A
wonderful regatta.
By David Rosen
My
day started at 5am as I headed out of Morgantown with my boat loaded
on my Yukon.
When
I arrived in Pittsburgh, the scene was unbelievable.
There were boats and crews all over the place along the Allegheny
River. My registration package was ready for me when I arrived.
When I got there I was welcomed as their guest. They helped me get
the boat offloaded and into the water, provided all the needed
instructions and sent me on my way. My racing class, the adaptives,
was unbelievably well organized. The whole affair was very well
run, especially considering the size of the attendance. The
adaptives were allowed to launch from the Washington Landing Three
Rivers Rowing Association boathouse ( what a great facility in its
own right). Everyone else launches and preps from the finish area.
The boathouse is close to the starting point so I did not have an
exhausting row before my race.
The
adaptives launched 20 minutes before the posted race time, but when
we arrived at the starting area there was a massive flotilla of
shells awaiting their start. The pre-race meeting on the water was
unbelievably friendly and cooperative. The seven adaptive rowers
huddled all together to stay out of the others way as we froze in
the cold breeze awaiting our start. . After 162 boats raced down
the course, the adaptive rowers headed single file to the starting
line.
The
head of the Ohio race is a running start. When your group is
announced, you head to the starting chute down a channel of buoys;
you are announced: "bow number 166 Monongahela Rowing Association
you are on the course". You have to follow the boat in front of you
by less than 30 seconds or you are disqualified and allowed to race
for time only.
I
followed 4 adaptive pairs and I was the first adaptive single. Once
on the course the wind started to pick up. We were rowing into the
wind.
The
speed was at least 15 mph and as it intensified the waves and chop
did as well. The first 100 strokes went easily and the course was
wide.
As
the course narrowed the waves picked up and real concentration was
needed to keep the boat smoothly in the water. At about 300 strokes
I neared the half way point -the Heinz factory. I am always anxious
about going through the bridges but they were not an issue until I
came to the
4
arched bridge. You have to go through the center arch or you loose
points. I had been keeping the port buoy markers in my rear view
mirror as I headed down the course. The 4 arched bridge put me
headed for the support as I headed down the river. Fortunately I
recognized it in the nick of time to avoid hitting it. I had
anticipated a 500 stroke race but since I had not passed the half
way point at 300 strokes I knew that the wind was significantly
affecting my progress. I had hoped for a 600 stroke race and ended
up catching a wicked crab about then because I lost my concentration
as I got close to downtown. When you get to that point there are
concrete walls on both sides of the river which affected the water
flow. The markers for the end of the race are yellow buoys. I
passed some yellow buoys at about 620 strokes, but I didn't think
they were the correct end of the race markers. At 700 strokes I went
between two inflated yellow buoys and the horn sounded marking my
completion of the 2.6 mile race.
During the race I had concentrated on my competition following me
making sure that I kept at least the same distance ahead of him as
we were at the start. I passed no one nor did I get passed.
2.6
miles is a long race I was exhausted and dry at the end. My boat
has no place to carry water so I just had to suffer. After the race
we paddled slowly back to the starting line down the far side of the
course. There is a special entrance creek to the Three Rivers
Rowing Association boat house so at one point the Marshalls had us
wait with them till the boats cleared and then we sprinted across
the race course to avoid getting hit by oncoming fours.
Though the 2.6 miles was intense, once the race was over I really
did not want to get off the water. During the row back to the
boathouse it was fun to be passed by all the fresh crews warming up
on their way to the starting line.
When
I did get back to the boathouse the volunteers and my daughter
Maddie were there to help me get my boat back on top of the car and
packed up. After packing up I headed over to the main area to be
part of the rest of the rowing community. I found the time sheet,
found out I was the fastest in my group, and got my gold medal.
Afterwards Maddie and I met up with Eric and Jim. It was a great
day for a regatta: nice temperature, nice clouds, a little too rough
on the water at times, and a great atmosphere.
For
next year: we need more rowers and more boats, we need a team
uniform and we could use team colors on our oars
Hopefully we will have enough people to put up a team tent so we all
have a place to congregate.
It
would also be a great way to have a personal relationship with the
woman's crew team if they joined us under the tent.
Boats with covers do better with transport than uncovered boats The
men's crew team needs to be there too; someday maybe a high school
team.
The
Head of the Ohio (HOTO) regatta is a fantastic race, it is close to
us and well worth the effort. I am planning to go again next year.
I hope others will as well. David Rosen
David at the Finish
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My Watery Path to
HOTO
2009
By Jim Fishback
I
moved to Morgantown in July 2008 and spent a lot of time on my road
bike through the end of the fall. On one of my trips up the bike
path, heading to the Decker’s Creek trail, I noticed a flyer for Mon
Rowing but made no effort to contact the club until early this year.
I had rowed for TC Williams High School in Alexandria, VA my junior
year, one summer with the Occoquan Boat Club while I was in college
and two summers with Boulder Community Rowing about 5 years ago. I
was really excited about the prospect of rowing again.
Following an email to
info@monrowing.org, I was contacted by John Duarte who informed
me there would be a membership meeting in early March. I attended
the meeting, met some of the members, and began rowing the Alden
Horizon within the next few days with the help of Eric Hopkins.
After a few trips out in the Alden I managed to sprain a leg trying
to gorilla that big plastic boat around. Three weeks later I was
back at it, rowing the double “SeaShell” and then the new Edon with
its pontoons installed. In early June I scheduled a lesson with Meg
Ayers (volunteer coach for WVU Women’s Crew) who suggested I take
the Peinert out; I was reluctant because I had never rowed a scull
prior to the Alden and Edon, but agreed to give it a try.
