They were the strong words of a school rowing official following Sunday's weather-marred Head of the Lake regatta.

The Bureau of Meterology recorded wind speeds of more than 30km/h for the entire regatta and speeds above 40km/h after 10am, with south-easterly wind gusts peaking at 67km/h during the open boys' division one race.

The Ballarat Associated Schools Regatta Management – Operation and Safety Plan states that a "Regatta Safety Manager will cancel the regatta at any time in the lead up or during the regatta for the following reasons… the wind speed exceeds 30km/h".

The decision to row in such conditions, which was made following a BAS meeting of principals at 8am on Sunday, has been met with criticism in school rowing circles, with the common view being the regatta should not have gone ahead.

The day saw a number of boat collisions and a crew not finishing the race after its boat filled with water within 500m. The day’s 20-minute delay at the wind’s peak was due to crews being unable to start in an even fashion – and once they did, they collided within 150m.

While there have been no confirmed injuries, that is not necessarily a black and white reflection as to whether it was the right or wrong call to allow racing.

The rowing official, who wished not to be named, said it was lucky that nobody was hurt.

The official was ropeable at the decision to put crews onto the water, describing it as one of "the most dangerous things I've seen a school sport do".

"The question needs to be asked - was Head of the Lake 2018 a safe regatta? And was it an enjoyable regatta?

"I've had that many kids in tears.

“I've had a couple that are complaining of sore backs, I've got coaches who are just furious. I count my lucky stars that no one was seriously injured. It was embarrassing and it was dangerous.

"The principals made a dangerous decision and they've got form now of making ill-informed decisions."

Interestingly, BAS principals also overruled last year’s recommendation to have St Patrick’s College disqualified after an underweight cox – it was overturned and we had a re-row.

The potential weather issue was brought up a week out from the regatta, with this rowing official hoping a decision would be made prior to the event, rather than having all the crews, caterers, spit crews and spectators arrive only for it to called-off.

From a competition point of view, racing in lanes four and five made for an obvious disadvantage.

Boats racing in lanes one and two received protection from the weed bank for some 300-500 metres – depending on the length of the race - with 15 of the 29 race winners coming from those alleys.

But perhaps the more damning statistic is the fact just two wins came from lane five, while it delivered 15 bottom two finishes. As the wind picked up just after 10am, only three crews in lane five could avoid a bottom two finish, one of which was the highly-favoured open girls' division one Loreto College crew, which delivered a shock third placing.

The rowing official was adamant that if this weekend’s Rowing Victoria State Championships were dealt the same conditions, that regatta would be called off.

"Wind gusts were hitting 55-60 km/h an hour - double what BAS decided was safe and they let the kids go out there anyway,” the official said.

"If this was a state event it would've been called off at 9am - I've got no doubt. I just think it was unfair on our kids.”

St Patrick’s College won the open boys’ division one with an outstanding display from lane four.

That school’s rowing director Brendan Scott was extremely pleased with his crew’s performance – which will now chase state success – and said there was certainly an advantage, but it was tough to quantify exactly how much of an advantage the lane was.

“The decision was made and we just do what they go with,” Scott said.

“To win in those conditions, from that lane, it was testament to the boys...there might have been an advantage being in a better lane.”

The Courier made contact with all schools, chief referee – Eric Waller – and Ballarat Associated Schools but representatives were either unavailable or did not wish to comment.