Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

MAJOR REGATTA EYES MOVE TO RUMSON

img_5131111409The 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.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...