I
never went back to the beginner boats and began to accumulate much
water time in the Peinert #23. In fact, I have logged more miles on
the river this summer than I have on the bike this year. As I write
this I have been out for about 100 sessions. Most of these trips
have been solo, however Andrew White has accompanied me on a handful
of runs and more recently Jenna LaPointe (WVU Men’s club coach) has
joined me in the old Vespoli.
But
I digress; this article is supposed to be about the 2009 Head of the
Ohio. In preparation for the race, Dr. David Rosen offered to let me
try out his ECHO Ace on Cheat Lake. In the event that I couldn’t
find insurance for one of the club boats I wanted a backup plan. As
the Ace is a modern high tech design it definitely rowed faster than
the Peinert but I didn’t quite attain proficiency keeping it on keel
in the few trials I made. Right around this time, just for laughs, I
“built a boat” on the Vespoli website. The next day I received a
call from John Sekulich (“JP”) from Vespoli. We talked for a while
before he asked me if I would be going to HOTO. He said he would be
there with boats to look at; I asked if it was possible for me to
race one. That possibility turned to reality.
I
made the run up to Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon with hopes of
getting a chance to try the Matrix 27 before race day. My timing was
off; JP had left the Three Rivers Rowing Association facility for
the parking lot between PNC and Heinz field where all the boat
trailers would assemble in the following hours. After taking a look
around the TRRA boathouse I made my way down to the finish line and
parking lot. I had already made arrangements to meet JP in the
morning so I grabbed a bite to eat, my registration packet and
wandered around the waterfront. While eating I met some folks from
TRRA and told them about my hopes of rowing that evening.
Fortunately they had boats that needed to be rowed down to the start
line; the rules of the race dictated that all boats must originate
from the finish line docking area the following morning. So I took a
launch ride up to the TRAA boathouse and helped row an 8 down to the
start.
I
was up by 5 am the following morning, out of the hotel and on the
road by 5:30. I arrived early enough to park right next to Heinz,
within 100 feet of the Vespoli trailer. I met up with JP and watched
him set up the Matrix before I went down to watch the WVU women come
down the course, for 3rd and 6th places in the
14 boat women’s open 8+ race. Shortly after, I hustled to get my
clothes on and get the boat down to the water.
My
first few strokes were nothing short of embarrassing but I was
quickly across the river and out of site of immediate scrutiny.
Moments later I heard a very tiny voice say “I think you should
weigh enough”; a high school 4+ was right off my bow! I dug the
blades in for a sketchy stop and an almost swim. After recovering
physically and emotionally I made my way up to the start area for a
longish wait for the singles races to begin.
Less
than a couple minutes before the men’s singles were called to the
starting area I noticed the brace and oarlock hardware for the
starboard rigger were levitating. I was bummed! The nut that secures
everything was still there but a few washers had gone missing. I
hand-tightened all and asked a couple boats near me if any had
tools. No-one had tools but moments after raising my hand a launch
was by my side handing me a wrench. I got all tight and made my way
just in time to start in order. Another minute and I would have had
to start at the end of all the singles and out of my age-class. Not
how I wanted to do my first race in over 28 years.
The
start worked out, I had two boats pass, but then I went off course.
I thought missing a buoy was a 30 second penalty, so I spent at
least that long pivoting the boat back inside the buoy with only a
few hundred meters left to race. At the finish I heard cheers for
“Fishback!” I recognized Meg’s voice joined by many others, who I
assume were WVU women, though I guess it could have been other well
meaning spectators too.
After docking, getting the boat back up to the trailer, and thanking
JP profusely, I went back down to the water to watch some more
races. Eric had called while I was on the water and we met up a few
minutes later. After running into David Rosen and his daughter and
chatting (and admiring David’s gold medal) Eric and I walked up the
racecourse to watch the boats come down from additional vantage
points.
The
weather and water were a little ugly that day and got worse as the
afternoon wore on. We ended up on a lookout area near the start when
the last race went down the course. It was the last race of the day
because of the misfortune we were about to witness. First, one men’s
8+ came down looking like it was just being rowed poorly and then we
noticed it was taking on water in the bow, and moments later it was
fully submerged. While launches arrived to pluck the passengers from
the swamped boat another 8+ came down the course. A coach from this
boat was also on the lookout and was dismayed to see the bowman had
lost his seat and couldn’t manage to get it back. Soon this boat was
completely swamped too. In total three boats went down before the
rest of the events were cancelled; all were contesting the same
race.
I
had a fantastic time at the HOTO and can’t wait to get out there and
race again. It’s been great to get back on the water and like living
alone for the first time I am really enjoying the freedom of
sculling. If our club can muster enough folks for a crew I would
like to re-experience that too. I am so grateful that MRA is here in
Morgantown and that I was able to connect with them. I would like to
acknowledge Meg Ayers for the lessons she gave me and WVU women’s
crew for sharing their boathouse with us. Also, thanks to Jimmy King
for taking the Peinert up to HOTO for me, in the event I couldn’t
row the Matrix I wanted a backup. This weekend I am driving 500
miles to Dexter, NY to look at a “previously owned” Vespoli Matrix
27 - I am that into this sport. Anybody interested in a nice road
bike??
Update: Jim couldn’t wait for the Spring thaw and is now the proud
owner of this great shell.
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