 Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station , handing the Middlesex side of the river to Cambridge . In a stiff south @-@ westerly wind , umpire Payne started the race at 12 : 45 p.m. Oxford made a quick start , and according to the rowing correspondent of The Times " literally leaped away , seemingly to row two strokes almost before Cambridge had begun " . By the end of the first minute , the Dark Blues were a few feet ahead but with the bend in the river favouring Cambridge , the crews were level by Craven Steps . Despite a push from Cambridge 's stroke M. J. Marshall , the Light Blues could not gain any advantage and both crews passed the Mile Post level . 
