60 Years on – The 1964 Men’s Blue Boat and Goldie crews reunite
Representatives of the 1964 Blue Boat and Goldie crews gathered at Leander Club for a reunion on 26 June 2024. CUBC is grateful for the following recollections shared by members of the crews.
Crew Recollections
Memorabilia and Recollections of the Cambridge 1964 Boat Race crew
- Christopher Davey
- Donald Legget
- Michael Bevan
- Mike Muir-Smith
- John Kiely
- Robert Stanbury
The President’s Recollections: Christopher Davey, 1964 President, provides his recollections on coaching, selection, and the changing landscape of the Boat Races.
Coaches for the 1964 Campaign
When I was elected, I went through the polite routine of inviting Harold Rickett and Derek Mays-Smith. But, not unsurprisingly, they both said that they felt they had coached their last Boat Race. But both urged David Jennens – who was in Canada.
So I then turned to Alf for advice. When I suggested Archie Nicholson and Norman Addison, who had coached me for that 1960 Henley Ladies Plate Win, holding back his standard “Eton Tossers” comment, he said OK. I think he also suggested, inter alia, Maurice Buxton and Bevis Sandford, also Ian Welch; the feeling being that we had moved on from the Kenneth Payne/James Crowden/Finlay Best generation. Then there were Noel Duckworth and Beave Bevan for Goldie.
Starting in January, no one had seen either hide or hair of Head Coach David Jennens. However, Archie Nicholson and Norman Addison started off the trial crews very successfully, and they were followed by Maurice Buxton and Bevis Sanford.
David Jennens finally returned, to my eternal relief – I had been bollocked rigid by Edward Bevan, the CUBC Treasurer, for the mounting phone call bills to Canada; indeed he had threatened to disconnect the phone in my rooms – and I had been finding that ‘carrying the torch’ alone was beginning to become quite a strain in the face of doubters. David seemed relatively happy with what he found, and, of course, everyone who knew David respected his record. Indeed he was universally loved… …particularly by Alf. Confidence mounted. He also backed the Weight-lifting programme.
Innovations
I had tried quite hard to persuade Alf Twinn to install Baker Swivels. These had sprung-loaded catches, instead of the tedious brass screw heads. But for him this was an innovation too far, and I decided in the end to back off.
Weight Training was always very contentious amongst Alf and the coaches: “What if someone pulled a muscle?” “Effort not spent on the oar-handle is effort wasted” etc. But I had three timely allies: JMSL; Jim Railton of the ARA, who had just been appointed to bring it in; and Alistair Cameron of Imperial College, who made himself increasingly unpopular: “What’s that man doing here again?”That said, it never really got going to my satisfaction. But it was a start.
Alf Twinn
As the Goldie Boathouse was adjacent to Jesus, I saw quite a lot of the man. I was another of Alf’s “Eton Tossers”, partly perhaps because he was livid when I got in as Pres ahead of Johnny Maasland. He was brilliant at boat preparation and repair – and a pretty good coach. He had a reputation for not being keen on coaches who did not give him a hefty tip! His mots juste were world-famous.
He had always loved David Jennens.
The Blues Committee
As president of the CUBC I was also automatically President of the Cambridge Blues Committee, Rowing being recognised as the senior sport. I have to confess I did negligible work on that front. The only controversial matter that arose was that the Women, supported by Canon Noel Duckworth, the Churchill College Chaplain and Coach, wanted to enter an VIII for the May Bumps. To my eternal shame, I vetoed that idea, on the basis that, if the Women were allowed to row, the next thing they would want was to play Cricket and Football etc. – which in the longer term, of course, is what they did. So, I suppose I held back the march of sporting history…!
Publicity and Finance
In those days the Boat Race got a lot less coverage than now. In an effort to appease our Treasurer, I accepted all commercial approaches. These included the Ministry of Health, who produced a series of anti-smoking cartoons in a run of boys’ comics like the Eagle, Hotspur, Beano and Dandy etc. This featured Self, cycling down the tow-path with a megaphone cursing some young oarsman who was letting down the rest of the crew, quite clearly because he smoked.As well as the Boat Race itself, the BBC had decided that they wanted to do a programme about the two Strokes, Duncan Spencer and me; so they turned up to our training sessions fairly regularly and produced a quite competent programme called Stroke for Stroke, which was broadcast the night before the Race – it significantly featured Duncan hare-coursing in Ireland, which did not go down too well! Our own rendering of the Lecky/Kiely “There’s a rumour that’s spread through Oxford’s Halls, something’s gone wrong with Spencer’s balls”, I found acutely embarrassing.
