So you think you know the Royal St. John’s Regatta ...

1. During the late Don Johnson’s two-year term as president of the Regatta Committee, Newfoundland rowers gained national recognition. Why?

2. Considering the number of years when a Regatta was not held since 1818, how many actual Regattas took place at Quidi Vidi Lake?

3. The 1966 Regatta championship race was expected to be a close contest between the Jerseyside Crew and the William Summers Jr. crew. However, experts were confounded when both crews were upstaged by a third crew. Name that crew?

4. In what was perhaps the closest race in Regatta history, this crew earned a place in the championship race by defeating the U.S. Naval Crew by six-tenths of a second. Name that crew?

5. Name the crew that in 1971 recorded the fastest time in 11 years at the Regatta?

6. The most amazing aspects of the 1971 Regatta was the spirited performance of a veteran cox, who while suffering a broken hand, brought home four winning crews, including the Reddy Kilowatts in the championship race. Name that coxswain?

7. The 1974 Regatta championship ended in a dead heat. Name the two crews?

8. The 1974 decision by the committee to declare a dead heat was not popular and a real showdown championship race emerged in 1975 when the two winners again faced each other at the end of the day. Which crew was victorious?

9. Name the crew that won the Regatta championship in Newfoundland’s last year as a British colony, 1948?

10. Name the crew to win the Regatta championship in Newfoundland’s first year as a province of Canada?

ANSWERS

1. It was under Don Johnson’s presidency that St. John’s male and female rowers competed in Canada’s National Rowing Championships. Don was justly proud of the fact that the St. John’s rowers beat Canadian Olympic rowers to win the championship in both male and female categories.

2. Actual Regattas held are 160, with the year 2012 marking the 161th

3. Newfoundland Light and Power crew: cox Gordon Tilley, stroke Gordon Morgan, Don Chaulk, Cal Lundrigan, Cyril Peach, Dave Brown and Ken Meadus. Prior to 1966, the Light and Power crew had won the Trades Race for nine consecutive years. With no Trades Race on the 1966 program, the crew rowed for time only in the Construction Race and recorded one of the four best times of the day. The rest is history. The Telegram ran the story with the headline “Charged up power boys blow fuse on experts.”

4. The William Summers Jr. crew (1968). Their time was 10:46.6. Cox Jack Kenny, stroke Eric Field, John Kelly, Harold Kelly, Lou Pine, Junior Tucker and Les Field.

5. The Crosbie Services crew with famous national hockey broadcaster Bob Cole as their coxswain. Others in the crew included stroke B. Davis, B. Powell, J. Keough, J. McCallum, B. Pomeroy and F. Power. According to Cole, the Crosbie Crew practiced three times daily for three weeks leading up to the Regatta and twice a day before that.

6. Sandy Greeley. He suffered the broken hand a few nights before the Regatta when he was kicked by a horse. After the first race of the day, Greeley found the cast an obstacle to his steering the boat, so he went into the boathouse and cut part of the cast to reduce the pain it was causing while steering.

7. Hickman’s and the Newfoundland Light and Power.

8. Hickman’s crew: cox Gerald Stone, stroke Mike Power, Tom Smith, Clar Squibb, Gerald Evans, Pat Power and Carl Bruff

9. The United States Army Dock crew in 11:09. All times were over 11:00 minutes. Several times were over 12 minutes and one crew recorded 13:27 2/5.

10. The Higher Levels Crew, the first intermediate crew to win a Regatta Championship. 10:45 3/5. All other times were over 11 minutes, with exception of the Intermediate Race in which the Higher Levels recorded 10:53 3/5.