From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Corpus bumps Girton at the 2005 May Bumps in Cambridge

A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file; each boat attempts to catch ("bump") the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.

The form is mainly used intramurally at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. It is particularly suited where the stretch of water available is long but narrow, precluding side-by-side racing. Bumps racing gives a sharper feel of immediate competition than a head race, where boats are simply timed over a fixed course.

Bumps races are typically raced over several days. Each day the boats line up bow-to-stern, usually along the bank of the river, with a set distance between each boat and the next (usually about one and a half boat lengths of clear water). The starting positions are usually marked by a rope attached to the bank, the other end of which is held by each boat's cox. At the start signal the cox lets go of the rope and the crew starts to row, attempting to catch the boat in front while simultaneously being chased by the one behind. A crew catching the boat ahead of it is said to "bump" it. As the name suggests, damage to boats and equipment is indeed common during bumps racing; but an outright collision is neither necessary nor encouraged — the cox of the boat being bumped can concede as soon as slight physical contact occurs or even once it is inevitable. In Cambridge, and at Oxford during Eights Week, once a bump has occurred both crews pull over to the riverbank and take no further part in that race; in Oxford during Torpids a bumping crew pulls over but the bumped crew must continue racing over the entire course and can be bumped by more than one crew per day. Crews in Torpids tend to concede bumps early to avoid being entangled with the crew that caught them: should they be unable to continue, the rest of the division may row past scoring bumps on the bumped crew, sending it to the bottom of the division in minutes. In other competitions there is less incentive to concede before physical contact is made.

The starting order of each day's competition is based on the previous day's results. Any boat that has been bumped starts behind the boat or boats that caught it, whereas a boat which reaches the finish line without either bumping or being bumped is said to have 'rowed over' and stays in the same position. The objective is to gradually progress up the start order day by day by bumping. Typically the first day's starting position is based on the final positions from the previous year, though in lower divisions the boats may be placed according to qualifying races held a few days before the event. (This allows colleges to introduce new crews, hoping that they will move up into the fixed divisions.)

Since all boats row at the same time, it is possible that the boat in front of yours may catch the boat ahead of it before you catch them. Since (except at Oxford during Torpids) these boats both then drop out, you have lost your quarry; but you can still attempt to catch the next boat ahead of you still racing (most often the one which started three places ahead). Success in such a case is called an overbump and, exchanging places with the boat you bumped, you move a full three places up the start order. In rare circumstances boats are able to bump the boat five places ahead — a double overbump — and a very few triple overbumps (of the boat seven places ahead) have been known. Overbumps and variants thereof are most common in the lower divisions.

Bumps racing is inherently more dangerous than other forms of racing as it involves physical contact between boats and (at Oxford and Cambridge) takes place on narrow, winding rivers. Especially in the lower divisions, where there is a wider range of boat speeds and less skill in coxing and rowing, boats can get entangled in each other or run into the bank, causing the rest of the division to pile into the stationary crews. Sorting out who bumped whom can take some time, and protests and counter-protests are common.

The ultimate achievement in these competitions is to bump up a place (or more) on each of the four days; a crew achieving this is said to have won its blades. Traditionally members of such a crew purchase a rowing oar in the crew colours and inscribed with the crew names to hang on their wall, though today some purchase a miniature replica for reasons of practicality. 'Blades' are also awarded to a crew that finishes first in the overall order; such a crew is said to be 'Head of the River' and its boat club traditionally celebrates with a bonfire to burn one of its older boats. Crews that go down four places are awarded the wooden spoon, and the bottom crew at the end of the competition is known as the 'Tail of the River'.

At Cambridge, the most successful college boat club over the four days of the May Bumps is awarded the Pegasus Cup, sponsored by Milton Brewery.

First and Third Trinity Boat Club celebrate the double headship of the Lent Bumps 2007 by burning a boat, the Fair Maid of Kent.

Both Oxford and Cambridge host two sets of bumps racing a year, one in early spring and one in early summer. Each lasts four days; at Cambridge these are called "Lent Bumps" and "May Bumps" while at Oxford they are "Torpids" and "Summer Eights." The races are for eights (i.e. eight rowers with a cox steering), each representing one of the university's various colleges. Since most colleges enter several crews, the racing involves hundreds of boats; since only so many crews can race at once (typically eighteen at Cambridge and thirteen at Oxford), it is necessary to group the crews into divisions. Just as a college's first boat might hope to become head of the river, its second and third crews (as well as the first crews from less successful colleges) enter a bumps week hoping for promotion to a higher division. The boat finishing first in any division except the highest (whether it started first and rowed over, or bumped its way up) is called the sandwich boat and rows again the same day in the higher division, starting in the last spot. If it bumps there, it is promoted (and the boat it bumps is correspondingly demoted); if not, it returns again to its spot atop the lower division the next day. A crew which continually rows over at the head of a division but never succeeds in bumping at the foot of the next one may find itself racing eight times in the week — when most of its competitors are only rowing four times.

In both Oxford and Cambridge, there are also separate Town Bumps races in which local clubs compete. Oxford's races, run by the City of Oxford Rowing Club (CORC) are now open to all-comers and are raced in fours, all races taking place on the same day. Cambridge's races are run under the auspices of the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association and are run exclusively in eights. Although few rowers worldwide frequent rivers as narrow as the Cam or the Isis, bumps races are sometimes contested elsewhere.

The University of London medical schools' boat clubs hold a bumps race over three days each May on the River Thames, racing from upstream of Kew Bridge adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ending at the UL Boathouse at Chiswick.

A bumps chart is a graphical representation of the week's results; each boat's fortunes can be traced as its line on the chart rises and falls.

Incidentally, in Oxford at least, crews used to race every day until there were no more bumps (i.e. until they were nominally in speed order). This historical set-up could lead to weeks of racing and was therefore abandoned in favour of a four-day version more than a hundred years ago.

• Oxford Bumps:
  • Torpids
  • Eights Week
• Cambridge Bumps:
  • Lent Bumps
  • May Bumps

• Introduction to Cambridge bumps from the Trinity College boat club
• "Bumps": an explanation
• Oxford Bumps Charts — archive of the past 25 years' results
• Cambridge bumps charts — archive of the past decade's results
• Pegasus Cup Standings from Milton Brewery
• Organizing Bodies:
  • Oxford University Rowing Clubs
  • Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs
  • Cambridgeshire Rowing Association