I also accepted an approach from the Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF) who did an equally competent programme called Die Blaue auf der Themse, which came out just after the race. I do not know how much income these programmes netted all told, but I believe that Edward must have finally forgiven me for all those calls to Canada. We also got blow-by-blow coverage from the Cambridge Daily New along with fortnightly teeth-grinding stuff in the Daily Express from the ghastly Patrick Robinson. More informed pieces, weekly, by Desmond Hill in the Daily Telegraph, and from Dickie Burnell in The Times (both biased as per usual). Try as the latter might, his reports were always skewed, as his son was rowing for Oxford; so we had a good laugh over his reports. The best part about it all was that we managed to maintain our role as underdogs, right up to the Race itself. Certainly Oxford was a much tidier crew than we were, with Duncan Spencer at Stroke and David Skailes, from our Eton 1960 Crew, at six, who were both winning Blues from 1963. But we knew that we had the power.
Trial Eights – December
For the Trial Eights I recruited David Christie, Mark Wolfson and “Beave” Bevan to coach and race three crews, which was a first on the Adelaide Reach. There were some grumblings that the crew in the middle, rowing against the current, might have a slight disadvantage, so I stroked that crew. In my crew I had Robert Stanbury as Cox and John Lecky at 5 – and we won.
Training
Training at Earith and Ely
We moved on to Ely training with Ian Welch as coach, and Noel Duckworth coaching Goldie. I always loved the Adelaide Reach. Smooth straight water, and you could concentrate on your rowing technique without distraction. Then there was the sugar beet factory belching out sweet liquor, and Ely Cathedral with its thousand year history in the distance. On Saturdays when we were doing racing pieces, you would have the curious sight of the same group of followers appearing at regular intervals on top of the eastern dike.
Training on the Tideway
At the end of the Lent term we moved to the RAC Country Club, where I shared a room with Reg Simpson (7). Our miniscule lunches we would have at the Hurlingham Club. My eternal memory is one of starvation, something over which I fought tooth and nail with David. The trouble was that Raymond’s diets had always been sacrosanct. But 5 and 6 used to go and ‘play golf ‘ at the country club of an evening, and would wander in afterwards laden with Mars Bars in their Golf bags… It was totally ridiculous that Stroke should be being fed the same portions as everybody else. And if little I, at Stroke (11 stone 3 lbs), was starving, imagine the state of the engine room (15 stoners) in the middle of the boat! When David finally took over as finishing coach, I think in response to my pleadings, he finally upped the portions – to some extent. The trouble was that Raymond Owen, who was already retired, and so had time on his hands, felt it his duty to keep a pretty close eye on things, joining us often for lunch or supper.
The final days build-up to the Race were, as always, very, very tough. We were being scrutinised by old Blues from the launch – including the University Chancellor Lord Tedder of WW II fame — as well as by the Press. Only former Blue cox John Hinde in the Sunday Telegraph correctly predicted the winner. The weather was variable. On some days OK; pretty awful on others. We were swamped twice. But David duly wound us up like a coiled spring; indeed, as anticipated, he did a brilliant job.
Towards the end, I was having increasing problems holding the oar handle because, during our training, I would keep getting a build-up of calcium or cholesterol or whatever in the forearms, which wasn’t that painful, but did make it very difficult to turn the blade onto the feather. I put this down to a lack of food — David just smiled and gave me a bottle of olive oil to rub in. This helped to some extent. But it did become an increasing bother.
The Race
As was the tradition in those days, we spent the night before the race at the RAC Club in Pall Mall. I did not sleep that well, yet held to the deep-seated conviction that, despite the pundits, we could win. I won the toss and, of course, chose Surrey, and then gave a pretty stammering interview to the BBC. Then we got on with the business. It was the 110th Boat Race. Oxford was slightly heavier and, after a pretty rough week’s weather, conditions were favourable, with an initial light tailwind.
In 1964, Cambridge had clocked up 60 wins; Oxford 48. Kenneth Payne, who had been our penultimate coach in 1962, was our Umpire.
