Our New Yoles

RWYC Rowers have just taken delivery of two new yoles made by the French company Virus.  These can be rigged and rowed for a pair or a single rower.  The yoles are much smaller and lighter than our Celtic Longboats which means a full crew isn't a requirement if you want to go for a row.  It also gives us additional capacity on busy rowing days as well as allowing club members to experience a different style of rowing.  A video of how the yoles are rigged is at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5K_edDZ398&playnext=1&list=PL4055E01EF685F5DF&feature=results_main

 

Virus Yole rigged for a single rower

Rowing in the Dark of Winter

Though the winter nights have drawn in, it doesn't mean evening rowing has to cease.  Sheduled training still takes place Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5.30pm onwards.  So it was tonight that Rob, Angie, Colin and Mike turned up in what were near ideal conditions - very light wind, a weak current offering little resistance on the row out which had built to a strong current to speed the return row.  Cloud cover was thick though which meant conditions were generally dark with little moonlight or ambient light to assist.

In these dark conditions, a single white light is displayed as a warning to other vessels otherwise it's a case of peering into the darkness, knowledge of the local waters and wishing you'd eaten a few more carrots in your time.   Just how challenging rowing in the dark can be was illustrated tonight.  One of the green channel buoys was not visible as it's flashing green light was not operating.  Macsen and her crew came very close to slamming into the buoy but luckily we decided to look ahead just at the right time - about 30-feet from impact.  So, a salutory lesson in the dark though not sufficient to spoil a fantastic row on smooth waters.

Evening Row:- Rob, Angie, Colin and Mike aboard Macsen

Castle to Castle Race, 2012

On 9th September, ten fixed-seat rowing boats lined up at Beaumaris for the start of our Rowing Section’s annual Castle-to-Castle race, and unlike June (when we had to cancel) the weather was more-or-less on our side. There were nine Celtic longboats from five clubs (Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Pwllheli, Ynys Môn, and Mawddach), plus a Pembroke longboat from the newly-formed Conwy Sea-rowing club.

The race was slightly against the tide, but very definitely against the wind, which meant it was hard work for all concerned. Times were slow this year, with even the winning boat taking a little over two hours to complete the course. Passing the Victoria Pier, Trevor (rowing at the bow position in RWYC’s Macsen) was seen having a very high time of it (on occasion), as well as doing creditable impressions of ‘Das Boot’. He would also have done very well in the wet T-shirt competition, had we organised one:

Following their exertions the rowers returned to the club to partake of the ‘Curry, Crumble and Custard’ repast from the club kitchens, have a well-earned drink at the bar, and to swap stories and compare the inevitable blisters. Brian even sustained one from coxing (blister, that is); those of a strong consitution may wish to ask him for more details. Or perhaps not.

All boats gained a certificate or trophy for their performance in their class and these were presented by Margaret, our President. It was generally agreed by all that the day had been a great success. On a personal note, however, I regret the absence amongst the raffle prizes of Martin’s traditional “humourously-shaped vegetable collection”, but one can’t have everything, I suppose.

As ever, many thanks are due to all who helped organise things at the club, to the support boats who looked after us, and especially to Mo who did a fantastic job coordinating the catering not only for our race, but the Open Evening on Friday and the Junk rig reception on Saturday evening too. What a star!

The following day, the much-vaunted ‘Rowers versus Yachties’ race finally took to the seas, as Macsen took on Danny Jo on a course from Y Felinheli to Nelson’s statue and back. I’ll leave it to our Commodore to furnish further details regarding this (very close) encounter, but suffice it to say that we won (just), and that during the rowing to-and-from Felinheli Yacht Club for a cup of tea afterwards Mark’s skill with an oar was noted.

The Great River Race 2013

This year turned out to be one of many firsts in London for the rowers - first time fielding an all ladies team,

 first Great River Race for Is and Sam, and first time we've towed the boats from Ham to the start at near

Wapping. 

RWYC Rowers with pennants prior to the start of the GRR

Stamina is everything in the GRR for the rowers and their supporters: jumping on the Eurostar to cheer us on

 (thanks Barbara!) ,dancing til midnight on Friday, up at 6am to catch the 6.30 shuttle bus to the start, stealing

mugs of tea from fellow team members, using muscles you'd rather be saving than using to unload your

own and any other boats, using all your feminine wiles to claim or steal a trolley to move the boats from one

car park to another, remembering to leave  time to queue for the toilets or being brazen enough to find a

bush, taping your hands and everyone else’s, hauling the boats by hand down the muddy slipway, drinking

enough water but not too much as the next loo is 3 hours away, 4 hours after arriving at start finally getting

in the boat on the water, remembering to listen to your patient cox while he/she manoeuvres around other

boats, landing stages, support vessels and gets into the start area in one piece mentally and physically. 

