Open Ocean Regatta 2015, April 19th

On Sunday, April 19th, Open Water Rowing Center in Sausalito hosted the 39th Open Ocean Regatta. It was well-attended with racers from many clubs competing on two courses; one inside of Richardson Bay and the other going outside the Golden Gate Bridge to Point Diablo and back. The weather was pretty chilly and windy but the competition was hot and exciting. The water conditions on the long course were very challenging -- the roughest I have ever seen it. Several capsizes occurred on the long course. Several racers failed to make it past the Golden Gate Bridge. For those of us that DID navigate the whole long (a.k.a. Diablo) course, staying 'inside' seemed liked a wise choice. The two miles of rowing outside 'the Gate' were not for novices (although there WAS a novice who completed it). Standing waves, turbulence, eddies, reflections and nearby rocks made that part something of an obstacle course. Even though we have big waves rowing from Santa Cruz and most of us are used to rough water, the conditions under the bridge can be dramatically more fun and scary. I have plenty of stories to tell in case you're interested. One can also find excellent confidence-building skills by participating in the clinic held by OWRC, in preparation of the event, for several weeks beforehand. For me, it was fun, tiring, exciting and terrifying. Both events were very competitive with close finishes and close races. I took my Maas Aero there and that was a perfect choice for the rough conditions (on the Diablo course) that day. The Aero's stability, along with a lot of very hard pulling (I estimate 2400 strokes or more!) and wise heading choices, helped me come in first in my classification. In addition, I finished ahead of all the other 1X on the long course, five seconds ahead of the fastest in the 24 classification. We were neck and neck coming down the last leg. Having raced the inside (a.k.a. Strawberry) course in previous years I can tell you that it is a fantastic race, too. Less challenging water conditions, but very fun racing with competitors close by one another over a pretty long distance. Richardson Bay, San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and Open Water Rowing Center make for a wonderful, picturesque and fun race venue. For our backdrop we had Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline and the Sausalito hills. The OWRC management, employees and hard-working volunteers put together an exciting competition and excellent social gathering and feast afterwards. I recommend the experience to all of those who row in and around Santa Cruz who think they might like to race. It is easy to learn lots more by asking me and/or connecting with OWRC in Sausalito.

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.