With the tide rushing forwards under us, the Start is always tricky, but we got away cleanly. Duncan took Oxford off at 11, 21, 40 strokes to the minute, while I took Cambridge off at 10, 19, 38. At the end of the first minute we had taken a ¼ length lead. Oxford at 35; ourselves at 33. They held us round Fulham Football Ground. We reached the Milepost in 4 mins 4 secs with Oxford down to 33 ½ and Cambridge 31. By then we were almost a length up.
At the Crabtree Oxford was beginning to flag and Robert was able to bring us midstream. We then began to open up a good gap. At Harrods we were 2 lengths up. Striking 30 shooting Hammersmith Bridge in 7 mins 4 secs with a 2 ½ length lead.
Oxford spurted, but then faded, with the blades on Bow side becoming increasingly ragged. Down Chiswick Reach we drew further away, still striking 32 to Oxford’s 31, reaching Chiswick Steps in 11 mins 41 secs, 16 seconds ahead.
As always in the Boat Race, there is only one thing less awful than being beaten, it is being ahead. I now felt hugely tired, knowing that we had still 1/3 of the race to cover. At Barnes Bridge we were 20 secs ahead with a 5 lengths plus lead. After Barnes Oxford went tight into the Middlesex bank, but it did them no good: our final margin was 6 ½ lengths in 19 mins 18 secs. Job done!
Not too triumphalist BBC interview. We then had the presentations, and I went and shook David Skailes’ hand; he said something to the effect that it would have been nice to have been my 6-man again like at Henley in 1960.
The subsequent celebrations were a bit of a blur. I can’t remember if I had managed to get Mamma onto the Cambridge launch: I have a feeling that I didn’t and that she had had to follow on one of the steamers, which, the end of the race, turned round and took everybody back down to Putney. Anyway, the crews were then all taken back to Putney by bus to pick up our kit and I think she was there to share our joy. We then went up to the RAC Club for the Old Blues Dinner, where I made our speech of thanks, followed by the Boat Race Ball, to which I think I took one of the Hamilton twins.
I was mightily relieved to get back home to Jersey next day. On the way I picked up a grouse of newspapers whereon we were front page news.
JMSL and JRK
Vital asset who needed quite some handling!
1960 Canadian VIII Silver Medallist from Shawnigan Lake Uni. Very wealthy. Used to worry Alf and coaches because he insisted on driving himself and 6 up to Ely during training in his MG Sports.
Always suffered from piles, and used this as an excuse if he wanted to drop out of rowing. Although he liked James Chewton (I think), he would not row for him in 1963. He agreed to row for me as a) I was also a Jesus man and b) if we won Trials VIIIs and c) did Weight Training and d) if he could find a 6 as good as Boyce Budd (1962).
Had an affair with 1962 Coach Findlay Best’s daughter, Elizabeth, which brought him over to Jersey.
He hired a huge launch for our 1989 HRR Reunion. Very generous guy.
He made a lot of money out of timber. He founded the airline Canada 2000, the tricky financing of which was probably responsible for the stress that gave him that terminal heart failure in Toronto one evening on his return from “a hard day in the office”.
John had magiced a 6-man, John Kiely, a tall and heavy American who had rowed in the Amherst Academy crew for three years, and won the CUBC Clinker 1Vs in 1961, but had no prior experience in the Blue Boat or Goldie. He was a lovely, humble guy, who proved to be a god-send. After the Boat Race the two Johns, Kiely and Lecky, won the Silver Goblets at HRR.
Reminiscing on BB 1964 Donald Legget Hon. Sec. CUBC 1963-1964
I want to forget Trial 8s. I rowed 7 in an 8 that never was competitive and lost my 3rd Trial 8s race……
On to January 1964. It became obvious to me that the 7 seat was Alastair Simpson’s so my weight astonishingly dropped from 13:3 to 12:10 (which I had discovered was the HBE CUBC had ever boated. Even so I am sure there were queries about my rowing at Bow.
The 2nd period was not very eventful with MB and CBS trying to coach – mainly prompted by our President. About that time the latter caught Simon Butler smoking and he was quickly demoted to Goldie and MVB was reinstated. At Earith the crew began to take shape and in the usual way (since this has happened many times since) there was a fight for the last two places on Stroke side between Joe Fraser, Chris Fielden and then John Kiely who impressed the coaches stroking a Goldie lock to lock on the Cam – Goldie by then had returned to the Cam, probably to get some coaching from Beave – LVB, elder brother of Edward and Owen (MVB’s father).
