2008-09 Crew Blog - Week 6

by Elissa Center - October 23, 2008

The Head of the Charles was a lot of fun this past weekend. It was great to be back in Boston, although the water conditions were less than ideal. We had quite a few waves crash over the side of the boat before our race, and we saw an angry single sculler get swamped. Luckily, the water got flatter as we raced, and we were able to settle into a nice rhythm as the race went on. I think we learned a lot about what we can improve on in our racing strategy, so we’re excited to test it out this weekend.

Since we were racing the following day, our boat stayed on campus on Saturday rather than battling the crowds in Boston for Day One of the racing. We were kind of bummed that we wouldn’t be able to watch our fours race, but technology can be a pretty great thing sometimes! The website for the Charles had live a live video streaming from near the finish of the race course, so some of my boat mates and I gathered around a computer and watched them pass by. We might’ve even been cheering from our dorm room. Luckily, our moose call is pretty loud and distinctive; I bet you can hear it all the way in Boston.

I can’t believe how fast time is flying by. We’re already approaching the end of the fall season! This weekend, we’ll be in Philly trying to defend our Seven Sisters title from 2005 (the last time the race wasn’t cancelled) and hoping for better weather than we’ve seen in the past couple of years. Even the snow from my novice year would be welcome, as long as we get to race it this year! Fingers crossed - the forecast looks good. We’ve been doing a lot of great pieces in practice lately, lining up all of the boats and racing each other, and I think everyone’s feeling confident and excited to take that momentum to Philadelphia on Sunday!