My fate at the start of the race: heads and hats. I had to hold the camera above my head and shoot blindly.
The Quick and Dirty Boat Race? I didn't get to see the beginning or hear all the explanations, but I gather high schools were given materials and were told to construct boats, which they then had to navigate around buoys within a small area (Constitution Dock). Wild Porridge did this very quickly. There was rivalry with some dirty tricks being played (which I didn't see, because a pile of backs and hats were in front of me). The other boats mostly filled with water and sank or had to be towed to the floating pier which delineated the end of the race. Students all wore helmets (so I guess there were some paddles being thrashed around or even used against other boats) and life vests. Clearly it was intended to be a laugh. Most of the shots I got were after the race winners were already in and people had drifted away, so I was no longer confronted with a lot of backs.