Cox Nick Brodie - formerly of Abingdon School - showed his leadership qualities as Oxford gained revenge for last year's defeat on the Thames by beating Cambridge by six lengths on a choppy Thames on Saturday.

The Light Blues, ten pounds a man lighter, put in a great challenge until halfway.

Sean Bowden, Oxford's coach, said on the eve of the contest: "If it is going well, you can stick to a plan. If the other boat is all over you, you have to go and understand that the race is NOW."

"Now", as far as this year's race was concerned, was after some ten minutes along the Chiswick Eyot.

For Oxford, on Middlesex after losing the toss, the plan initially worked well.

They led off the start, held off a big push from Cambridge after three minutes and led, just, at the Mile.

Ominously, another Cambridge push at Harrods coupled with an Oxford "shipwreck" and catching of blades in the water, produced an apparent faltering in the Oxford effort The Light Blues led, narrowly, for the first time, at Hammersmith Bridge with their bend advantage ahead.

Cambridge then achieved a threequarter length. advantage approaching Chiswick Eyot.

Then two things happened.

First, Oxford's crew spirit, led by president and cox Brodie, shone through. Then the change in direction on the course produced a head rather than tail wind.

Oxford swept ahead and the race was over. A 16-second lead at Barnes Bridge was extended by six more seconds by the finish.

Olly Moore, a Radley product from Burford and the second of Oxfordshire's three performers, said: "It was pretty hairy in the middle.

"When it came to along Chiswick Eyot, we got aggression going. We started yelling at each other, stepped it up, and I was surprised how quickly we went through."

Brodie, possibly with thoughts of his well-documented annoyance with Cambridge after their 2007 German stroke man failed to complete his scheduled academic course, kept his men at full stretch and rating higher than their trailing opponents.

He said: "There were definitely some tense moments in the race where we weren't rowing very well.

"We were concerned, as we weren't expecting them to be that fast for quite so long.

"But we managed to stick to what we were doing. We put in a good push along the island and moved through them fast."

Their youngest crew member, Ben Smith, whose home is in Oxford, was clearly excited more by this victory than some of his earlier international success.

"It was the best race of my life. It was amazing," he said.

Cambridge coach, New Zealander Duncan Holland, had no excuses. Was headwind the problem?

"The problem was that Oxford were faster. We set out to win the race early, on Surrey.

"Oxford were able to blunt that, and, when we ran out of puff, they disappeared into the distance."

It was also reason to celebrate for Oxford's Mike Wherley - at 36 - four years old than any previous Boat Race oarsman.

The American, who won three World Championships in the 1990s, came out of retirement after three years for the race.

"This is a great race and I loved taking part in it - it's fabulous to win," he said.