Open Ocean Regatta, 2013 April 21, Sausalito, CA

Every year for several decades the Open Water Rowing Center has sponsored a rough water rowing and sculling race near Sausalito, Ca.  This year it was on April 21st.  It is planned to take place on a day when the morning tide is incoming in case anyone has a serious problem on the long course they will, in that case, be carried back inside San Francisco Bay instead of swept out.

This year is the 6th time I was a contestant.  It is the third time I have competed in a single.  It is the 5th time that I have done the 'long' course, A.K.A. the Diablo course.  The Diablo course is about 8.3 nautical miles and goes out under the Golden Gate Bridge (the Gate), around a temporary regatta buoy, and back to another turn round a buoy off of Belvidere, then round Cone Rock and back to the start/finish close to downtown Sausalito (near the bronze sea lion sculpture).

Complete results are available from OWRC along with more information http://owrc.com/ .

I rowed in my most recently purchased boat, a Bay 21"Splash", made by Bay Shells Rowing in Seattle, WA.  I got it late last year and I've been rowing it a lot since then in Monterey Bay near Santa Cruz.  Bay Shells Rowing http://www.bayshellsrowing.com/Default.aspx has their boats made by the Pocock Rowing Shells factory.  She's a really good boat for rough water. 

I had this one made special by the addition of an extra layer of fiberglass in the hull layup and an extra layer of fiberglass in the seat deck layup.  The riggers are fabricated to be 1" higher than normal.  I weighed it and it's 49 lbs.  That's a bit heavy for most folks but I am big and strong so, for me, it seems about like most open water rowing shells.  The looks, fit and finish, hull design, components and rigging are all really good quality.

Since it is 21 feet long I row in the "Aero" class but the Bay 21 is a bit narrower and significantly faster.  In my event there was only one other competitor and he was an elderly man of small stature so it wasn't much of a race against him.  In fact I didn't see him the entire race.   My time was around 1:20 and his was around 1:40 so it was not even close. 

The fun part was rowing near some of the 24 class men and women.  It is a reall thrill to move up change course, pick a line, fall behind and generally battle both physically and tactically to get to the finish line earlier than one's competitors.  The use of tide and wind conditions to boost one's speed or decrease one's time is big contribution to every racer's results.

It was no surprise that I could maintain the same speed as nearby 24s when things got rough.  From the Gate to the turn and back to the Gate it was violently rough with lots of swells, small chop, swirling eddies and reflections of waves from the rocks of Marin Headlands.  It wasn't windy and there were no whitecaps, but the waves were big and steep for that segment outside the Gate.  I knew I could row in rough water with out slowing down dramatically from my many experiences practicing on Monterey Bay.  But what surprised me is that I could stay with several of the 24s on the course when it wasn't rough.  Not the fastest ones, mind you, but those in the middle of the range.  Normally a 24 is going to be faster than a 21 in good conditions.  So I was pleased with the boat, how it felt and how it performed.

The first couple miles were in essentially flat water conditions.  The last four miles or so were in waves but not breaking so they were 'good' conditions, too.  That middle part always seems to get nasty and some years much, much worse than this one.  I always think beforehand, "it's going to be awesome rowing under the bridge -- few people get that perspective of it".  But, during the race I am focused on the waves, the rocks, the eddies, the other competitors and every other race factor so I consistently fail to stop and look up at the bridge.

This year there was a swimmer's race under the Gate nearly at the same time.  I had my VHF with me and turned on, set to the race channel 69.  So I could hear all the gymnastics that the two race organizers had to perform to get every competitor and every committee boat past each other.  There should have been a bigger cushion of time and distance between the two events since our race deliberately started earlier than originally planned.  But, at the last minute, the swimmers decided to start in the middle of the Gate instead of at the south tower.  So most of them arrived near the rowing race course much earlier than planned.  No collisions or even close calls resulted so it all worked out okay.

There were 4-5 dolphins under the gate.  Right before I saw the dolphins I saw, even closer to my boat, a shark.  It was definitely a shark dorsal fin and really close to me, about one boat length past the tip of my blade.  In the 7 years I have been open water sculling in Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay its the first time I have spotted a shark whilst rowing.  I thought it was an interesting coincidence that it happened the same morning as the swim race!

I am sure they are nearby nearly all the time, but just hard to see since they don't have to surface and breath like the sea mammals we observe so frequently.

This regatta is a lot of fun with a social meal and announcements of results after the race.  It is a nice venue and it was especially nice this year with the best weather and the best sea conditions I have experienced for this regatta.  I encourage anyone interested to train, practice and compete in the OOR next year.  This year it was mostly managed by Ellen Braithwaite and Gordy Nash.  Some years Sherwin Smith has managed the event.  There is always a huge contribution by the OWRC and its members and volunteers.  Thank you! to OWRC.