Under the title "Oxbridge goes to Washington," University College ("Univ"), Oxford , posted the following report on the participation of Sean Denniston in the 2020 (88th) New York City Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner.
Showing posts with label Boat Race Dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boat Race Dinner. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2021
Saturday, December 26, 2020
88th Annual NYC Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner (Virtual), Today 2 PM EST
Today, Sunday, 2 pm, Eastern Standard Time. Zoom link below.
The 88th Annual | ||||||||||||||
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JOIN: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79455328883?pwd=Z0tlMEFrUGxCMEFXUy9uQitJL1Y3dz09 | ||||||||||||||
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While we cannot meet in person this year, we invite you to join us virtually for our 88th consecutive annual celebration of Oxford and Cambridge scholarship, sport, and camaraderie. | ||||||||||||||
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Thursday, March 15, 2018
OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE DINNER | New York City's 85th, April 5
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| The late Stephen Hawking as an Oxford undergraduate, coxing the Univ 2nd Eight. |
Both men's and women's boat races will be held that day.
A festive dinner to celebrate the event will be held at the University Club in New York on Thursday, April 5. It will be the 85th consecutive uninterrupted boat race dinner in New York City. As usual, the dress code for men is black tie or boat club blazer. (The dinner program and some remarks are posted.)
The Newark Boys Chorus will sing the American and British national anthems and their own song.
For further details and to reserve a place or two, go to the Cambridge University website.
Information on the 2017 NYC Boat Race Dinner and the 83 previous boat race dinners in New York may be found here. The outcome of the Boat Race in 2017 may be found here.
More information on the 2018 Boat Race may be found on the Oxford-Cambridge NYC Boat Race Dinner site or on the official boat race site.
A brief history of the boat race says that the boats use "much the same equipment as in 1829." Well, yes, if you don't consider significant the improving outrigger of the earliest years, the move from a wherry to a flat shell, the offset oarlocks, and above all the sliding seats starting in 1869 and the composite shells in the 20th century. See my review of boat innovations for more details.
On April 16, I will be giving a presentation on the Oxford colleges' coats of arms to the Oxford University Society in London (at the Oxford-Cambridge Club). I will be posting details shortly here.
The next evening, I will be talking to the Oxford-Cambridge Club membership about the coats of arms of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges. This event is nearly sold out, one month in advance.
Friday, April 21, 2017
NEW YORK: 2017 Boat Race Dinner
The New York City Boat Race Dinner was held for the first time ever at the Cosmopolitan Club on East 66th Street in NYC. The venue and food and wine (esp. the La Petite Perrière Sauvignon Blanc) were highly appreciated.
Below the program are the versions of their speeches by speakers who have sent them to me.
Below the program are the versions of their speeches by speakers who have sent them to me.
Toast to the Queen
Introduction by John Tepper Marlin (Trinity, Oxford): Bennett Freeman earned a summa cum laude degree in history from Berkeley, following which he was awarded a Churchill Scholarship from the English-Speaking Union to read history at Balliol.
After Oxford, Bennett worked for Walter Mondale and from there spent eight years as manager of corporate affairs for General Electric. Bill Clinton swept him into the State Department where for four years he worked on human rights, developing a standard for oil and mining industries, and helping to recover millions of dollars for the families of Holocaust victims.
In the next nine years of his life he was senior vice president of Calvert Investments, the largest source of socially responsible mutual funds. Ladies and gentlemen, Bennett Freeman.
Bennett Freeman (Balliol, Oxford): Thanks to my friend John Tepper Marlin for that generous introduction. I’ve known John — and his wife Alice Tepper Marlin — for three decades and have had the privilege of learning from them over the years as a fellow traveler in the world of corporate responsibility and sustainability.
Our remarks this evening can’t be political and mine certainly won’t be. But I can’t resist noting that the General Election has just been called and wondering if the Prime Minister is taking a risk by asking the British electorate to vote for May… in June.
Our two great ancient universities have instilled in us a respect for tradition as well as for innovation in a time of disruption. And our time in Great Britain — whether it is our country or not — has instilled in us a respect for the institutions and the individuals that anchor that tradition.
