Nearly 40,000 alcohol-soaked spectators spent yesterday afternoon searching for the perfect Bloody Mary.

Canada's Ridley Graduate Boat Club had a different objective in mind.

The Ridley Grads, 1984 Olympic gold-medal winners, set a new course record at the 22nd Head of the Charles by covering the course in 14:20.16, four seconds better than the previous mark set in 1982 by the United States Naval Academy.

Nailed Down

As a result, Ridley nailed down its third straight men's championship eights crown, pulling in ahead of the Penn Athletic Club and the Cincinnati Rowing Club in the afternoon's final race.

In other Head action, Harvard and Radcliffe crews--as well as alumni representatives--had a productive afternoon on the home waters of the Charles River.

Andy Sudduth, a 1985 Harvard graduate, took the men's singles event with a time of 17:53.14, and Harvard copped the club eights title with a 15:29.57 finish.

Radcliffe's championship four (19:53.54) placed 12th in its competition, while both the men's lightweight eight (15:37.38) and men's youth four (17:52.27) earned seventh-place honors in their respective divisions.

Both the Crimson and the Black and White rowing programs will strike up their collegiate racing schedules in earnest come spring.