After graduating in 1975, Stone received a phone call from Northeastern’s coach, asking if Stone would put a crew together to race the Huskies as they had an open spot in their schedule. Stone organized an eclectic boat, and the patchwork crew managed to beat Northeastern’s varsity.

And thus, CRASH-B was born, as the group, largely composed of 1976-1980 Olympic and World rowers such as Wood, decided that they would race any college that wanted a match, with one provision.

“We’re ready, we’ll race, just give us food afterwards,” Stone said.

CRASH-B had only two rules: that they never practiced and that they never raced in the same lineup more than once.

“It seemed like the right kind of organization to start CRASH-B sprints,” Wood said.

Wood was the mastermind behind the famed sprints, conceiving of the idea of an indoor competition on rowing ergometers that has been actualized with shocking success.

“I was running in the stadium one day and probably had run one or two too many, and it kind of came full-grown into my head,” Wood said. “We had a group of slightly crazed rowers and friends of mine. We would meet weekly in Charlie’s Kitchen and we would make up what we wanted this thing to become, and lo and behold, it kind of did.”

What would become an international championship started upstairs at Newell boat house, with invitations sent and phone calls made, resulting in 60-70 competitors.

“The stairs that they use to get boats that are really high—we took them upstairs and used them as grandstands,” Wood recalls. “It’s a tiny room, so we had probably all of the people in the room when we were rowing, but it was incredibly loud. It was really exciting all of a sudden. We had a dead heat as a final in the championship in the event. That was actually great, it was very exciting for people to watch.”

* * *

On Saturday, the Rude and Smooth passed a boat just in front of Newell boathouse. Its oarsmen were greeted by family after the race and return to jobs this week, a far cry from the raucous group that ruled the Charles years ago. For a moment, though, they recaptured a bit of their past glory as one of Harvard’s most storied crews.

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.