Since Victoria queens and kings have reigned rather than ruled. But this Queen commands our singular respect. Walter Bagehot famously observed of the monarchy that “Its mystery is its life” and advised that “we must not let in daylight upon magic.”
Yet Queen Elizabeth has let in the daylight to reveal that her magic is not mysterious but almost comprehensible — even though her durability is nothing less than supernatural.
Our remarks this evening can’t be political and mine certainly won’t be. But I can’t resist noting that the General Election has just been called and wondering if the Prime Minister is taking a risk by asking the British electorate to vote for May… in June.
Our two great ancient universities have instilled in us a respect for tradition as well as for innovation in a time of disruption. And our time in Great Britain — whether it is our country or not — has instilled in us a respect for the institutions and the individuals that anchor that tradition.
Since Victoria queens and kings have reigned rather than ruled. But this Queen commands our singular respect. Walter Bagehot famously observed of the monarchy that “Its mystery is its life” and advised that “we must not let in daylight upon magic.”
Yet Queen Elizabeth has let in the daylight to reveal that her magic is not mysterious but almost comprehensible — even though her durability is nothing less than supernatural.
Her decency and probity are the virtues that will sustain us in this era of uncertainty and insecurity. Her wisdom and her discretion give her a quiet authority to which we can all aspire whatever our cause, our work or our walk of life.
Please join me in being upstanding…
The Queen!
Other 2017 Boat Race News . College VIIIs . Summer VIIIs Dinners 2017
Please join me in being upstanding…
The Queen!
Other 2017 Boat Race News . College VIIIs . Summer VIIIs Dinners 2017
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
BOAT RACE: 17th NYC BRD 1949 - Speakers and Menu
This is the first of the menus that I have in my possession, thanks to Quentin Keith (Kings, Cambridge), who passed on to me the earliest menu provided here and many others.His granddaughter was accepted at Oriel College, Oxford to study physics in 1995.
Other estates that may have early menus among their papers might be those of Committee members in 1949 or 1955.
The Committee list in 1949 was much shorter than in 1955 and the only overlap is Louis B. Warren:
Lawrence C. Hill (BNC, Oxford)
Leslie A. Hyam (Trinity, Cambridge)
John C. Jenkins (Corpus Christi, Cambridge)
James B. Orrick (New College, Oxford)
H. Gregory Thomas (Corpus Christi, Cambridge)
R. A. van der Straeten (Pembroke, Cambridge)
Louis B. Warren (Trinity, Oxford)
John A. Wells (Balliol, Oxford)
H. N. Wilcox (St. John's, Oxford)
The 1955 Committee was:
L. A. Astley-Bell (Pembroke, Cambridge)
Charles G. Bolte (New College, Oxford)
Candler Cobb (Oriel, Oxford)
Bruce F. E. Harvey (BNC, Oxford) - Chairman of the dinner before Denis Woodfield, who preceded me.
Cedric R. Lane (Pembroke, Cambridge)
Malcolm A. MacIntyre (BNC, Oxford)
John M. Martin (Hertford, Oxford)
C. F. Martineau (Univ., Oxford)
V. J. D. Stavridi (Ch.Ch., Oxford)
John Treadwell (Ch.Ch., Oxford) [He died in 1968 or 1969]
Louis B. Warren (Trinity, Oxford)
Hobart G. Weekes (Exeter, Oxford)
G. N. T. Widdrington (SEH, Oxford)
Rivington Winant (Balliol, Oxford)
I have a complete file of dinner menus except for the following years:
1933-1948, 1950-53, 1972, 1977-78.
BOAT RACE: 21st NYC BRD 1954 - Speakers and Menu
The earliest New York City Boat Race Dinners were all held at the Harvard Club of New York.The cost to those who came to the 1955 dinner was $8 per person.
Speakers at the early dinners were almost always alumni of Oxford or Cam-bridge.
For example, the Episcopal Bishop of NY said the Grace in 1954 and 1955. He had an Oxford identification.
The one exception to the alumni status of speakers seems to have been the Australian Ambassador to the United States in 1955.
Speakers in 1954
Peter Greig (Peterhouse, Cambridge) [He died in 1968 or 1969.]
