Update: M VIII second overall, and both IV's win their IM3 category! Pots (nearly) all round.

It was only as we drove towards Ely with an VIII on the trailer that I realised this was a touch odd for a "small boats head". But it has been re-branded and is now a "boats head" (archive of current state). They have a big river so throwing in a few VIIIs is hardly a problem, particularly this afternoon when after a glorious early-winter sunshine morning we had bitter cold and rain that put off a few of the smaller boats. The Mad Max style industrial landscape is still there, and the boating stages make an odd contrast to the not-yet-gleaming work in progress of CUBC's new boathouse on the opposite shore.

We entered, as well as the aforementioned men's VIII, the Elite IV and a Ladies IV, all in the afternoon division. All the crews had good races, enjoying a mild tailwind and a 5 km straight with no bends to slow down or throw out the racing. The M VIII went off first and stayed that way, easily outpacing Champs behind us. The M IV started fourth and ended up second. And the W IV overtook two without losing any place themselves.

Results now out; I guessed 19:14 for the M VIII (Chris guessed 19:30) which fits with the 1:55-ish splits (GPS trace) moderately well. The answers are below.

Provisional results here.

Crews:

* M VIII: Dave Richards, Chris Wood, Paul Holland, Steve O'Rouke, Brian Stevens, Michael Prior-Jones, Simon Emmings, Gerhard Smith. Cox: William Connolley. (Video; another). 19:12, second overall, pipped by Robs Quad for first place.

* W IV: Amanda Clarkson, Catherine, Lorraine Turvill, Jo Raskin. Cox: Robert Nimmo. (Video). 21:44, winning the IM3 4+. 2nd women's crew.

* M IV: Steven Andrews, Conor Burgess, Simon Lloyd, Dan McGreal. Cox: James Tidy. (Video; another). 20:07, winning the IM3 4+. 6th overall.

Pix: Rachel Newby. Vidz: Meg Richards.