EVENT H
enley’s most venerable trophy, the Grand Challenge Cup for eights, was first contested in 1839, so this year is its (and the regatta’s)
175th anniversary. However, 2014 marks another milestone in the history of ‘the Grand’: the 25th anniversary since the Henley stretch (2,112 metres) was first rowed competitively in under six minutes. And for this we must thank the succinctly named Ruderclub Hansa von 1898 eV Dortmund.
Hansa Dortmund is one of the most
powerful European rowing clubs, consistently supplying oarsman to the German national squad, and has been a regular feature at Henley for many years, usually in eights. Based on the Ems Canal, the club continues to highlight the resurgence in German rowing with, for example, Grand Challenge section records of 1m 43s to the Barrier and 2m 53s to Fawley set in 2011 which still stand despite Leander & Molesey’s record row two years later. But for those privileged
to see it from the Henley Stewards’ Enclosure, Hansa Dortmund’s flat-out victory of 1989 remains the club’s finest hour. Despite Marsh Lock being only a few hundred metres from the finish and Hambleden Lock some way downriver from the start, the Henley Regatta stretch of the Thames regatta is moody. Winds may blow up the course, down the course or across. Equally, heavy rain inevitably increases the current, slowing crews racing, as they always do, against the stream. One of the slowest years of the last
40 was 1981 when, again in The Grand, Oxford University & Thames Tradesmen took 7m 15s against a strong headwind to overcome Leander Club & Tyrian by a short half length. One of the fastest (until 2013, when nine new full course records were set) was 1989 and indeed two records set then, in the Wyfold and
10 HENLEY
Henley: A View from the
Banks
Hats off to Hansa WORDS SIMON ROSTRON
jumped at the start but closed a mid- way gap of a length to lose by half a length in a storming row. The result was a new Grand Challenge record of 6m 09s – a long way from the six minute barrier, but who knew what the weather would bring on Sunday? It was clear from the time of 6m
27s in the other semi-final, where the Soviet Dinamo Club saw off a spirited challenge from an Italian eight, that Hansa Dortmund should have no fears about the result, so when at a few moments after 3.00pm on the Sunday, the final of the Grand was announced on the speakers, the rush of blazers and boaters to the banks was not prompted by uncertainty about the results of one of the last Cold War contests – USSR versus W. Germany – but about the time. That Sunday the wind was blowing up the river whereas it had been rowing across the river the day before. The race itself was predictable,
despite the fact the German crew were headed by a ‘canvas’ (about six feet) at the Barrier. At Fawley, despite underrating the Russians, Hansa Dortmund were ahead and already two seconds inside record time. To quote the Regatta Records, “they [Hansa Dortmund], went clear at the three-quarter- mile signal, still at 39. Dinamo’s rating had now dropped to 36 and they seemed to lose heart...” But whereas the Russian rating went down, Hansa Dortmund’s rose to 40, driving them to the finish. Dinamo were beaten by
three lengths but it took a while for the announcer in formal Henley manner to tell the crowd the time. He only got to “Five” before
ABOVE Winning Leander/Molesey Crew 2013
the Diamond Sculls, still hold. Hansa Dortmund took full advantage the speed of the river in 1989 on semi- final Saturday in a race which many thought should have been seeded to be the final, against Leander who were
being drowned out by cheering. It was an Edwardian moment, the first and only time I have literally seen hats thrown into the air as tumultuous applause broke out. In fact Hansa Dortmund’s accurate
time was 5m 58s, which shattered their own record of the day before by a staggering 11 seconds. ROW360
ROW360 // Issue 001
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