New Britain herald., 1927-05-11
REGATTA THRILLS CROWDS 0N BANKS
SideliShts at Derby Provide
 Amusement for Spectators

| Situated on no adequate river and with no prep school or college to stimulate interest, New Britain sport 1 fans have never cnthused over row
 ing. IL is more than possible that
 this branch of athletics would have ! been failure here even if New
 Britain had facilities, for local sport l followers have always demanded 1 the acme of action. as evidenced
 by the favor which basketball and
 football hold even over baseball and | by the recent growth in popularity | Of amateur boxing, which is not al- 1 ways clever but ever rtplcte with
 activity. Since Trinity and Wesley
 an abandoned their crews decades
 ago, local rowing enthusiasts have been forced 10 go to rather remote
 points to witness races-eithcr to
 New London for the Yale Harvard ! clash or to Derby and Shelton for ! the triangular regatta between Yale, 1 Columbia, and Pennsylvania.
 | The crew is the most thankleSS 1 sport organization in a college. re- , quiring as it does the Sternest of
 physical training and effort and not being a sport in which individu- 1 al effort can be noticed and praised in newspaper and verbal accounts. This may be one reason why the ! hero-worshipping New Britain fan | finds the races colorless, which they certainly are by comparison with the sports he prefers. Still, a fair
 number of New Brtainites witness 1 the triangular regatta each year
 and are repaid for their journey. It does not seem to be the races | themselves so much as the sur rounding atmosphere and sidelights which provide the drawing power. ! The average spectator. barred by monetary and university considera- lions from the observation train,
 must wait near the finish line and
 Sees but. part of the race. There
 is fine public park in Shelton, T high bank overlooking the finish and affording a view for more than
 a mile up the river, but much of the excitement remains hidden around bend in the Housatonic. The carry thrills come from watch- ing the flag system of relaying the positions of the boats. and not until almost at the end can one see the crews themselves-and then not as individuals but as octets swinging forward and backward like ma chimes. Usually the race is pretty well settled by the time the shells reach the finish line; this years re- gatta was spoiled by Yale's three victories by such wide margins that the excitement was killed.
 Much of interest goes on within sight. however The setting out from the boathouse and the tender care taken of the shells as they are lowered into the water and the men climb aboard are impressive. Then there is the early wait for the first signals relaying the progress of the crews. The waving Of the rod flag by the Yale COX in the last quarter mile gives a slight thrill as the other eight increase their stroke. It is rather sad fact. but the greatest satisfaction of the spectators seems 10 be derived from the collapse of one or two oarsmen after the fin ish and from the cold wetting re- caived by the winning COX when he is thrown into the river from the boathouso landing.
 There Is usually something doing along the river. there is bound to be some one who will upset a canoe or do some similar stunt Last year a very incbriatod gentleman rowed across the river standing up
 and apparently did his absolute hest
 to tip the boat over-without sue
 cess; but as he reached the shore
 and essaycd 10 step out he went
 overheard as neatly as in" coXswHin
 does. This year it was a boat
 equipped with an outboard motor