Venue Information   

Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center  (Boathouse) 

Boathouse History 

The original boathouse project started in the mid 1990s in an effort to provide a better venue for the Peddie School and Lawrenceville School rowing programs.  Finn M.W. Caspersen, Chairman of the Board of the Peddie School and father of four former Ivy League rowers, led the effort to build a boathouse on the shores of Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ.  

Even before the original Mercer Lake Boathouse was dedicated in the fall of 1998, it was apparent that the location and size of Mercer Lake and the environment surrounding the venue made it perfectly suited for world class competitions and training.  Soon after the boathouse was dedicated, the US Men’s National Team was training there alongside Peddie and Lawrenceville and giving the site rave reviews.  

In 2000, Princeton International Regatta Association was established as the organization that would promote and facilitate the international competitions and community rowing programs for which Mercer Lake was so well suited.  The 2001 and 2002 international events were very successful and MJRC grew rapidly.  As more rowers came to the boathouse everyday and used the venue for longer periods of time, PNRA was unable to fulfill its mission to provide a world class training environment for the National Team and its community rowers. 

The plans for the current boathouse were laid out in the early part of 2002.  Ground for the Mercer Lake Boathouse Expansion Project was broken in November 2002. 1)      In doubling the size of the boathouse, PNRA has accomplished its goals of accomodating the additional youths involved with MJRC and embracing the US National Team by providing world class facilities.

The New and Improved Finn M. W. Caspersen Rowing Center

The current boathouse is the result of almost ten years of planning and development.  The rowing center now has six boathouse bays, eight bathrooms, an indoor training room, a spectators tower, office space for 18 individuals and a conference room.  The race course has been improved with a new seven-lane buoyed course, a three-story finish line tower, additional dock space, and a far more spacious finish line viewing area for spectators.  The infrastructure and topography of the race course meets FISA standards and PNRA has the equipment necessary to host the worlds largest regattas.  The Finn M. W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake has truly become one of the premier rowing venues in the world and PNRA is dedicated to supporting its continued maintenance and development.