The eight crews, all wearing different coloured vests and perfecdy in line at the start, were an impressive sight. It was a dazzling spectacle. The Italians from Venice led bravely for most of the race, but failed to hold off the Dutch crew from Delft. In the winning crew, Beynens won his third European championships medal. Passion rewarded The joy of the oarsmen in the winning Dutch eight knew no bounds. To pay for the trip to the European championships, each of them had contributed to the common fund, out of his own pocket, a sum of 150 florins, i.e., 2,062.50 French francs. How times have changed! V Switzerland won the Glandaz Cup after a remarkable performance, with five victories out of a possible seven, plus a second and a fourth place. The timing was immaculate, as it always is in Switzer land! The evening’s festivities ended with an enjoyable ball at the Kursaal. The regatta committee’s receipts from the sale of tickets and programmes amounted to 91,700 francs (13,100 gold-francs). The small 8vo programme contained 24 pages. August 19th 1927 — Como 30th FISA congress Admiral Count Louis de Sambuy, a “podesta,” i.e., a senior administrative officer of the city of Turin, having taken over as president of the! Italian federation, the “Reale Federazione Italiana di Canottaggio”, welcomed the delegates. Present: 20 delegates from 10 federations including, for the first time, an Egyptian representative. The Danish and Romanian federations were admitted as extraordinary members. The updated version of the FISA Statutes and Rules, upon which the much missed president Baud had made a start but which unfortunate ly remained incomplete, was submitted, together with numerous amendments proposed by the national feder ations. The central committee of FISA was made the sole appeal body by the affiliated federations. It alone was the final arbiter for the application of the provisions of the FISA Statutes and Rules of Racing, and for the European championship Regulations. Three categories of international regattas were defined: the Olympic regatta, the European championships and international regattas proper, open de jure to all oarsmen from affiliated federations. It was also accepted that amateur oarsmen from clubs in non-affiliated countries which exercised reciprocity should be able to enter inter national regattas. The order of racing in European championships was al tered thus: 4 +, 2-, lx, 2 +, 4-, 2x, 8 +. 64 It was decided that FISA would not organize European championships in years when the Olympic regatta took place in Europe. The length of the course for European championships could be reduced from 2,000 metres to a minimum of 1,700 metres, on a straight course, provided that this was on still water and that the host nation could not find a longer course. The council was asked to specify the features required for a championship course. The choice of the course at Sloten, near Amsterdam, was approved as the venue for the Olympic regatta of 1928. However, because of its narrowness - 35 metres - only two abreast racing was possible. This would of necessity give rise to a large number of eliminators. All the official regatta administration would now be staffed by people chosen exclusively from within FISA. The four umpires would be nominated at the 1928 FISA congress. The city of Turin offered a statue as a prize for the na tional federation who were runners-up in the Glandaz Cup. August 21st 1927 — Como 29th men’s European championships The famous club, “Lario”, of Como, which had already produced four European champions, having been given the task of organising the 29th FISA championships by the Italian federation, produced a regatta as good as any in the past. There was a large number of spectators. The course ran fairly close to the bank, and they stood sever al deep along its whole length. On the other side of the lake, at a distance of more than two kilometres, there were at least 5,000 of them. It was difficult to be precise, but there must have been between 30,000 and 50,000 spectators altogether. For the first time on a lake, there was a fixed start. It was placed near the villa Erba. The finish was near the villa Olmo. Buoys were placed every 250 metres on both sides of the course. There was a grandstand for specta tors in the gardens of the villa Olmo. Information was relayed to the public over loudspeakers. The floating stage where the finish judges sat was not accessible to the spectators. Gaston MiiEegg, a future FISA president, acted as starter. The races 4 +: 6 entered 1. ITA 2. SUI 3. BEL 4. NED 5. TCH 6. POL The crowd, with its moments of wEd enthusiasm, was an amazing sight to behold. The loud speaker announced: “They’re off!” A good start. The Swiss are ahead, fol lowed by Italy, HoUand. At 250 metres, Italy has a one length lead!“, etc., etc; and an even wEder burst of cheering rose from the spectators as, at each 250 metres, the loud speaker announced that the lead of the Italian
