Whitehall Newsletter March 2011 By Harold Aune

Different Strokes for Rowing Folks

I grew up rowing with my father who would take me fishing as a small child in the wooden carvel planked boat he built using wood he milled from the trees on our property. It wasnÕt until I reached my late thirties that I discovered slide seat open water rowing. Now I row whenever I can to stay in shape and often train new rowers at our local Whitehall Spirit¨ Rowing Club.

One major surprise that resulted from training new rowers is that most people who have never really rowed in a slide seat rowing boat generally think they know what itÕs like even though they have never actually rowed using this kind of gear. Many have rowed a dinghy or paddled a kayak, outrigger or a canoe. However slide seat rowing is in a different league. They are shocked when they actually physically try this type of rowing. They say something like ÒWow, this is really different Ð I had no ideaÉÓ

HereÕs a condensed version of what the rowing stroke is like: Step into the boat, sit down and strap your feet into the foot stop, adjusting it as necessary to your leg length. Maneuver the boat into clear water and begin to row.

You bend both of your legs and lean forward until your chest is pretty much up against your knees. Your arms are spread wide with your hands gripping the oar handles. You raise your arms slightly and the oar blades dip just under water. Just as that happens you drive out through your heels using both legs. Your back is still bent forward and your arms straight. You feel the boat surge ahead as the power of both legs is transferred to the oarlocks and the foot stop.

You can imagine the force generated by both legs and the oars multiplying this by acting as big levers with the blades locked on to the water. A second or so later when the oars are straight out from the boat you lean back applying the back muscles. Just as your back is vertical you complete the stroke by finally bending your arms. Legs, back, arms, in sequence, a bit overlapped at the end of each action.

And now the boat is totally up to speed surging ahead É and it feels amazing. As the stroke finishes you drop your arms and the blades clear the water. You flex your wrists slightly and the blade feathers flat. With no loss of motion but in a controlled fashion you straighten both arms and the oars sweep back forward low across the water. With both arms straight you bend forward from the hips and finally bend both legs and roll back on the tracks setting up for the next drive.

You can check out slide seat rowing in depth by going to www.whitehallsolo.com/learn-to-row-with-adam-kreek... and watch four time world rowing champion and Olympic gold winner Adam Kreek demonstrate for free, online, his perfect technique rowing a Whitehall Spirit® Solo 14.

Mikey Stillwell Rowing a Whitehall Spirit® Tango 17

Paralympic Gold Medalist Michelle (Mikey) Stilwell (from Nanoose Bay) temporarily ditched her winning wheels to tackle her first ever open water rowing experience in a custom-adapted Whitehall Spirit® Tango 17 recently at the Whitehall Spirit Rowing Club of Victoria. Mikey and Olympian Adam Kreek are both ambassadors for ActNow a provincial fitness initiative. It was AdamÕs idea to use a Tango 17 to demonstrate its suitability for fitness as well as adaptive rowing.

Mikey settled into a special, fixed position, rowing seat supplied by Wintech Racing. She is using special grips designed by WhitehallÕs Colin Rolls seen below helping her strap in. With her hands firmly on the custom-made oar handles, she and Adam cruised along looking like they had been rowing together for years. With her background in racing hot wheelchairs Mikey could easily handle rowing using just her upper body and arms for power.

Mikey is the only female Paralympic athlete to have won gold in two separate summer sport events. At the 2008 Beijing Games, she won gold in both the 100 and 200 metres in wheelchair track. Eight years earlier, she won a gold in Paralympic Games basketball at the 2000 Sydney Games when she was the only female quadriplegic on the Canadian team.

A quadriplegic since the age of 17 when she fell while being piggybacked by a friend, she maintains a busy schedule that includes training and competing, marriage and a son, and motivational speaking. In her talks, she emphasizes perseverance, overcoming barriers and chasing dreams. It was a pleasure to meet her.