The outcome of all this (and also to JMSL saying he wanted JRK in the crew) was that it was now a question of who rowed 4 – Joe Fraser or Chris Fielden. In the end JWF was chosen.
We moved to Ely from Earith under Ian Welch. I can only very vaguely remember UL coming and this was prompted by RGS’ account. What boat did they row in since we did not have a sectional boat and trailer till 1971 and I doubt they did? Looking at cuttings (only very recently discovered) it seems we won the race from Sandhills to the Lark (just over 2k) by 2L. What I can recall later us going beyond Sandhills Bridge one day with Ian and getting to our normal turning point, where we started to turn. But Ian told us to continue on to unknown territory (now accepted as a norm) with JMSL cursing under his breath! Why Olympic Doctor Raymond Owen was allowed to prescribe a non-carbo diet defies all logic. But he even published a book or booklet on this. He was years out of date.
We boated from the Marina, changing in the boatyard’s office and then crossing the river by a grind. The bridge to the Marina was not finished till 1964 and it was to be about another 20+ years before MJMS supervised the construction of the CUBC boathouse on Kings Ely land. It was all very primitive in those days compared with our 2016 combined Boathouse.
And so to the Tideway for 3 weeks. We stayed at the RAC in Epsom, dressing for dinner each night in full Blues kit. I shared a room with MVB and cannot recall repeating the 1963 regime of Cold Baths. We had plenty of time on our hands so Bow, 2, 4 and 5 often took to the Golf Course (and JMSL’s box of Mars Bars to counteract the lack of carbo). Each day we were driven in by Bus to Putney by an dangerous elderly driver who nearly crashed on 2 or 3 occasions. We lunched at the Hurlingham Club and could have 40 winks on camp beds in between outings. We boated from Barclays Bank RC and were the last crew to boat from there before a new Boathouse was built which is now owned by KCS Wimbledon – no showers and we washed by filling basins full of water and sluicing them over ourselves.
It seems our first serious race on the Tideway was at the end of the first week when we took on the Tideway Scullers from Hammersmith Bridge to Putney Bridge. We gave them 1/3L off the start where we were on Middlesex and it took to the Fulham Bend for us to draw level. We spurted down the boats and managed to gain clear water by the Bridge. We rowed two Full Course Trials paced by Clubs, Schools and Colleges and did not impress the pundits who thought we would collapse after Chiswick Steps.
For the final weekend we went off to Bighton in Hampshire to stay with the hospitable McCowens. Richie had rowed for Cambridge in 1932 and was a generous supporter of the CUBC with his wife Kitty. More golf for the golfers and sumptuous food before returning to Epsom.
We raced Barn Cottage to the Mile and just beat them (though they rowed on over the Full Course). We had therefore beaten the top 3 Finishers in the HORR, though neither the pundits nor we seemed to realise this. We might lead Oxford but were sure to be rowed down…. We improved daily up to the Race itself and probably only I and MVB had any doubts we would win. After a steady start we started to draw away from Oxford who took a narrow line on Middlesex through the Fulham Bend so it was hard to judge where we were till after the Mile Post where we had established a 1L lead. We drew away fast to Hammersmith where we led by 3L which increased to 5L by Chiswick Steps. All I remember from then on to the Finish were constant spurts by Stroke and Cox pushing us on to avenge the 5L defeat in 1963. We achieved that by winning by 61/2L in 19:18.
Welcomed ashore at Ibis BC by Alf we showered and DMJ presented us with another box of Mars Bars!
Thence to the Blues Dinner and The Boat Race Ball at the Dorchester where JRK’s father very generously paid for all the champagne we had ordered
But this was not our last outing. We had two more back in Cambridge under Findlay Best after the Queens’ Blues decided not to join us (and were then dethroned by Pembroke). I can remember thinking this could be the fastest crew I had ever rowed in but it was not to be, though 5 and 6 went on to win the Goblets in fine style.
Land training
In the Michaelmas term during trial V111s training, I was persuaded to go to the gym, to do weight training + bits & pieces. I was keen to show off my stomach muscles by doing sit ups on a bench propped up at a steep angle on the wall bars, and promptly tore them, out for several days!
