They don't get any closer than the 2008 Gallagher Great Race.

After over 4km of racing on the challenging Waikato River, it came down to the sprint for home in what umpire Lee Spear described as the 'best ever' Gallagher Great Race.

It was a classic race that Cambridge University won by a scant quarter of a length in 16 minutes exactly - an exciting conclusion to the race and a great day for the spectators and the Gallagher Group, the Waikato company celebrating its 70th anniversary and seventh sponsorship of the event.

Cambridge University, winners against Waikato the last time the two met, had won the erg race on the Thursday and with bragging rights in the power stakes were the pundits’ favourites in the build up. The confirmed their speed and power with a blistering start that saw them take clear water inside the first minute. A nice rhythm by stern pair Rob Weitemeyer and crew captain Henry Pelly could have dominated but Waikato hung on.

As Pelly later explained: "What was special about the Waikato performance was the way they hung on. It's never easy rowing in someone's wash and more often than not that crew will fall back. Waikato, though, were having none of that."

Waikato looked less crisp than Cambridge (Who by now had lost their cox box and were relying on relayed messages) but were enjoying a scintillating rhythm of their own behind stroke man David Eade. The crew kept the pressure on and just before the Fairfield Bridge fought back and pressured Cambridge enough for umpire Spear to warn the light blues to move out. This they did, but only marginally, and Waikato continued in the choppy water of their rivals - perhaps a critical moment in the race.

It remained largely stalemate with Cambridge around one length of clear water ahead until the crossing, where Waikato had less work to do with the rudder and came back into it again as both crews entered the final stretch and the run to the finish. Memories of the speed Harvard showed in 2007 will have been fresh in the minds of the likes of Olympian Nathan Twaddle in the six seat and there was a noticeable lift in temp from the stern four of Waikato with about 1,000 metres to go.

Cambridge responded, but Waikato kept coming and as they started to hear the roar of the crowd, so they picked up even more speed. They looked at their best technically in the final 500 metres of the race and it was almost enough to get past Cambridge. The visitors though, found just enough and crossed the line a quarter of a length to the good, and fully aware they had been in an amazing race.

Captain Graeme Hill was disappointed, but had clearly enjoyed a superb match. "I'm a bit gutted but that finish with the crowd really made us sprint. Cambridge are our fiercest competitors whenever they come they show us how, another few strokes though and we could have made it, we were closing fast."

Pelly agreed that Waikato had his crew on the ropes. "The way they stayed with us was very special and a lot of us were hanging on at the end."

And so it ended 2-2 with everyone wondering - and hoping - that the light blues would come back soon for another encounter.

The women's race for the Bryan Gould Cup was by contrast a very one-sided affair with Waikato University completely dominating the University of Sydney and coming home a distance ahead despite losing Emma Twigg to injury the day before.

Elsewhere during the day Hamilton Boys showed they were likely to be contenders again during the domestic New Zealand rowing season with a dominant one-two in the schools race.

Waikato push at the crossover - Twaddle in the thick of it again