Easiest and Best Systems for Boat Storage and Transport By Andrea Guyon

Almost everyone purchasing a boat from us has questions or concerns regarding how and where they will store their boat after they get it. Boat owners and those planning to get one understand that if it is not quick and easy to get out on the water they probably won' t use their boat as much as they planned.

An unused boat can become a source of guilt or frustration. Based on a quarter century of experience we would like to share with you many different ways to keep your boat safe and "at the ready" so you can enjoy your boating experience from start to finish.

People often say: "If you are lucky enough to live on the water, you are lucky enough". This doesn't mean that you can't enjoy owning a boat whether you live on the waterfront or you donÕt. Here are a few of our solutions.

Trailering Your Boat: Almost all small vehicles are rated to pull up to a 1000 pound trailer load. Consult your vehicle ownerÕs manual on this. If you have a spot to safely park your boat and trailer you are set. And with a good boat cover and cover battens parking it outside works just fine.

Trailers are rated for capacity and boat length. Any of our boat models can be transported on a single axle 600 to 1000 pound rated trailer. A good rule to follow is to never exceed 85% of the rated weight of the trailer including all gear loaded into the boat in that figure. For more information on trailering your boat, read the article on our website at: Trailers

Hand Dollies: Whitehall Rowing and Sail produces a line of hand dollies custom designed and perfectly balanced for each model in our product line. These quality welded aluminum dollies are all you will need to move your boat down a beach or down the street to a boat launch. A vehicle hitch suitable for an ATV is also available. These dollies are not built or intended for road or highway use or for speeds over 10 mph. For details or see our website at Boat Dollies

Docks: Docks are a great place to keep your boat ready to row or sail at a moments notice. Whitehall Rowing and Sail produce two types of rowing docks; permanent and module. Both are built to last using ultra tough fiberglass buoyancy boxes with yellow cedar decks. Our efficient dock edge slider with dock bunk system makes loading and launching your boat easy to slip into the water with very little effort. So easy a child can do it.

Boat Lifts International also supplies an excellent line of Sport Port products. These zero maintenance foam core "polyshell" docks are available in a variety of sections with or without built in ramps for easy launching and storage. Custom configurations are available.

Boat Lifts: Boat lifts are a great way to get your boat up out of the water and keep your boat clean and ready to use. Boat lifts are not just for powerboats and we recommend Boat Lifts International for your quality boat lift and canopy requirements.Benefits to:
Boat Lifts

Dock Davits: Dock davits save dock space and keep your boat out of the water for handy storage. Whitehall Rowing and Sail produce custom-built aluminum dock davits for all of our boat models. Installation services are available. For more information see:
Boat Dollies

Dock Bunk with Edge Slider: A Dock Bunk is a handy way to keep your boat on a dock plus it makes it easy to launch or retrieve. Hand crafted out of fir, carpeted with slippery plastic keel slider material. The plastic Dock Edge device makes it even easier to handle the boat on and off the dock. Anyone in reasonable shape can easily haul a Whitehall Spirit 14 or 17 up onto a dock up to 18" (46mm) high.
Boat Handling

On Deck: Many yacht owners love to have their Whitehall Spirit on board for added pleasure and exercise as well as an outstanding and beautiful tender. Whitehall Rowing and Sail produce quality deck chocks in Teak or Starboard material as well as spectra fiber single and double pick up lifting strops. Installation services are also available.
Boat Handling

In the Water: Keeping your boat on the beach using boat slider trax or in the water is an option that can work for some boat owners. We can provide, based on our own experience and feedback from thousands of owners, consultation and in water boat storage systems to suit just about any situation. If you need a safe system or a way to keep your boat Ôready to goÕ just give us a call and we will be happy to help you find the best solution.

Call us weekdays between 9:30am and 4:30 pm PDT 1 800 663 7481.

We would love to assist in any way to help you enjoy your boat more or to assist you to purchase one of your own.

Email to info@whitehallrow.com