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Wednesday at Henley is fun. It's a full day of racing, with 80 planned at 10 minute intervals throughout the day. It's quieter than the weekend, but still comfortably busy, especially with parents of all the school crews.

My own plan failed today, I was expecting to be able to get some video but never managed it. One complication is spending time in Stewards which has a complete phobia about mobile phones.

So I can wander round the enclosure with a huge DSLR ot a video camera, but it looks like I can't use the same functions on the tiny phone. Although when being used as a camera, it looks nothing like the phone.

Few of the races I saw today were close. The regatta publishes a daily list of crews to watch, but few had any serious action today, the ones I saw getting ahead and staying there comfortably. That included this TSS crew in the Thames, who had had to cover one of their sponsors logos, after it had been decided that sponsorship from a 'adult' club was not to shown.

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New from the CUBC Prince Albert 4 who use Coxmate SCT and a GPS.

The Henley Regatta is traditional and has its own unique markers and distances. From the Start the first timing marker is called ‘The Barrier’. This is in fact 637.3 mtrs from the start.(according to a brass plaque fixed to the barrier post). 

We did a piece to the barrier yesterday and the Coxmate recorded 637 mtrs.

I think that is accurate enough for rowing!! I pointed out to the cox that she must have steered straight!

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Just some fun!

Rowperfect Advert for Regatta Radio

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During Henley Royal Regatta the  Rowperfect team will be out on the towpath and in the boat tents bringing you updates from our unique (!) perspective.

Rachel Clarke has joined us as a blogger and will be reporting both in words and video posts.

Duncan Holland is coming to the British Rowing Journalists dinner on Tuesday with Rebecca Caroe and may well divulge all sorts he learns there.

Grant Craies is coaching CUBC with a crew in the Prince Albert. 

Rebecca Caroe is commentating on Regatta Radio and has set up a Twitter account so you can follow her RebeccaCaroe and RachelClarke daily. 

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Dear Rowperfect community

Lots of new things to tell you about – proof that our ‘radio silence’ just concealed frantic paddling below the water –a cygnet turning into a fine swan!

First to announce is that we have guest bloggers who will help bring you ‘inside track’ news and information in the lead up to Beijing.  Jen Goldsack is a Brit now sculling for the USA in the Women’s Lwt 2x and Duncan Holland, international coach who has written his first post about the results from Luzern World Cup .  Please contribute to the discussion by writing comments back to them on the news blog under each article.

New products this month include an innovative scull and oar hanging rack the “Space Saver” – available for the first time in the UK.  It enables you to hang 8 pairs of sculls or 8 oars in a space the width of an oar spoon and 1 meter deep.  We are taking early orders for this now.  And a rear-view mirror for coxless boats from the creative folk at Coxmate.  

New Dreher owners include members at Cambridge 99, Upper Thames, Wadham College Oxford, Portsmouth RC and Oundle Town RC.  We have a set of 8 Sweep Apex ex demonstration oars for sale.  And we’ve just dropped the price of Stampfli gripsNewsletter 21 June 08 to £12 per pair.  Buy online here.

Magik have redesigned their oarlock and we have a review posted by James Beechinor of Bedford RC who raced successfully at National Schools Regatta and he says the gates helped him to overcome the rough conditions.   And one from Burton Leander Captain, Rob Jephcote

Thank you and happy rowing!

Grant Craies and Rebecca Caroe

Download Newsletter 21 June 08

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Those who know me know I have spent the last 3 years in Cambridge UK.  Cambridge and Oxford are the only places I know of that have Bumps racing .  I think it is fantastic!.  The river Cam where the Bumps are held in Cambridge is tiny, the rowing stretch is 5km long, windy and between 1 and 2 lanes wide.  The Bumps are a form of racing that allows up to 2,000, yes 2,000, people to race in the course of an afternoon.  All shapes, sizes and abilities can get out there and have a go.

Over the last 3 years I have mostly been busy with various high-performance projects but this year I helped a student crew for the College Bumps.  Robinson College’s 1st women weren’t a top of the division star boat but I had great fun.  The women competed brilliantly, right to the best of their ability, and bumped up 3 nights and rowed over the other.  The bumps format allowed them to have 4 closely fought races with their peers in 4 days, produced exciting racing for them and the spectators, and generally encapsulated much of what I think sport should be.  I had great fun!

The fun I had with the Robinson crew made my decision easy;  The crew I raced for myself in the Town Bumps 2 years ago was starting to firm up the personnel for this year’s races and wanted to know If I was keen?  The answer is a definite yes.  Foolish I know.  Fifty somethings with dodgy backs and sundry other body parts shouldn’t be pretending to be 20 again.  Anyway I’m keen and Champion of the Thames (a Cambridge club named for a pub) has an enthusiastic recruit.  I’ll keep you posted about our progress.

