The start of the regatta came with more than its fair share of gremlins both on and off the water, but as always the HRR swan glides serenely on even if the paddling below the water is slightly more frenetic than usual...
On picking up the official Wednesday programme this morning, we were amused to see that it came with note declaring that "the race timetable on page 12 and 13 is correct"... as for the other pages, they were a bit more hit and miss, as the accompanying list of six corrections (race details appearing in the wrong slots) and a wodge of replacement photocopied pages confirmed. However, despite occasional commentary announcements pointing the listening masses to the correct page for the race on the course, many spectators were left wondering if they were either going mad or had drunk more than they had realised...
The first race of the day saw Galway RC, Ireland beat Maidstone Invicta RC in a heat of the Thames Cup – the Galway eight having managed to acquire a couple of new riggers at short notice after bending their originals on a signpost on the course the previous night.
The "how to arrive at the regatta in style" bar was set high this morning, as the Daily Telegraph’s rowing correspondent Rachel Quarrell (of Rowing Service fame) got a lift to the start by helicopter. Apparently the drive to Oxford airport took nearly as long as the usual drive to the regatta, but the views were worth it. The helicopter had found a friend by lunchtime, so she clearly wasn't alone... though quite how anyone is going to better that by the end of the week remains to be seen.
The course is sporting a glorious new addition this year in the form of the new 'floating grandstand' – or, to give it its official name – the Regatta Control Barge. The old floater died a death two years ago after being thoroughly condemned by 'elf and safety as a potential death trap - well it had been in use since sometime around 1924 (n.b. I may be exaggerating slightly, but you get the general idea). Rumour has it that the change in name is because tax is payable on grandstands... apparently, "it is not a supporter facility – it is a facility for regatta administration" - so now you know...
Following the age-related retirement from flag waving of Mike Sweeney and Mike Baldwin last year, there are two new umpires... lovely Richard Phelps and Sir Matthew Pinsent, who began umpiring in the Thames region about four years ago after a discussion at Henley with some regional umpires. One of those referees happened to be on the launch for Pinsent's first Henley flag-waving; said umpire had about 8 years on him when it comes to umpiring, so he didn't look happy when he was told that, as President of the Thames Region, she was there to critique his technique!!! "To be fair he's not bad and he's been doing quite a lot on the domestic front," we are told.
Running a top sporting event from a temporary site in a field by a river is never easy, but things weren't helped when, about an hour into racing post tea-break this evening, there was a power cut across a large swathe of the Henley area – including 400 local houses and the entire regatta course.
As is always the case with technology, you only realise how much you depend on it when it's no longer there, but, no doubt executing a contingency plan from around 1860, racing continued – albeit without commentary. The regatta's back-up generators kicked in after 20 minutes providing limited power – though, as it didn't extend to wireless internet access, we took it as a sign from above and retired to the bar (as at least the bar staff are still manual).
Power was still off some time after the end of racing, causing frustration for crews and coaches who were in the dark as to the time of their races on Thursday. Apparently the last time there was a power cut in Henley, it took the power company 12 hours to get things back on line – so fingers crossed normality will have resumed by tomorrow morning.
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