General
During the selection process I was sitting at 7 in Goldie, for quite a period, with Chris Fielden at stroke and Joe Fraser at 6. To put us off, we had Joe at stroke for a few outings .My memory may be a bit biased but I remember that for a period we kept beating the blue boat.
At the time of the final selection we had been training at Earith, not Ely CJD, with Fielden and Kiely battling for 6. I had the privilege (!) one day of being driven by Lecky in his MGA, left hand drive. The windscreen was filthy, and he only had one wiper, on his side. He kept asking if it was ok to overtake, I could see nothing so whilst I was humming & haring he just went for it!
At the RAC Club I was one of the golfers, and typically had 3 Mars bars during the round. As CJD has said we were all very hungry as we were on a carbfree diet, no spuds, just potato crisps.
At the RAC Club, I was sharing a room with the hon secretary, bowman Legget, and we agreed to ignore the command for cold baths after the morning walk! For the ’63 crew I was sharing with Coon Webb, and he insisted on cold baths!
The ‘63 Trial Eights have been covered earlier, I don’t remember much except the pain of losing. Conditions at Ely after Christmas were far better than the previous year when we were frozen out of, first Ely, then Earith, ending up commuting interminably to Peterborough and the power station. I don’t remember boating from Earith in ’64 but there is photographic evidence – was it the maniacal President looking for even longer stretches of water than at Ely?
The coaches were looking for a 6-man and tried me there, but having never rowed on stroke side before I couldn’t hack it in time and it was decided to gamble on an up-and-coming Yank from Amherst! Up to the Race, we settled down nicely and did a few dabbles on the Tideway, mostly against top school crews, and for the Full Course Trial I think we had three school crews each picking us up from the start, Hammersmith, and Chiswick Steps. I remember well the bridge-to-bridge against the Tideway Scullers, a lung-buster with us on Middlesex, which we edged by a few feet at Putney by dint of Our Leader jacking up the rate relentlessly for the last mile and finishing at over 40. The Times featured a front page photo headed Feeling the Strain of Joe and me gasping in agony after finishing (has anybody got that clip?).
We had tremendous morale as a crew, and I particularly recall an innovation which is now commonplace: in the last few days before the Race, after getting on the water, JMSL would lead us in a shouty growl to gee us up for the outing, and on Race day we did a particularly loud one within earshot of the other lot before the start. The national press were notoriously biased towards the Other Lot for years, and in ‘64 all papers were unanimous in predicting an easy Oxford win, EXCEPT the Evening Standard which said we would walk it.
The actual Race was for me a transcendental experience, perfect weather, huge crowds, and the easiest row over the Track I have ever had as They disappeared aft in our wake – slightly marred by Our Leader chuntering away in the stern shouting “more lengths, more lengths!” .
I have a few photos of the crew in action on the Tideway, and attach one of them. Somewhere I have a photocopy of a spoof article on The Blues by ‘Ambrose Way’, the social columnist at Varsity, which I will forward when I have found it. It would be very useful to have collated all the various documents submitted by all of us, any volunteers?
I was an undergraduate at Amherst College and was the captain of the crew, but we were a small school (we rowed against Harvard’s third boat) so when I arrived at Cambridge, I was strong but knew very little about Cambridge rowing. I stroked the Clinker 4s fall ’62 and we did well which I suppose put me on the map for Blue Boat trails in ’64.
I made up for a serious lack of experience and knowledge about Cambridge rowing traditions and expectations by deciding to out lift, out run, and out grit everyone, particularly John Lecky. I added 5 pounds to whatever he lifted, and I kept making the Trial VIIIs cuts. I had fallen in love with a gray Jaguar E type. When my name was not on the initial blue boat posting, my good father, to ease the disappointment of not being selected, said that because my family would no longer be coming from California to England for the race, I could buy the Jaguar. I bought it the next day. Then, I eventually, barely made the boat. My parents came, and I got the Jaguar!
John Lecky and I, the rough ‘engine room’ North Americans, became good friends during training and had fun writing and singing bawdy songs about various parts of the Oxford crew’s anatomies. After the race, the BBC gave me a copy of the race video for agreeing to an interview, presumably for the US audience. I still have the big 16mm real.
