Head of the Genesee™
October 8th, 9th, and 15th, 2011
COACHES: Links to a video of the course and a larger map version are at the bottom of this page.The Head of The Genesee™ (a.k.a. HoG™) continues to grow, in both size and favor, forcing a 3rd day of racing for 2011. This year’s event dates are October 8th, 9th and 15th. The Head of the Genesee™ has always been a unique event. In prior years, Saturday’s schedule had been head races for Masters, Open and High School events. Sunday’s schedule has always had collegiate races featuring top crews from the northeast. Morning head races were followed by paired sprints in reverse order of finish from the morning head race. Combined times of the two events have determined the winners.
When asked about the new format of a 3rd race day, Regatta Director Tim Giarrusso stated that recent successes in increased satisfaction with the Head of the Genesee Regatta™ and a desire to grow the regatta have led to a change in the scheduling.
The Head of the Genesee™ has improved its’ timing system in a way that allows results to be posted well under 20 minutes from race completion and the course buoys marking the course have led to far fewer time penalties. These improvements along with more docks and some of the best water in the north east have seen the regatta grow it’s entries. Giarrusso stated they are also proud of ALWAYS running a truly ‘on-time’ regatta.
For 2011, the college races are moving to Saturday October 15th – one week ahead of the Head of the Charles and leaving Sunday as a travel/recovery day for coaches and crews. We anticipate that this will better support college programs. Friday afternoon and evening will have unfettered water for coaches to get a light row in ahead of race day and after traveling, if they desire. Race day will maintain it’s head/sprint combination format.
This year will also get the high school race day off the dreaded SAT test date, which has always been the same Saturday as the Head of the Genesee™. This year high school coaches and crews won’t have that worry as the high schools will race on Sunday, October 10th, 2011. This will allow our regatta to offer more classes of races for 1st, 2nd and possibly 3rd fours and eights for coaches and crews and to more closely mimic the format so popular at the Head of the Fish. The big difference for coaches and crews is that at our venue you will have FLAT water, get all your races in, and we guarantee NO MUD or need for straw!!!
Saturday October 8th will focus on Masters and Open rowers with more events and less contention from the high schoolers – this also presents ALL crews with more convenient trailer access.
We look forward to being your host for 3 great days of rowing!
Links to Larger Map and Race Course Video
Here is the link to a larger version of the course map. Feel free to print and distribute it to your team. Significant landmarks such as overhanging power lines and bridges are shown on the map for reference.
Below is an “on the water” Head of the Genesee Video of the full course. Note that this 12+ minute resource will chiefly be of interest to coaches and coxswains. It will be updated in the future to include audio of significant details of the course.
