The more traditional event spectators have their spots along the banks of the Charles, on docks and on the car bridges crossing from Cambridge. From almost any spot you hear the banter of the coxes, the cutting of the water by oars, or the slapping of the water when some of the boats made their way to the starting line.

The 2006 Dad Vail Regatta was the 68'th time the event had been held on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, PA. It is North America's largest collegiate rowing regatta. Over 3,500 students compete from 120 colleges and universities.

The Head of the Charles regatta is the world's largest two-day rowing event. The first race took place October 16, 1965. In its 42-year history, the race has grown into a 55-event regatta which draws over 300,000 fans and over 8,000 athletes from around the world.

Boathouse Row is an historic site located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of a row of boathouses, housing racing sculls, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. Each of the ten boathouses has its own history, and all have addresses on Kelly Drive (named after one of Philadelphia's famous oarsmen, John B. Kelly, Jr.). The boathouses are part of a group known as the Schuylkill Navy, which encompasses several other boathouses along the river. The group also hosts several major rowing regattas, including the Dad Vail Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Navy Day Regatta, the Independence Day Regatta, and the Head of the Schuylkill.

Professional sculling was the biggest sport in Australia for most of the 60 years prior to World War I, particularly up to about 1907. Due to the need for water transport and hence professional watermen, the sport was centred in Sydney and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Rowing in general was also of great interest as it was reported that the Victorian Football League always made sure that football matches were not played on the same days as regattas because the regattas would always draw the crowds.

Dad" refused to do any rowing on Sunday. Each year the Dad Vail Regatta is run on Friday and Saturday! Deeply religious, "Dad" Vail was one of the few coaches taking crews to Poughkeepsie who refused to do any rowing on Sunday. Gradually, other coaches followed the lead of the Wisconsin mentor and until now it is quite unusual to see an eight swinging down the Hudson on Sunday.

When passing a boat, the coxswain announces each seat as it is passed: "Walking" . In sweep rowing, two, four, or eight crewmembers sit facing the stern of the boat, each rower pulling one oar. In some of the pairs and fours events, the vessel is steered by a non-rowing "coxswain" (pronounced cox-n) who sits in the stern of the boat, facing the crew. The job of the coxswain is to steer the boat, decide tactics, and establish and maintain the speed and rhythm of the strokes of the rowers.

At one time sculling or wager racing was perhaps the greatest spectator sport in London at the time. Many tens of thousands of spectators attended each race, and betting was widespread. By the turn of the century prize money had become so great that some scullers made up to nearly £5,000 a year in prizes and side bets, and £2,000 for a race. One hundred years later this is still a princely sum for a rower.

The first boat race was the result of a challenge issued to Oxford by Cambridge in 1829. The first Oxford Cambridge boat race was rowed on the Thames at Henley. Oxford wore dark blue jerseys, later to become the Oxford blue, whilst Cambridge donned pink sashes. Oxford were the first winners. The race is the most famous of the Varsity Matches and one of the most popular televised sporting events in Great Britain, with an estimated global television audience of 400 million. Around a quarter of a million people are estimated to watch the race from the riverbank.

I have been attempting to replicate a style similar to Batik. Batik is a wax-resist dyeing technique used on textile. Batik is found in several countries of West Africa, in Asia. However, it is in Indonesia that it is considered a national art form.

 One continuing legacy of the maritime past is gig racing, wherein fast rowing boats ("gigs") with crews of 6 (or in one case, 7) race between the main islands. Gig racing is said to derive from the race to collect salvage from ships wrecked on the rocks around Isles of Scilly off the English Coast.