[note from Editor, the London University colleges also have bumps racing although on the tidal Thames it's slightly different with people standing waist deep holding onto the chains at low tide to enable a 'fair' start!] 

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Most commentators appeared surprised that the 4- could only manage 8th. Britain's rowers suffer sinking feeling  I would echo Sir Steven Redgrave’s comment on TV ‘Why did they start?’  But not for the reason Redgrave offered; that there is no point staring with a crew with 2 subs and little chance of winning.

I see a missed opportunity in the other crews in the sweep team.

The 8+ has been producing steady results of late with Bronzes at the ’07 world’s and the 1st world Cup this year.  With the decision to put all the top athletes who weren’t in the 4- into the 8+ the team signalled an intention to strengthen the big boat rather than chase 3 medals this year.  Logical enough, though maybe un-ambitious for a rowing nation as strong as GB.
At Munich Tom James was replaced by Tom Lucy from one of the 2-‘s thus leaving the 8+ to get a good measure of its speed.   At Luzern however with the removal of Smith from the 8+ to the 4- and Lucy still in the 4-, neither crew was able to learn much about their true position and ranking.   Would it not have been better to race the desired 8+ and 2- and get some hard data?  Luzern is clearly the fairest and best course on which to test a crew against the opposition.

The decision reminds me of the situation last year at Amsterdam where the 4- were put in a super 8+ that duly went fast but provided little useful information.  The team had spoken all year of trying Hodge and Reed in the 2- to see if they really were as quick as a series of GB trials wins had suggested.  If instead Hodge and Reed had raced the 2- this would have allowed for a decision on what boat to put the top pairing into to be made on the basis of performances on the international stage.  As it is we still don’t know how they would go against the likes of Ginn and Free.

Now the sweep group must go to the final World Cup in Poznan with neither the 4-, nor the 2- crews having had any chance to race in their selected line-ups, and with the 8 only having had one race.  This is not a good situation to be in a few weeks out from the Olympics.  If the 8+ and 2- had started in their proper line-ups at Luzern then the team would have had a chance to adjust where necessary and to gain valuable extra race practice at Poznan.  As it is they are going in to the last regatta before Beijing still in experimental mode.

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The SR Coxmate Cox box - rate / time / backlight.

Fits all NK wiring looms.

Two units for sale.

One is ex-demonstration and has been used about 10 times.  One is brand new.  

£200 for ex demo unit  and £230 for new unit.

Normal 2 year warranty applies.

The brochure detailing specification is below. 

SR brochure Download

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I found this interview with Martin McElroy taken just after the GB 8 that he coached with Harry Mahon won gold at Sydney.

This is an extract in which he discusses testing equipment. 

As an engineer by training I never take the status quo for granted. In the past crews mainly used empacher boats and concept oars. Was this because they were the best or because everybody was scared to do anything different? I didn't know the answer to that question or even if it was the right question. What I did know was that I'd like to test the hypothesis. It also concerned me that athletes got so hung up about equipment. Very few, if any, crews are constrained by their equipment. The differences due to equipment are so small compared to the impact of how a crew rows or how fit they are. Of course if there's any potential for advantage from equipment then I'd rather have it than not…

So, in the right context I set out to see what I could find with regards to equipment. Boats tend to be evolutions of something earlier. Things get lost in the mists of time. Why is it a particular shape? Just because something else was or because some serious research has been done. If research has been done, then what tools and methodologies were used. Are they correct and up to date? When you start to ask these questions there aren't many who can answer through progressive levels of questions. With regard to boats, Vespoli can answer quite a few questions. Carl Scragg, the naval architect has taken a good look at boats. Overall, I'd be more inclined to go with this than with data that originated in the former GDR. Things have changed a lot since then. Much more powerful computational tools are available…

I've done practical testing before and found the results questionable. Quite often the faster boat is the more uncomfortable. But does there come a point where being uncomfortable inhibits the athlete? As it happens the Vespoli is very comfortable but then most heavyweight boats are. With regard to oars, we used concept smoothies in '97 and then Croker slicks after that. Although I like the idea of adjustable handles, I found the early concept version required a lot of maintenance. I spent two days at the world championships in '97 changing inserts and grips. I didn't think that was the most productive use of my time. The more we used the Crokers the more we liked them. They sat very positively in the water right from the entry. I'm not fixed in my views about oars. Athletes adapt to oar types just as they do to rigging within reason…

A winning athlete doesn't leave anything to chance…. test, select and keep an open mind.

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We now have new stock of Stampfli Grips.

And the price has dropped to £12 per pair. 

Buy yours here 

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