Boat race (game)
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A boat race is a drinking game between (usually) two teams of equal numbers. Common with regional differences in most universities, all boat racing stems from the same very simple premise.
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[edit] Rules
The specific details regarding the rules of boat racing vary widely across university campuses, but the general rules are always the same:
[edit] Basic Rules
- A team consists of a set number of drinkers, usually four or five, who sit or kneel in a line along a table. The champion of the drinking team is designated as the "anchor," and sits in the most difficult position on the table.
- Each person is given either one or two glasses of beer; the usual sized glass filled with beer which contains one standard drink, so 250-300mL is the usual volume, depending upon country.
- The judges call the race to begin with a suitable regional chant, such as: "Racers ready! Judges ready! 3-2-1 Drink!" or "Thumbs on tables... chins on tables... face the water... row!"
- When the race has begun, the first racer on each team begins to drink his or her beer.
- Only once the first racer has completely finished his or her beer, and has indicated this in an agreed manner – usually by putting the empty glass back onto the table, or by inverting it over one's head – the second racer begins his or her beer.
- The race continues in the same manner until all beers have been completed. There are two general ways that this progression occurs:
- If each racer begins the race with one glass of beer, the race progresses down the team until the anchor, who sits in the final position, has finished his or her beer.
- If each racer begins with two glasses of beer, each racer drinks only one of their beers until the anchor, positioned at the end of the line, is reached; the anchor drinks both beers in succession, and the race then progresses back in the reverse direction until the first racer finishes his or her second beer.
[edit] Spillage
- Spillage of beers is not allowed, and there are two common punishments for spillage:
- Particularly in one-direction races (where the anchor is the final racer to drink), the anchor is required to drink an additional beer for each case of spillage. Under this rule, anchors usually begin races with three or four beers in front of them, but will not necessarily be forced to drink them all.
- A time penalty of roughly five seconds is added to the team's final time.
- Most variations put a limit on the number of spillages a team is allowed, and disqualifies the team after two or three instances.
- Racers who spill may also be forced to drink extra beers after the race as punishment.
- When intentional spillage or cheating is suspected, or both teams exhibit poor form, the judges or crowd may call for a rematch; both teams must then start the race again.
[edit] Anchors
The role of the anchor is always regarded as the most difficult. In bi-directional (up-and-back) boat races, he is the only member of the team forced to drink two beers consecutively. In one-direction races, he is often forced to drink extra beers as penalty for spillage. Furthermore, in some one-direction cases, the anchor begins with two beers when the rest of his team has only one each; he is then forced to drink both, and perhaps spillage penalties as well.
[edit] Competitions
Boat racing competitions at universities usually consist of a series of timed heats, from which the best times are selected to compete in a two or three round knockout tournament; this arrangement is designed to test both speed and short-term endurance. Entirely knockout based tournaments are generally rare, because intoxication sets in before a longer tournament can be completed, and long-term endurance becomes the only deciding factor at the final.
[edit] Boat racing in university culture
Boat racing is a simple drinking event, which is accessible to any university student capable of skolling a beer relatively quickly. New students usually learn regional variations of the event early in their university orientation. In organized beer olympics events, boat racing is usually the most glamourous team event, because it requires a team to have five power-drinkers, rather than just one.
Despite any slight variations across universities, the basic principle is always the same, so it is more common for students from rival universities to challenge each other to boat races than to any other drinking event. Similarly, collegiate sports clubs will often challenge each other to boat races long after the actual athletic competition has ended.
[edit] Boat racing in popular culture
Boat racing was featured as the final event in the Broken Lizard movie Beerfest. The film used the name "Line Chug," used glass steins far larger than would be used in any realistic boat race, and imposed an impractically stringent spillage rule.
[edit] Etymology
The exact etymology behind boat racing is uncertain, but it is likely that it derives its name in part from the annual Boat Race between the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and the similarity between the words skol, meaning to drink without pause, and scull, meaning to row (and often used interchangeably with skol). In this way, both types of boat race consist of two lines of people sculling against each other. An alternative proposal given is that BOAT is an acronym for "beer on a table," although this appears more likely to be a backronym rather than an etymological derivation.
The use of nautical terminology to describe aspects of boat races is common across all variants of boat racing, although other than the "anchor," none of this terminology has wide-spread usage. As an example, a tournament of boat races is in some places referred to as a regatta.
[edit] References
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