John in his usual fashion bet his MG on the race, so with the winnings, we went skiing in Switzerland after the race. We also decided to enter the pairs at Henley. On the final day we set a course record in the Silver Goblets event and beat two self-absorbed crew cut US Marines who won a bronze medal in Tokyo. We figured we might have at least won silver!
Being part of your boat was a life, mind altering experience for me, and I so look forward to being with you in July.
Ely on Saturday 29th February 1964 (?)
The University of London (UL) had enjoyed a most successful year of rowing in 1963, winning both the Head of the River race in March and Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in July. At the top of their game it was being said they were better than any Oxford or Cambridge Blue Boat crew 1. It was understandable therefore that Christopher Davey and the coaches decided to invite UL to a race in February 1964. Racing experience against a top-rated crew would be of great value to Cambridge, whatever the outcome, half way through final training for the Boat Race. UL probably accepted as part of their own training programme and also as an opportunity to prove their superiority to Cambridge.
On the day UL arrived late in Ely as one of their crew had suffered from indigestion problems overnight. Both crews got boated from the basic boatsheds at Ely with UL pushing off first to make their way down to the start at Littleport. There is a winding stretch of the river down past the sugar beet factory to the railway and Queen Adelaide bridges above the Ely straight race course. In 1964 part way down this stretch there used to be overhanging branches on the city side of the river leaving enough space for two crews to row side by side only if both kept as close to the opposite bank as possible.
There was a high degree of anxiety in the Blue Boat and my job as cox was in part to help the oarsmen to settle into a comfortable rowing equilibrium.
It was a tradition on the Cam in Cambridge and Severn in Shrewsbury not to pass another crew without first requesting permission. “May we please come by sir” sounds now rather archaic but the response of “Come by, Sir” was in those days normal even if automatic. To pass without requesting or not to respond were considered to be impolite and discourteous. An even greater breach of river manners was to start rowing ahead of or alongside a passing crew without permission or agreement.
As the Blue Boat approached this stretch of river UL were waiting and did not respond to my request to come past. Instead they started a slow paddle ahead, sending down puddles and watching. This was clearly a form of gamesmanship which would allow UL to observe our crew and adjust their pace to prevent our passing. I was immediately in the predicament of either allowing them to continue their game or stop for a rest knowing they would repeat the game as soon as we restarted. Neither was acceptable to the race preparations of the Blue Boat so, with knowledge of the river, I quickly decided on another tactic. Announcing to my crew that we were about to pass UL I requested the UL cox in somewhat strenuous language to move over towards the city bank so that we would have room to pass. The UL cox obliged and I stayed close to him even though there was in fact plenty of water for us on the other side. At the same time I was bellowing coaching advice to my crew and asking Stroke to quicken the pace so that we could pass UL. This deception worked well as soon UL’s stroke side found their blades were crashing into overhanging bushes so knocking them off their stride. After about 10 strokes and a lot of cussing in the UL boat they stopped rowing and the Blue Boat continued on its unimpeded way to the start.
Those who have read my account of CUBC trial VIIIs in December 1963 will recall Christopher Davey’s briefing on Plan A and Plan B for racing. The actual race between the Blue Boat and UL was somewhat uneventful in that it followed Plan A. Cambridge unexpectedly lead from the start and stayed ahead throughout the race countering all UL’s attempts to make a comeback. The final result was a margin of somewhat more than a length but the race was in no way a struggle. The digestive problems of one of the UL crew and heir unfamiliarity with the Ely waters may have been significant but the result was a huge boost to the confidence and morale of Cambridge as the crew was starting to mature.
Footnote 1: UL never raced against the Blue Boat in any formal event in this era. In 1963 UL beat Goldie by 17 seconds (say 6 lengths) in the Head of the River Race. In 1964 they beat Goldie by 15 seconds (say 5 lengths).
Hammersmith to Putney on Thursday 19th March 1964 (?)
The Blue Boat had been paced by several club crews and Goldie during the first week of training on the Tideway. Given that the third week would be relatively light work in preparation for the race on 28th March David Jennens wanted a challenging racing event against a crew of standing towards the end of the second week. UL were eager for a return event on their home water so accepted to race between Hammersmith and Putney bridges (a ‘bridger’) on the ebb tide in the late morning of Thursday 19th.
