Head of the Charles Live Blog: Cambridge Boat Club, Team Attager, Boston University Among First Day Victors

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Oct 22, 2011

Head of the Charles Live Blog: Cambridge Boat Club, Team Attager, Boston University Among First Day Victors

6:30 p.m.: Day 1 has officially ended, and the remaining results are in.

Master Women's Eights: Toronto Sculling Club

Men's Doubles Championship: Peter Graves and Tom Graves of Craftsbury Schulling

Women's Doubles Championship: Jen Goldsack and Jen Daley of Penn AC/Vesper

Men's Collegiate Fours: University of Virginia Rowing Association

Women's Collegiate Fours: Washington University (St. Louis) Rowing

Men's Singles Championship: Mahe Drysdale of West End Rowing Club

Women's Singles Championship: Gevvie Stone of Cambridge Boat Club.

4:01 p.m.: All but one of the races have ended. We're still waiting for the results, but we'll have them up as soon as possible.

Here are some important event winners:

Men's alumni eights: Northeastern University Rowing Alumni

Women's alumni eights: Friends of Brown Women's Unversity Crew

Men's club eights: Brown University

Women's club eights: University of Tennesse

Men's club singles: David Judah

Women's club singles: Carissa Louwen

We just got this result in: Potomac Boat Club won the women's master fours (average age 40-plus).

Again, we're sorry for the delay in results, and we'll have the results of the final results up as soon as possible.

And the crowd estimate for the day: 164,000.

3:44 p.m.: More results!

Master Women's Doubles (40-plus): Saiya Remmler and Bell Teresa from Cambridge Boat Club

Master Men's Fours (average age 40-plus): Charles River Rowing Association

Master Men's Eights (average age 40-plus): Kennebecasis Rowing Club

The results are still coming in delayed, however.

3:32 p.m.: Stuck my head outside to check out the weather. It's much colder and cloudier than before. It's rivaling the conditions from this morning.

3:27 p.m.: As promised, here are some local collegiate teams competing in the collegiate events:

UMass-Amherst, UVM, Wentworth, Amherst College, Tufts, Boston College, Colby College, Middlebury, University of Rhode Island, Clark University, Connecticut College, Bates College, Wesleyan, Trinity College and WPI.

And that's just for the men's event.

For the women's event, here are the participating New England schools:

Trinity College, Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, Wellesley, Simmons College, Assumption College, Clark University, Middlebury, US Coast Guard Academy, Sacred Heart, Amherst College and Franklin Pierce University.

3:14 p.m.: More on the collegiate teams participating, especially the local ones, soon.

3:12 p.m.: Daniel Gorriaran and Michael Smith took advantage of a split in last year's winning crew to take the Master Men's Doubles 40-plus title.

And the University of Tennessee's women's crew won the Club Women's Eights event.

3:04 p.m.: As the men's eights (40-plus) passed by the Cambridge Boat Club, fans with Chinese flags were cheering on the crew from Shanghai.

3:00 p.m.: Men's doubles, championship style, will kick off the day's final events at 3:17 p.m.

2:49 p.m.: I know the weather says no rain, but the sun is almost completely gone over here by the Cambridge Boat Club and the sky is pretty much covered in clouds.

Just something to keep an eye on.

2:43 p.m.: Rapid reaction here, but those are all the results that we've gotten so far.

2:39 p.m.: Some other results:

Don Rowing won the men's club fours event.

2:36 p.m.: And another local team wins an event at the Head of the Charles. Boston University's women's crew team won the Club Women's Fours event with a total time of 19:49.42, while Brown's men team won the Club Men's Eights event from bow No. 7

2:30 p.m.: Maybe the result system has been fixed! There are a bunch I'm holding in my hand right now. So here it goes.

Club Singles Men competition goes to David Judah. While it is a little impressive, considering he was bow No. 64, scullers who finish in the top five percent of the Club Singles competition can't compete in the event next year.

Interesting.

Now for the women's event: Carissa Louwen came up from Bow No. 34 to take the event with a total time of 22:08.24.

2:16 p.m.: No drama at this point of the course for the Master Women's Doubles 40-plus…yet.

