Regatta Life

As weeks go, this one has been pretty spectacular. We've been spending most of our time at The Viking's Valhalla, aka his mum's place. Here the usual routine is to roll out of bed, eat a lazy breakfast of toast with homemade jam or just-picked raspberries on cereal, take some exercise in the form of a run through the forest or a dip in the pool, and spend the rest of the day sunning, reading, and going on walks with the family Labrador.



But our main reason for coming across the pond was our annual trip to Henley Royal Regatta, a multi-day carnival of old-fashioned Britishness unrivaled in this day and age by anything except maybe the horse racing at Ascot, or the filming of certain period dramas.

If you are an American, then to understand Henley you need to forget everything that you thought you knew about sporting tournaments.

In preparation for the five days of racing, a large, gated facility is constructed on the banks of the Thames. This is called the Stewards' Enclosure. It features two grandstands, several open air bars and seating areas, bathrooms with porcelain sinks and toilets, and rows upon rows of canvas deck chairs facing the river (pictured above). There is, naturally, a Champagne and Oyster Bar on the premises.

To gain admission to the Stewards' Enclosure, you must be a member or a guest of a member (in true British fashion there doesn't seem to be any formal selection procedure for membership, but there is a long waiting list, and inherited titles and/or prominence in the rowing world helps). Gentlemen are required wear smart trousers, jackets, and ties at all times; ladies must wear skirts that cover their knees. Hats are encouraged. Neither cell phones nor children are permitted inside the Enclosure.

Anyone with a history of rowing wears his boat club blazer throughout the event. These range from the sartorially understated (Oxford University Boat Club's navy blue felt blazer, with navy gross-grain piping) to the utterly absurd (The Archetypals' mustard, black, robin's egg blue, red, and purple striped blazer). Their wearers range in age from about 18 to 89, and this is the only place I've ever been where people on both ends of that age spectrum get blind drunk side by side.

That's what's happening on the riverbank, anyway. In addition to being a giant five day garden party, Henley is also a very large rowing tournament, with everyone from international-level crews to schoolboys competing in a series of single elimination races (they even let the women have a race or two). I think as many as 1 in 4 spectators realizes that there is rowing going on in the background.

Of the eating and drinking at Henley: this is an event best known for stupendous quantities of the latter. You can say a lot of things against the British, but my God do they know how to day drink. The bars in the Enclosure open when the racing begins, at 9:30 AM daily, and from then onwards a small army of bartenders is in perpetual motion fetching draft beers, bottles of champagne and white wine, and jugs of Pimm's.


Meanwhile, the only food available for purchase tends to be pretty flimsy fare. There is a sit-down seafood luncheon where you can get a meal for two of cold langoustines, boiled potatoes, and a bottle of white wine for about GBP 75 ($120); there are the oysters on offer at the Champagne and Oyster Bar; the Leander Club, a posh rowing club located just next door to the Enclosure, serves strawberries and cream at tea time.

If you're wise, you bring a hearty picnic lunch and eat it in the big Cricket field where everyone parks their cars. Many spectators do this, so it's the Henley version of tailgating -- which is to say that men in pink ties, linen blazers and straw hats sit around eating cucumber sandwiches and drinking rose wine.

By 3 PM, you'll begin to see the first people too drunk to stand being escorted out of the Enclosure to collect themselves (this will continue for hours). Women wearing chiffon dresses, hats, and guilty smiles will be inexplicably covered in grass stains. Ahhh. Regatta life.

No food or drink is so closely associated with Henley as a jug of Pimm's. I thought I'd share the recipe here, in an effort to bring a little bit of HRR to you -- it's normally made with a carbonated drink called Schweppes Lemonade, which isn't widely available in the US, but Sprite will work instead.



Pimm's Cup

Serves 8

2 cups Pimms No. 1
4 cups Schweppes Lemonade or Sprite
1/2 orange, sliced in 8
1/2 apple, sliced in 8
1/2 small cucumber, sliced in 8
4 sprigs mint, cut in half

Mix Pimms and soda in a jug over ice, then diving among 8 glasses. Garnish each glass with a slice of orange, apple, cucumber, and a sprig of mint. Serve immediately and often.