8-man shell

Rowing is one of those sports--like polo or squash--that is frequently thought of as an antique pastime, a sort of 19th-century relic in which the athletes race in wooden boats and spectators dress in blazers and straw hats. But in truth, times have changed. Once a quintessential "gentleman's sport," rowing is now thoroughly gender-neutral: In fact, more U.S. universities offer women's crew as a varsity sport than men's. Boats are now made of carbon fiber that's practically paper-thin. And races are kept in order through a combination of old-school manpower and new-school tracking software.

For a really huge race, the techie component of race tracking becomes all the more important. And the 2006 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., held Saturday and Sunday, was one of those huge races. With 55 race events (boats vary in size from one rower to eight, and categories range from high school crews to a race for septuagenarians), over 1,600 boats and 8,200 athletes participating, the 3-mile-long Head of the Charles needed a meticulous system of timekeeping. After several years of outsourcing the job, regatta officials decided to create an in-house product for the most accurate rowing tracking possible. Hence, Powerhouse Timing was born.

October 23, 2006 12:31 PM PDT

Photo by: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com