Archive for March, 2009
Learn to row was this weekend. The whole thing went off very smoothly, thanks to Adrienne for organizing.
Click here to see the pictures.
Click Here to see as a slideshow.
Here’s what Adrienne said:
“Hello Everyone, I wanted to to say thank you so much to all of the volunteers who came out this weeekend to help with Learn to Row. We had a 100% return rate on Sunday and I know it was because of all of you!
“A special thanks to Chris Reins for planning the training for the group and to all the coaches who helped make it happen: Darius, Jill, Casey, Rebecca, Mike, Ryan, Iva, Tamara, & Robert.
“I also want to thank the coxes on Sunday: Lily, Jill, Ryan, Casey, Robert, DeAnna, Darius, Simon and Susan.
“I appreciate so much all of the help from everyone else who volunteered, whether it was to be a runner for something, organize ergs, lend an erg, do nametags, make the directions, hold the boats, row in the boats, sit in the boats, move the boats, bring food to the party, socialize with the newbies, give encouragement, bring coffee and bagels, and a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Robert for hosting another fabulous Barbecue (and finishing the new deck JUST IN TIME).”
Here are the current standings of our team at Concept2.com. We’re deep in the thick of March Madness, during which we do at least 5k per day for at least 25 days in the month of March.
From Trinity:
At this weekend’s board meeting, the issue of incident reporting came up. I, listening in as best I could on my first Skype call on my laptop, was amazed to hear that buoy hits have become “common” in LARC. So this is a little article I’m calling “How to Avoid Going ‘Thunk’” into anything- sea lions, buoys, other boats, etc. It pretty much applies to everything.
Now, the first thing, the very first and most important thing is- and I’m not telling you something I wouldn’t tell my toddler (she likes to go thunk)- the supremely important thing you MUST do to avoid going thunk is…
WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING
Ok, all facetiousness, aside, coxing isn’t a passive thing. You’re not just along for a pleasant Sunday row simply reacting to what’s in front of you. You should be looking, actively engaged and looking for the next obstacle that can impede your boat.
“But Trin, the buoys aren’t in a line!,” you say. No, they aren’t and boats don’t stay in one place either. In fact few things in the water are stationary. Everyday is slightly different and you can never rest on your laurels or previous knowledge.
Helpful Hint: As you make the first turn by the breakwater and cross the channel, you have a clear view down the channel to at least UCLA. Use the time to visually pick out the buoys and anything else that might be in your path. Your mission as you cross the channel is to KNOW where the buoys are and where they aren’t. Which brings me to the next point
PLAN AHEAD.
The difficulty in coxing isn’t in counting to 10, its in the extraordinary level of multitasking you have to do in order to keep track of the piece, the rating, the feeling of the boat, the time -and if that’s not enough- steer that bad boy safely through an ever-changing landscape. Its not easy- I know but Planning ahead makes a huge difference. I don’t mean, looking at maps the night before (though if you’re traveling to a race, do that). I mean, thinking 20 strokes ahead of where you are. Remember, depending on speed, pressure and size, your boat will take several strokes to respond to your steering. You simply can’t wait til the last minute to make a sudden adjustment.
“But what do I do if I’m just not sure and can’t see?” you ask.
Well, there are a couple of tricks. If you’re worried there’s something out there, say you’ve passed two buoys and you know there’s a third, but you don’t know where, here are some more Helpful hints:
you can:
1) Weigh enough. If you think danger is imminent. Really its ok. Your rowers would rather stop for 2 secs than risk damage to themselves and the boat by ramming full speed into something.
2) Steer slightly to port and lean out to starboard, then steer slightly to starboard and lean to port. This will let you look into that big blindspot caused by the rowers directly in front of you. Works well when you have a sense of impending doom but think you have enough time to adjust. ***Don’t go fishtailing down the channel- some small adjustments are all that’s required.
Another note about buoys, this has always been true for me: if I’m between the breakwater and UCLA and thinking, “hmmm, I don’t know where the buoy line is”, there’s a real good chance we’re about to hit it.
As for the Sea lions, please be kind and share the water, especially now as the little ones appear. If you’re out in the pitch black- You can’t see the sea lions per se but you can see the smooth humps their bodies make as they sleep near the surface. Look for the break in the ripples ahead- that small smooth patch in the water is probably a sleeping sea lion.
And lastly- LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP (or, um, row)
This is also called “how not to ram into outbound boats when returning to our basin.” Simply Don’t cut the turn short. Come parallel to the basin- should be near the white gazebo on the right side but at least far enough down so that you can see down the basin before turning to cross into it.
As for the seagulls. Whatever, they have wings they can fend for themselves.
I know I’ve said most of this before but I’m going to keep saying it. After all, isn’t that what we coxswains do? Talk until we’re blue in the face (and hands and feet).
Happy Rowing.
Your cox in exile.
2009 Desert Sprints – posted by Mark May
Just wanted to share with the club what a fantastic weekend of rowing at the Desert Sprints in Tempe, Arizona.
What originally was one race that I entered in the Master Single category ended up being 5 races when I was asked by Tempe Towne Lake Rowing to step in for a rower who backed out at the last minute.
