"Terry Harper" wrote in message
...

Why do you like to punt standing on the foc'stle? It makes steering a
hazardous occupation.

It actually feels easier to drive a Cambridge boat from the Cambridge end, I
haven't worked out the physics but it must be getting a better angle or
something, and the length of the pole and the depth of the river probably
come into it.

I've tried punting an Oxford boat from the Cambridge end and indeed it
doesn't work. The reason it doesn't work is that Oxford punts are week
feeble things and lack the necessary torsional rigidity, with the result
that your energy goes into setting up twisting motions along the length of
the boat (I guess if you tried hard enough you could get it to fling you
sideways off the side of the boat) instead of moving the boat forwards.

So I drive Cambridge boats from the Cambridge end and Oxford boats from the
Oxford end. Not that punting in Oxford is a terribly interesting experience
anyway, due to them having put the river in the wrong place.

--
Tim Ward - posting as an individual unless otherwise clear
Brett Ward Ltd - www.brettward.co.uk
Cambridge Accommodation Notice Board - www.brettward.co.uk/canb
Cambridge City Councillor