Prof. Gilbert Highet (Balliol, Oxford)
H. E. Sir Robert Makins (Christ Church, Oxford)
Saturday, March 14, 2015
BOAT RACE: NYC, 78th Dinner 2011
The following is posted for the record. See also: Current (2015) Boat Race Dinner information and The history of Boat Race Dinners in North America.
NEW YORK CITY BOAT RACE DINNER 2011
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| James Doty, Chairman, PCAOB |
Response from the Universities - Sir Martin Taylor, Warden, Merton College
Timing and Script
6:45-7:30 pm - OPEN WINE BAR
7:30 pm WELCOME – Dr. John Tepper Marlin (Trinity, Oxford).
7:30 pm WELCOME – Dr. John Tepper Marlin (Trinity, Oxford).
Welcome to the 78th annual and uninterrupted New York City Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner.
GRACE
I call upon Mr. Paul Lewis of Balliol, Oxford and The New York Times to say the Balliol grace as mandated in the year 1282.
Mr. Paul Lewis (Balliol, Oxford): Benedictus benedicat. Amen.
8:00 pm REPORT ON ALUMNI BOAT RACE
8:00 pm REPORT ON ALUMNI BOAT RACE
I call now on Mr. Ian Hawkins of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Ian has been a participant in the last three Oxford-Cambridge alumni boat races, which have been at the Saugatuck Boat Club in Westport, CT. He is launching a family-friendly alumni boating day in New Jersey.
Mr. Ian Hawkins (Trinity Hall, Cambridge).
REPORT ON BOAT RACE
The Boat Race was held last week. Claude Prince of Kellogg College, Oxford, was there and will report on the race. I warn you that the news will not be good for some fine people in this room. Brace yourself.
Mr. Claude Prince (Kellogg, Oxford).
Mr. Claude Prince (Kellogg, Oxford).
8:30 pm TOAST TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
We try to balance the speakers between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Our next speaker is Dr. Christopher Oakley, has matriculated at both universities. He will give the Toast to the President of the United States. He is a physicist based in London who has found his comparative advantage responding to the calls of Wall Street firms on matters too complex for me to describe.
Dr. Christopher Oakley (Trinity, Oxford and Trinity, Cambridge).
TOAST TO THE QUEEN
To introduce our next speaker, I invite Sally Fan of Green Templeton College, Oxford. A nationally recognized journalist in China, Sally is an active member of the Dinner Committee.
Dr. Linda Gruendken (St. John’s, Cambridge). Introduced by Sally Fan (Green Templeton, Oxford). A rower for Cambridge, Linda has previously addressed the dinner on the race results.
TOAST TO THE UNIVERSITIES –
To give the Toast to the Universities, we are honored to have Jim Doty of Merton College, Oxford. Jim has been named a “Washington Superlawyer” many times. He has recently accepted an appointment by the Securities and Exchange Commission to chair the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, having been General Counsel at the SEC a few years ago.
If you remember, the two largest bankruptcies in history, Enron and then WorldCom, occurred within six months. In July 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to prevent a recurrence of the systematic accounting and auditing lapses that led to the bankruptcies. As part of the Act, the PCAOB was created to answer the question: Who Audits the Auditors? Or as Juvenal asked, in a different context, in Satires VI, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” The first Chairman was Bill McDonough, who had been President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Jim Doty is now the leader of the forces that are defending the capitalist system against its exogenous enemies. So to the question: “Quis custodiet?” We can answer: Jim does.
Mr. James E. Doty (Merton, Oxford), Chairman, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Washington, DC.
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| Professor Sir Martin Taylor, Warden, Merton College, Oxford |
To introduce our final speaker, I call on Herve Gouraige of Merton, Oxford, an attorney at Sills Cummis and another active member of the Dinner Committee.
RESPONSE FROM THE UNIVERSITIES – Professor Sir Martin Taylor, Warden, Merton College, Oxford. Introduced by Mr. Herve Gouraige (Merton, Oxford). A mathematician of note, Sir Martin is traveling with the famed Merton Choir.
