Sunday, February 15th, saw the Corkscrew Regatta held in Redwood City. BIAC puts on the race. I have heard it said that it's 10 miles but I think it's a bit more than 8. Something like 8.3 maybe. I had my GPS but can't reset the distance at the start because it's a flying start. And I almost always forget to look at the end. I am too wiped.
It's head style with faster boats (i.e., eights and quads) starting first. Patrice and I rowed my Maas 2X "Tetra". We have done the race several times in a Maas 2X. There weren't any 8+ this year. Two quads and a 4+ started before us. Sadly for one quad, they buried their bow in the weeds before the first turn. We shot past them as they backed out. The first couple miles there were some fast singles pacing us but back a couple hundred meters.
Conditions were excellent. Chilly before dawn but warmed quickly. Clear skies, low wind and good water. This is the first time I have rowed the Corkscrew since they installed the Flow Restrictors. They were not much of a challenge but they were a source of turbulence and had to be carefully navigated.
It's exciting to pass a leading boat. It's also exciting to open distance on a boat following and trying to pass. But it's kind of challenging to focus on speed and competitiveness when there are no nearby boats to compete against. But we did this year. Officially our time was 54:00. Our Personal Best for me and Patrice (Previously 58:05 in 2010 and 57:46 in 2007). That's also incredibly fast for an open water 2X on a flat water course. I think we had tidal current helping us in the first half and flowing against us for about 1/3 of the race. If the course is 8.3 miles long then our time means we averaged 9.2 mph for nearly an hour.
I didn't discuss this with Patrice but about a third of the way into the race I was already feeling spent. My legs and shoulders felt like concrete. I didn't think I could keep up the pace. I almost told Patrice I needed a rest. As it turned out we did keep a pretty even pace. We lengthened the stroke and dropped the stroke rate in the straight stretches and kicked it up and shortened a bit in the twisty segments.
There is now a pair of trophies for the Corkscrew. Sponsored by Maas Boat Company there's a fastest Men's Aero and fastest Women's Aero award and name added to plaque each year.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Corkscrew 2015: a record!
Sunday, February 15th, saw the Corkscrew Regatta held in Redwood City. BIAC puts on the race. I have heard it said that it's 10 miles but I think it's a bit more than 8. Something like 8.3 maybe. I had my GPS but can't reset the distance at the start because it's a flying start. And I almost always forget to look at the end. I am too wiped.
It's head style with faster boats (i.e., eights and quads) starting first. Patrice and I rowed my Maas 2X "Tetra". We have done the race several times in a Maas 2X. There weren't any 8+ this year. Two quads and a 4+ started before us. Sadly for one quad, they buried their bow in the weeds before the first turn. We shot past them as they backed out. The first couple miles there were some fast singles pacing us but back a couple hundred meters.
Conditions were excellent. Chilly before dawn but warmed quickly. Clear skies, low wind and good water. This is the first time I have rowed the Corkscrew since they installed the Flow Restrictors. They were not much of a challenge but they were a source of turbulence and had to be carefully navigated.
It's exciting to pass a leading boat. It's also exciting to open distance on a boat following and trying to pass. But it's kind of challenging to focus on speed and competitiveness when there are no nearby boats to compete against. But we did this year. Officially our time was 54:00. Our Personal Best for me and Patrice (Previously 58:05 in 2010 and 57:46 in 2007). That's also incredibly fast for an open water 2X on a flat water course. I think we had tidal current helping us in the first half and flowing against us for about 1/3 of the race. If the course is 8.3 miles long then our time means we averaged 9.2 mph for nearly an hour.
I didn't discuss this with Patrice but about a third of the way into the race I was already feeling spent. My legs and shoulders felt like concrete. I didn't think I could keep up the pace. I almost told Patrice I needed a rest. As it turned out we did keep a pretty even pace. We lengthened the stroke and dropped the stroke rate in the straight stretches and kicked it up and shortened a bit in the twisty segments.
There is now a pair of trophies for the Corkscrew. Sponsored by Maas Boat Company there's a fastest Men's Aero and fastest Women's Aero award and name added to plaque each year.
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