Conditions: row2k's 6am run saw an empty river, perfectly flat conditions, a barely perceptible light rain, and no crews; by 7, the river was packed, the headwind had come up, and it was raining hard. By the time racing started at 8:30, it was a very English "dreary;" the day alternated between mostly cloudy with showers and rain. The headwind was at times stiff and gusty, and some races were rowed in driving rains. Throughout the afternoon, the rain had returned with a vengeance repeatedly, followed by short bursts of sunlight that did little to dry anyone out before the next bout of rain descended.
Correction: yesterday row2k reported that Yale had subbed a member of the heavyweight team into their boat when one member of the crew could not attend, which was incorrect; it is true, however, of the Cornell lightweight crew. The Yale light eight is rowing intact.
In Cornell's opening race today, the crew settled down to around 30 pretty early on, but was careful to keep their competition just about one length behind. At the close of the race, the Abingdon crew thanked Cornell for keeping the race close and interesting.
From the Waterlines: "A serious commitment to rowing at Henley was reflected yesterday by St. Peter's School, York, whose eight were due to cmopete in the PE against King's Chester. The fact that one of their athletes had an exam yesterday afternoon appeared a minor glitch - after asking the Stewards to postone the race until 7:25pm, there was the problem of getting the oarsman from Yorrk to Henley. A helicopter was charter to fly the boy to the Start of the course, wehere the eight had already paddled down with a substitute on board, and the umpire's launch was commandeered to ferry the examinee inthe boat. St. Petere's went on to win by three lengths but their troubles are not yet over; another memb of the crew will be flown from York this evening, this time by light aircraft, to take part in their race against Pangbourne at 7pm."
The first casualty of yesterday's racing was City of Bristol, whose steering let them down badly in the first race of the day, causing a clash with the opposition at the top of the island. Umpire Mike Baldwin was in no doubt about the correct course of action but had the grace to apologize to the crew for the fact that he had to disqualify them.
Heckuva morning for Malta/Malvern coach Craig Hoffman, who had crews rowing at 10:50, 11:30, and 11:40. Craig seemed to handle it well enough, and no surprise - not so different from Stotes...
Erik Winters and Luke McGee are doubling up rowing as Brown Alumni in the regatta in the 2x and the 8; doubling up is allowed so long as you are in one sweep and one sculling event. Their doubles race looked to be a heater; they had to row from behind to get a lead, but by Fawley they had three lengths and were down to 31 spm. "When they were still ahead after about a minute, I was definitely a bit scared," Erik Winters admitted after the race. The crew took a push around the Barrier, tho, and took a heap of water; it was all over from there.
USC drew a tough one: Tara is the Irish light eight, which, if they are able to win at Lucerne next week, will be selected to attend the World Champs in Japan. Hi Mom...
Another stateside matchup involving NYAC and Yale ended with NYAC advancing. The AC crew looked sharp and solid in not-so-great conditions, and includes Rob Milam, Pete Schwab, Bill Fedyna, and JE Lenhardt, who specifically asked yesterday if we would mention the crew on row2k. See the race description below as well.
The Brown Alum eight may have their hands full; the Tasmania crew they drew looks pretty good in practice.
The tradition of giving three cheers for your competitor over the finish line - a full "hip hip hooray/hoorah" three cheers - can tend to be a bit much for American crews, for whom the hooray thing is a foreign sound (although USC managed a very solid rendition). I thought the St. Joe's Prep crew came up with a good solution to the cultural conundrum when the entire crew clapped for the Bedford Modern crew after stopping just over the finish line.
The Cal crew rowed over the finish line and kept going again today without acknowledging their competition; the other crew was left to do three cheers a few hundred meters distant. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was nearly reported in today's papers (and editor cut the lament), and will almost certainly show up in tomorrow's paper. Oops
The Penn Varsity that won the Grand Challenge is holding a 50th anniversary reunion this week; this explains the Harry Parker sightings attendance at the regatta despite the absence of a Harvard HW crew.
Commentary gaffe of the day: "At the mile-and-a-quarter mark, the Berks crew is leading by a mile-and-a-quarter."
