59°F few clouds

RED BANK: ICE RETURNS TO THE NAVESINK

After a three-year absence, four-inch ice retuned to our beautiful Navesink River over the weekend, enabling members of the storied North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club to take at least the smallest of their racing toys out for a spin. Larger craft, along the lines of the Rocket, that were more typical in the early decades of the 134-year-old Red Bank club, will have to wait for ice in the eight-inch range.

The ice also enabled skaters and plain old pedestrians to take a stroll on the river and  check out the Fiddler, a lobster boat anchored at mid-river and now hemmed in by hard water.

Club members hope to host a regatta named for longtime club member John Darling next weekend, and the National Weather Service forecast looks favorable for the ice to remain. For word on its condition, call the club’s iceline at (732) 747-5665. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

WEEKEND: EAT, DRINK, SING, SAIL, AND MORE

A promo video for ‘Eat! Drink! Italy!,’ Red Bank restaurateur Victor Rallo’s new TV show, which gets a launch at the Basie Saturday night. Below, a rousing night of patriotic songs fills the First Presbyterian Church at Tower Hill Sunday. (Click to enlarge)

By ALEXIS ORLACCHIO

Friday, July 5:

RED BANK: The Josh Zuckerman Band stops by the Walt Street Pub for an energetic Friday night set. The show beings at 8 p.m. 180 Monmouth Street.

RED BANK: Blues rock  guitarist Matt O’Ree and band perform at Jamians Food & Drink.  The show begins at 8 p.m. 79 Monmouth Street.

SHREWSBURY: Monmouth County Eastern Branch Library hosts a discussion on Treasures of the Monmouth County Parks, including an update on the status of the park system post-Hurricane Sandy for this edition of First Friday for Seniors. The discussion begins at 11 a.m. 1001 Route 35 North.

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FAIR HAVEN: FROM WHITECAPS TO BEER FOAM

Rowers from Christian Brothers Academy headed landward at Fair Haven Yacht Works, above, after winds of 23 miles per hour prompted the cancellation of what was to have been Fair Haven’s first regatta for high school crews Saturday.

Still, the final event of the borough’s centennial celebration went off as planned that night. An Oktoberfest celebration, held at the Smart School Preschool on River Road, prompted one attendee to don his lederhosen, above right, and other displays of civic mirth. More photos after the jump.  (Click to enlarge)

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FAIR HAVEN TAKES PARTY BACK TO THE RIVER

Young sailors air it out at part one of Fair Haven’s centennial regatta, in July. This weekend’s edition will feature high school rowing crews. (Click to enlarge)

By REBECCA DESFOSSE

Not finished celebrating either its centennial year or its waterfront heritage, Fair Haven plans to take it to our beautiful Navesink River this Saturday.

The Fair Haven Centennial Crew Regatta will feature an afternoon of racing, with local rowing  crews from Christian Brothers Academy, Navesink River Rowing, Ranney School, and RFH Crew all vying for a coveted Centennial Cup.

The regatta marks the second water-based celebration of the centennial, the first of which was a sailing event back in July. Including boating events in the yearlong celebration “helps to recognize the important role the Navesink River has played in Fair Haven’s history,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli said in a prepared announcement.

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BOATERS MARK RIVER TOWN’S CENTENNIAL

Fair Havenites took took to the beautiful Navesink River for a day of celebratory boat races in honor of the town’s nautical heritage as part of its ongoing centennial Saturday.

Photographer Peter Lindner was out on the water for redbankgreen.

CENTURY-OLD FAIR HAVEN SETS SAIL

The regatta will feature races with Optimist Prams, which are small one-person sailboats (below), for all junior sailers. (Photos by Danielle Tepper. Click to enlarge)

By DANIELLE TEPPER

Sandwiched between the Navesink and the Shrewsbury rivers, residents of the Green can hardly complain that there’s nothing to do during the scorching summer hot months. And in Fair Haven, one of them is Saturday’s Fair Haven Regatta, part of the borough’s year-long centennial celebration and an opportunity for people to get out and take pride in the waterfront heritage of their hometown.

The regatta came about from a desire to “honor Fair Haven’s nautical heritage and spotlight the beautiful Navesink River we all enjoy,” said Joe Malik, a member of the committee that organized the event.

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RAIN DOMINATES FORECAST

yard-sale-091209Sellers and shoppers coped with on-and-off showers during the 2009 edition of the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale. (Click to enlarge)

You have to scroll pretty far down in the National Weather Service forecast to find mention of the sun today.

It’s not the best outlook for would-be participants in the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale, the 2011 Rumson Boat Race and the Guinness Oyster Festival, among other outdoor events on the Go On Green calendar.

The Weather Channel says we’re in for 2 to 4 inches of rain from Friday into early next week.

