BI rowers at Head of the Lake Regatta

The Bainbridge Island Rowing mixed masters 8+ team raced to second place, behind only Vashon Island, at the recent 39th annual Head of the Lake Regatta.

The BIR mixed masters 4x also finished second, just under a minute behind College Club Seattle, in the annual regatta hosted by the University of Washington.

The regatta this year coincided with a gorgeous fall day, team officials said, which was nothing like last year’s event, which sent some participants to the hospital with hypothermia and was ultimately cancelled.

Eighty clubs and teams descended on the Conibear Shellhouse launch area early Sunday, Nov. 4, coming from places as far away as Anchorage, Alaska; Boulder, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; Toronto, Canada; Providence, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Bainbridge Island Rowing varsity teams also competed in varsity 8+, under-17 8+, and men’s junior 4x (coxed).

The mixed masters D 8+ boat team was Malcolm Saunders, Tammy Galbraith, Sue Entress, Mark Olasen, Kurt Frost, Chelsea Vessenes, Stacey Nordgren and Anthony Oddo. The cox was Sam Bloom.

The mixed masters E coxless quad team was Marc Stewart, Jane Stewart, Amy Burton and Tim Goss.

Fans reportedly lined the Montlake Cut and crowded the Montlake Bridge to get good views of the rowers as the teams followed a winding race course. They rowed from the boathouse launch in Union Bay to the start in Lake Union. The race took them through the Montlake Cut and back into Union Bay.

The day before, BIR hosted the BRRR regatta, a novice rower 1000-meter event in Eagle Harbor with Olympia Area Rowing, South Kitsap High School, and Clam Island Rowing participating.

The BIR Novice rowers performed well, officials said, with the boys 8+, the girls 8+, the boys 4+, and the girls 4+ each winning their races.

OAR won the quad race.

This is the second year BIR has hosted the BRRR Regatta at Waterfront Park, the future home of the Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center.

“BIR is proud to host this regional regatta,” said BIR president Sue Entress.

“It’s a great example of how the future rowing center on Bainbridge Island will make competitions more accessible to teams from Kitsap County and beyond,” she said.

The BRRR and the Head of the Lake regattas were the final events for the fall rowing season.