Henley Day 4

Woke up and the general feeling amongst the crew was that we were a little beat up from the volume of rowing in the previous three days. Also tried to come up with some ideas about how the boat could feel pretty solid, reasonably balanced, and we were rowing a competitive rating but still be SO slow in the first 40" but then be okay at base. Conditioning and strength was something we obviously couldn't change but our line up and the physics of the shell were something we could alter. Rowed at 10 AM and did only 2 trips...worked on some flying starts, did some other speed work and thankfully Colin was able to watch us and give us a few tips about staying long in the water and not punching at it. Eric Den Besten Yale '97 hosted us at his wonderful London apartment at Cranleigh Gardens - saw his 5 week old son with his lovely wife Ruth and had a good chat with them about what they were likely to experience at Henley and some of the group challenges they would have to overcome. Have been really fortunate to be at Henley in 2000, 01, 05, 08, 09, and now 2011. Ended the evening with dinner at the Anglesea Arms. Great wild boar sausages...