But as the weather turns chilly yet again, it looks as though the California tandem of Izzie Brown nd Janet Bellantoni are rowing well. They've passed a few boats, and they're currently behind New York's Kori Siciliano and Christine Goodness, who started the race No. 8.

2:09 p.m.: Drama in the Master Men's Doubles 40-plus event!

Boat with bow No. 7, which is John Ciani and Jaime Bea from SLO Rowing Club, had a little bit of a mishap.

I couldn't make it outside in time to see, but four witnesses told me the pair was about to hit the bridge so they needed to stop and adjust course. The new course took them from going through the middle arch to going through the arch closes to the Cambridge Boat Club. The problem with choosing that path?

There's a tree that's submerged in the water.

The boat was briefly entangled in the tree before getting out and getting back on course.

2:05 p.m.: A couple updates for you. First off, I just found out that the results are about an hour behind. They're hoping to correct that before the races end today. Until then, think of it as all the free suspense in the world you could ever want.

Secondly, we got the results in for the Alumni Women's Eight, which featured a little bit of an upset. Friends of Brown Women's Crew took home the victory, with University of Virginia Alumni coming in second.

1:52 p.m.: A lot of interesting things just happened.

First off, Northeastern seemed to be falling behind in the Club Women's Eights.

Then MIT and Holy Cross were locked in a battled heading into a turn. MIT was supposed to yield to Holy Cross as they both passed under the bridge, as Holy Cross was the faster boat, but MIT did not.

And then Villanova-Wildcat had to stop right before the bridge and adjust course, as the boat would have hit the bridge.

Interesting stuff going on here. Looks like the crowd thinks so too, as it's the biggest crowd that's been here all day.

1:42 p.m.: Let's take a look at some of the schools participating in the Club Women's Eights event.

Yale has one crew, Connecticut has a couple, MIT, Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern also have teams participating in the race.

1:33 p.m.: Club Men's Eights is going on right now. Fat Cat Rowing Club from Canada, University of Rhode Island and A Quebecoise d'Aviron just passed the Cambridge Boat Club.

University of Rhode Island isn't the only New England school involved, as Harvard has two teams (one with bow No. 1 and the other with bow No. 3) and Boston University has bow No. 2. Yale, Northeastern and Boston College are also competing.

Hobart College, with bow No. 15, was rowing very powerfully and seemed to be gaining ground and time.

1:24 p.m.: The weather is much nicer now. The clouds are gone and it looks as if the warmer temperature is attracting a larger crowd.

Fred Schoch, who is also a member of race operations, said it's still too early to estimate a crowd number but he expects it to eclipse 150,000.

1:18 p.m.: Unofficial results say that Northeastern University Rowing Alumni have won the Alumni Eights Men event.

Club Men's Eights is underway, and Club Women's Eights should be starting at 1:26 p.m.

1:12 p.m: We're having serious results issues out here. Something apparently went wrong with the system. Thanks again for your patience with us.

1:09 p.m.: Just spoke to a member of Team Attager, Fred Schoch, who was in Team Attager's third seat.

"I rowed in this race for 13 years before winning it, and it's such an emotional high when you win it for the first time," Schoch said. "Winning the Head of the Charles is a big deal."

This is Team Attager's sixth-straight victory. The team is from Cambridge, Mass.

"We're too old for the event, but every year we win, we're like, 'we have to go back and defend,'" Schoch said.

12:42 p.m.: Clouds are starting to dissipate here.

The Club Men's Fours event is going on right now.

12:31 p.m.: Here are the other events slated for today, in this order:

Club Men's Fours

Club Women's Fours

Club Men's Eights

Club Women's Eights

Master Men's Doubes 40-plus

Master Women's Doubles 40-plus

Master Men's Fours 40-plus

Master Women's Fours 40-plus

Master Men's Eights 40-plus

Master Women's Eights 40-plus

Championship Men's Doubles

Championship Women's Doubles

Collegiate Men's Fours

Collegiate Women's Fours

Championship Men's Singles

Championship Women's Singles

For the collegiate championships, I'll have a list of schools competing once it gets closer to start time. All championship races will occur between 3-4 p.m.