At the tea break, a race was run with a coxed four racing a toe'd coxed four with no coxswain, with a 360 degree camera replacing the coxswain toward the creation of a video that will show a run down the course from the coswain's perspective. The race is scripted, with margin of up to a 1/4 length at different points in the race, with the camera winning in the end. The crews did the full "hip-hip, lie down in the boat - the full boat. The footage will be used for a 360 coxing simulator to be housed in the rowing museum; users will put on a headset that will allow them to turn their heads and see the same thing that they would see when racing the course.
They did the same at the women's Henley, but it apparently didn't go so well; on the un-coxed hull, the camera was so much lighter than the usual coxswain that the tiller was barely in the water, making steering nearly impossible. The race was supposed to include some purposely shaky steering and a semi-interference, but the actual run went even worse - the crews even switched stations during the race.
Here are the official race descriptions from the umpires for a batch of races involving US crews:
Cornell vs. Abingdon School, Mike Sweeney: "Cornell led from the start and drew steadily ahead rowing well within themselves. Abingdon chased them all the way and maintained their stride. Cornell gave an exhibition of class rowing and Abingdon of commitment."
Cal vs Durham University: "Durham had a very poor start. They were never really in this race at all against a far superior opponent. California look a polished crew."
Manchester University B vs. Trinity Hartford USA: "A somewhat uneven contest. Trinity Hartford got off to a very good start, and kept at a fairly good rating as far as Remenham, where they eased the rating. A very powerful crew."
Malvern Prep B vs Northwich, Fawley Cup: "Good start by Malvern gave them a length at 1/4 mile. northwich tried gamely to hand on but always underrating Malvern moved progressively away to a comfortable win."
KF Sudar (Occoquan) vs. SP Madden (Malta): This race, sculled in variable, gusty headwinds, favored the heavier sculler, who steadily moved away from his opponent as the race progressed."
St Joe's vs. Bedford Modern School: "St Joseph's managed the conditions of an increasing wind considerably better than an apparently over-geared Bedford Modern eight who looked labored."
McGee and Winters vs. Buckworth and Pelham, doubles: "Buckworth and Pelham started well and led to the Barrier, where McGee and Winters sculled through their opponents without raising their rate of striking."
Wyatt Allen vs. AR Ardron, Diamonds: "The American sculler, after a high rating duel down the back of the island, steadily pulled away and way always in control."
Colby vs. Univ of the West of England: "An excellent race between two well-matched crews. West of England had a fast start and led by a length. Colby pulled them back steadily to effectively draw level, but West of England put in a well-timed sapurt to win a great contest."
NYAC vs. Yale, 4-: "New York AC moved quickly into a lead that they developed confidently thoughout. Yale's steering was rather more creative than they needed."
St. Xavier vs. King's College in the PE: "King's led at the top of theisland and the first signal. But then St. X's dropped their rating dramatically and proved much more effective in the headwind."
Yale vs. Manchester: These crews raced through a torrent, and the race description was completely illegible.
A few of the more interesting race descriptions:
"Auriol Kensington vs. Rob Roy: Both crew warned by the umpire off the start. Despite the mutual skirmish it developed into an uneventful race that Auriol Kensington dominated from the top of the island."
French and Green (Cygnet) vs. McGrail and Smith (London), Goblets: "Being tenacious, technical and quite fit, the London pair, who pushed before Fawley, took the lead just before Remenham. From then on the Cygnet pair had nothing to offer and faded."
London vs. Molesey, double sculls: An excellent race. "Never more than 1/2 length in it until the progress boards. The Molesey double showed great determination to stay in the lead in steadily worsening conditions. The London double remained cool and sculled with superior technique to prevail in the final sprint to the line. "
West and West vs. Miles and Bates, pair: "West & West, the heavier pair by over 4 stone per man, rowed clear of the Nottingham and Union pair up the island. Miles and Bates, at a consistent rating, made no impression on the Wests."
Henley vs. Molesey, Fawley: "A splendid and exiting race with the home crew cheered to the finish by their many supporters. Henley took an early lead but could never get away and at Remenham it looked as it Molesey would row through them. But Henley, although somewhat ragged, showed will and kept their nerve while Molesey faltered."
NUI Galway vs Palatine, Visitors: "A mismatch, combined with some really poor steering, made this no contest. Galway led from the start and finished paddling firm."
And finally, this seemed tersely economical: "Uneventful race involving two rather ordinary crews." Until this one came in: "DSA" which was later determined to indicate "Drew Slowly Away."
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|