BOSTON -- In many ways the Goldthwait/Vogel Cup regatta between Yale, Harvard and Princeton never disappoints; although disappointment is inevitable for at least two crews every time these three ancient rivals meet.

Saturday upon the Charles River in the 101^st running of the regatta, it was Yale who bested its Ivy foes three times in third, fourth and fifth varsity races, raising Yale's hopes to win the Vogel Cup for overall team supremacy. But it was Princeton who seized an incredible first varsity win by just 0.4 seconds over the Elis, with Harvard trailing. With a close win in the 2V race, Princeton won enough points to tie Yale, with 34 points apiece, to Harvard's 24. The tie-breaker is determined by the winner of the varsity race, so it was the Tigers who would take home the Vogel Cup, named after longtime Yale oarsman and coach Dave Vogel.

The triangular matchup of the nationally top-five ranked varsity crews lived up to its expectations, as multiple lead changes and a dramatic finish cemented it as one of the best races EARC lightweight rowing had to offer this regular season.

At 8:30 a.m., the Blue, Crimson, and Orange & Black varsity eights locked into the stakeboats to commence a second century of Goldthwait Cup racing. The opening 750m of the race yielded no clear leader, as all three crews exchanged blows back and forth. Crossing through the midway point, the Crimson emerged with a small lead, trailed closely behind by Princeton and then Yale. As the crews closed in on 500m to-go, the fate of all three hung in the balance until Harvard caught a boat-stopping crab. With the Crimson out of the race, the Tigers took the lead with about a half-a-length advantage over the now second-place Bulldogs. In the sprint, the Bulldogs surged to cut down the Tigers' margin to merely a bow deck but unfortunately ran out of water, as Princeton held on to become the winner of the 2023 Goldthwait Cup by four-tenths of a second.

Prior to the varsity eight barn burner, the junior varsity eights had a dogfight of their own. Off the start, Princeton and Harvard gained a slim advantage over Yale. Crossing the 1000m mark, the Bulldogs held close to the field as the Crimson and Tigers remained evenly matched. In the closing meters of the race, Yale picked up speed to cut down margin but was unable to seal the gap, finishing third behind second-place Harvard and first-place Princeton.

After the Goldthwait Cup, the Yale 3V kicked off a series of three straight victories for the Bulldogs. Out of the stakeboats, Harvard gained a narrow advantage over Yale, with Princeton trailing in third by about half a length. However, the Crimson's lead would not last long, as the Bulldogs gained advantage at the 500m mark, building their margin to about a half-a-length over Harvard and a length over Princeton by the midway point. Over the final 500m of the race, Yale expanded their lead and eventually emerged victorious, followed by Harvard in second and Princeton in third.

In the coxed fours race, the Yale 5V split into two crews to race side by side against Harvard. Off the start, Yale 'A' gained advantage and controlled the race to the finish line, with Harvard finishing second and Yale 'B' placing third.

In the final race of the day, the Yale and Princeton 4Vs squared off. Out of the stakeboats, Yale's strong start gave them the lead, which they expanded upon throughout the race en route to a commanding victory.

Below are the official times from this Saturday's morning slate in chronological order:

8:00 a.m. 2V
Princeton 5:43.1
Harvard 5:43.5
Yale 5:46.2
 
8:30 a.m. 1V
Princeton 5:40.5
Yale 5:40.9
Harvard 6:05.2
 
9:00 a.m. 3V
Yale 5:52.5
Harvard 5:54.8
Princeton 5:57.9
 
9:30 a.m. 4+
Yale 'A' 6:53.8
Harvard 6:58.9
Yale 'B' 7:13.3
 
10:00 a.m. 4V
Yale 5:59.6
Princeton 6:26.8
 
Below are the lineups for all six Yale crews:
 
1V
Bow      Dylan Oberst / Greenwich, Conn 
2            Raphael Berz / Toronto, Ont.
3            Timothy Parsons / Eugene, Ore. 
4            Ryan Vaughn / Moraga, Calif.
5            Jamie Patterson / Lincoln, Mass.
6            John McDonald / Garden City, N.Y.
7            Michael Steinthal / Greenwich, Conn.
Stroke   Itai Almogy / Palo Alto, Calif.
Cox        Clarisa Merkatz / Farmington, Conn.
 
2V
Bow      Enrico Pradines / Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.
2            James Casemore / Farnham, England
3            Thomas Monaghan / London, England
4            Jamie Sudlow / London, England
5            Andres Garcia-Chacon / Coral Gables, Fla.
6            John Plumeri / Long Island, N.Y.
7            Andrew Griesinger / Princeton, N.J.
Stroke   Constantine Polychronopoulos / London, England 
Cox        Magdalena Moore / Winthrop, Wash.
 
3V
Bow      Will Konopka / Philadelphia, Penn.
2            Devin Seli / Woodbridge, Conn.
3            Maximilian Dewolf / Washington, D.C.
4            John Cahill / Los Angeles, Calif.
5            Andrew Kasparyan / Southborough, Mass.
6            Michael Linquata / Berwyn, Penn.
7            Martin Vakoc / Prague, Czech Republic
Stroke   Angus Stevenson / London, England
Cox        Jackie Weyerhauser / Minneapolis, Minn.
 
4V
Bow     Eddie Cavallin / Washington, D.C.
2          Alexander Judelson / Manhattan, N.Y.
3          Seth Moyer / Toronto, Ont.
4          Andy Yang / Los Angeles Calif.
5          Blake Weyerhauser / Minneapolis, Minn.
6          Nolan Kaputa / Princeton, N.J.
7          Matthew Murphy / Portland, Ore.
Stroke   Paden Nichols / Des Moines, Wash.
Cox      Fanny Zhang / Ossining, N.Y.
 
4+ Yale 'A'
Bow      Nick Wilmerding / Hong Kong
2            Clay Hard / New York, New York
3            Wilson Nesbit / New York City, N.Y.
Stroke   Gaspard Baroudel / Paris, France
Cox        Akshay Khunte / Higganum, Conn.
 
4+ Yale 'B'
Bow      Steven Zhang / Hamden, Conn.
2            Andrew Coli / Mountain View, Calif.
3            Jonny Auh / Scottsdale, Ariz.
Stroke   Austin Lee / Los Angeles, Calif.
Cox        Mai Blaustein / Harrison, N.Y.
 
With the regular season concluded, the Y150 will now embark on a two-week training period before the Eastern Sprints Championship on May 14.