Good-Bye and Welcome!

Dear Readers of HTBS!

‘Hear the Boat Sing’ (HTBS) was founded in March 2009. After more than five successful years on Blogger, with nearly 1,700 blog posts, HTBS has now moved to Wordpress, where a team of seven writers are trying to live up to the HTBS motto: 'This blog covers all aspects of the rich history of rowing, as a sport, culture phenomena, a life style, and a necessary element to keep your wit and stay sane'.

The new HTBS website will have all the old blog posts since March 2009, so you will still be able to go back to read the ‘old stuff’, and at the same time enjoy all new features that a new platform allows us to do.

For all of you who followed HTBS via e-mail and joined the old site, please come with us to the new website by joining and following us on www.heartheboatsing.com

Göran R Buckhorn,
editor of HTBS

Coming soon..... HTBS constructing a new website

We are working on giving HTBS a face-lift. Thank you for your patience.......

HTBS by the Numbers

Hello All!

Here is an update on HTBS's 'numbers' that we would like to share with you readers.

HTBS will pass a special number today, as we will reach 300,000 pagevisits by the end of the day. We are also rapidly approaching 1M pageviews, we have right now 105 followers, and this is the 1,692nd post. Not bad for a blog celebrating the history of rowing.

Our warm thanks to all you HTBS readers ~ you are the ones who got us there....

Göran R Buckhorn,
editor

1974 World Championships on Rotsee

On 1 August rowing historian and journalist Christopher Dodd wrote here on HTBS about the 1976 Henley Royal Regatta. Just a couple of weeks earlier, on 13 July, he had written a 'prelude' to that piece on his own blog Rowingvoice. In that article he remembers how he, as the rowing correspondent for The Guardian, and Jim Railton of The Times had arrived at Rotsee in Lucerne for the 1974 World Championships. Dodd's "Hot times in the Cold War" is an entertaining story about Henrietta's bar and the hostess's party trick, the British eight's disastrous race in the semi-final, how the eight's cox, Pat Sweeney, worked his boat through the other nations' crews one by one in the final and how the Championships ended with a tear gas attack by Swiss police trying to break up the athletes' after-race party - while the party band continued to play on.... They don't make regattas like that anymore.

In June earlier this year, a video on the eights final at the 1974 World Championships was uploaded on YouTube, see below. (There are no race commentaries, but close to the 500-metre mark, at 2:32 min., Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" - released in January 1974 - starts to play and will follow the race to the finish line.)



Please see also HTBS's post "The Story of the Martini Achter" on the American 1973 and 1974 crews, and the 1974 crew's reunion earlier this year.

Two New Rowing Blogs

Lucy Pocock, the 1912 Women's Sculling Champion of the Thames. Photo: River & Rowing Museum.

While we wait for Tim Koch to arrange all his photographs that he took at Henley Royal Regatta and of which some will be posted on HTBS, we would like to push for two new rowing blogs. The first one is the River & Rowing Museum's blog celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, a war that took many young men's lives; amongst them some of the young oarsmen who had rowed in the Boat Race and at Henley prior to the War. Not only is this blog telling stories of the fallen oarsmen, but also about the Home Front in Henley-on-Thames. Go to the blog here.

The second new rowing blog is The Rowlup, written by sports journalist Martin Gough, who not only writes about sports but also about rowing (Martin is a rowing coach in London). He now and then writes pieces about the history of rowing on his blog. Go to his blog here.

HTBS - The 2013 Rowing History Blog of the Year!

Dear readers of HTBS ~ It is with great delight I write that ‘Hear The Boat Sing’ earlier this morning received the wonderful news that it has been chosen as the ‘Rowing History Blog of 2013’ by our nice colleagues at Rowperfect.co.uk. HTBS was nominated in this category together with Peter Mallory’s brilliant Rowing Evolution.

The other winners of the different categories are:
Coxing Blog: Decent Rowing
Athlete Blog: Girl on the River
Coaching Blog: The Coxswain Perspective
Ergo Blog: Concept2 UK/USA
Rowing News Blog: British Rowing News

Please read more on Rowperfect’s website here.

On behalf of the whole HTBS Team: Thank you Rowperfect and thank you to all of you who votes for HTBS. And our warmest congratulations to all the other winners!

Göran R Buckhorn,
HTBS editor

A Post From The Pub

The front cover of the menu.

Tim Koch writes:

The ‘Hear The Boat Sing’ 5th Anniversary Lunch was held at the Coat and Badge pub, a short walk from the Putney Embankment, on Sunday, 16 March. A small but select group enjoyed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and the company of like-minded people. It was a relaxed occasion but there was a brief period of formality when we drank a toast to blogmaster Göran and his wife Ellen, the two people responsible for the existence of HTBS. I then shared the following thoughts with those present.

On 12th March 2009, the very mixed blessing that is the Internet, already a forum for the mad and the bad, overcrowded with videos of wacky cats and friendly ladies (sometimes together, sometimes separately) gained a new eccentricity – a blog dedicated to the history of rowing. Göran Buckhorn’s first post started:

“Against better judgement I have become a blogger. If you would have told me a couple of months ago that I would start a blog, I would have called you insane... But things can change in life. After my contract as boating coordinator.... came to an end, and with that, my responsibility to write and edit the club’s newsletter, I was without a continuing forum to write about rowing and its rich history”.

