Orcas rowers compete in Canadian regatta

The Orcas Island Rowing Team, who recently participated in the 42nd Annual Brentwood Regatta at Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada. - C
C
The Orcas Island Rowing Team, who recently participated in the 42nd Annual Brentwood Regatta at Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada.

By MARTY ZIER
Islands Sounder Sports contributor
April 30, 2012 · Updated 10:46 AM 

The Orcas Island Rowing Association participated in the 42nd Annual Brentwood Regatta at Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada.

One of the largest regattas with 1,000 rowers from the Canada and the northwest, Brentwood is noted for unpredictable and challenging open water conditions.

With 12 races scheduled over two days, this regatta was an exercise in precise coordination between rowers, coaches and the individual preparation shells required for each race and rower. A shell is an extremely narrow, and often disproportionately long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise.

Coaches Brown, Dave Roseberry, Martin Taylor and Bob Nutt rigged shells that were quickly carried off to races while simultaneously readying shells returned from events awaiting re-rigging.

The young Orcas team gained valuable experience, especially the novice rowers who experienced their first large, open water regatta. But even the men’s varsity 4x rowers experienced something new when a broken oar caused a rare”did not finish.” Welcome to Brentwood!

Coach Brown said this regatta was great preparation for 2012 USRowing Northwest Junior District Championships held May 18-20 in Vancouver, Washington.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.

So keep your comments:

  • Civil
  • Smart
  • On-topic
  • Free of profanity

We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters. We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please refer to our Terms of Use for full detail on participating on our site.