Dear Team and Alumni:

The 2005 fall season for Cal Lightweight Crew men’s team was highlighted with victories by the varsity men at the Head of the American in Rancho Cordova, and the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival in Newport Beach (referred to by many simply as “NARF”).

At the Head of the American, the varsity men were victorious across the board, with first place finishes in the lightweight 8+ and lightweight 4+ events. At NARF, they captured first in the lightweight 8+ event for the second consecutive year. In both regattas, the collegiate competition came from UC Davis..
The varsity men also raced at the second annual National Collegiate Club Rowing Championships hosted by USC at the Port of Los Angeles. Similar to the 2004 race, USC won the race while the varsity men finished second. Rounding out the field were Long Beach State and San Diego State.

Unfortunately, as was the case last year, there is not a deep, competitive field for men’s lightweight rowing on the West Coast. Therefore the varsity men will continue to seek out competitive West Coast heavyweight crews at early season regattas. These races will help prepare the crew for showdowns on the East Coast at the Dad Vail and IRA races versus lightweight entries.

For the novice men, the fall season began with a 7th place finish in the collegiate novice event at Head of the American, out pacing crews from Humboldt State and St. Mary’s College. Coming in first and second places were the Cal Heavy Freshman A and B crews, blistering the field with times of 15:49 and 15:52, respectively. The following weekend in Newport saw a much deeper field for the novice men. Out of 22 crews, the novice lightweight 8+ finished 13th, and more importantly, made gains on some crews they had raced at Head of the American.

With the fall racing season completed, the men’s team will yet again move to a new training location. The Richmond property was sold to developers, and the men have been searching for a new venue from which to train and gear up for the spring season. Regardless of what body of water the men eventually will row in, they look forward to facing a competitive spring season.

Rich Lapachet
Men’s Coach
Cal Lightweight Crew