So, I won my category in my second rowing regatta

[Joe Dupere]

And bettered my time over my first regatta which was over a shorter course!!

Back in March I rowed my Shellback in the Snow Row in Hull, MA. I took last in all categories!! with a time of 1hr 19mins over a course of 3 3/4 miles.

This past weekend, I went to beautiful Moosehead Lake for the 17th annual Moosehead Regatta. It was a beautiful morning. The race started at nine and was a triangular course about 4.4 miles according to the course chart they gave us. I had two goals, first, to finish, and second, to beat my time from the Snow Row. I did both, finishing in 59 minutes 41 seconds.

Now, in the interests of full disclosure I probably ought to mention that my category was

"Master's - 50 year old men rowing fixed seat boats they built themselves which were hopelessly outclassed by all the sliding seat shells",

and that I was perforce, the only one in my class. But hey, life is full of small victories, and I take them where I find them!!

But now I really want a sliding seat boat. Maybe the Liz or a Firefly, or even a Kingfisher.

Joe

[carlg]

Congratulations. All that time on the erg paid off.

[ssor]

The old Soviets announced that there had been a race(international) in which the heroic soviet team came in second and the decadent American team came in next to last!!!

It was a two entrant race.

[Joe Dupere]

Originally posted by ssor:
The old Soviets announced that there had been a race(international) in which the heroic soviet team came in second and the decadent American team came in next to last!!!

It was a two entrant race.:D Ross, that is one of my favorite Cold War jokes ever. It's all in the spin!! :D
Joe

[Matt J.]

Congratulations, Joe. Sounds like a great improvement from less than 3mph to almost 4.5mph.

We used to say our high school was the County Champion every year... since we were the only one.

I'm still thinking I'd like a better rowing boat than the old cedar strip dink or the prams. Sliding seat would be nice. I looked at the CLC Annapolis Wherry, but I'd like to do a non-ply and goo boat next.

Again, congrats on the big improvement.
-Matt

[Willin']

Way to go, Joe. I thought about entering an open class rowing race in Harpswell a few years back but was intimidated by the wind and chop on Harpswell Sound.

I'll wager yours was one of the prettier boats in the race too.

Well done! :cool:

[rbgarr]

Careful, Joe, it sounds like you're coming down with "sternview disease"!

That's when you need to see all other competitors behind you rather than having to crane around to see them pulling away. It's sort of like those people who can't stand having other cars on the road ahead of them and are forever passing all and sundry so they can 'lead the pack'. :D

Well done, though, and I'm wondering whether erging made a difference in your enjoyment of the on-water rowing.

Later this month I'm starting an 'indoor rowing club' at the local Y here in Maine like our Woodenboat Forum Crew. [They bought two Concept 2 D models that nobody uses (!)]

There's an event in early August that you might be interested in: The Southport Rowgatta, a 10+ NM circumnavigation of Southport Island. It starts at Newagen Harbor at the eastern end of the mouth of the Sheepscot, up that river, across Ebenecook Harbor, down through Townsend Gut, and south along the Southport shore to Newagen once again. The Boothbay Region YMCA will have more information about it later in the summer.

[Joe Dupere]

Well, the Shellback is a lot of fun for just tooling around with my rowing buddy Glen, we take it on a lot of ponds and streams around here. But it's not made for racing or long distance rowing.

And I'm not that competitive, really. I used to run in all the 10k road races back in NC before I mucked up my right knee, and I never really tried to do much more than better my time from a prior race. Rowing is kind of personal for me, the way running was. Sometimes, I just like to poke around and see the wildlife and just be outside on the water and enjoy it. On the other hand, sometimes I like to push myself and see what I'm capable of so my best measure is to see if I can improve my times over roughly similar courses.

I do know that if I'm going to keep entering these races, I need a longer boat made to go a little faster. I mean, I hadn't even turned the first mark and the leaders in the race were already around the second mark and halfway down the third leg to the finish!!

Okay, so maybe I am a little competitive!!
Joe