The Cambridge crew was now fully mature, its oarsmen trim and muscular athletes, its watermanship attained, crew cohesiveness and determination improving every day. After some unsettling outings in rough weather all were now familiar with the P to M course: its bends, landmarks and vistas; the tides, streams and eddies; the winds, waves, popple and swells; the uncertainties and how to respond to them. Cambridge were ready to be tested!
The ‘bridger’ distance of 1.37 miles (2.19 km) would take about 5 ½ minutes depending on the tide and land water. On that day the flow of land water was high and the ebb tide was strong resulting in a very fast stream at Hammersmith.
The crews came together above Hammersmith Bridge with UL on the Surrey side and Cambridge on Middlesex. David Jennens was in the Cambridge launch Amaryllis and, using his powered megaphone, instructed both crews to stay level and straight then drift under the bridge. He would start the race in the conventional manner as the sterns of both boats came level with the downstream edge of the bridge. A clean start would be important as otherwise both crews and Amaryllis would have to turn, paddle back above the bridge, turn again, and repeat the routine.
There was a slight cross wind so some ‘touch her’ action was needed to stay straight. This became the opportunity for UL to apply tideway tactics by taking a short stroke on the ‘Ready’ so getting a slight lead and forward motion at the ‘Go’. UL rather overdid this sneak manoeuvre by all bow four taking a hefty stroke. Bow and 2 in our boat saw what was happening so also took a stroke but, by that time, it was ‘Go’ so we got off to a very ragged start which allowed UL to take a quarter of a length lead as Cambridge scrambled to restore order in its boat. Christopher Davey at stroke, supported by Alistair Simpson at 7, had the good sense not to panic but settled into a rhythm and establish economical movement of our boat. UL also had the advantage of the Surrey bend so were able to improve their lead to about half a length by Harrod’s Depository.
In those days boats were not equipped with microphones, speakers and instruments so coxswains had to depend on their judgement end feel for rates of strike and on their vocal chords to encourage and guide their crews. What a losing crew’s coxswain would shout was as much to disarm the opposition as to support his own crew. This was very much my case even though I never had a powerful baritone delivery.
As UL’s Surrey bend advantage diminished I was able to congratulate my crew on their strong rowing performance and report the progress they were making towards reducing UL’s lead.
This was how it was until we reached the Middlesex bend to Cambridge’s advantage. At this point, still behind by maybe a quarter of a length, UL decided to spurt in an attempt to win the race there and then. Davey instructed me to counter with a spurt but, for the only time, I disobeyed his orders, saying ‘not yet, wait till we get straight! I had two tricks up my sleeve both learned on the river Severn at Shrewsbury.
First: deception inspired by an Oxford cox, Julian Rowbotham. Calling to UL to give water as I was coming over, the UL cox panicked and steered to the right, knowing that a clash of oars would be potentially to his crew’s disadvantage. In those days racing eights had rudders at the water level so as soon as I saw his rudder steering away I applied the second trick of cutting the corner to the left.
The flow of water round bends tends to sweep boats too wide through angular momentum. This can force a boat to get crabwise across the stream to stay on course. So it is between the Mile post and the so-called ‘black buoy’ (now painted yellow) which acts as anchor for boats moored along the Putney reach. Cambridge were rowing in a Banham boat which with its U-shape ‘flat bottom’ profile, and even with its deeper fin, could be spun round a bend with little rudder action, if one knew how to do it.
This was my second trick, applied to cut the corner to the left just as UL veered to the right and in so doing lost some of their balance and equilibrium.
While all this was going on I told Cambridge to hold firm as we would be responding to UL ‘as soon as we got straight’. The crew of course ignored what I was saying and hardened its efforts in the water to thwart UL’s spurt. After about 15 strokes I told Davey we were straight, which we were not, and with great hullabaloo counted out our own spurt. If any stroke knew how to drive a crew it was Davey. He upped the rate of strike and everyone in the boat followed, applying tremendous power and surging us into the lead. UL never regained their equilibrium and Cambridge rowed past the boathouses to an eventual win by over a length.
Among the UL supporters on the balcony of London Rowing Club was a friend of mine in her first year at Royal Holloway. She told me later that I was the subject of much cussing and criticism. To which I replied that all we were doing was winning the race!
This success at a critical moment in the training programme was just what was needed for Cambridge, despite not being favourites, to gain the confidence that they could and would win the Boat Race nine days later.
