Wine Country Regatta 2011 - Part 1

In the fall, rowing centers around head races, approximately 5,000-6,000 meters or about 16-25 minutes depending on your speed and boat class.  In comparison, the spring and summer races are 1,000-2,000 meters, 4-10 minutes.  Think cross-country running in the fall versus track and field in the spring.

This past weekend was the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston.  Congratulations to all the finishers!  Extra special congratulations to Kristin who won the Lightweight Women's Single, defending her 2009 title!

Borrowed North Bay Rowing Club's (NBRC) Hudson 2x
for Wine Country

Racing at home, at the Petaluma Wine Country Classic head race, was in even more beautiful and warm weather than in Boston.  The water was relatively calm and the sun gently beamed down all day.  It was great to see the LMRC team again as well as the Cal Lightweight women racing.  In fact, on the trailer loaded with LMRC boats and Cal Lightweight boats, I saw a familiar boat, the Little Debbie, which I rowed in in college.  Brings back mixed memories.

The Little Debbie 4+ still chugging along!

I had two races for the day--a mixed double and a mixed quad.  For both races, North Bay Rowing Club was generous enough to lend us boats to use.  The double was a Hudson double with toe steering in bow.  It is not unusual for a double to have toe steering since it is a blind boat, but we do not normally row with one, instead relying on ourselves to do all the steering.

After the coaches and coxwains meeting, which reviewed the course and racing rules, my mixed double's (Mx2x) partner and I loaded our oars into his Honda Civic and drove over to launch from the NBRC dock, close by.  We made foot stretcher and spacer adjustments to the boat and then, were out on the water.

The row to the start line took longer than I had imagined, and I began to worry that we would be late the start.  Luckily, the race was delayed by five minutes and we were not the last double to our race.  We were, however, the first boat to start.  The other weird thing about head races is that boats do not start simultaneously, but rather sequentially, similar to a cycling time trial.  The winner is determined by the fastest time and not by who crosses the line first.

"Number 51, Lake Merritt composite. You may row."  In head racing, you actually start rowing about 100-150 meters behind the start line.  You start on the paddle and gradually build speed.  The goal is to reach your optimal speed, rhythm, and rate at the time that you cross the start line.

Masters 2x

We quickly settled into a good rhythm.  The first 1,000 meters of the course was straight until a turn to port followed by another straightaway.  The boat felt good, but on the straightaway, there were not many buoys to guide my course, I could see the wavering in my steering.  If you look ahead to the stern of the boat and if you are steering straight, you should see a straight line.  In my case, I could see where the line slightly curved and where I had corrected or overcorrected my course.

Masters 2x

At about halfway, the boat felt heavier at the catch, which was odd.  Our rowing felt pretty consistent and we were supposed to have a current carrying us.  Then, I realized that there was a small headwind.

The last 2,000 meters of the race were harder than I had expected.  Because of the age handicap and the fact that we started first, I was not sure how well we were doing compared to the other boats.  As we crossed the finish line, I was wondering how we were going to race again in an hour.  We did not wait for the other boats to finish or to count the seconds between us and them.  We rowed back to the NBRC dock to get hands on the quad.