HOSR official website | Photos and 2011 Results

At a time when that other regatta, which shall not be named, is eliminating recreational rowers, the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta directors are working hard to attract rowers just like you. They have created new events targeted to our membership and are exploring ways to make them more enjoyable for open water rowers. Read some of the proposals here. Open Water Athletes Will Vie for Title of Most Awesome Viking Athletes eager to explore their inner "Viking" will now have the opportunity to do so—the 41st Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta is expanding its open water racing events, offering adult open-water rowers two racing opportunities – one on each day of the regatta - and the option for the best performers among these athletes to vie for the title of Most Awesome Viking. "I believe that modern-day rowers who bravely launch their shells in open water most closely capture the historic adventurous spirit of the Vikings," says Christopher Blackwall, co-executive director for the October 29 and 30, 2011 Regatta. "We want to offer these competitors a fair, fun, and worthwhile racing experience at the Regatta. Athletes can compete in a standard head race on Saturday. On Sunday, they can then test their navigational skills in a "loop race," he adds. Top aggregate individual performers, male and female, will earn the Most Awesome Viking Trophy, distinctive, etched-glass awards named in honor of renowned Viking explorers. For more information and to register click here.

Men's Viking Award Thorfinn Karlsefni Icelandic leader who, in 1011, attempted to establish a colony in North America. A magnificent bronze statue of Thorfinn, by Einar Johnsson, stands immediately above the lighthouse on Boathouse Row. Read more about Thorfinn here. Last year the Thorfinn trophy was awarded to IROW board member, Don Libbey!

Women's Viking Award Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir The greatest female explore of all time. Second wife of Throfinn (previously married to Eric the Red's son). She explored the New World, gave birth there to the first child of European descent, returned to Europe, then walked to Rome to give the Vatican a first-person account of her journeys. And she accomplished all this some 500 years before Columbus made his voyage. Read more here.

Proposals from Christopher Blackwall, Director, Aquatic Logistics and Activities, HOSR 2011. Your feed back is requested.

1. Weeding out the kids. It’s patently not fair that you should have to race in direct competition with those young high-school legs, so I’ve already made the decision to create a separate race for the high-school-age scullers rowing “recreational” shells. It will be called the High School Trainer Singles. Eligibility will be the same as for the HOSR’s other high-school events and the boats would be USRowing Class 2 category – the dominant local subspecies being the Maas Aero and its Wintech equivalent.
   
   
2. To make your travel to HOSR more worthwhile and to increase your competitive options, I propose to offer you TWO racing opportunities, one each on Saturday and Sunday of the regatta. The Saturday race would be a standard head race to be called the Rough Water (or alternatively, Open Water) Singles Chase.  By the way, which do you prefer: “Open Water,” “Rough Water,” or to retain the term “Recreational?”
   
   
3. The Sunday event would acknowledge and take account of your navigational skills. It would be circular in nature and rowed counter-clockwise. It would start and end right in front of the Three Angels, close to the main regatta launching site and the festival tent. You would row upriver through the Columbia Bridge, round the tip of Peters Island, back down through one of the west side arches of Columbia Bridge, downriver to a point midway between the Three Angels and the Amtrak bridge, around some buoys at that point, and back upriver to finish at the starting point. For want of a distinctive title, I have dubbed this event the “Viking Venture,” about which, more below.
   
   
4. Why Viking? Well, I figure that notwithstanding modern-day “longboats” in the shape of eights, octuples and quads, the nearest contemporary rowing exemplars of the adventurous spirit of the Vikings are you guys who bravely launch forth on open water, often in conditions that would sink a racing shell.
   
   
5. Timing of these events. No more launching at the crack of dawn! The Saturday full-course Singles Chase would go off at 10:40 AM and the Sunday Viking Venture would go off at 11:00 AM. So, after Sunday’s race and award ceremony you can still make your getaway from the regatta at a very reasonable hour.
   
   
6. Prizes and Awards. Each race would offer gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three finishers, male and female. In addition, to reward those of you who are brave enough to enter BOTH events, the top aggregate individual performers, male and female, would be awarded the Most Awesome Viking trophies. The most awesome Viking male will receive the Thorfinn Karlsefni Trophy; and consistent with the HOSR’s overall gender-equal philosophy, the most awesome Viking female will receive the Gudrid (or Gudridur) Thorbjarnardottir Trophy.
   
   
7. Leveling the Playing Field. As far as boats go, the regatta is prepared to offer two divisions in each race, one for Class 1 shells (max 19 feet at waterline, minimum weight 40 pounds – e.g. Alden Ocean Shell) and the other for Class 2 shells (22 feet/38 pounds – e.g. Maas Aero, Martin Trainer, Alden Star and Wintech equivalent).
   
   
8. As far as medals go, the regatta does have a “minimum of three entries” condition for the award of medals in a given category, but it is frequently waived. I would propose to waive it in this context.
   
   
9. The only dilemma I have is over the Most Awesome Viking trophies. Should we have one of each for both boat classes, or work a tie-breaker based on some subjective criterion such as best Viking costume in the Sunday race, to be decided by a subcommittee of peers (s)elected from among your number?
   
   
10. As to age handicap adjustment, I would propose a single sliding scale based on the formula HOSR uses for veteran racing singles, reworked to accommodate all ages from 30 upwards.
    
    
11. So, What do You Think? I need your feedback, please feel free to email me at christopher.blackwall@verizon.net or call me at 610-789-4884.

With best regards,

Christopher Blackwall
Director, Aquatic Logistics and Activities, HOSR 2011
christopher.blackwall@verizon.net