Monday, October 20, 2008

Back from Boston

I got back from Boston Sunday morning. All in all it was a fun time. Timewise we had a better race than we expected, but finish position maybe not as much. I have to say that my first time coxing at the Head of the Charles was a blast. There were no boat collisions and not even any clashing of oars, except during Saturday's practice. I nailed the turn at the Week's Footbridge and forced another boat wide in the process so a double win there. Eliot Bridge was a bit of a disaster for us. As we were coming around approaching the bridge on a steep port turn, my 4 seat's oar hit a buoy. His oar hitting the buoy immediately forced the bow to starboard by about 45 degrees forcing as way wide on the turn. As one who has stood atop Eliot Bridge watching other boats make this turn and set up for going under the bridge and mocked those who went wide thereby losing precious seconds, I was appalled we had screwed up so badly. In addition, they do a live webcast from the Cambridge Boathouse that sits right there at the bridge so our disaster has now been broadcast and archived for the world to see. We did redeem ourselves after righting ourselves and getting through the bridge. At that point there is about 800 to 1,000 meters left and my guys managed to hold off two closing boats. I was proud of them. It would have been easy for them to just bag it and throw in the towel after the bad turn, but they didn't. We did the race in 17:48, which was a good 30 seconds faster then either of our Men's Boats from last year. Everyone seemed happy with that and we managed to celebrate old school after putting away our boat with some Pabst Blue Ribbon. Apparently our 23 yr old 3 seat found a deal on a PBR 30 pak for $30 and it was too good a deal to pass up. I'll post more about Boston and the race with pictures and video later this week.

Daughter#1 was also at the Head of the Charles and I got to watch her race in the Women's Master 4. She managed to win a Bronze medal so needless to say she was excited. I got to hang out with her and the fiance for a while after I finished my race before they headed home.

The weather was cold in the morning but warmed up enough to be comfortable during the afternoon. I loved just walking among the thousand of rowers there to race. It's all very exciting. More to come.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your finish! I was supposed to be there, but my half marathon kinda came first. Bad timing, huh? Maybe next year.

Frank said...

Thanks Caitlyn! That was bad timing! It was a blast to cox in this race and I had a good time. I figure we'll run into each other sooner or later at a regatta.