Here’s the NWS outlook:

Today: A chance of rain and thunderstorms, then rain and possibly a thunderstorm after 8am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 75. Calm wind becoming southeast between 5 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

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GIVING IT THE OLD COLLEGE TRY, AGAIN

regatta2Race organizers are hoping for better conditions than last year, when several boats were swamped, leading to a cancellation. (Photo by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Give the Rumson rowing community credit: they keep putting their oars in the water.

Two years ago, they came tantalizingly close to landing one of collegiate rowing’s biggest events, the Dad Vail Regatta, but had their hearts broken when the event’s organizers decided to keep it where it had always been, in Philadelphia.

Then, a scaled-down collegiate regatta a year ago was scrapped during the second race, when wind-driven waves swamped several boats in the Navesink River, just off Victory Park.

But they’re back.

On Saturday, the 2011 Rumson Boat Race will take to the Navesink for four races on the Middletown side of the river, from the vicinity of a buoy opposite Bon Jovi’s mansion east toward the Oceanic Bridge.

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‘SINK OAR STROKE

The Navesink River Rowing club held its annual Sprints on the ‘Sink regatta out of Maple Cove in Red Bank Saturday morning. redbankgreen photo intern Stacie Fanelli was there to capture the action from both land and water.

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REGATTA OPENS SAILING SEASON

The Monmouth Boat Club opened its 2011 season last weekend by hosting the the 50th Annual Long John Regatta for Lightning Class sailboats.

redbankgreen lensman Peter Lindner was out on our beautiful Navesink River on Saturday to capture the color and excitement.

To enlarge the photo display, start it, then click the embiggen symbol in the lower right corner. To return to redbankgreen, hit your escape key.

WIND AND WAVES SWAMP RUMSON REGATTA

regatta2Competitors in the second race of the day found themselves getting wetter than anticipated near the Oceanic Bridge. (Photo by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

The first collegiate rowing regatta on the Navesink River in decades was cut short Saturday morning after wind-driven waves swamped sculls in the second race.

In a sport where weather rules, these things happen, said Dan Edwards, who organized the event.

“It’s not unusual,” he said. “It happens all the time. It’s just part of the sport.”

Still, Edwards deemed the regatta a wild success.

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CHURNING UP THE NAVESINK

trafficTraffic was heavy in Maple Cove Sunday as rowers came and went during a morning of races. Below, scullers heading out to the start line. (Click to enlarge)

shells

The Navesink River Rowing club marked the end of its summer youth program with an in-house and invitational regatta that turned Red Bank’s Maple Cove into a busy depot for skinny boats Sunday.

The Sprints on the ‘Sink series of races for quads, doubles and singles drew dozens of racers, including a sculling contingent from Westfield.

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PHILLY PAPERS: DAD VAIL MAY NIX RUMSON

img_5128111409Both the Philadelphia Inquirer and that city’s Daily News are reporting today that the Dad Vail Regatta‘s move to Rumson next year may not happen.

From the Daily News:

Officials with the nation’s largest intercollegiate rowing competition – facing new questions about its planned move from the Schuylkill to Rumson, N.J., next spring – are now planning to meet Mayor Nutter and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady tomorrow to talk about keeping the popular event in Philadelphia in 2010 after all.

The mayoral sit-down was arranged last night during an emergency meeting of the Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee – the same group that stunned city officials earlier this fall with the announcement that the rowing classic would move to the Monmouth County town for the May 2010 event.

A source close to the regatta said that moving the race to Rumson was a larger logistical challenge than had been thought and that Brady and Nutter’s recent involvement had demonstrated that the city was dedicated to keeping it here.

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REGATTA SEEKS QUICK FORMAL APPROVAL

img_5128111409The organizers of the Dad Vail Regatta last night urged elected Rumson officials to give the formal thumbs-up to a plan to host the collegiate rowing event in May, today’s Asbury Park Press reports.

Members of the borough council questioned Dad Vail organizing committee president J.R. Hanna about the logistics of staging the event, which is said to attract some 3,000 athletes and another 12,000 spectators to its present home on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Hanna said it is “urgent” that the council act as early as this month in order for race preparations to begin, the Press reports.

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RUMSON SNAGS REGATTA FOR 2010

img_51361114091For one year at least, the Navesink River off Rumson’s Victory Park will be home to America’s largest collegiate rowing event.

Officials of the Dad Vail Regatta made it official Monday night: the Philly-based college rowing event will be moving to Rumson for 2010, with the possibility of an extended stay.

That’s according to a report in today’s Philadelphia Daily News, citing regatta spokesman Harry Stinger as its source.

Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl also confirmed the decision by the Dad Vail organizing committee, and told the News he’s “thrilled” at the potential economic jolt the event could bring to the region. Some 3,000 rowers from 120 U.S. and Canadian colleges traditionally participate in about 150 races over the course of the weekend-long event.

Ekdahl also said he believes the event “gives us and the sport instant credibility in the Two River area.” Ekdahl said. A crew program was launched three years ago under the joint auspices of the borough recreation department and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High.

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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.”

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