Starting positions of our 1st Torpids and last year's change
Men's Div I		Women's Div II
1 Pembroke	=	1 New College	-8
2 Oriel	+4	2 Lincoln	+3
3 Magdalen	-1	3 L.M.H.	=
4 Christ Church	-1	4 Keble	+4
5 Wolfson	+2	5 Trinity	+5
6 Wadham	+5	6 St Catherine's	-10
7 Hertford	+6	7 Corpus Christi	+2
8 Trinity	=	8 Jesus	-2
9 St Catherine's	-4	9 Somerville	-2
10 Worcester	=	10 Wadham II	+5
11 Balliol	-7	11 Brasenose	+4
12 New College	+5	12 Linacre	+6

Men's Div I races at 5 pm, Women's Div II at 3:30 pm, and the men's 2nd Torpid, starting 11th in Div IV, will be racing at 2 pm. There was no women's 2nd Torpid last year, so this year they'll have to qualify, along with any yet-to-materialise 3rd Torpids, in the Rowing On races, scheduled for Friday, 19th February.

The Men's 1st Torpid racing in IWL-C

The Women's 2nd Torpid racing in IWL-C

The women's 1st Torpid (photo: JB-N)