The inquest was still going on today after the 150th University Boat Race - intended as a glorious anniversary to mark that milestone - ended in acrimony and anti-climax on the Thames.

Few expected that yesterday's race could produce the drama of the previous two, both narrowly won by Oxford, but no-one predicted it would be all over bar the shouting at the first Fulham bend on the four miles 374-yard course.

The two men at the heart of the controversy, Oxford cox Acer Nethercott and his Cambridge counterpart Kenelm Richardson, agreed to disagree about the circumstances which saw the boats converge and rival oars smack together, causing Oxford's American bow man Chris Kennelly to slide off his seat.

As he struggled to re-set his oar and regain his momentum, Cambridge burst clear, leaving Oxford with only what Nethercott so graphically described as "the painful procession for home."

Nethercott insisted he had held his line with a firm rudder - even though he had taken Cambridge's water - and that their rivals had come across "too hard, too fast and too aggressively."

He complained: "I feel robbed. Nobody wants this kind of thing. People want close, exciting races just like last year.

"It's not just that we lost it on a foul, it's that we were so clearly faster. We were delivering everything we had worked on in practice and it leaves you with so many questions. Cambridge may have proved to be faster down the track, but we will never know now. It leaves a really hollow feeling in your gut."

Cambridge, not surprisingly, saw it differently and Richardson said: "The Oxford cox took a risk and what happened was very unfortunate for his crew, but I just held my nerve and held my line.

"The umpire was very good and told me to hold my line, so I knew I was exactly where I needed to be. We were in the right all the way round that first bend."

Decisively, umpire James Behrens almost instantly turned down Oxford's official protest, launched by Nethercott as the beaten boat crossed the finish line at Chiswick Bridge, effectively blaming the Dark Blues cox for the chaos which wrecked their hopes.

"I turned down the appeal on the basis that I was warning him at the time of the clash that he was out of his water," he explained.