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| Hart Perry |
For nine years now there has been a fun rowing regatta in Downtown Mystic on the day before the so called Coastweeks Regatta, which is tomorrow, Sunday 16 September, at Mystic Seaport. The Saturday regatta that I am referring to is the Battle Between the Bridges, which HTBS has written about before. The
BBB, as it is commonly known, was created by
Hart Perry in 2002 as an American 'Henley Sprint' on a 500-metre course with room for two scullers match racing between the Railroad Bridge and the Drawbridge in Downtown Mystic. BBB would, thanks to Hart's contacts, attract America's top female and male scullers. They would come from all around, and some of them would come directly from the World Championships or even the Olympic Games to compete on the river in the tiny little village of Mystic.
As it was founded in 2002, today it was supposed to have been the 10th annual regatta. It was not to be. When Hart suddenly died on 3 February 2011, some of the institutions that he directed, or was an important part of, faltered, as his colleagues did not really know how to proceed or what to do. BBB was one of those events of which Hart was truly at the helm. BBB was organised last year, but not without difficulty.
Before I knew that the regatta was called off, I thought that, for the 10th anniversary races, I wanted to honour Hart in a special way. Many fine things have already been said about Hart on the web and in print in newspapers and magazines, but no poem has ever been written in his honour, if I understand it right. Of course, I am not really a poet, not even a versifier, but, alas, I decided to have a go. It took me quite some time to get it the way I wanted. Struck by hubris, I thought that my verse could even get published in the regatta programme. Well, with a no-show and no programme, I decided to throw it on HTBS instead. So, here it is, a poem about a regatta that was cancelled and about a great man, who is still very much missed by many of us.
Thoughts on the 10th Battle Between the Bridges in 2012
In fond memory of William Hartwell “Hart” Perry, Jr., 1923 – 2011
So, it’s time again
To walk down to the Mystic River,
On a beautiful September day, when
The sky has clouds with edges of silver,
And the leaves sway calmly in the trees.
Men and women in their boats will row;
While the beams of the sun will glow
Over the riverbanks – only to be cooled off by a quiet breeze.
A river scene:
Rowers racing from bridge to bridge
Is an annual view, we for years have seen.
Thanks to one man’s dream, an image
Of gathered scullers with bodies strong;
Two scullers rowing side by side, abreast –
Pulling, getting those oar handles to the chest
On a course five hundred metres long.
The sculler’s muscles flex
When she races on the water betwixt
The bridges. No rower neglects
To keep her eyes steadily fixed
On an invisible point behind the stern.
Effortlessly the scullers go on their slides –
The victor’s shell under the drawbridge’s darkness glides,
Leaving the fighting opponent astern.
These athletes display
A finesse to scull in colourful shells,
Appearing as an Impressionist painting by Monet.
The solemn knell of a church’s bells
In the distance,
Remind us of one man: Hartwell Perry, our Hart,
Who turned his life in rowing into a fine art –
Today we honor him in his absence.
There was only one such man,
It was said when he died:
A coach, an umpire, a Henley Steward – a gentleman;
Calling him a friend, we still do with pride.
Again and again we asked for his advice,
It might have been about a boat, a crew, or Henley fashion;
His might came from within, a warm passion,
Which he is using now, I bet, coaching crews in Rowers’ Paradise.
Göran R Buckhorn
One way to understand that Autumn will soon be upon us is that the head races begins in New England. One of the first ones is the Coastweeks Regatta, which was held today on the Mystic River. It was actually the 20th Annual Coastweeks Regatta and although slightly more than a week ago, it looked like it was going to be a small amount of rowers - young boys and girls, and older men and women, novice and more experienced “oars” - who would find their way to Mystic, Connecticut, but things changed. Early this morning, the organisers handed out around 200 bow numbers to participating rowers. Not bad, not bad, at all.
Ed Monahan (on the right) congratulates Steve Gurney of the New Haven Rowing Club, the first recipient of the Edward Monahan Founder’s Trophy for the class Men’s Veterans Racing Singles at the Coastweeks Regatta. Photo: Betty Monahan.
The Coastweeks Regatta is one of the regattas in Mystic during this weekend. The other one, The Battle Between the Bridges Invitational Regatta, is always raced by men and women in single sculls the day before Coastweeks. I am afraid not much information went out about this year’s Battle Between the Bridges, which is rowed on a short 500-metre course between the railroad bridge and the bascule bridge in Downtown Mystic. Both events are sharing the same programme, ‘Mystic Weekend of Rowing’, which this year honoured one of the great men of American rowing, Hart Perry, who sadly passed away in February this year. Hart was the founder of this regatta, and from now on, the regatta will be referred to as the Hart Perry The Battle Between the Bridges Invitational Regatta – a very suitable tribute.