The post ended:

'”So, when I had not been writing for a week or two, and got rather grumpy, my dear wife, who is a blogger par excellence, gave me the idea that I would maybe like to start a blog on rowing history, and well, here I am blogging away, although, I should know better…”

The menu

Five years, 1,540 posts, 265,000 visits and 809,000 page views later – here we are. ‘Hear The Boat Sing’ has been read from Albania to Zambia (and all countries in-between). It has a loyal following, though, due to the nature of the Internet, I suppose we never know how many ‘regulars’ we actually have. Occasionally one of them will ‘break cover’ to say how much they enjoy HTBS. This is always a pleasing experience as sometimes, writing late into the night, one wonders ‘is there anyone out there actually reading this stuff?’ I must confess though, even if no one was reading it, I think we would go on writing it.

Over the past five years the blog has gained a ‘respectability’ in the rarified world that it operates in. It is unofficially recognised by such bodies as the Boat Race and the River and Rowing Museum. If you look for some aspect of rowing history via a search engine, possibly a majority of the usable results will be from ‘Hear The Boat Sing’.

In its subject, HTBS has two great advantages. Firstly, rowing has a rich and deep history, much of it waiting to be uncovered. Secondly, because it is a ‘minority sport’ (ironically with few minorities) it is very accessible. If we wanted to write about British soccer or American football we would not be able to talk to the stars or mix with the super teams as we can do with the sport of rowing.

On the left, closest to the camera, Liz, then Chris Dodd and on the end is Molly Bushnell. On the right, Colin Cracknell and Sue Bushnell. Absent, Tim Koch and Jonny Ambrose.

As you all probably realise, Göran’s enthusiasm shows no sign of tiring. We contributors write when something inspires us but he must constantly find the two or three posts a week that a credible blog should have. Most bloggers find this easy at first but few can keep going for anything like five years.

As those of you who have met him will know, Göran is a delightful man, a ‘gentleman of the old school’. It is appropriate that I use that antiquated English phrase as he is a committed Anglophile. Very early into our correspondence, I stopped explaining particularly British terms that I thought a Swede living in the United States may have trouble with. I should have realised that someone who is a fan of P.G. Wodehouse would not need my help (in fact his English is better than mine).

We were joined by Bert Bushnell’s daughter, Sue, and granddaughter, Molly. This was Molly’s tribute to her grandfather.

We also have to give credit to Mrs. Buckhorn. As already indicated, Ellen was not only the original inspiration for starting the blog, she is also the ‘Hear The Boat Sing IT Department’. Without her, HTBS would be written on parchment and nailed to a tree.

Over the years the blog has developed a style of its own and has gained a small group of regular contributors plus the occasional guest writer. Sometimes a post will have only a tenuous link with rowing but, as long as it is interesting, this is fine. HTBS is rather like Henley Royal Regatta in that it is a private party which you are welcome to join – providing you embrace its eccentricities.

Here’s to the next five years.

Mine’s a pint.

HTBS Recommends...(5)

Hello ~ I will be out of commission for some days. In the meantime do visit our friends and colleagues at other rowing blogs. Today HTBS recommends you to visit The Blogging Oarsman.

~ Göran

HTBS Recommends...(4)

Hello ~ I will be out of commission for some days. In the meantime do visit our friends and colleagues at other rowing blogs. Today HTBS recommends you to visit Rowperfect.

~ Göran

HTBS Recommends... (3)

Hello ~ I will be out of commission for some days. In the meantime do visit our friends and colleagues at other rowing blogs. Today HTBS recommends you to visit Fatsculler's Rowing Blog.

~ Göran

HTBS Recommends... (2)

Hello ~ I will be out of commission for some days. In the meantime do visit our friends and colleagues at other rowing blogs. Today HTBS recommends you to visit Girl on the River.

~ Göran

HTBS Recommends.... (1)

Hello ~ I will be out of commission for some days. In the meantime do visit our friends and colleagues at other rowing blogs. Today HTBS recommends you to visit Rowing Related.

~ Göran

Thank you for 2013!

Dear readers of HTBS ~ It’s soon time to close the year 2013. It has been a remarkable year in many ways. Regarding this blog our friend, rowing journalist Bryan Kitch, of the blog Rowing Related and one of the ten contributors to the new eBook The Future of Rowing, had this to say about HTBS: “Hear The Boat Sing do a nice job blogging about rowing history – exposing history in digestible pieces ... This blog breaks it down and focuses on individual anecdotes and is more accessible.”

Thank you Bryan, we here at HTBS could not have said it better ourselves.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank you readers for keeping us going. We receive blog ideas from you and some of you even send material that we either post ‘as is’, or we dig a little deeper to post a rowing history piece of length. In the list below, you will find the names of regular contributors to HTBS, but also names of other contributors, or names of those who have sent us old or new rowing photographs to post, or snippets of information during 2013. Some of you also post comments to blog entries. To all and every one of you: THANK YOU!

