Ah-ha! Cambridge! That explains a lot. At Oxford we always considered Cambridge to be a very good second choice. But one thing they never figured out there was how to punt properly--doing it more or less from the wrong end of the punt. Robert Rivington, who wrote a couple of books on punting, used to work at Waterfield's bookstore in Oxford--he was gangly and spirited and his range of knowledge impressive. To me, the fact he stayed in Oxford says everything. The closest thing to a punt in the US might be an Au Sable River Boat--which is something between a regular punt and a racing punt.
bb