Mahé's Mail- Opening at Henley

by Mahé Drysdale on 30 Jun 2006 Well I have left Poland and the Rowing NZ team for a week to come to compete in the Diamond Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Pretty much the title says a lot about the regatta, it is another world and it is different to any regatta I have ever been to. It is like walking back into a world that existed about 120 years ago. Not surprising I suppose considering the Diamond sculls where thought up in 1844 and the current trophy has been contested since 1850.

This regatta is a law unto its self as it existed before the British and World rowing bodies were even thought up. The Stewards (members of the Regatta) run the regatta and have complete jurisdiction over what happens.

I am being looked after very well staying with a lovely family in a very large house up the hill from the river. The gardens are fantastic, half an acre in the middle of Henley you would think to be rare, but not so sure after seeing Henley and this regatta.

To try and describe the regatta a few worlds come to mind, Tradition, Posh, Conservative, English. It runs very differently from your average regatta too, for a start there are only two boats per race and the looser is knocked out. So by the end of today (day 2) three quarters of all the crews entered in the regatta have been knocked out and can go home. Which I think is a good thing as by the time they have had their lunch and tea breaks there isn’t a huge amount of time for rowing so the less races the better.

There are a few other differences, the crowds are much larger and better dressed than your average spectator, there is one lane shared by both boats and big solid wooden logs (instead of buoys) to mark the lanes so you drift wide and your pretty much toast. There is no electronic timing instead the umpire takes the time from following the race and each mark flags drop so the umpire knows when you go through a mark. There are no commentators, just announcers (most like golf commentators) and they certainly don’t have any emotion in their voice.

'As they Draw to the finish, Tideway Scullers striking 38, hold a bow ball lead over Henley striking 40' By listening to the guy you think the race is clear cut, but on the water they finish in a photo finish. There are no big screens or TV, just wooden boxes with people pushing boats along to replicate the progress of the race.

The race results are all given by verdict, 'Tideway Scullers win by 2 lengths' The fans as well don’t shout much just clap and say 'jolly good show old chap'. This is what makes Henley and will hopefully never change. It is the reason I wanted to come and despite all the stories I still didn’t expect the reality to be as the stories suggested. It certainly feels like you are a part of history and if you win you will forever be in the record books. I am really enjoying everything about it. Think it is something every athlete should get an opportunity to experience at some point in their career because it is different and very unique.

So today was the start for me and I faced an English guy who has been on the verge of the squad for years. First things first and it was to the weigh in, yes that’s right they weight everyone and I came in at 15,4 as they do it all in stone here, why they do it and what that means I have no idea, think its just the way its been done traditionally**(see note below). The raced started well as I jumped to a lengths lead quickly, I kept extending the lead and at the ¼ mile (miles not KM) I was comfortably in front and the rest of the race consisted of the rating (or as they say in Henley the striking) getting lower and lower (finishing around 23).

The verdict was 'easily' (meaning 5 lengths or more) and 3rd fastest time of the 8 races in the Diamonds. The umpire certainly kept my mind working as the wind and wash made it difficult to stay on my side meaning 3 warnings from the Umpire, so certainly something to take into tomorrow’s race.

The last great thing about this regatta is the spectators in boats, they literally tie their boats to the booms, therefore they are only about 3-4M away from you. This is certainly something you have to get used to as in the usual 2K format the competitor in the lane next to you is at least 6M away.

I am off to bed as have an earlier one tomorrow racing at 9:50. Will let you know how it goes and any more about the experience then.

**
The weighin is still done in Imperial Units of Stones and Pounds (Avois Dupois) so Mahe weighed in at 15st 4 pounds - or 97.07 Kilos. It is only recently that the UK has gone fully metric so Stones, pounds and ounces are still familiar and 'traditional'. Coxwains need to weigh a minimum of 8 stone - Ed.