The leaves have barely started turning and we’ve already got our first race under our belts… sort of. The Textile this year was one unlike any other in recent history.
For the Bowdoin Navy, it included just as many non-races as it did races. The gentle breeze that kicked us into gear early Sunday morning ended up kicking us off the water by early afternoon.
Our novices, scullers, and club fours returned from mighty voyages down the Merrimack River with stories of being “slaughtered” by the waves and trying to dodge buoys that had drifted all around the course, yet all crews pulled through with remarkable spirit.
Our first novice men’s boat came in fifth in their event with a time of 25:30, with the second novice men’s boat following closely behind with 28:36. The first novice women earned second place with an impressive 28:36!
Next up was the men’s recreational single sculling event, which was demolished by our very own Lucian Black with a time of 28:25.
In the men’s club fours event, our third varsity boat came in eighth with a time of 23:32 after a penalty. Several course marker buoys had moved around in the tumultuous waves, so many crews were getting penalized left and right for “skipping” them. A similar thing happened to our women’s third varsity boat. Despite the odds, they had a great race with an adjusted time of 28:44!
By the time 1 pm rolled around, three more men’s boats and two more women’s boats were sitting pretty at the start line, ready to take a stab at it.
The Merrimack had other plans…
Several boats had already flipped downriver due to the nasty conditions, and race officials deemed the whole project unsafe for the rest of us. In an exciting and thoroughly unsystematic manner, about thirty boats of all different sizes made a beeline (“paddling”) back to the dock.
Thankfully, all our rowers, coxswains, and equipment made it back safe and sound, albeit damp. Land ho!
This weekend, we take on the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta and, after that, the Chahhhles River! Stay tuned with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@bowdoinrowing).