When the start came (no Barry cannon though) the ladies set out in style in Elen after a bit of a collision of

oars with Macsen (not anyone’s fault I'm sure Martin). Macsen soon overhauled Elen and cruised through

the field last seen by Elen at the aptly named Waterloo Bridge. Tower Bridge, St Pauls, The Houses of

Parliament and the London Eye flew by but not quickly enough for Elen.  A couple of yellow metal buoys

(quote of the day "what is that?")  threatened to scupper the crew but undaunted Elen ploughed on skilfully

coxed in turns by Angie and Debbie.  Coxing sometimes involves giving clear instruction to other boats in close 

situ to your own, Debbie proved herself adept at clarifying the rules on more than one occasion which

saved our bacon in Elen at least twice. 

The ladies aboard Elen: Is, Bethan, Sarah, Angie & Debbie

By the halfway stage spirits were still high, helped by shouts of encouragement from onlookers and other boats. 

Is, Elin and Bethan alternated between the 1 and 2 seats and chief photography/waving and smiling position.

Each crew had a different strategy (strategy? what's that?) to swopping crew into different positions - all members

 did in Elen at various times either all at one time or two then two, in Macsen Brian and Malcolm electedto stay in 

their seats while Meg and Martin coxed and Trevor and Sam swopped in the bow. Not sure whichis the best method 

but nobody fell out. After passing the crowds at Richmond the final four of the twentyeight bridges seemed the hardest

 but we made it hear the finishing cannon in one piece.  

Macsen and the men's crew in the mix

Re towing boats from Ham to Wapping - discovered three things - The big red C stands for Congestion Charges, Harrods

 is not on the way to Wapping, Rotherhythe Tunnel is only just wide enough for a Long Boat.

Porthmadoc Pilot Boat Race

Saturday 25th August saw the second running of the Porthmadoc Pilot Boat Race.  This race is based on the historical tradition where pilot boats raced eachother out to get the trade of incoming sailing ships to Porthmadoc Harbour.  RWYC rowers entered one boat this year; Macsen crewed by Malcolm (Cox), Angie (Stroke), Neil, Mike, Elin and Meg as passenger/pilot.  All entered into the spirit of the Victorian fancy dress.

The crew of Macsen getting into character

    

The race began at 2pm on Borth-y-Gest beach with one member of each crew racing across the sand to their waiting crew and boat.  Then followed a six mile row out to the midway buoy and back with a 'drop-off' of a beanbag into a waiting tender at the halfway mark.....what could be easier?  Penalty for not getting the beanbag in the tender....1 minute.  Mike got the running job at the start and Macsen  made a strong start and settled into 3rd place out of a field of 6.  Fleetwing of Porthmadoc pressed hard but every time they threatened a 'Big 20' saw them off.  

The midway buoy was taken smoothly and Meg prepared for her moment....the .dropping of the beanbag into the waiting tender.  Unfortunately and in a moment of great drama, the beanbag ended up in the drink and not in the tender and a 1 minute penalty to Macsen!  Fired-up rather than downhearted, Macsen powered on and even pulled away further from those chasing her.  The run back in was quicker than that out due to a following wind and incoming tide.  So in no time at all Borth-y-Gest was in sight.  The race finished with Mike having to make one more run up the beach to the finish line.

The field gets under way

Despite a fast row back and Macsen finishing 3rd, the minute penalty pushed her back into 5th place.  A strong row and a pint (or two) of Mws Piws were enjoyed by all at the end. Macsen's crew also had the bonus of winning the fancy dress competition.  Thanks to Porthmadoc for again, organising a great event.

New Rowing Kit & Rescheduled Castle to Castle Race

Just a quick look at the new rowing jackets acquired by RWYC Rowers.  The jackets also sport a design on the rear depicting elements of Caernarfon Castle laid on an oar blade - designed by Neil, one of our regular rowers.  Also in the photo is the Mens Super Vets trophy from Porthmadoc and the RWYC Silver Salver presented for contributions to The RWYC; this year presented to the Rowing Section.

