Just as May Week in Cambridge takes place in June, so do the May Bumps. For four days there is intense activity on the river. Boats are constantly moving from the boathouses to the marshalling area and then onto the race course and afterwards back to the boathouses again. Each race consists of the members of a division strung out with equal spacing between each boat. The aim of the race is to catch and ‘bump’ into the boat in front while avoiding being ‘bump’ed by the boat behind. Plenty of action to interest the photographer at all stages. Actually capturing the sight of two boats ‘bump’ing is really quite hard although there are certain spots on the river where bumps happen more often due to bends etc. Sadly I did not manage this feat this year. Despite setting off under what I thought was an improving sky with the sun breaking through it started to rain after I had watched my first race which was W3 ie the women’s third division. I made it as far as the railway bridge where I saw M3 and then the boats heading up for W2. However by that stage I was too cold and getting wetter so as the rain eased somewhat I headed home. By the time I got home of course the sun was shining through the clouds again but the hot chocolate was very welcome.
