Bump (rowing)

A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and "bump" the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.

The form is mainly used in intercollegiate competitions at the University of Cambridge, since 1827, and at the University of Oxford since 1815. Bumps racing in fours is also the format of inter-house rowing at Eton College and Shrewsbury School. It is particularly suitable 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. Few rowers worldwide use rivers as narrow as the Cam or the Isis, but bumps races are also contested elsewhere.

Bumps races are typically raced in a series over several days. The starting order of each day's race is based on the previous day's results; the first day's starting order each year is determined by the results on the last day of the previous year. 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 or chain attached to the bank, the other end of which is held by each boat's cox. Boats wait along the bank, and may be poled out just in time for the start, to avoid drifting. At the start signal the cox lets go of the rope and the crew starts to row, attempting to catch and bump the boat in front while simultaneously being chased by the one behind.

A bump is made when any form of contact is made with the boat in front; however, outright collisions are neither necessary nor encouraged. Alternatively, if possible, an overtaking-bump occurs when the stern of the chasing boat completely passes the bow of the boat in front. This is relatively rare simply because it is easier to make contact with a rival boat than it is to overtake it. A bump of this kind usually only occurs when a boat crashes. Under the current Cambridge rules, to overtake merely requires the pursuing boat to draw alongside the other boat's bow ball; side by side is good enough, and in the early part of the course a bump is deemed to occur when the bowball of the chasing crew passes the cox of the crew being chased.

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