Also one for the diary, the annual Castle to Castle Race which was cancelled due to bad weather will now be run on the morning of Saturday 4th of August.  The race starts at Beaumaris Castle and finishes at Caernarfon.  It is anticipated that a dozen plus Celtic Longboats from across Wales will take part.

Conwy Pirate Weekend

We had a lovely letter and these photos from the Chamber of Trade from Conwy thanking us for rowing in the Conwy Pirate Weekend. Can't wait for next year's event in May 2013. http://www.conwytownevents.co.uk/

Pirate Day

Elen and Macsen made a foray to Conwy Pirate event  http://www.conwypirates.co.uk/ at the request of the Town Council - we headed the bill and stormed the harbour with our usual style. We raided the 'Pickles' and in true pirate mode made off with three of their crew plus a bounty of Brady beer. The course was set for a race round the harbour so we kidnapped an unsupecting Llandudno lass to make up the crew then following the massive cannon roar (Barry eat your heart out) we wizzed round the moored boats to the applause or were they jeers of the crowd. We landed then headed for the marvelous Guild Hall for a tour and cup of tea courtesy of the Town Clerk (thanks Helen) then back to the boats. Little did we know the tide had exposed acres of oozy black smelly mud and left the boats high and sticky. Never to be deterred we squelched in up to our knees and slid our way, hauling the boats to the river, again to the jeers of the crowd from the Town walls.  A truly successful day on the water.

Row to Trefor - Friday 4th May

We left Plas Menai just after 10am (high tide Menai Bridge) and reached
Abermenai Point (5.0 miles) after 45 minutes of very easy rowing.
Caernarfon Bar where there was some interesting surf and the bottom
not far below us was surmounted a few minutes later and we headed out
into the bay. It took a further 2 hours to reach Trefor with about 20
minutes spent resting off Clynnogfawr where two mackerel were caught.


The wind was forecast to be 8 to 10 mph but was closer to twice that
so it helped us a lot but surfing down the waves was a little
disconcerting so our hopes of continuing on to Nefyn were reluctantly
dismissed and we took the safer option of landing at Trefor's small
beach, behind the jetty, for a picnic. 2 hours 45 minutes altogether,
14.7 miles. A great day out, and the room is still lurching about a
bit as this is written 4 hours after coming off the water. Many
thanks to Neville and Andrea for coming to Trefor and towing us back
to base. 

Ian 

Caernarfon rowers took part in the Porthmadoc League Races today in glorious sunshine.  Eight rowers meant that there was enough crew to enter all 3 races.  The women's race was first on the programme with teams setting off from the narrow harbour in 30 second intervals and following a course of approx 3 miles with 2 buoy turns and returning to the harbour. Coxed by Ian, the women started towards the rear of the field with only two Porthmadog boats starting later, rowed out against the tide with a side wind and thus returned with the tide on their side. Overtaken by both boats,  they kept a steady pace and finished in 37 mins, 47 seconds earning them second place in the Ladies Supervets category.

Next off were the men rowing the same course but with a later turn thus making it approx 4 miles.  Again, Elen 58 was one of the last to start and managed to pull away from the trailing boat and kept pace with the rest of the field.  Rowing hard all the way, the men finished in 44 mins, 32 seconds which earned them First place in the Men's Supervets category and a trophy to take home for the clubhouse
cabinet.

Tidal constraints meant that the men got no rest before competing in the mixed race which followed the same course as the women's race.  With more boats competing, Elen set off earlier in the field.  This made for an interesting finish with stiff competition vying for position as they entered the narrow harbour.  The team finished in 32 mins, 49 seconds, and we noted with some satisfaction that there were 3 boats slower overall.

Women's: Ian (Cox), Elin, Angie, Issy, Meg
Men's:     Angie (Cox), Neil, Mike, Ian, Trevor
Mixed:    Ian (Cox), Neil, Mike, Angie, Elin

Our blog is here... and so far it looks good to me. Nice one, Mike. All we need is posts, and a bit of decent rowing weather, on which subject, not so tonight. I boycotted Thursday row due to high winds around the Bangor area, hope this didn't leave a short crew high and dry!  Look forward to less email traffic if we can use this forum for outing reports and other general updates. Aren't we getting professional ?! Angie