12:24 p.m.: No. 6 Erin Ketelle, from the Nashville Rowing Club, just passed by the Cambridge Boat Club. Sandwiched between her and No. 7 Clare Goslant, from Cambridge, was Texas native Sara-Mai Conway.

Not only was she rowing smoothly, but she seemed to be gaining ground.

After Conway came Goslant and Angelina Heyse.

12:15 p.m.: More results, this time for Senior-Master Doubles Men (50-pus).

Doug Hamilton and Mike Hughes, from the Ridley Graduate Boat Club in Canada, won the event by 2.34 seconds over Belmont Hill School's Tom Darling and Peter Kermond.

12:05 p.m.: The scullers are back out, as the Club Men's Singles event has started.

Just saw Nicholas Timmons, Daniel Ellis and Thomas Quigley pass by the Cambridge Boat Club.

Timmons was last year's Youth Special Medal winner.

And apparently it's not too cold for the bees.

11:54 a.m.: It's very cloudy outside, although the forecast says no rain. It's cold, but that doesn't seem to deter the crowd, which has been growing over the course of the races.

Thank goodness for ethernet cords. Wireless is apparently non-existent here.

11:50 a.m.: Since the results are taking a lot of time to come to us, I'll post a list of all the winners in their events when today's races are over.

11:47 a.m.: Alumnae Women's Eight going on right now. No. 13 George Washington's team and No. 14 University of New Hampshire's team just passed the Cambridge Boat Club.

11:32 a.m.: Hopefully we'll be able to talk to Team Attager. I've been told that one of the members will stop by in around an hour.

After the alumni events end, both club single events will start.

11:30 a.m.: Peeked outside for a look at the men's alumni race. It's a lot warmer now and the bridge is packed with spectators, and there are more people on the Boston side of the river than at the beginning.

Ever Green Boat Club's Dartmouth College alumni team No. 2 looked like they were in good shape, and BMA Boat Club's Cornell team also looked impressive, especially since they had passed Dartmouth's alumni team No. 3.

11:19 a.m.: Just found out that Massachusetts' own 1980 Rowing Club won the men's Senior-Master Fours event, with a time of 17:42.10.

We finally have the results for the women's Grand-Master Singles (50-plus) event. CB Sands-Bohrer, a member of the Cambridge Boat Club, won that race.

11:09 a.m.: Some previews/upcoming events:

Women's Alumnae Eights will start when the Men's Alumni Eights finish. For the women's race, University of Virginia's alumni team holds the course record, and they'll be trying to defend their title against Yale, Stanford and Brown.

11:03 a.m.: Just received word that the results for men's and women's Senior-Master Singles are final.

We have another unofficial result, this one for women's Senior-Master Eights.

Marin Rowing Association beat Etats Unis Rowing Club, who finished fourth. 1980 Rowing Club finished third, and Watercat Rowing Club slotted in at the third spot.

10:58 a.m.: So here's the deal — things are a little crazy at the media center, which is why there's a huge delay in results. Again, I'll try my best to get them to you as they come in.

Team Attager's win is official.

The next event slated to start is Alumni Men's Eights. Northeastern University's alumni team holds the course record, and they'll be searching for their third-straight victory.

10:51 a.m.: Here are the unofficial results for both men's and women's Senior-Master Singles (40-plus) events:

James McGaffigan beat out Gregory Benning, after Benning was handed a penalty, to take home the men's event.

Lisa Schlenker won the women's event by almost 30 seconds over Maureen Harriman.

10:44 a.m.: Thank you all for being patient with us while the internet issue was being sorted out. It looks like it's back, at least for now. Hopefully for good.

We've got a few both official and unofficial results in, including the winner of the Senior-Master Men's Eights 50-plus event.

It was Team Attager, who won their sixth straight. Also, Team Attager is actually 'Regatta' spelled backwards. Mind blown, right?

10:33 a.m.: Having technical difficulties, but we'll be back with you as soon as possible.

9:52 a.m.: The moment you've all been waiting for: The winners of the Grand-Master Singles Men (50-plus) competition have been announced!

Peter MacGowan successfully defended his title, winning this race with a total time of 19:09 over John Tunnicliffe and his time of 19:12.

Tunnicliffe started the race as No. 37.