In no particular order here are contributors who in one way or the other have contributed to HTBS during 2013:

Tim Koch; Greg Denieffe; Philip Kuepper; Hélène Rémond; Louis Petrin; Bill Lanouette; Johan ten Berg; Chris Dodd; Tom Weil; Peter Mallory; Daniel James Brown; Bernard Hempsend; Bryan Kitch; Malcolm Cook; Malcolm Knight; Michiel Jonkman; Ian Marriott; Jack Carlson; Emile Farley; Ann Woolliams; Cesare Sorio; Jerry Gardner; Mike Vespoli; and Barry Currivan. (Our apologises if anyone has been omitted!)

Here are some HTBS statistics since we started in 2009 (as of 29 December 2013):
Blog posts: 1,478
Blog visits: 251,330
Blog views: 740,385
Comments: 519
Followers: 95
Blog posts 2013: 332

Not bad, not bad at all...

Don't Miss Girl on the River's Santa List!

In case you have missed it, Patricia Carswell, blogging under the name 'Girl on the River', has just posted a hilariously good version of What-I-Want-For-Christmas-Santa-List video on her blog. Enjoy it by clicking here. I hope all her wishes come true....

Hoorah!

As of today, Thursday, 23 May, 2013, HTB has passed the magical number 200,000 for blog visits. HTBS has been page-viewed, as of writing this, 553,803 times and we have posted 1,278 blog posts – not bad…! Thanks to all contributors and readers. Our next aim is 300,000 blog visits, of course…

Captain JP On The Diamond Jubilee

Yesterday, the blog 'Captain JP's log' had an interesting entry about the upcoming Diamond Jubilee - read Queen's Diamond Jubilee - update here.

As a matter of fact, continue reading 'Captain JP's log' as there are several very entertaining blog posts about rowing!

Hold On, Mr. Kipling!

The loyal reader of this blog knows the HTBS editor’s interest in poetry and rowing. Not a stone will be left unturned in his search for a combination of the two. Therefore, it is with great joy HTBS points you in the direction of the eminent blog Rowing Related, where our honourable colleague Bryan Kitch posted a video on Monday from rowingphotography.co.uk showing, in Bryan’s words, “fantastic ‘race faces,’ the roughest conditions, the most miserable mishaps, and devastating crabs ever caught on film.” The slideshow of these great photographs are presented with a marvellous reading of Rudyard Kipling’s “If”, one of the author’s most famous poems. “If” was written in 1895 and is still very popular, not the least as a parody, which confirms its status amongst the British people. Despite today's scholars’ disapproval of Kipling’s celebration of British imperialism, he stands out as a magnificent author. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Watch and listen to Bryan’s blog post here.

Read Grainger’s “out-takes”

This month I am really looking forward to receive my copy of the Rowing & Regatta. On his blog Martin Gough, who on occasions has graced HTBS with his well-written articles, writes that he has a long, 1,600-word piece about Katherine Grainger in British Rowing’s magazine. Martin was first commissioned to write an 800-word long piece, but he had to ask for an extension to be able to fit some of Katherine’s stories. He still did not manage to get them all in the magazine. On his blog he offers the readers the “out-takes”. Read his brilliant blog here.

Regularly Postings, But Not Daily...

Dear readers of HTBS - Looking back at 2010, there were 325 entries posted on HTBS, and during last year we managed to post 351 entries, which is almost one entry a day. Although, HTBS is off to a good start for 2012, I am afraid, I will not be able to keep up a daily post, at best, maybe 2-3 posts per week. There is no lack of interest from my part, the reason is more lack of time. I have promised a maritime magazine in Stockholm a couple of articles for this spring, and then I have two half-written essays is my desk drawer that I need to attend to, plus one which I am doing research for right now. Add then my contributions to the Swedish and British rowing magazines, and.. well, my calendar is full (and here I am not even mentioning my full-time job as an editor of a magazine and my full-time job as the father to two small children...)

The easiest way you can keep track of new entries on this blog is to subscribe to HTBS. You only have to fill in your e-mail address up on the right, 'Follow HTBS by Email', and you will receive an e-mail in your inbox each time there is a new entry on HTBS - and, yes, it is of course free!

Hooray For HTBS!

Dear reader of HTBS - on 12 March, 2009, I started this rowing blog, I guess out of being bored... At first, I thought that no one was actually going to read it, I did not even bother to put up a so called site metre. After a couple of months of blogging, I did realise that there were people reading it, and I have happily been blogging away ever since, now with help from rowing friends in France and England. However, when HTBS turned one year, I did ‘install’ the site metre, which earlier today showed that HTBS has had its 100,000 visit (with slightly more than 230,700 page views!). In the blogging world it might not sound like a lot, but for a blog dealing mainly with rowing history, it is incredible!

My warmest ‘thank you’ to all you loyal readers of HTBS & and to contributors Hélène Rémond, Tim Koch, Greg Denieffe, and Philip Kuepper.