The categories I raced in:
Men’s Open 4+
Men’s Masters 8+
Men’s Masters 1x
Men’s Masters 2x
Mixed 8+
I arrived Friday afternoon for practice for the Men’s 4 and the single. Winds were about 20 to 30 mph with white caps on the water. Conditions like this would ordinarily have canceled rows in our marina but since this boat has never rowed together we felt compelled to go out and give it a try. Considering the conditions it wasn’t too bad a row. Practice in the single however was a different story (Note to self….never back out of a dock against 20-30mph winds). I took a short loop around the lake and with each stroke dug my bow deep into the white caps swamping the shell. I thought for sure I was going to flip the the darn thing when turning broadside to the wind but I made it back. That was it for me. I headed to the local Italian eatery to carbo load for a long day of racing.
Race day and the winds died down to almost glassy water. Our first race was the Men’s Open 4+ (I was rowing bow). Our competition was Boulder Community Rowing, ASU, and SDSU. The course was an “S” shaped course for 1500m. We were pretty good off the start right with SD and maintained a lead up to the 1000 meter mark. The young guys pulled ahead of us the last 500m winning the race by 3.2s. Final Result: Second Place
Next race was the Men’s Masters 8+. The course was 1000m. Our 4+ from the open race were teaming up with 4 older rowers from Rio Salado (I think it was their B team). Our cox’n was a young girl from Rio Salado. Our competition was Rio Salado, Boulder Community Rowing and Salt River Project. We were told by the Rio rowers in our boat that the Rio Salado boat was the boat to beat. Oh, I forgot to mention that we had a starboard/bucket rigged boat that no one wanted to stroke so the Tempe coach insisted I do the honors. Last time I stroked a starboard rigged boat was actually at this same race about 5 years ago. Considering we had absolutely no practice together we did really well. I told our cox’n before the race to call out a loud power 10 and follow up with a silent 10 at the 500m mark. We started out at a 38 and settled to a 30. The Rio Salado Crew was slightly ahead until our cox’n called out our power piece which seemed to work. We started creeping ahead, finally bringing the rate up to a 37 the last 250m and crossing the finish line first, 0.5s ahead of the Rio Salado boat. Unfortunately their handicap gave them first place. Final Result: Second Place.
Now the race that I traveled close to 400 miles for. By now the winds started kicking up. I was rowing a Vespoli Matrix 27 that weighed what felt like a ton (Damn, I wish I brought the Maas). Fortunately my race was after lunch and I was able to get in a much needed practice. My competition was Rio Salado A, B, C. The race course was 1000m. The boat to beat was the A boat who happened to be the same guy who stroked the Men’s Masters 8+ for Rio Salado we raced earlier. He was a little younger but much more technically proficient from what I saw on the water. I was really concerned about my starts since my port oar seemed to dig a little deep (must have been the rigging, right?). I decided to take the start really slow and try to catch up on a high 20. It seemed to work. Rio Salado and I were bow to bow up to the 500m mark when it happened……..the damn lake crab gave me havoc. I quickly recovered, brought the up the rate and powered it up to the finish line. Rio Salado crossed the finish line first by 1.8s. With my age handicap he beat me by 0.6s. Final Result: Second Place.
Was this gonna be a second place day for me?
The Men’s Master’s 2x would hopefully change my luck. By now the winds were really kicking up with some major gusts. My partner Adam, a 28 year old rower from Tempe is an excellent sculler (won the open single category by 21 sec) and stroked our Men’s Open 4+. We had no practice together but after trying a couple of starts (they were fast….real fast) we felt confident that we would do well. Our competition was Boulder Community Rowing and Rio Salado. The Rio Salado Boat had a 27.5 second handicapped so we knew we had to go full throttle on this race regardless of the lead. Like our practice, our start was fast. We settled with some really good rhythm but the winds were pretty strong throwing us off a little. At about 600 meters a gust of wind came up that was so strong it felt like we deployed a parachute from our double. Spectators on the shore commented after the race that it looked like all three boats stopped dead in their tracks. We pick up the pace and sprinted for the finish line to come in 25.8s ahead of the second place boat and 1:01.8 ahead of the third, enough of a spread to grab 1st place. My luck had changed. Final Result: First Place.
Now for the final race, the Mixed 8+. This race was with 6 of the Tempe’s Woman’s Open crew (two of which were lightweights) that came in a close second against Newport Aquatic Center earlier in the day, and my doubles partner Adam. Once again we were rowing the starboard/bucket rigged boat with the guys rowing stern pair (yours truly stroking) and the women filling 6 seat to bow. Our competition were ASU A and B boats, Boulder A and B boats and Rio Salado. Our coxswain was from Tempe. The boat to beat was the ASU A boat and the race was without handicap. I was a bit concerned about the race when during a practice start one of our rowers caught a crab. This was not to be during the race however. The start went off smoothly at a 41, settled at a 33 for the middle 500m. We were pretty much cox’n to cox’n to the 500m mark when our cox’n called a power 10 and we started moving on the ASU A boat. Our cox’n did a fantastic job counting down the seats from cox’n to their 4 seat. We Sprinted at a 37 at the last 250m to cross the finish line first 2.7 seconds ahead of the ASU A boat. They were in disbelief. Final Result: First Place.
Medal tally: 3-second place ribbons and 2-first place medals. I’d say it was a good day of rowing.
After congratulatory slaps on the backs and fond farewells until the next race it was time to tie one on at the local Carlsbad Tavern for some Mexican food and margaritas. Yeah baby.
Pics to follow
Cheers
Holy bananas, the Banquet was awesome. Thanks to everyone for coming and making it such a great night. We must have the sharpest-looking rowing club in the country. Here are some pics 
To see the pics as a slideshow, click here.
Or, click here to see all the pics directly on Flickr without slideshow.
