First Year of the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series Resumes October 8th and Concludes November 13th with Two Events Moving to Season’s End

Philadelphia, PA – October 3, 2011 – Beginning Saturday, October 8th and continuing through Veterans Day Weekend (November 11-13), the first full year of the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series will feature five outstanding events to wrap up the debut season.

Two of the events on the 2011 schedule for the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series have moved their events to Veteran’s Day weekend in November, bringing clubs and competitors the opportunity to conclude the 2011 competitive rowing season on a high-note.

The Hutchinson Cup Regatta, which had originally been scheduled for Saturday, September 24th, will now be on Saturday, November 12th. The Philadelphia Turn & Burn Regatta, which had originally been scheduled for Saturday, September 17th, will now be on Sunday, November 13th. (Veteran’s Day is Friday, November 11th.)

The Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series schedule runs from March through November, and features over 35,000 competitors in over 7,700 boats representing not only high schools but colleges, clubs, masters and open programs from around the country. The five remaining regattas on this year’s schedule include:

 Saturday, October 8: Navy Day Regatta (clubs/high school/collegiate/masters)
 Sunday, October 23: Philadelphia Children’s Foundation Regatta (h.s./coll.)
 Sat., Oct. 29 & Sun. Oct. 30: Head of the Schuylkill Regatta (h.s./coll./club/open/masters)
 Saturday, November 12: Hutchinson Cup Regatta (masters/open/coll/h.s./juniors)
 Sunday, November 13: Philadelphia Turn & Burn Regatta (masters/open/coll./h.s./clubs)

“The way the schedule is now set up, it’s a great way for all of our local coaches and clubs to stay on their home course, the Schuylkill River, and not travel on the holiday weekend,” said John Hogan, Commodore of the Schuylkill Navy, which governs the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series.

“All five of the races this fall are what are commonly referred to as head races, compared to the sprint races that were held throughout the spring and summer,” Hogan said. “Head races are a longer distance than the sprint races, two-and-a-half miles, and instead of six boats lining up and racing to the finish line, the boats are racing against the clock to get the best time. The term ‘head races’ comes from the tradition that the winner of a particular race the previous year is the ‘head of the river’ until the next year’s race, at which point that defending winner gets the number one slot in the race.”

All proceeds from the 8th annual Hutchinson Cup Regatta support hospice and palliative care. In previous years, the Hutchinson Cup Regatta was open only to Masters and high school crews, but this November 12th, the race will expand to allow entries from colleges and open programs as well.

According to Joyce Michel, the director of the Hutchinson Cup Regatta, “We moved our race to November 12th this year because November is National Hospice and Palliative Care month, and also because a portion of our proceeds this year will support ‘We Honor Veterans,’ a national hospice provider awareness campaign conducted by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our goal is to raise awareness and improve the care veterans and their families receive at the end of their lives, and what better weekend to raise awareness than Veterans Day weekend.”

This is the third year for the Philadelphia Children’s Foundation Turn & Burn Regatta, which is comprised of a "Turn" in the morning (a two- mile “old fashioned” stake boat turning race where the rowers literally turn at a stake approximately one-mile up the course and row back), and a "Burn" in the afternoon (a 500 meter sprint). . All proceeds from this regatta go to supporting the Philadelphia Children’s Foundation’s mission to empower children of all ages to find their passion, develop needed skills and make positive career and life decisions to achieve a successful future.

As in previous years, the Turn & Burn Regatta is open to Masters, clubs, high schools and colleges sweep rowers and scullers.

“It is a truly unique event to end the season,” said Jim Glavin, the director of the Turn & Burn Regatta. “There is no other regatta like this in the fall, and it gives all the rowers the perfect chance to end their season with a burn, which they have never had the chance to do before at the end of the season.”

The Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series brings together for the first time 20 previously independent events in the first organized year-long series of rowing events of its kind in any major U.S. city. The Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series is organized by the Schuylkill Navy, which is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the country, representing the 12 rowing clubs based on Philadelphia’s landmark Boathouse Row.

With three of the largest regattas in the Mid-Atlantic region on the schedule, as well as two of the nation’s oldest regattas, the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series connects the rowing competitors of today to the historic home of the international rowing elite. It is built upon a tradition that launched November 12, 1835 with the first organized regatta on the Schuylkill (a full eight years before the start of the rowing program at Harvard). Over 175 years later, the Schuylkill River hosts more regattas annually than any other river in the nation.

The official host restaurant of the 2011 Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series is Buca di Beppo-Philadelphia.

The official host hotel of the 2011 Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series is the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia Downtown.

Additional information about the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series and The Schuylkill Navy is available at http://www.boathouserow.org.

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Jim DeLorenzo
Jim DeLorenzo Public Relations
215-266-5943
jim@jhdenterprises.com