Our first race of the fall season was the Head of the Passaic Regatta on the Passaic River in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Athletes raced 4.15 kilometers head-race style. This race is one of the closest to home and about 125 people were in attendance. Row New York raced 15 boats across eight categories. Although the weather was appropriately brisk for the fall, our student-athletes were happy with their layers and hot food.
Thank you to everyone who came out to the race course!
What is a head race?
Head races are lots of fun! They are not like conventional races where boats line up at the starting line then start together and race a straight course to the finish line. Instead, head races are essentially long time trials, meaning that boats don’t race side by side. Boats race one by one (or two by two, depending on the race), separated by a few seconds. Unlike in conventional races, the course is not straight and boats don’t start from a standstill, they start with a “rolling start”.
On race day, athletes must attempt to cross the starting line at full speed while avoiding wasting any full-speed strokes before the start. A perfect rolling start can give a boat a big morale boost (and of course, make a boat faster). Once the boat is in the middle of their race, rowers chase boats in front of them and avoid “getting caught” by the boats behind them. Another fun twist on conventional races is that the coxswain and rowers must work together to make turns, avoid buoys and overtake other crews. Lastly, since crews don’t know who wins until the results are posted, each rower must pull as hard as they can each stroke, even if they just passed a boat or two.
Comments from the coaches
Queens presented what we’ve been working on so far this season: handling equipment well, holding our finishes, and sending the boat as far as possible every drive. We took away a bronze in the JV 8+ category and some serious motivation across the board as we push towards the Schuylkill in two weeks.
– Breanne Fitzsimmons, Queens Youth Program Manager
From the moment we got off the bus to the time we dismissed the student-athletes the questions from the Brooklyn Novice team was non stop. Watching the varsity athletes race and simply taking in the vibes from the regatta environment/culture added the last ingredient needed to light Brooklyn novice team fire; a spark!
– Maurice Scott, Brooklyn Novice Program Coordinator
Row New York Head of the Passaic Results
Brooklyn
- 13th- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 4+
- 14th- Men’s High School Junior Varsity 4+
Manhattan
- 5th- Men’s High School Varsity 8+
- 5th- Men’s High School Junior Varsity 4+
- 6th- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 4+
- 7th- Women’s High School Varsity 4+
- 8th- Women’s High School Varsity 8+
- 8th- Men’s High School Varsity 4+
- 9th- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 8+
- 12th- Men’s High School Junior Varsity 8+
Queens
- 3rd- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 8+
- 7th- Women’s High School Varsity 8+
- 8th- Women’s High School Varsity 4+
- 9th- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 4+
- 10th- Women’s High School Junior Varsity 8+
You can see the Regatta’s entire results here.
A big shout out to all Row New York parents for supporting our athletes on the race course and at home. Thank you to the Parent-Coach Association for coordinating the carpools, food, and tent area. Your support helps coaches focus on the races. And of course, thank you to all of our supporters for making this possible. Thank you to Joanne Victorio for taking these beautiful photos.
See you at the Head of the Schuylkill on October 28th!
