The 2025 Fixture Series commences with strong performances by the CUBC men
The Boat Race 2025 countdown has begun. The 2025 Fixture Series commenced yesterday with our men’s ‘Blue Boat’ taking on an invitational crew composed of Olympians from Croatia, Spain, Team GB and Team USA, featuring 3x Olympic champion Valent Sinković, the Lončarić twins, and 2x Olympic medalist Tom Ford.
The crews raced under a Met Office yellow wind warning, with the CUBC men putting in convincing performances, defeating the International VIII+ by 2.5 lengths in both pieces.
In the first piece, CUBC cox Ollie Boyne, won the coin toss and elected to race on the Surrey side, handing the international composite the advantage of the Fulham bend. In blustery conditions, both crews made aggressive starts and Team GB’s Tom Ford kept his boat level with the ‘Blue Boat’ for the early stages of the race.
In the second minute, CUBC settled into a strong rhythm and started to inch in front around the outside of the Fulham Bend. Powered by Gabriel Mahler, Simon Hatcher, and James Robson in the middle of the boat, the crew began to move clear along the Crabtree Reach. In the second half of the race, CUBC stern pair of Douwe De Graaf and Luca Ferraro maintained a strong rhythm to extend the lead to a 2.5 length margin to cross the finish.
The second piece saw a change in stations and a couple of crew changes in the CUBC boat. After brilliant performances in the first piece, Noam Mouelle and Simon Hatcher gave way to Simon Nunayon and Tom Macky in to the two and three seats respectively, moving George Bourne to five. The second piece started in more challenging conditions and the international crew came out firing in an attempt to overturn the earlier result.
Powered by Croatian Olympic Champion Valent Sinković, as well as the high-rating Spanish Olympic double of Rodrigo Conde Romero and Aleix Garcia, the international composite took two seats off the start and entered the Fulham Bend level with CUBC. However, now racing with the inside station, CUBC made the most of their advantage and maintained their momentum to develop a two-length lead halfway through the race.
Despite increasingly challenging water, Luke Beever in the bow worked to cut the Cambridge crew through the waves and CUBC came under Hammersmith with a two and a half length winning margin.
The Cambridge Men are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to race such an esteemed international crew and have gained great experience of Tideway racing for the rest of the fixtures and beyond.
Cambridge VIII+
1st Piece
| Name | Seat | College |
| Ollie Boyne | Cox | Downing |
| Douwe de Graaf | Stroke | St Edmund’s |
| Luca Ferraro | 7 | Peterhouse |
| James Robson | 6 | Peterhouse |
| Simon Hatcher | 5 | Peterhouse |
| Gabriel Mahler | 4 | Peterhouse |
| George Bourne | 3 | Peterhouse |
| Noam Mouelle | 2 | Hughes Hall |
| Luke Beever | Bow | Emmanuel |
2nd Piece
| Name | Seat | College |
| Ollie Boyne | Cox | Downing |
| Douwe de Graaf | Stroke | St Edmund’s |
| Luca Ferraro | 7 | Peterhouse |
| James Robson | 6 | Peterhouse |
| George Bourne | 5 | Peterhouse |
| Gabriel Mahler | 4 | Peterhouse |
| Tom Macky | 3 | St Edmund’s |
| Simon Nunayon | 2 | Emmanuel |
| Luke Beever | Bow | Emmanuel |
International VIII+
| Name | Seat | National Team |
| Nina Castagna | Cox | Team USA |
| Tom Ford | Stroke | Team GB |
| Rodrigo Conde Romero | 7 | Spain |
| Valent Sinković | 6 | Croatia |
| Patrik Lončarić | 5 | Croatia |
| Anton Lončarić | 4 | Croatia |
| Aleix Garcia | 3 | Spain |
| Gonzalo García Ferrero | 2 | Spain |
| Manel Balastegui Riguillo | Bow | Spain |
Race Report: George Bourne
Photographs: Nordin Ćatić