The University of Washington has a long history of competitive rowing. A few years ago, we accidentally came across a regatta underway when visiting the campus. The racing was just concluding when we got there and the crews were getting ready to head out. I had paid a little attention to the schedule for the rowing earlier in the year but almost forgot about it until recently when I took another look at the schedule. The last big event of the year was coming up – the Windermere Cup. I decided to head along.
The racing takes place along Montlake Cut. The starting point is out in Lake Washington beyond Foster Point. I decided to park up at the arboretum and walk out to Foster Point to see some of the racing from there and then follow the trail along the south side of the cut to end up at the Montlake Bridge. This is a popular viewing location and is closed to traffic during the races. It is still a bit short of the finish line but I didn’t think going any further would be worthwhile. Besides, I had to backtrack to the car at the end of all of this.
The weather forecast was not favorable. I decided to prepare for anything and took full waterproofs with me. When I left home, it was raining very heavily and I was skeptical about how things would turn out but the rain was very localized and it was significantly better near the city. However, it did start raining again so I put the waterproofs on when I got out of the car. This proved to be a mistake. It did think about raining a few times but it was quite warm and sunny near the end of the racing and I was rather overdressed.
The other thing I hadn’t accounted for was the condition of the trail. It is a combination of boardwalk, trails and some metal planking. However, the lake water level is quite high and sections were under water while parts of the trail were very soggy. I had worn my hiking boots and I was glad that I had as I was able to walk through the watery sections without too much trouble. I was constantly wondering whether it would get worse and how far I was prepared to go before turning back. As it turned out, I made it through without a problem but I did walk back via the roads to make things simpler.
There were loads of large boats out along the course. They were all moored with the sterns towards the course to give the rear decks the view of the racing. Lots of people with plenty of cash judging by the size of some of them. The parties looked like they were in full swing on a Saturday morning. There were two smaller boats on the south side of the course that could not master mooring up and were drifting on to the course which resulted in much shouting from the officials.
There were good spots to watch from all along the cut. I made my way progressively along the course shooting both stills and video as I went. Plenty of students were out to cheer on the home team. They seemed to be winning a lot of the races. However, UW does take its rowing very seriously unlike some of the other schools in the area so not a great surprise. The final events were the men’s and women’s Windermere Cup races and these had attracted some international competition. In the women’s race, the GB national team won while the men’s race was won by the Netherlands national team. The racing was still tight but the UW team does include a number of the US national team so not such an unbalanced race.
The Montlake Cut is a narrow waterway and the races happen in quick succession. With the length of the course, the next race has started before the previous one has finished. This means there is no space for crews to row back out from Portage Bay after their race is over. They have to wait in the Bay until all racing is complete. Then there is a mass exodus of crews back through the Cut. It makes for a neat spectacle to round off the racing. Then it is time to get off the bridge because they open it up for a few hours and you don’t want to be on the wrong side!
