27 April 2026
By Tom Gates
(Photographs provided by the article writer)
Tom Gates tries to reach the U.S. rowing community at large regarding the history of the Donoratico Corsair eight.
Like the Donoratico 8-man shell Doc Riggall that the U.S. men used to bring home gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Corsair is of the same vintage and whose mastery of the boat helped Northeastern University (NU) win their first two EARC Eastern Sprints championships in 1972 and 1973. In both years, NU also finished second to Cold War era U.S.S.R. crews in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. According to Rick Stehlik, Hear The Boat Sing contributor and Malta Boat Club member in Philadelphia, “The chief designer and master craftsman was Lido Filippi. Radical in the hull design, it represented the best technology of the time.” Filippi founded Filippi Racing Shells.
Our story begins in 1969 at Boston University (BU) where head coach, Frank Barrett, noticed the speed potential of the boat. Coach Barrett returned to Northeastern that Fall and discussed the Corsair with head coach Ernie Arlett, who then made arrangements to acquire the shell from BU. We hope to determine when BU acquired the Corsair and any history from years prior.
Fifty plus years on, this venerable and now extremely rare boat is still in the hands of NU, and some older NU oarsmen are now beginning an extensive restoration project. Part of this project is the task of documenting its use over the years. The Corsair remained in use at NU into the late 1970s, but like elsewhere the move to synthetic hulls took over during this time. Even so, while not in use, we believe the Corsair remained at NU into the late 1980s.
This is where the trail goes cold. From this point until the boat was found on the grounds of the Occoquan Boat Club in Virginia sometime prior to 1997, we do not know where it went or who rowed it.
In summary, we are looking for the following information:
- Any knowledge of the Corsair’s whereabouts prior to BU acquiring it (1963-1967?).
- Any info on where and what the boat was doing during the estimated 1987 to 1997 period?
- Any info on how Northeastern was able to find and acquire the Corsair again around the late 1990s.
If you can help us, please reach out to me, Tom Gates NU ‘73, at:
tomgates1950-at-gmail-dot-com.
The restoration of the Corsair is being taken on by a group of passionate alumni who rowed her in the 1970s along with help from the Finger Lakes Boating Museum (FLBM) in Hammondsport, New York.
Hear The Boat Sing 
Ed Woodhouse [author of Joe Burk biography] responding here: I was on Bill Stowe’s LItchfield Rowing Association junior eight in the summer of 1970– and we travelled to Boston to practice against what I remember as the Union Boat Club senior eight that later that summer won the US team trials in the eights. We were trained by Bill Stowe, Cornell ’62 stroke and Vesper eight stroke for ’64 and ’65. He had rowed the Doc Riggall at Vesper and loved Donoraticos. That summer we rowed the one Hart Perry had bought for Kent School [where we trained in summers.]
We did not take the Kent boat to Boston, but borrowed a Donoratico then at BU boathouse– which I suspect was the boat you are inquiring about. Stowe had taught each oarsmen to rig his own position, and in no time we were ready and the boat went beautifully as we rowed the style Stowe learned under Al Rosenberg at Vesper. We were especially fast in the first 500 — I recall 1:21 was our best time. We sparred with the Union Boat Club eight and in Stowe’s view [and honestly mine] we were going about as well as the senior boat, which delighted Stowe.
Our Litchfield eight won the US junior trials, and finished 4th in the world championships in Greece despite a broken rudder.
Three years later, as a member of the Harvard ’73 Varsity, I vividly remember losing to Cal Coffee’s Northeastern Varsity as they rowed the same boat I had first sat in as a junior right past us at the Eastern Sprints.