Harvard-Yale Regatta

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Yale's Blade
Yale's Blade

The Harvard-Yale Boat Race or Harvard-Yale Regatta is an annual rowing race between Yale and Harvard universities. First contested in 1852, annually since 1859 except during major wars fought by the United States, The Race is America's oldest collegiate athletic competition, predating The Game by 23 years. Originally rowed on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, it has since moved to the Thames River, New London, Connecticut. Although other locations for the race have included the Connecticut River at Springfield, Mass. and Lake Quinsigamond at Worcester, Mass., the Thames has hosted The Race on all but 5 occasions since 1878 and both teams have erected permanent training camps on the Thames at Gales Ferry for Yale and at Red Top for Harvard. The race has been exclusively between Harvard and Yale except for 1897 when the race was held as part of a three boat race with Cornell on the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, New York, where, although it lost to Cornell, Yale was deemed the winner of the Harvard-Yale race.[1][2]

Harvard's Blade
Harvard's Blade

Contents

[edit] History

On May 24th, 1843, with the arrival of the Whitehall in New Haven, Yale University founded the first collegiate crew in the United States.[3] A year later, Harvard founded their boat club.[4] These boat clubs served primarily a social purpose,[5] until Yale's 1852 issuance of a challenge to Harvard "to test the superiority of the oarsmen of the two colleges".[6] The first Yale-Harvard Boat Race—and the first American intercollegiate sporting event—took place on August 3rd, 1852. In this two-mile contest, Harvard's Oneida prevailed over Yale's Shawmut by about two lengths, with Yale's Undine finishing third.[7]

While the first race was held over 2 miles (3.2 km), this was extended to 3 miles (4.8 km) for the races through 1875, and has since been raced over 4 miles (6.4 km). The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race is the only longer side-by-side rowing event in the world, though slower stream makes the Yale-Harvard Race one to three minutes longer.[8]

"The Rock" at Bartlett's Cove during the 2006 Yale-Harvard Regatta
"The Rock" at Bartlett's Cove during the 2006 Yale-Harvard Regatta

Originally the race was just between the varsity crews but there are now 3 events on the day: the 2 mile (3.2 km) freshmen race, the 3 mile (4.8 km) junior varsity and the 4 mile (6.4 km) varsity race. The varsity crews compete for the Sexton Cup, the junior varsity for the F. Valentine Chappell Trophy, and the freshmen for the New London Cup. The Hoyt C. Pease and Robert Chappell Jr. Trophy are awarded to the team that wins the majority of these three races.

Typically the day before the freshman, junior varsity and varsity races, there is a 2 mile (3.2 km) race between the spares for both crews. These "combination" boats are made up of second freshman boat and third varsity boat rowers (i.e. the "combi" or "combo" race). The winner of this race gets the James P. Snider Cup, as well as the right to paint its school's colors on the "rock" at Bartlett's Cove for the next day's races.

Currently Harvard leads the varsity series at 88-54, the second varsity (JV) at 68-37, and the freshman series at 64-39-1. Harvard also holds the upstream record with its time of 18:41.9 in 1995. Yale's fastest upstream time (18:45.5) was also posted that year. The Crimson set the downstream--and Thames River course--mark of 18:22.4 in 1980.

Yale Varsity bow four 2007
Yale Varsity bow four 2007

[edit] Results[9]

