The 2017 Harvard-Yale Regatta got underway late on Friday afternoon with the traditional "Combination Boat" race over two miles. The combi boat, thusly named because the lineups used to be 3V/2F combination lineups, is now each team's 4th Varsity eight. Harvard took "first blood" in the traditional regatta, capturing the combi race by a good three lengths of open water ahead of Yale, and setting the stage for Saturday's Varsity races.
"There's no better way to finish the year than with a Yale shirt," said Senior 7-seat Phil Bates. "We're a really hungry boat, and we knew we were going to go out there and have a great race."
Both Bates and Harvard assistant coach Jesse Foglia pointed out the unique situation of the 4V having the first day of racing at the regatta entirely to themselves.
"We really see it as an opportunity to set the stage for the next day of racing," said Bates. "The upper boats take a boost in confidence from us doing well, and we take that responsibility."
"I think they see it as the main event!" said Foglia. "It's the one day of the year where it's all about the lowest boat in the fleet."
Motivation, Foglia explained, was not a factor. "I think, with this group in particular, we had a lull, or a release of emotional energy after they won the Sprints, but once we got to Red Top, to stay in the quarters and eat in the dining halls, the magnitude of this event and how important it is to so many people sinks in pretty quickly."
"It is bittersweet to see this end, I wish I could do this forever," said Bates.
New Rules for the Oldest Race
The Friday race was a short turnaround for both crews, having just returned to the East Coast from the IRA on redeye flights last Monday. Where the Combi boat was usually run on Saturday, with the other races on Sunday, the new rules of racing for the Harvard-Yale regatta move both days of racing back one day to allow for a spare day in case weather affects the racing, as it did in 2016.
The push to codify the rules for the Harvard-Yale regatta, justly known as the oldest intercollegiate athletic contest, came about as a direct result of the controversy that swirled around the 2016 contest, where the Harvard Varsity swamped in the first half mile, and the race was stopped by the official and declared a "no result," to the great chagrin of Yale and the satisfaction of, really, no one.
The H/Y regatta committee, made up of 13 Harvard and Yale alums, exists to run the race as well as preserve its traditions, and committee members Travis Metz (Harvard) and Ed "Doc-Oh" Burke (Yale) explained that the purpose of the new rules, though arising out of 2016's events, was not specifically focused on fixing a specific issue.
"One thing I'd say is that we're all still friends, and friendly," said Burke. "There were clearly opinions expressed, on both sides, and debated heavily, but I think the main goal was to come up with something all-encompassing. A lot of times, people try to fight the last war, and that winds up not being the right way forward."
"A lot of the (new) rules are taking from USRowing, which makes sense," continued Burke. "Some of the new rules are specific to here, because the race is of a different length."
"The most substantive rule we addressed specifically was, 'what is breakage,' and 'what happens when there is breakage'," added Metz. "There's an incredible amount of accumulated institutional knowledge and lore that sat in the heads of the coaches, and what we did was simply to codify that. It was not controversial or hard, because one of the things we agreed on beforehand was in setting up the new rules we were not going to relitigate what happened before."
The major changes to the regatta involved moving the racing back one day, from Saturday/Sunday to Friday/Saturday, to allow for the possibility of racing Sunday if weather conditions forced it. "From an athlete's point of view, an extra day of rest or training would have been ideal, but then you lose your backup day," said Metz. Additionally, the new rules specifically empower the chief referee to call the racing in the event of bad conditions.
The final rules document amounted to roughly three pages, "essentially USRowing rules with four added points," said Metz. "Charley and Steve both seemed supportive of the process," said Burke.
So was it unusual to be writing new rules for a 150 year-old contest? "Of course, I have a Harvard-centered view of this," said Metz. "Harry Parker coached here for 52 years. He was the rulebook, and then he passed and we never wrote down the rules. We should have done it before, and now we have."
Traditions
A perk for the winner of the first race on the regatta schedule is to have the honor of painting "the rock" overnight, in advance of the next day's racing. Be careful of how widely you broadcast your traditions, though...other folks might want to get into the action, as was evidenced by the state of the rock as the regatta got underway, whew. Well played, Bears.
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