Newsletter July 2010

A Tango 17 on Lake Atitlan

Maria Rivera manages the Hotel Atitlan in Panajachel, Guatemala on shores of Lake Atitlan. It's so beautiful that it's called "An exaggeration of nature on the shores of a miracle." The pictures of Maria rowing on Lake Atitlan demonstrate this very well and her letter tells of her love of slide seat rowing her new Tango 17. It also shows how nicely the boat rows with one rower. So if you are looking for a really great vacation spot this may be it and if you speak to Maria she may let you go for a row in her new Tango 17.

Hi Andrea and Whitehall! I have just had some photos taken today of me out rowing on Lake Atitlan in my new Tango 17. Already I think I have lost a little weight. The most important thing is that the Tango has become mine and I wish I could row all day. Today under the blue blue sky I felt like a part of the universe.

Also I got a new blister on my lower right ring finger. I am proud of my blister. I love Whitehall forever...

Maria

How to Win the Rat Race!

June 18 found a motley crew consisting of myself, Marie Hutchinson, Colin Rolls, Andrea Guyon and our favorite Olympian Adam Kreek clearing customs and catching the ferry across to Port Angeles along with two Tango 17s and Adam's Solo 14 "Freedom Crabber". This fun loving bunch was headed for the Rat Island Open Water Rowing Regatta.

We rolled into Port Townsend in the late afternoon and were greeted by Dianne Roberts and Barbara Hagar who immediately took out a Tango 17 for a trial row. (See the next article and video clip).

The next morning we hooked up with Brad Vickers and Dave Stith as we unloaded and launched the boats at the Rat Island Regatta encampment at Fort Warden Park Beach. Dave brought along his own Solo 14 and his trusty crew Nikki a boat loving Border collie. Andrea and Brad rowed a Tango 17, as did Colin and I. Adam and Dave rowed Solo 14s. Marie, with a 300mm lens on her camera was stationed aboard Jim Whittaker's (yeah he's the guy who climbed Everest) and his wife Dianne Roberts powerboat "Mettle".

There were about 63 boats entered in this 7.8 mile race ranging from eight person racing shells to outrigger paddle craft and Kayaks. Everybody races everyone else but the main competition is between various classes and crew types. The course runs from the Fort Warden Pier across to Rat Island and back. This was the 18th annual regatta hosted by the Rat Island Rowing and Sculling Club and Sound Rowers.

We knew it might be a tough race when Andrea hauled out a Bull Kelp Whip and used it to get Brad fired up. I think he liked it! A double is usually faster than a single but Colin and I wondered how we would do up against the likes of Adam Kreek and "Iron Man" Dave Stith who has rowed over 2000 miles in his Solo 14 over the past two years.

The horn sounded and off we went across Port Townsend Bay to Rat Island. It was smooth going as conditions were ideal. Too ideal for the Whitehall Spirit fleet to be competitive to the hotter racing shells and such but we always race each other anyhow. Colin and I were in the lead just ahead of Adam and Dave with Andrea and Brad off in the distance. But as we rounded Rat Island Brad and Andrea were steadily gaining on us. Colin and I realized that this was no lashing matter. Brad is one of the record holders for rowing across the North Atlantic and Andrea rows daily and is in top form.

Adam Kreek kept "Freedom Crabber" tracking smoothly along with ‘Iron Man" Stith and Nikki hard on his transom. The cool thing about racing in these boats is that maintaining top hull speed is what it's all about. If you pull too hard or fail to maximize the glide the boat goes a little slower. A double is a little faster because of the added waterline length and the additional power from two rowers.

Sure enough as we closed on the finish Andrea and Brad edged by Colin and I to finish a full minute ahead at 1 hour 25minutes 12 seconds. They were pretty pumped as they proclaimed themselves "Strong Like Bulls". Adam finished next with Dave Stith and Nikki only 19 seconds behind. Marie took many of these great shots off "Mettle" and a special thanks to Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts for their help.

Après race celebrations included a great lunch hosted by the race organizers (Thanks to all who did the organizing) with over two hundred rowers, paddlers and friends followed by the ribbon presentations. Colin and I got a blue because another mixed crew in a faster double beat Andrea and Brad. They were thoroughly teased but not whipped. Adam won the male single slide seat wherry class and we all decided the red should go the Dave's crew Nikki.

Many folks took the Tangos and Solos out for a spin to try them out for themselves and we got to test out the sand wheels on our boat dolly as we loaded back up. They worked great but it took three of us to push the loaded dolly up and over the mound of soft sand at the head of the beach.

Would we do it again? Go across and hang out with a bunch of great people? Have fun and do a little subtle product promotion? You Bet!
Click here to see a complete slide show of the Rat Island Regatta

A Tango 17 in the North American Open Water Rowing Championships

The North American Open Water Rowing Championships were held in Port Townsend on June 20, the day after the Rat Island Regatta. This race brings together hardcore rowers and paddlers from across North America and is held in a different location each year. This year the 14-mile race ran from the dock at the NW Marine center in Port Townsend out past Point Wilson on around to Point McCurdy and back. I was intrigued a this can be one of the gnarliest pieces of water anywhere and I've personally seen 10 foot square waves and tide rips off Point Wilson that are simply not suited for small human powered craft. But most of the time the tide rips are only two or three feet high particularly if there is little to no wind blowing.

Dianne Roberts, owner of the Solo 14 "Mussel" and rowing partner Barbara Hagar had asked me months back if they could borrow a Tango 17 and do the NAOWC race with it. Dianne assured me it was not about racing in as much as simply completing the race. The Tango is no slouch and will easily average 5.5 Knots with a pair of strong rowers but that is a lot slower than an open water racing shell powered by a fanatic open water rower.

We arrived in Port Townsend Friday evening and met Dianne and Barbara at the NW Marine Center. We launched a Tango 17 and the two of them took it out for a spin along the waterfront. They looked good rowing along in the midsummer evening sun. We met them when the got back and they liked the boat and were still up for doing the 14-mile race Sunday morning.

So early Sunday found Marie and I launching the Tango 17, the same one Andrea and Brad rowed in the Rat Island race the previous day. Dianne and Barbara were looking good and ready to go which is pretty remarkable seeing as how they both rowed the Rat Island Race the day before in a winning eight.

Dianne's husband Jim was covering the two of them in "Mettle" his fast aluminum powerboat that was perfect for the job. The girls chose to start the race in the "Early start" which was a few minutes ahead of the main fleet and the horn sounded and off they rowed on a nice flat virtually wave less sea.

Dave Stith, Marie and I drove out to Point Wilson to watch them row past and check out the conditions. Watching from the lighthouse we saw that it was lumpy but not too bad and we watched as Dianne and Barb steadily rowing past while being overtaken by the "Hot" racers who were pilling on the coals as if their lives depended on it. Dave, who is a Master Mariner and has worked the west coast all the way to Alaska, told us of the horrible conditions he has seen right at this spot. We speculated how things would be in an hour when the tide changed direction...then we drove back into town for a nice brunch and left the fleet to complete the course.

A little over two hours later we were on the dock at the NW Marine Center as the fleet came in. Tide plays a huge factor and on the return leg those that hugged the beach avoided being swept up into Admiralty inlet and adding a fair bit to the distance traveled and a few boats, including Dianne and Barbara in the Tango 17 did some extra rowing as well as getting caught up in some nasty rip tide waves for about half an hour. They finally rowed in, last but not discouraged in the least as they said before starting "We just want to row the race and finish, having completed a North American Open Water Rowing Championship Race". Very Cool! If you would like to see these women in action and hear their after race comments click here to see a short Video Clip!