Weekend in Hampshire
Richie and Kitty McCowan welcomed us to their country residence at Bighton in Hampshire for the weekend before the race. Their magnificent house and garden with ha-ha to the adjacent fields were a peaceful haven from the hurly-burley of the Tideway. Richie had rowed for Cambridge in 1932 and Kitty’s brother was Jack Wilson who had won the Silver Goblets with Ran Laurie in both 1938 and 1948. Their hospitality was generous: home cooking at its finest.
Coxswain’s recollections of race day
It was customary in 1964 for the crew to dress for dinner at 7.30pm: Blue blazers, cream trousers, waistcoats, white shirts and blue bow ties. While the oarsmen were getting dressed our coach David Jennens would invite me to the bar for a dry martini, occasionally two, while we discussed the day’s events and plans for the next day. On Friday 27th March we were staying at the RAC Club in Pall Mall and over our martinis David reviewed the programme for the next day with his precise notes as a guide. See below and note the mention of ‘King Jones’ as the cox of the 1950 crew was known to his contemporaries.
David Jennens notes for Robert Stanbury
Another detail was going over the course in the launch Amaryllis between 12.30pm and 1.15pm. This was to check the conditions of wind and stream as determinants of rough water. There had been heavy rainfall in March 1964 resulting in slack water from Barnes Bridge to the finish in our final course trial during the second week of March. This had caused me to steer close to the Middlesex bank after Barnes Bridge as there was no incoming flow from the rising tide.
On Boat Race Day there was less land water and the tide was stronger so it was also important to check whether the tide was still flowing at Barnes. I therefore steered Amaryllis over the course discussing conditions with Tom Phelps the Thames Waterman who had advised me in similar manner every day of tideway training. What we found at Barnes at about 12.50pm was slack water, so it was agreed I should look carefully at flow around the bridge pillars to see whether the tide was flowing or there was still slack water during the race. 105 minutes later when we reached Barnes Bridge ahead of Oxford the tide was indeed flowing slightly so I elected to stay in the stream and not steer closer to the Middlesex bank. Oxford read the situation differently and did steer close to Middlesex but the record show they lost a further length or so by the finish. Film of the race shows both crews drifting under Chiswick Bridge after the finish. There was indeed a flood tide all the Way to Mortlake, albeit a weak flow towards the finish.
The Boat Race course is defined as the line of the fastest stream but the opinions of Oxford and Cambridge differ on where the fastest stream lies. It does of course vary according to the level of the river. The Race is traditionally rowed 1 to 2 hours before high tide at London Bridge when the flood tide is at its fastest at Putney. The sharpest difference of opinion in 1964 was between the Black (now yellow) Buoy and the Mile post when the river bends in favour of Middlesex. Oxford prefer to take the shortest distance across the Fulham mud flats whereas Cambridge take the longer line of fastest stream closer to Surrey. Two days before the race I steered Amaryllis with my opponent steering Bosporus over the course with the umpire, Kenneth Payne, following in a third launch behind to adjudicate. First we were assigned the Surrey station with Oxford on the Middlesex station. The two launches were so far apart round the Middlesex bend that the umpire turned us around to repeat the exercise on the opposite stations. Sure enough the launches collided with great force, bounced apart then collided again much to the consternation of the watermen responsible for the launches. Kenneth Payne told us that, in the event of a similar situation during the race both crews should give way equally.
Christopher Davey won the toss so theoretically this clash would not occur. I was nevertheless apprehensive as I knew that the two crews would come together somewhere before the Mile Post. This was what happened and to my huge relief Cambridge had sufficient lead to be able to take the best water. I had to take care not to be too forceful as the leading crew has more to lose than the follower if there were to be contact resulting in a disqualification. I was immensely appreciative at the time, and remain so to this day, of the magnificent effort of the Cambridge oarsmen following Davey at that crucial stage of the race, so assuring victory. There are few things more satisfying than winning as the underdog!
In Memoriam
All surviving members of the 1964 Boat Race crew, except Reg, have contributed to this anthology. It is fitting that we should remember the two no longer with us who both contributed so much to the success of the race and during training, in and out of the boat. Here they are on the Tideway:
John died many years ago and we all contributed to the John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse floating on the aptly named Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia. (www.ubcboathouse.com)
There was a service of thanksgiving in 2022 for Joe who had died in 2021. I wrote an account and circulated it at the time. Donald had written a fine eulogy. I have copies of both.