[edit] Varsity Race

  • Harvard: 88 wins
  • Yale: 54 wins
Date Site Length Direction Winner Harvard Time Yale Time
August 3, 1852 Winnipesaukee 2 - Harvard (2 lengths)
July 21, 1855 Springfield 3 - Harvard 22:47 24 min.
July 26, 1859 Worcester 3 - Harvard 19:18 20:18
July 24, 1860 Worcester 3 - Harvard 18:53 19:05.5
July 29, 1864 Worcester 3 - Yale 19:43.5 19:01
July 28, 1865 Worcester 3 - Yale 19:09 18:42.5
July 26, 1866 Worcester 3 - Harvard 18:43.5 19:10
July 19, 1867 Worcester 3 - Harvard 18:12.75 19:25.5
July 24, 1868 Worcester 3 - Harvard 17:48.5 18:38.5
July 23, 1869 Worcester 3 - Harvard 18:02 18:11
July 22, 1870 Worcester 3 - Harvard 20:30 (fouled)
July 24, 1872 Springfield 3 - Harvard 16:57 18:13
July 17, 1873 Springfield 3 - Yale (uncertain) 16:59
July 18, 1874 Saratoga 3 - Harvard 16:56 (disabled)
July 14, 1875 Saratoga 3 - Harvard 17:05 17:14.5
June 30, 1876 Springfield 4 - Yale 22:31 22:02
June 30, 1877 Springfield 4 - Harvard 24:36 24:43
June 28, 1878 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 20:44.75 21:29
June 27, 1879 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 22:15 23:58
July 1, 1880 New London 4 Downstream Yale 25:09 24:27
July 1, 1881 New London 4 Downstream Yale 22:19 22:13
June 30, 1882 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 20:47.5 20:50.5
June 28, 1883 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 25:46.5 25:59
June 26, 1884 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:48 20:31
June 26, 1885 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 25:15.5 26:30
July 2, 1886 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:05 20:42
July 1, 1887 New London 4 Downstream Yale 23:10.5 22:56
June 29, 1888 New London 4 Downstream Yale 21:24 20:10
June 28, 1889 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:55 21:30
June 27, 1890 New London 4 Downstream Yale 21:40 21:29
June 26, 1891 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 21:23 21:57
July 1, 1892 New London 4 Downstream Yale 21:42.5 20:48
June 30, 1893 New London 4 Downstream Yale 25:15 25:01.5
June 28, 1894 New London 4 Downstream Yale 24:38 23:45.5
June 28, 1895 New London 4 Downstream Yale 22:05 21:30
June 25, 1897 Poughkeepsie 4 - Yale 21:00 20:44
June 23, 1898 New London 4 Upstream Yale 24:35 24:02
June 29, 1899 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 20:52.5 21:13
June 28, 1900 New London 4 Downstream Yale 21:37.4 21:12.8
June 27, 1901 New London 4 Downstream Yale 23:45 23:37
June 26, 1902 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:33 20:20
June 25, 1903 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:19.6 20:19.8
July 1, 1904 New London 4 Upstream Yale 22:10 21:40.5
June 29, 1905 New London 4 Upstream Yale 22:36 22:33.5
June 28, 1906 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 23:02 23:11
June 27, 1907 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:13 21:10
June 25, 1908 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 24:10 (not taken)
July 11, 1909 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 21:50 22:10
June 30, 1910 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 20:46.5 21:04
June 30, 1911 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 22:44 23:40.5
June 21, 1912 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 21:43.5 22:04
June 20, 1913 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 21:42 22:20
June 19, 1914 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:16.2 21:16
June 25, 1915 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:13.5 20:52
June 23, 1916 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 20:02 20:17
June 1, 1918 Derby, CT 2 - Harvard 10:58 11:04
June 20, 1919 New London 4 Downstream Yale 21:47.6 21:42.2
June 25, 1920 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 23:11 23:46
June 24, 1921 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:44.2 20:41
June 23, 1922 New London 4 Upstream Yale 22:06 21:53
June 22, 1923 New London 4 Downstream Yale 22:35 22:10
June 20, 1924 New London 4 Downstream Yale 22:11 21:58.4
June 19, 1925 New London 4 Upstream Yale 20:32.4 20:26
June 25, 1926 New London 4 Upstream Yale 20:21.6 20:14.4
June 24, 1927 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 22:35.1 22:39
June 22, 1928 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:56 20:21.6
June 21, 1929 New London 4 Upstream Yale 21:39 21:20
1934 Yale
1947 Harvard
1952 Harvard
1954 Yale
1955 Yale
1956 Yale
1957 Yale
1958 Yale
1959 Harvard
1960 Harvard
1961 Harvard
1962 Yale
1963 Harvard
1964 Harvard
1965 Harvard
1966 Harvard
1967 Harvard
1968 Harvard
1969 Harvard
1970 Harvard
1971 Harvard
1972 Harvard
1973 Harvard
1974 Harvard
1975 Harvard
1976 Harvard
1977 Harvard
1978 Harvard
1979 Harvard
1980 New London 4 Downstream Harvard 18:22.4
1981 New London 4 Yale
1982 New London 4 Yale
1983 New London 4 Yale
1984 New London 4 Yale
1985 Harvard
1986 Harvard
1987 Harvard
1988 Harvard
1989 Harvard
1990 Harvard
1991 Harvard
1992 Harvard
1993 Harvard
1994 Harvard
1995 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 18:41.9 18:45.5
June 8, 1996 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:08.5 20:01.9
June 1, 1997 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 22:06.8 22:10.3
June 6, 1998 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 20:32.3 21:53.7
June 5, 1999 New London 4 Downstream Yale 20:51.98 20:45.94
June 10, 2000 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 19:44.4 19:54.2
June 3, 2001 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 18:55.6 19:32.7
June 8, 2002 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 19:02.5 19:43.8
June 7, 2003 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 18:54.4 19:44.2
June 12, 2004 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 18:42.1 19:06.8
June 11, 2005 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 19:20.4 20:00.0
June 11, 2006 New London 4 Upstream Harvard 23:22.6 23:30.4
June 9, 2007 New London 4 Upstream Yale 19:58.0 19:57.5

