Malcolm Cook: Shaved Blades were used in the Boat Race in the 1920s and 1930s

In the 1931 Boat Race, the Oxford stroke, W. G. Holdsworth, had a blade 1/2 inch narrower than the rest of his crew.

HTBS received an interesting e-mail from Malcolm Cook of Quintin Boat Club (below on the right) regarding our blog posts about ‘shaved blades’ (or ‘narrow blades’ as they are also called). Malcolm writes:

‘In September HTBS discussed whether pre-war strokes sometimes used a narrower blade than the rest of their crew. You asked for any information about this practice. I’ve discovered that it was quite common in the Boat Race. While recently reading a pre-war Rowing Almanack I found a mention in its report of the Boat Race that both strokes had shaved blades. I decided to dig a little deeper by searching the online archive of The Times. I found that The Times’s report on the morning of each Boat Race often had detailed measurements of the crews’ boats, rigging and oars. Shaved blades were reported as being used in the following Boat Races between the wars.’

[Editor’s note: some newsreels from British Pathe have been thrown in between the races, so a film following the 1922 race is a film with that race, etc.]:

1922 Boat Race: Both stroke and 7 of the Cambridge crew had shaved blades. Stroke’s was 1/2 inch narrower and 7’s was 1/4 inch narrower.
(The Times, 28 March 1922)

VARSITY BOAT RACE

1924 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke had a blade 3/8 inch narrower than the rest of his crew.
(The Times, 5 April 1924)

THE BOAT RACE 1924 long version

1925 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke had a blade 3/8 inch narrower than the rest of his crew. Stroke and 7 of the Cambridge crew had blades that were 1/4 inch narrower but their oars were an inch longer than the rest of their crew.
(1926 Rowing Almanack)

1926 Boat Race: Both strokes had blades 1/4 inch narrower than the rest of their crew.
(The Times, 27 March 1926)

1927 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke had a blade 3/8 inch narrower than the rest of his crew.  Cambridge’s stroke had a blade 1/4 inch narrower.
(The Times, 2 April 1927)

1929 Boat Race: Both strokes had blades 1/4 inch narrower than the rest of their crews.
(The Times, 23 March 1929)

1930 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke and 7 had shaved blades. Stroke’s was 1/2 inch narrower than the rest of the crew and 7’s was 1/4 inch narrower.
(The Times, 12 April 1930)

1931 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke had a blade 1/2 inch narrower than the rest of his crew.
(The Times, 21 March 1931)

THE BOAT RACE

1933 Boat Race: Both strokes had blades 1/4 inch narrower than the rest of their crews.
(The Times, 1 April 1933)

1936 Boat Race: Oxford’s stroke had a blade 1/4 inch narrower than the rest of his crew.
(The Times, 4 April 1936)

THE BOAT RACE 1936

1939 Boat Race: Both strokes had blades 1/4 inch narrower than the rest of their crew.
(The Times, 1 April 1939)

THE BOAT RACE - OXFORD V CAMBRIDGE 1939

Malcolm also notes that ‘In a few instances a heavy oarsman in the middle of the crew was given a slightly wider blade than the rest of his crew.’

The interesting question is if it helped the crew to win the Boat Race if the stroke had a narrower blade? It is impossible to say, of course, but it should be noticed that all the races mentioned above in Malcolm’s list were won by Cambridge. This was a period, between the wars (1920-1939), when the Light Blues had a good run – Oxford only won the Boat Race in 1923, 1937 and 1938.

You might recall that the question about a stroke rowing with a narrower blade than the rest of his crew came up in the HTBS review of Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat (on 19 August). I was highly skeptical that Ran Laurie, the stroke in the 1936 British Olympic eight, rowed with a narrow blade in the Olympic final, where the British crew ended up fourth. However, Brown directed me, and other misbelievers, to his source, Stanley Pocock’s book “Way Enough!” – Recollections of a Life in Rowing (2000), where it states that Laurie had told Stanley Pocock’s father, George Pocock, ‘that he [Laurie] had not been able to pull hard enough to row himself out. The lighter water caused by the head wind had rendered his small blade too small’.
[p. 77]

I found it extremely interesting to read Malcolm’s list to find out that the years Laurie stroked the Cambridge winning crews, in 1935 and 1936 (he rowed in the 3 seat in 1934), he is not mentioned in The Times as having a shaved blade. Food for thought...

Many thanks to Malcolm for all the hard work going through The Times’s archives!

1937 NARA Championships at Henley?

At Henley yes, but an ARA regatta or an NARA regatta?

On 8 October, I wrote about a photograph taken probably in 1937 by George Bushell of the Clapton RC coxed four racing Britannia RC at which regatta and on which water I was not sure. However, I soon received a comment from my HTBS colleague Tim Koch, who wrote:

This is Henley. The bridge on the right and the Leander clubhouse peeking over the boat tents are quite identifiable. As Clapton Warwick (1877) and (presumably) Nottingham Britannia Rowing Club (1869) were tradesmen’s clubs I think the regatta must be Henley Town and Visitors’. This was the ‘Henley’ for men who worked with their hands and so were not (until 1938) classed by the Amateur Rowing Association as amateurs. Henley T and V is still going today and their website gives a brief history and some videos of recent regattas.

The River and Rowing Museum has nearly 500 local photographs taken by the photographer George Bushell on their website.

A little later HTBS also got an interesting e-mail from Malcolm Cook, who is of the same opinion as Tim when it comes to the regatta’s location, but not the regatta itself. Malcolm writes

I agree with Tim Koch when he says that the Clapton Warwick photo on HTBS was taken at Henley, but I don’t think it’s Henley Town & Visitors Regatta.

Henley Town & Visitors Regatta was an ARA regatta not an NARA regatta. For example, in 1937 (the last year before ARA clubs were allowed to race at NARA regattas and vice versa) the finals at Henley Town & Visitors Regatta included crews from clubs such as Thames, Maidenhead, Reading and Marlow – all of which were ARA clubs.

I suspect the photo was taken at the NARA Championships, which for some years in the 1930s was held at Henley a week after the Royal Regatta. The HRR Stewards used to leave the booms in place for the NARA Championships. You can see the booms in the photo.

The Times reported about the 1937 NARA Championships. In that piece it says that Clapton Warwick lost in the final of senior fours.

Britannia RC were, like Clapton Warwick, based on the River Lea, which is a tributary of the Thames in east London. Clapton Warwick RC merged with another Lea club, Gladstone RC, in 1958 to form Gladstone Warwick RC. In 1980, several Lea clubs, including Britannia RC and Gladstone Warwick RC, merged to become Lea RC, which still exists.

Many thanks to both Malcolm and Tim!