The Hounds defeated the Foxes in the inaugural Trial Eight Race in preparation for the March Brown Cup race between UVic and UBC in men's rowing.

The race, originally scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, was delayed due to extremely high winds. Sustained wind of 40-50 km/h with gusts blowing over 90 km/h gust turned the normally placid course into 3 kilometres of "boat-swamping white-caps," said Vikes head coach #Howard Campbell#. "Fortunately when the crews returned at 3 p.m., the winds began to die and the race between the Fox and Hound crews was re-scheduled for 4:30 p.m."

In the coin toss for Esquimalt and Victoria stations on the course, Foxes captain #Ross Bringgold# called heads and lost. Hounds captain #Jon Chandler# had lane choice and took the favoured Esquimalt Station lane.

Both coxswains handled the strong and challenging three-knot tail current at the start very well and with an alignment achieved seven minutes after the start time both crews were off into a very even start, Campbell said.

With the tail-current slightly favouring the Fox, they edged out into a two seat lead as the crews passed Chapman Point at 400 meters into the race. Four minutes later, the crews passed under the Trestle at the 1400-metre mark, almost at the halfway mark of the 3-km course.

The Fox crew gamely hung on three seats down around the outside of the Rail Yard turn, and as they exited toward the Bay Street Bridge, the Fox crew crept back to be even going under the bridge. Not to be denied their lead, the Hound crew pushed hard into the Shipyards bend that again gave the the inside line back to them. Pushing hard as the Fox crew again refused to let the advantage demoralize them, the Hound crew crept slowly ahead to hit the Johnson Street Bridge finish-line with a three-quarter length, 1.98-second lead.

Campbell said he was extremely pleased with the first Trial Eights inter-squad event.

"With this type of racing early, our preparation is going to give great confidence to every man in the squad trying for a seat in the Brown Cup boat," Campbell said. "Spirits were very high and motivation to perform at the max, as everyone wanted to be one of the racing boats. With even crews, it was a great race and reminds me of the very first Brown Cup in 1992, where we only just edged UBC in the final bend to finish two seconds or so ahead."

"This will become a fixture for us and will provide excellent early season motivation for training in what has always been a bit of a doldrums for us."

The two trial-eight squads now heas into the Monster Erg - the National Indoor Rowing Championship - in two weeks time where selection for the Brown Cup varsity and reserve crews will begin in earnest.

The Trial Eight represents the beginning of the selection process with final crews set after the annual Uvic vs. Oregon State University dual in early March.

"We had a few men out of the Trial Eights due to injury or illness, so while everyone can take great confidence in the depth and competitiveness of the squad, all the seats are still up for selection," Campbell said. "Monster Erg will give all the men another opportunity to show us who will end up in the final Brown Cup crew. And while it has been a while since I read the Fox and the Hound to my kids, I recall in the end they end up friends and pulling for the same cause."

Race Result
Hound, 9:00.26 over Fox, 9:02.24,  3/4 of a length

Race Conditions
Length 3.1 km
Start Current, Ebb, 3.5-4.0 Knots
Wind SSE 10-15km
Tides Victoria 2.1m (1600h) -1.7m (1700h) Race Start 1630h