Cambridge, with four Englishmen, two Americans and three Canadians, lagged Oxford by a quarter of a length early on but powered back in a winning time of 17 minutes and 35 seconds.

The Light Blues now lead Oxford, who were chasing three wins in a row, overall by 80 wins to 75 with one dead heat.

"I was always relaxed," said Cambridge cox Ted Randolph after the two eights' blades had briefly clashed. "I just held my line, told my guys what was going on and they supplied the power."