It is Henley Friday and, adjacent to the docks, the boat tents whip in the wind. On the course, there have been headwinds (Thursday afternoon and evening primarily): gusts that cross the course and could be called capricious, kicking up at random and often unfortunate times.
The official score sheets for each race tell the tale of the winds thus far, noting when it has really kicked up. You can read it in the lowered rates, the struggles coxswains have had with keeping on desired course, and races won or lost by how well crews handled it. This was particularly true later on the Thursday, when the Princess Elizabeth race pitting Tabor versus Gonzaga was really a test of patience and each crew's ability to get past the chop. Gonzaga won that race, by a length, after trailing to the Barrier.
Besides the wind, the high volume of water from all the recent rain has kept the stream moving on the course. That current may be more the story than the wind; from the press box above the finish line, it is visible on the Berkshire Station. As one might imagine, that has made some of the most animated shoreline talk is about which lane is best. Anecdotally, the favored station is Berkshire. The official word, however, is this: both lanes are fair, with the same conditions.
This year, Harvard's encampment is at "H" bay (is that by design?), and as I passed by to find coaches for interviews, I heard Harry Parker being introduced as Harry Potter. This is a great start.
Onward to racing, with a quick run down of the wins and losses by the US crews thus far on Friday:
Potomac Boat Club from the Washington, DC area, was knocked out today by Royal Chester Rowing Club by two and a quarter lengths in a bout of the Thames Challenge (for club eights).
Andrew Campbell, formerly of New Canaan Boat Club in Connecticut, also US Junior, U23 and Senior National teams, knocked out Duncan Grant from New Zealand in a Diamond Challenge Sculls. Campbell, currently at Harvard, is coached by Charley Butt, and has a rowing resume of someone much older--this win here in the quarters was another nice feather in that cap of his.
The ubiquitous Jamie Koven -- an Olympian from back in 1996 and 2000 and himself a Henly Steward -- is here to race again this year, paired with former Oxford Blue Michael Blomquist. In a Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup race, they bested the German pair of Corinth and Antczak.
The freshmen crews from the University of Washington and Harvard University (racing as Harvard "A") battled this morning before the lunch break. In the end, it was IRA-dominating Washington who won by one length in the stacked Temple category. The other big Temple quarterfinal saw Brown University's JV eight beat a powerful Dutch/ASR Nereus crew, by three and 1/4 lengths.
Boston's scholastic crew from Belmont Hill fell to England's Hampton School in a PE Cup race today. Hampton, of course, has been a perennial player at Henley Royal over the years, so a tough match for the crew from the States, but that is the Henley challenge after all.
Also finding Friday a tough go: single sculler Michael Sivigny fell to the Bucks, the wind, and his Diamonds opponent J. F. L. Walton just before the lunch break, by two and a half lengths at a low rating. The Vesper Boat Club and Potomac Boat Club entry in the Princess Grace Challenge lost to the Dutch crew by open water.
On the positive side--and on to Saturday-- were the Harvard Lightweight (the "B" entry in the Temple), winning over Durham University by one and 1/4 lengths, and Brown University's Varsity, who dispatched the Italian Lightweight Eight, CNC Piediluco, "easily" from the Berks Station. The California Rowing Club--gents who just missed making the US Olympic Eight--knocked off the German eight from Ratzeburg, as well.
Onward to afternoon racing, with more from Henley to come. As afternoon racing commences, the sun is peeking out, and the wind has tempered a bit, so conditions may well give way to the story of the racing.
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06/30/2012 10:18:43 AM
06/29/2012 12:38:16 PM