CONCLUSION
That concludes our 78th Annual Dinner. Thanks again to our Corporate Dinner Sponsors, HSBC Bank and the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, and to our academic sponsors, who have been playing an increasingly important role in making the dinners run smoothly. Please note the date for the 79th Annual Dinner – Thursday, April, 2012. If you are interested in supporting this dinner and the 80th dinner in 2013, please let me know. Meanwhile, you are invited now to repair to the Algonquin Hotel, a few buildings to the west, where the conversation will continue. The drinks will be Dutch treat.
9:30 pm AFTER-DINNER PARTY
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The Boat Race Crews 2011
Oxford crew, from bow (GB unless stated):
Moritz Hafner (Ger), Ben Myers, Alec Dent, Ben Ellison, Karl Hudspith, Constantine Louloudis, George Whittaker, Simon Hislop, Cox: Sam Winter-Levy
Ben Myers is Oxford’s only rower from last year’s crew, which is boosted by the inclusion of Karl Hudspith and Constantine Louloudis, who finished seventh in recent GB trials.
Cambridge crew, from bow:
Mike Thorp, Joel Jennings, Dan Rix-Standing, Hardy Cubasch (Australia), George Nash, Geoff Roth (Can), Derek Rasmussen (US), David Nelson (Australia), Cox: Liz Box
Cambridge are the heavier boat by an average of 1.63kg (3.6 lb per man), with their average crew weight 92.58 kg (14 st 8 lb).
Oxford coach Sean Bowden is supervising his 17th Boat Race, having previously coached crews to nine victories (four with Cambridge). He said: ‘The crew has come together well and what it lacks in Boat Race experience, it more than makes up for in determination and track record. Because we lost last year we’ve had a chance to look back and see the stuff we could do better.
He added: 'We will benefit from a hunger for success, but I wouldn’t want to underestimate Cambridge’s determination.’
Medical student Simon Hislop is stroke for the Oxford crew, after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and undergoing surgery last year. He said: ‘Being in the Boat Race is a big deal for me because I’ve been rowing on the Tideway for years, watching these crews. I’m coming to the end of my rowing career and this will be a nice way to draw a line under it.’
Alec Dent also makes the boat, having earlier resigned the club presidency when he was suffering from a back injury and thought he would not recover in time for the race.
The rest of the crew consists of Moritz Hafner, Ben Myers, Ben Ellison, Karl Hudspith and George Whittaker, with Sam Winter-Levy selected as cox. At 18, Sam will be one of the youngest coxswains in the history of the race. Oxford will face a strong Cambridge crew which boasts three members of last year’s winning boat.
The Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging, takes place on the River Thames on Saturday 26 March, beginning at 5 pm. It will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC Radio Five Live and the BBC Sport website from 3.45 pm.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
BOAT RACE: Dinners 2015
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| Nick Rawlins, Oxford's Pro-Vice-Chancellor, to speak at Chicago's 76th BRD, the 50th Chicago BRD John Morrison has organized. |
Oxford-Cambridge Events in USA-Canada*, April-May 2015, by City (Scroll Down for Details and More Links)
Boston | BRD | May 30, 2015
Chicago | 76th BRD | April 10, 2015
Chicago | Vice Chancellor | April 19, 2015
Dallas | Vice Chancellor | April 14
Houston | Vice Chancellor | April 15
Kingston, Ont. | BRD | April 12
Los Angeles | 11th BR Brunch | April 19
Montreal | BRD | Date Pending
NY City | 82nd BRD | April 23
NY City | 4th BR Brunch | April 11
Ottawa | Vice Chancellor | April 17
Ottawa | BRD | April 25
San Francisco | BR Breakfast | April 11
San Francisco | 80th BRD | April 21
Toronto | Drinks, Vice Chancellor | April 18
Vancouver | 85th BRD | May 29
Vancouver | 4th BR Breakfast | April 11
Victoria | BRD | April 18
Washington, D.C. | 68th BRD | May 8
*Link to Oxford Alumni Boat Race Events World-Wide (Europe and Asia included)
Events by Date
Send updates here. | Photos etc. of US-Canadian Boat Race alumni events before 2015.
