The waters off Rumson’s Victory Park may be filled with the sleek sculls of about 120 college rowing teams next May.
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
America’s largest intercollegiate rowing competition, the Dad Vail Regatta, is expected to relocate to Rumson in May, according to Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl.
“It is not official,” Ekdahl told rebankgreen on Saturday, the same day the regatta’s overseers were expected to choose from several competing locales a new site for the event, which has been run on Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River for the past 56 years and draws some 3,000 rowers from 120 schools in the U.S. and Canada.
But “there’s a high probability that they’re going to have it in Rumson,” Ekdahl said. “Behind the scenes we’ve been assured it’s coming.”
Ekdahl’s comments came a day after the weekly Two River Times reported that Rumson officials had “announced” last Wednesday that the competition would relocate to the Navesink River town this year. No such announcement was made, Ekdahl said, though one is expected Tuesday.
“Did they jump the gun and take a kind of a ‘Dewey Wins’ shot at this? Yes, they probably did.”
Ekdahl said Rumson has been courted by regatta personnel over the last couple months as a potential site. The competition’s high cost, paired with the weak economy forced the regatta organizing committee to shop for a new location, according to news reports.
Ekdahl said Camden, Princeton, Tampa and Atlanta were all prospects to host the competition, but Rumson, which Ekdahl said hosted the competition in 1939, apparently seemed a choice location. Committee members visited the area at least three times, he added.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the cost of operating the 72-year-old regatta has more than doubled over the last five years, in part due to payments to various Philadelphia city departments. Corporate sponsorships have plummeted by some 60 percent because of the recession, the newspaper reported.
The positive effects the regatta would bring to Rumson and beyond, especially hotels and restaurants, would be significant to say the least. Ekdahl said it’s possible that up to 15,000 people would be in the area for the event. The race is named for Harry Emerson “Dad” Vail, a rowing coach at the University of Wisconsin in the 1920s.
“This is an event that’s going to have a huge economic impact on the two rivers area,” Ekdahl said.
The competition, featuring some 150 races, is scheduled for Mother’s Day weekend, on May 7 and 8. That Friday will be qualifying rounds and semi-finals and finals will be held Saturday. Ekdahl said he was assured by Dad Vail officials that by Sunday that after the event, it would be hard to tell that anybody was ever there.
Contrary to the TRT report that the races feature crews from Ivy League schools, none of the Ivies participate; the event was founded for, and continues to be reserved for, what it calls “colleges with emerging crew programs.” Ekdahl said the race course span the area from Battin Road in Fair Haven to the Oceanic Bridge.
The TRT reported that its owner, Mickey Gooch, has provided an initial advance of $100,000 toward the $250,000 in financial guarantees required by the Dad Vail organization. In his weekly column for the newspaper, Gooch, who is a native of England, likened the event to the Henley Royal Regatta.
If and when Rumson is selected as the new site, Ekdahl said a committee will be formed and fundraising efforts will begin to raise the expected $500,000 to support the event. Ekdahl said several national and international companies have shown interest in being sponsors.
AWESOME!
What a fun event. Hope it comes to pass.
A question for anyone with experience in these kinds of events: I always think of crews rowing on very placid water . . . the Navesink being what it is, how would wakes from boat traffic or waves from windy conditions affect the races? Those sculls don’t look as though they can handle waves of much size . . .
If I’m remembering Philly geography correctly, the Schuykill had a lot of room on the banks for people to stand and watch the race. The spectators seemed to be what brought a lot of business into the area. Any ideas where people would go to watch the races if they were held here?
This is good news, but I lived in Philly for years and traffic was a NIGHTMARE during these races. I hope they do better with it here then they did in Philly.
Padrone,
You are correct — the boats cannot take large swells. The river would most-likely be shut down to public boat traffic for the two-day regatta.
That’s a pretty cool event.
Maybe spectators can watch from the Oceanic Bridge? By then it should only be accessible to pedestrian & bike traffic. LOL.
The photo reads that the park will be filled with sleek sculls, unfortunately there are no sculling events at Dad Vail, so it will actually be filled with sleek sweep shells.
To the People of Rumson, NJ.
Thank you so much for considering the move of the Dad Vail Regatta to your hometown. I am in the process of looking into hotel rooms for 70 athletes and coaches in your area. I know we spent (and parents and friends) a lot of money in Philly. Oh well, I say we should go where we are welcome. The Dad Vail is a fantastic event with thousands of highly motivated, dedicated student/athletes. I know you will be excited to bring your families, picnics, etc for a fantastic weekend of racing. The people watching is fun too!
John M. Bancheri
Head Rowing Coach
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI
BTW- It IS a done deal. This will be great for the entire area!!
Maybe I can rent out my house for the weekend.
Coach Bancheri, we’re excited to welcome you and all of the teams to the Two Rivers area! This should be a fantastic weekend - can’t wait!
Very interesting event and I am glad for the revenue it would bring to the area. But where would people watch it? Outside of the area near the Oceanic Bridge, isn’t most of that area in Fair Haven, Rumson, and Middletown all privately owned? I would really like to watch this.
I wonder if Barnacle Bill’s is accepting reservations yet….
Even in philly there was limited public area to view the river races. But it is not that these races bring 100m people like the jazz festival of Red Bank. You can probably get front row for this collegiate event I’m sure. It’s great that it is coming but I wouldn’t think it is Jazz Festival or Kaboom type volume of people. The house renter will surely be disappointed if they believe the rent will be $ 10m for the weekend. These are college races, not super bowl.
Great to have the event here. It is nice to watch-traffic will be a problem on River Road. Wish I owned Salt Creek Grille for the weekend.
As a seven-year coxswain and fiercely proud NJ resident (what other type is there?), I have mixed feelings about Dad Vails moving to Rumson. The Schuylkill is a historic race course; the feeling of cranking it around the turn before Strawberry Mansion, hearing that grandstand roar as you approach the finish and passing under the Columbia RR Bridge in either victory of defeat cannot be duplicated. However, I have never raced on the Naveskink. Hopefully it provides a fairer course than the Schuylkill.
My other hope is that the Rumson leadership is encouraged to host more regattas, particularly in the high-school rowing community. The more regatta sites available, the better.
I have two other concerns:
How accessible is the site for boat trailers? One issue with access would be that Rumson, and every other town on the Shore is its dependence on the Parkway, which does not allow trucks, buses, or trailers.
What kind of vendor interest will there be in the new site? The vendor presence at Dad Vails in Philadelphia helped make the regatta truly feel like a celebration of rowing. Is there enough space surrounding the river to accommodate not only the competitors (the first priority) but those who play a key supporting role?
Where are people going to stand to watch the races??? Aside from Victory Park in Rumson (For out-of-towners, it’s just a couple of hundred feet wide) the rest is private property, on both sides.
Fair Haven has the Fair Haven Road dock and the new DeNormandie Ave park, but there’s no place else to watch from! Are the private property owners on both sides of the river going to open their lawns for viewing?
Salt Creek Grille welcomes all to visit us on line to check out our restaurant and banquet room.We are at the base of the finish line.Look forward to seeing all in May.