Monterey Bay Crossing 2008

On Aug 17, 2008, at 2:37 AM, Tim wrote:Paul, Hi. Just a quick note to let you know that I rowed my Dolphin in today's Monterey Bay Crossing. It was the first time I had rowed the race in a single. There was a disappointing low turnout and some last-minute cancellations. Eight boats started and only 7 finished. I finished ahead of the other two singles and all the doubles. One boat was faster than me: a quad beat me by 7 minutes. I started at 5:14 AM and it took me 3:55:01 to make the 22 nautical mile course. That's 5.6 knots for almost 4 hours. My GPS said closer to 5.8 knots but that's probably because I rowed farther than the straight line course distance. I was averaging over 5.9 knots in the middle of the course but then about 4.5 miles of headwind pulled me down. Sea conditions were varied. We rowed quartering down swell in swells up to about 10 ft height. There was a beam chop in places making it difficult to set up and, of course, some headwinds. In good conditions, I think I could row the Dolphin 6 knots for 4 hours. Thank you for building excellent boats! Best regards, Tim