April 10 (Friday) - Chicago, 76th BRD (since 1934). Prof. J. N. P. ("Nick") Rawlins (Univ.), Oxford's Pro-Vice-Chancellor, is speaking at the University Club. Also Sir Ivor Crewe (Exeter, Oxford) and Charles R. Conn III (Balliol), Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford. Black tie optional. It is the 50th dinner organized by John Morrison (New Mexico and Univ.), and he has announced it will be his last (he may be congratulated at JohnHMorrison@outlook.com). Contacts: The new BRD Hon. Sec., James C. Dunlop (LMH) of Jones Day, jcdunlop@jonesday.com; or the Illinois Oxford Society coordinator MicheleRDavies@gmail.com.
April 11 - New York, NY - 12.00 noon-2:30pm: Keble College Boat Race Brunch in New York with Warden Sir Jonathan Philips and Director of Development Jenny Tudge Venue: Home of George Evans (Keble, 1978) West 74th Street, New York, NY, USA. More information and $50 tickets available online.
April 11 - San Francisco, Live Viewing of Boat Races. 8:50 a.m., OUS Northern California. Kezar Pub.
April 11 - Vancouver, 4th Annual Boat Races Breakfast. Contact: StuartCBowyer@gmail.com. The men's race starts at 4:50 pm GMT - or 8:50 a.m. in Vancouver. 10 am: Vancouver Oxford & Cambridge Society Annual Boat Race Breakfast Venue: Manchester Public House, 1941 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 1Z3, Canada.
April 11 - Portland, Ore., 9 am-12 noon local time - Oxbridge Cascades Alumni Society Viewing of the 2015 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Venue: Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, 112 SW 2nd Ave, Portland, Oregon 97204, USA. According to Vancouver branch, Portland invented the Boat Race Breakfast, in which alumni gather at a local pub, many with old college or university gear, to watch the race live on TV. Always early morning in Oregon. Contact: Christopher Gondek, cgondek@ heronandcrane.com.
April 12 - Kingston, Ont., Boat Race Dinner, venue to be determined. Contact: Robert Darymple kingston@ousoc.oxon.org.
April 17 (Friday) - Ottawa - Vice Chancellor Andrew and Mrs. Jennie Hamilton and University of Oxford North American Office will host a drinks party for alumni and friends. Centre Block, Parliament of Canada, 111 Wellington Street Ottawa. 6-8 pm. (This is a different event from the BRD on April 25.) Tickets C$40 per person. Starting in January 2016 the Vice Chancellor will be President of New York University.
April 18 (Saturday) - Victoria - Annual VIOCS Boat Race Party Saturday, 6:30-9:30 pm, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (exhibits will be open) 1040 Moss Street, Victoria $36.00 p.p. Send your cheque to: Dr. Brian Scarfe (personally) Suite 416, 21 Dallas Road, Victoria, BC, V8V 4Z9 VIOCS Silent auction to help offset the cost of our splendid venue. Bring cheque book. For further information contact admin@VIOCS.ca or call Dr. Dorothy Kennedy at 250-384-4544. 
April 19 (Sunday) - Los Angeles, Brunch. Held every year since at least 2005 (University Club, Pasadena). Will be at 12 noon at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey - enjoy dazzling conversation, a luxurious champagne brunch, and a gorgeous view of the yachts while rooting on the dark and light blues while watching from a week-old DVD (no spoilers, please). Oxonians, Cantabrigians, friends and supporters are all welcome. This year’s teams seem particularly well matched, as in the anxious words of a late 1800s Oxford poet: “The Cambridge eight / have muscle and weight, / but the dark blue blades / fall sharp and straight.” The group assembles at 11:30 am, has brunch and then watches the Boat Races at 1:30 pm (since they are viewing from a DVD, the group is not bound to the Tidewater schedule). Contact: Ray Dean Mize raydean.mize@gmail.com.
April 21 (Tuesday) - San Francisco, 80th BRD. Presidio Golf Club, 8 Presidio Terrace. Speaker will be tech forecaster and futurist Paul Saffo (Cambridge). Contact: Leena.Bengani@oxfordalumni.org or Matthew Kaser, m.kaser@comcast.net.
