The Boat Race 1982 fellow at St Hugh's was persuaded back into the crew by the Oxford boat club president Nick Conington. Rankov was rowing in his fifth consecutive Boat Race, alongside Steve Foster whom he supervised in classics. Oxford's crew also contained the Clay twins, Robert and Hugh. River conditions were calm: Jim Railton of "The Times" described the course as "a smooth and flat Queen's highway from Putney to Mortlake." Michael Muir-Smith was the umpire for the race, for which Oxford were "heavily favoured". They won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station. A good start from the Light
Putney Vale II listed. A 1928 copy of Punch magazine published an advertisement for KLG "'fit and forget' sparking plugs", with the manufacturer's works being in Putney Vale, with its telephone numbers being Putney 2132 and 2133. Founded by Kenelm Lee Guinness, part of the famous brewing dynasty, he was a noted early motor racer before developing highly reliable auto and aero spark plugs. The company grew from the disused Bald Face Stag pub in Putney Vale into works reputedly employing more than 1,500 people. The site is now the Asda supermarket. After a serious motorsport accident Guinness committed suicide by gassing