Greg Benning could see the Head of the Charles Regatta banners bending in the wind as they hung on the Eliot Bridge.
Benning anticipated the final stretch of the 3-mile course would be challenging to navigate with a headwind, but by then there was hardly a competitor in sight.
For the third straight year, the 52-year-old Benning won the Grand Master Singles (50+) with a course-record time of 18:15.16.
Benning, representing the Cambridge Boat House, broke his own record, which he set in 2013 with a time of 18:15.87.
“The conditions were a little bit different,” he said. “The wind was stronger, the same direction, but probably twice as stronger. It was very fast in the first mile and a half of the course.”
Benning took advantage of the tailwind and built a head of steam to make it through the final stretch.
“When you have that kind of a tailwind, you bump your rating up one because with the wind pushing you, the oars aren’t quite as heavy so you can work it a bit more,” Benning said.
Benning’s three-peat was the first since Larry Klecatsky won five Grand Master Singles titles in a row from 1991-95, and he knows his work will be cut out for him if he wants to catch him.
“Larry is the guy that has won this race the most,” Benning said. “I have a long way to go until I catch him.”
Follow Anthony Gulizia on Twitter @gulizia_a.