[edit] Junior Varsity Race

  • Harvard: 68 wins
  • Yale: 37 wins
Date Winner Harvard Time Yale Time
June 8, 1996 Yale 16:42.4 16:37.6
June 1, 1997 Harvard 13:57.2 14:11.6
June 6, 1998 Harvard 16:12
June 5, 1999 Harvard 16:17.7 16:26.6
June 10, 2000 Harvard 15:01.2 15:15.7
June 3, 2001 Harvard 14:23.7 14:37.5
June 8, 2002 Harvard 14:19.0 14:45.8
June 7, 2003 Harvard 13:57.0 14:31.2
June 12, 2004 Harvard 13:46.1 14:16.4
June 11, 2005 Yale 14:32.9 14:12.9
June 11, 2006 Harvard 16:22.0 16:30.1
June 9, 2007 Yale 15:45.0 15:27.0

[edit] Freshman Race

  • Harvard:64
  • Yale: 39
  • Dead Heats: 1
Date Winner Harvard Time Yale Time
June 8, 1996 Yale 11:06.4 10:43.0
June 1, 1997 Harvard 10:53 10:57
June 6, 1998 Harvard 10:45 10:52
June 5, 1999 Harvard 10:36.97 10:47.14
June 10, 2000 Yale 9:42.6 9:33.3
June 3, 2001 Harvard 9:39.4 9:56.8
June 8, 2002 Harvard 9:23.4 9:38.8
June 7, 2003 Harvard 9:49.4 10:06.8
June 12, 2004 Harvard 8:46.1 8:50.0
June 11, 2005 Harvard 9:06.1 9:13.6
June 10, 2006 Yale 11:05 11:04.05
June 9, 2007 Harvard 10:01.13 10:11.69

[edit] 3V/2F Combination Race

Date Winner Harvard Time Yale Time
June 7, 1996 Yale (17 seconds)
June 4, 1999 Yale
June 11, 2004 Harvard 10:09.4 10:18.0
June 10, 2005 Yale 9:21.9 9:17.4
June 9, 2006 Harvard
June 8, 2007 Harvard 9:29.36 9:39.79

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ USRowing (aspx). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  2. ^ Harvard-Yale Regatta (html). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  3. ^ "Great Moments in Yale Sports", Yale Alumni Magazine, March 2001.
  4. ^ Lewis, Guy. The Beginning of Organized Collegiate Sport, American Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 2, Part 1. (Summer, 1970), p. 224.
  5. ^ Lewis, Guy. The Beginning of Organized Collegiate Sport, American Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 2, Part 1. (Summer, 1970), p. 224.
  6. ^ Veneziano, John. "America's Oldest Intercollegiate Athletic Event".
  7. ^ "Great Moments in Yale Sports", Yale Alumni Magazine, March 2001.
  8. ^ "Harvard-Yale Boat Race Turns 150", Harvard Magazine, May-June 2002.
  9. ^ An incomplete listing compiled from various sources [1] [2].

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

  • Mendenhall, Thomas C. Harvard-Yale boat race, 1852-1924, and the coming of sport to the American college (1993)
  • Whiton, James M. "The First Harvard-Yale Regatta," Outlook, LXVIII (June 1901), 286-89.
  • Zimmerman, Justin. "The Calling." A documentary detailing both the very first Regatta and the modern sport of crew. Official Site

[edit] External links