Captains Log - 18th July
Here is an update regarding all things boats at HRC.
1. Club Races on Sunday 30th July prior to AGM
The next HRC Club races are scheduled to be held on Sunday 30th July prior to the upcoming club AGM.These races are a fantastic opportunity for rowers of all abilities to enjoy a fun morning out with other members . The format will once again be a 3 km head race (boats setting off at intervals one after another) from Dolly (the corner upstream of the CUB brewery) to HRC. A shorter 1 km head race from Victoria Street Bridge will also be available for novice crews.
Crews are to be on the water by 9 am with racing to be completed by 10.30 am followed by the AGM at 11 am.
If you are interested in competing, please register via the link below or via the bookings page of the HRC website. Please indicate if you have a crew that you would like to row with, or alternatively would like to be allocated to a crew.
https://hawthornrowingclub.com/training-bookings
2. Essendon Saltwater regatta - Saturday 2nd September
The first regatta of the 2023-24 season is the Saltwater Challenge Head Race coming up on the 2nd September which is 4.5 km Head Race starting upstream of Essendon Rowing Club on the Maribyrnong River.
All events are for quad sculls only- with coxed, coxless, male, female and mixed options available.
If you are interested in competing, please send me your expression of interest to captain@hawthornrowingclub.com.
3. Winter Rowing Development (RD) sessions
Rowing Development sessions have been running regularly every Sunday morning from 9 - 10.30 am and will continue to do so throughout winter. These sessions provide members with regular coaching and training with Head Coach, Simon Harrison and provide a regular opportunity to meet, row and socialise with other HRC members.
Rowers of all experience are invited to participate.
To date, the RD sessions have had a primary focus on sweep rowing with at least one and usually two eights being filled each week. Commencing from the first week of August, the focus will switch to quad scull rowing coinciding with the build up and training for the Saltwater Regatta.
If you are interested in participating in the RD sessions, either as an individual or as a crew, please make sure you register each week using the online form found on the club website here:
https://hawthornrowingclub.com/training-bookings
A link to RD booking via the Acuity App on your phone can also be found on this page.
Once we have more daylight available in the mornings and evenings later in the year, RD sessions will also be scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
4. Winter Sculling
Over the past six weeks between 10 - 20 members each week have been participating in the Victorian Sculling Association (VSA) Winter Sculling racing series every Saturday morning. There are five more events scheduled over the coming weeks, with a fancy dress round of the Handicap Series scheduled for this Saturday 22nd July and culminating in the Scullers Head of the Yarra from HRC into the city on 19th August.
For more information and details of entry for each race, please see the VSA website - https://www.wintersculling.com.au/events/182061/ and https://www.wintersculling.com.au/register/
5. Boat bookings
A further friendly reminder to all members to please make sure that you make a booking for a boat before its use. This allows for effective and equitable allocation of the boats available. As a courtesy to all members, please do not use a boat at the time it has been booked by other members.
The boat booking page can be found here: https://hawthornrowingclub.com/boat-bookings
Details of access to designated green and red boats can be found here: https://hawthornrowingclub.com/fleet-usageI
If you would like access to a boat or boats or your access appears to have changed (and you recently haven’t notified me), please email me at captain@hawthornrowingclub.com.
6. Rowing lights
A reminder to all rowers of the requirement to attach white bow and stern boat lights if you are on the river before sunrise or after sunset. To aid direction detection by other boats, the stern light needs to flash intermittently and the bow light be constant. Although the club has sets of lights to be used if needed, it is expected for all rowers per boat to use their own.
Lights are available online at:
https://activelights.com.au/collections/rowing-boat-lights
or https://rowfit.com/product-category/other-products/
Or in store at https://www.canoesplus.com.au
7. Safety on the water
Please be aware of the significant fallen tree hazards which remain on the river both upstream and downstream of HRC. The appropriate authorities have been notified of all of these hazards and we hope their removal is imminent.
These include:
Upstream of HRC:
- A large tree on the left hand (bow) side of the river just before the Victoria Street Bridge (hazard bouys with lights are in place either side to alert river users). Rowers need to move across to the right hand (stroke) side of the river to row past it, creating a bottleneck and hazard for rowers coming downstream. This tree fell into the river during the floods in October last year.
- A large branch on the bow side immediately upstream upon turning the corner past the Walmer Street Pedestrian Bridge.
Downstream of HRC:
- A large tree leaning across the water on the right hand (stroke) side about 100 metres upstream of the Strathcona railway bridge. landing.
- A large tree leaning across the water on the right hand (stroke) side about 50 metres downstream of the Strathcona landing.
As always, please also be aware of how quickly the river is flowing after significant rain and always act with great caution. Remember to never risk putting yourselves or the equipment you are rowing in any danger. It’s simply not worth it.
Kind regards
Olly
Oliver Beadle - Captain
Phone: 0419 151 991