April 23 (Thursday) - New York City, 82nd BRD, since 1933. As last year, the BRD will be at the University Club in New York. The toasts are to the President and Queen and the Universities, with a Response from the Universities. Speakers in April include Paul Bernstein, CEO of the Pershing Square Foundation, and Stephen Trachtenberg (Nuffield, Oxford), former President of the George Washington University. For several years, 2005-2008 and in some years before that, New York City had an Alumni Boat Race. Contact: Hervé Gouraige (Merton), dinner chairman; hgouraige@comcast.net.
April 25 (Saturday) - Ottawa BRD. The Cambridge Society of Ottawa hosts an annual BRD that some Oxonians attend. This year's BRD is at the Britannia Yacht Club. Contact: Neil Bliss, nwbliss@magma.ca or (613) 745-5179; or Oxford Secretary Harry Corrin, ous.ottawa@gmail.com.
May 8 (Friday) - Washington, DC BRD. National Press Club. Contact: George Keys, gkeys at jordankeys.com; Giles_Howson at yahoo.com; dlaw@curtin-law.com. The Washington BRD does not take credit cards. You sign up for the mailing list for a one-time charge of $10. You then print out the form that is emailed to you and you mail it in with a check for $125 ($100 for those who have matriculated within the last five years). Featured speakers on May 8 - H.M. Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter John Westacott will respond for the Universities to Daniel Yergin. Nicholas Holland, former Blue Boat oarsman, will report on the Boat Races that were rowed April 11 - if you want to know the outcomes before then, a spoiler is here.
May 29 (Friday) - Vancouver BRD. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Anne Giardini, Chancellor of Simon Fraser University, will toast the Universities. Xenia Kritsos will toast Cambridge. Hon. Peter Woolley will toast Oxford. Dr. Robert Dunn will give the loyal toast to the Queen. Contact: Dr. Dorothy Kennedy, admin@viocs.ca. Website: www.vocs.ca.
May 30 (Saturday) - Boston (New England Society) BRD. Contact: Dona Cady is President of OCSNE, president@oxcamne.org; David Manns is Secretary, secretary@oxcamne.org; Belinda Wilkes is Treasurer, treasurer@oxcamne.org. For dinner details, sign up here (you will need to input your university/college of matriculation).
Cities for Which Dates Not Reported (To add an event - contact JTMarlin@post.harvard.edu)
Calgary, Alberta. Contact: Geoffrey Cowling, gcowling@iridiumrisk.com; jonathan.d.connell@ gmail.com. Denver, Colo. Contact: Chris.Hansen@ihs.com Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Contact: EnriqueBargioni@msn.com Houston, Tex. Contact: Kevin Bradford, houston@ousoc.oxon.org Indianapolis, Ind. Contact Stephen Smith, SKSmith1@msn.com Kansas City, Mo. Contact: BartholomewDean at gmail.com. Little Rock, Ark. Contact: frank.thurmond@gmail.com. Montreal, Que. Contact: Catherine.Gillbert@videotron.ca. New Orleans, La. Contact: David Campbell, davidc1010@ att.net. Phoenix, Ariz. Contact: jonathan.rose@asu.edu. Portland, Maine Contact: TracieJeanReed @gmail.com. Raleigh, N.C. Contact: Steven Wilson, scrwilson@gmail.com Richmond, Va. Contact: Matthias Hild, n@hild.org Salt Lake City, Utah. Contact: Russell Fisher, utah.oxford@ gmail.com. San Diego, Calif. Contact: caio@handsupincentives.com. Contact: Ean.Hernandez@ eanh.net St. Louis, Mo. Contact: David Pollack, missouri@ousoc.oxon.org Toronto, Ont. Contact: oxfordsocietytoronto@gmail.com. Winnipeg, Manitoba. Contact: Robert Dawson, dawson at dawsonlaw.com.
Read here about the long History of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race and the Boat Race Dinners.
Other boating posts: Head of the Charles 2016
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
ROWING BLAZERS: Ralph Lauren Launch, Carlson's Book (Comment)
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| Alice Tepper Marlin, John Tepper Marlin and Jack Carlson at Ralph Lauren's 55th Street store. |
The author of the book coxed the winning boats this year at the Henley Royal Regatta, the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, and the Head of the Charles Regatta.
He has also coxed the U.S. boat at the world championships and Oxford in the Oxford-Cambridge boat races.