MacGowan is 53 years of age, while Tunnicliffe is 50 years old.

9:46 a.m.: There are some sky banners, intermittently.

The next event is…

Senior-Master Men's Eights 50-plus!

Team Attager has won this event six straight times, and there's a wealth of international teams — five total — including a team from Australia and one from Italy.

9:35 a.m. Sun is out. Kind of.

Laura Imperial, No. 10, doesn't seem to be doing so well. There are a few rowers who have passed her, including No. 13 Rebecca Hollins.

Interestingly enough, last year's winner Tina Vandersteel starts the race at No. 3 this year, with Olwen Huxley (No. 1) and Julie Dykema (No. 2) ahead of her.

9:21 a.m.: Still waiting on results from the first race. Word along the grapevine is that they've changed the system a little bit this year, so it might take a little longer. Thank you for your patience with that!

9:14 a.m. It looks like James McGaffigan is keeping a solid pace over Tom Bohrer, thanks in part to his earlier start.

It looks as though Sean Wolf, the Somerville, Mass. native, might be en route to posting a better time than Bohrer. The gap between them as they passed the Cambridge Boat Club was very close.

It's still chilly, and it doesn't look like the sun will show up again anytime soon.

9:05 a.m.: The next event on tap (which has already begun) is the Senior-Master Men's Singles (40-plus).

This field features James McGaffigan, who won the event last year after after defeating Tom Bohrer, who is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist winner.

9:02 a.m.: We're still waiting on the results for the first event to turn final.

9:00 a.m.: It's getting a lot warmer outside, and the sun is finally getting in a little river time.

Eleanor Acworth and Joanne Barker (No. 21 and 24, respectively) just passed the Cambridge Boat Club. Barker was pressing Acworth and gaining on her.

There are a few light breezes but nothing too bad, and it doesn't look as if the weather is affecting any participants yet.

8:52 a.m.: For some background on this race… Margarita Zetta has won this even three times. CB Sands-Bohrer also has an impressive resumé in this event — she has earned a silver medal in this event and is a two-time world champion.

8:47 a.m.: The second race, Grand-Master Women's Singles (50-plus) has started. I'll have the results from the last race as soon as they're posted.

8:43 a.m.: I just spoke to Laura Knight, whose daughter will be rowing tomorrow for the University of Wisconsin. Knight, who is from New York state, said she is watching today because she enjoys rowing and this race is one of the most unique courses.

Knight said this course provides many viewing points, which allows her to stand at a different place every year.

And this isn't Knight's first year watching the race.

"I love it every year," Knight said. "I like the fact that rowing crosses every age spectrum."

8:26 a.m.: There are a couple of good battles going on on the Charles right now. The race is timed so it features staggered starts, but some of the rowers are begining to catch up to each other. Bob Elridge, from Wellesly, Mass. was just pressing Cambridge Boat Club's Dennis Ruane.

8:12 a.m.: We should have results up roughly 10 minutes after each race is over.

Peter MacGowan, who is defending his title, almost tied the course record with his winning time last year — he was one second shy.

8:06 a.m.: There aren't too many spectators here (by the Cambridge Boat Club, which is where the media center is). A handful of them are hanging out on the bridge and there a who are scattered on the banks of the Charles.

8:01 a.m.: And it's underway…

7:59 a.m.: Head of the Charles is almost underway. It's a little chilly outside, but it's not very windy and the water looks pretty calm.

7:50 a.m.: The first event this morning will be the Grand-Master Men's Singles (50-plus), which is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Last year's winner, Peter MacGowan will be racing with Bow No. 1. The results of every race will be posted as they become available.

7:34 a.m.: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Head of the Charles isn't that far off from starting now. On my way here, I caught some participants practicing and the umpires getting set up, and many souvenir tents. The sun hasn't quite come up everywhere, but it looks pretty clear outside.

6 a.m.: The 47th Head of the Charles Regatta is set to begin Saturday morning on the Charles River in Boston.

Rowers from around the world will make their way to the city to participate in the largest regatta on the planet, while thousands of enthusiasts will head to the shores to watch.

NESN.com will provide updates in this live blog for both days of the competition, so be sure to check in throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday for the latest news and all the results from the regatta.

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