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| Cover: Kenny McMahon. |
His photography in the book captures the glamor of rowing, with photos that do justice to the blazers and ties and the young men and women who wear them. Castleberry says he worked on the book for three years with the author.
The cover of the book on display featured Kenny McMahon wearing the University of Wisconsin blazer. A friend in Canada says that the Canadian edition uses a different blazer for the cover.
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| Oliver Williams with Taurus Boat Club boating uniform. Photos by JT Marlin. |
The Three-Piece Boat Suit
Oliver Williams gets a two-page spread wearing the three-piece uniform of the Taurus Boat Club in front of a white topless motor vehicle.
His club is attached to Oxford Brookes University, the polytechnic that has grown in size and stature since I was at Oxford in 1962-64.
Williams was at the book launch and cheerfully autographed my book in the white space created by the car.
Origin of the Blazer
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| Jack Carlson's Dad with friends. |
The word "blazer", Carlson tells us right up front, was originally applicable only to the jacket of Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John's College, Cambridge. This was reportedly the first boat club to be organized on the River Cam.
The Lady Margaret Boat Club color was red, a "blazing" red. Hence the name. As other college boat clubs rose to the competition and developed their own colors, the term "blazer" became a generic word for the boat club jacket.
The blazer-makers that Carlson recommends are retailers in Cambridge (both England and Massachusetts), Eton, Henley and Oxford. A friend who was buying a Trinity College, Oxford blazer didn't like the one sold by Walters in Oxford so he had one made by a tailor in London.
Comment
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| Regatta wear with Henley ticket in lapel. |
Denise got to see rowing from the inside when she was married to Peter Darrow, a fellow Trinity Oxford alum who was an avidly competitive rower (he was a strong backer of the Sag Harbor Rowing Club) sadly died of cancer last year.
The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner in New York City is held every year – 2015 will be the 82nd dinner – and it has many oarsmen in attendance. They are permitted to wear boat club blazers instead of black tie. I suspect/predict that the number of people wearing blazers will increase in 2015, for two reasons:
- Now that Ralph Lauren has attached his influence to the boat club blazer, those who rowed but never bought a blazer may be tempted to do so.
- Those who already own blazers and still fit in them will be tempted to ante up the money for a ticket or two to the dinner next year.
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| Denise Seegal and Jack Carlson. |
A portion of sales at the book event will go to making rowing accessible to more young people, a project that helps keep the sport from being exclusively for students at prep schools and boat-friendly colleges.
Too bad Carlson didn't include the Trinity College, Oxford blazer. He includes only Trinity College, Hartford and Trinity College, Toronto. He did, however, immediately recognize my Trinity College Boat Club tie, at right – to my mind, one of the best-designed boat club ties around.
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| Trinity College, Oxford Boat Club tie. Two griffins on a crown. |
- Fashion designers for the mass market "club blazers" should respect existing club designs to prevent their being sold to customers with no connection to the boat clubs.
- It would be great if a quality clothing store would sell college boat club blazers, some of which are poorly made. Some rowers have their blazers custom made because none of the ones on the racks are good enough.
- Support of rowing programs for teenagers ought to be incorporated in every boat club activity.
- It's great to see experimentation in boating attire. However, personally I would not cry over the disappearance of the most egregious expressions, such as the three-piece boat-club suit exemplified by that of Oxford Brookes University. A club blazer paired with the rest of a black-tie or boat-club tie outfit looks better to me.
Other rowing posts: 2012 NYC Boat Race Dinner . 2014 NYC Boat Race Dinner
Update September 2017: This post has had 2,600 views. Thank you for reading.
Update September 2017: This post has had 2,600 views. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
BOAT RACE: Photos, 2014 BRD in NYC
The 186 photos are posted here: http://on.fb.me/ZcAmMS.
With Jack Carlson's glossy new book on Rowing Blazers just launched with a splash in New York City at Ralph Lauren's flagship on Fifth Avenue, we may see a lot more boat club blazers at the 2015 dinner...
With Jack Carlson's glossy new book on Rowing Blazers just launched with a splash in New York City at Ralph Lauren's flagship on Fifth Avenue, we may see a lot more boat club blazers at the 2015 dinner...
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