Resources for Coxswains - October Additions

Each month we’re adding to our Coxswain Resources page to find useful things for coxswains and their coaches (so you don’t have to).  If you’re a cox or coach, visit our page often because we keep adding to it, and you can add to it too.

For the month of October we’ve added key articles from Row2K  and audio recordings of coxswains doing what they do best out on the water:

The Regatta-Ready Coxswain
Excerpt: “ Obviously, the less you take on board, the less weight. Most coxswains have two toolkits: their comprehensive on-shore kit (some of us could proudly fix a Boeing 777 with the array of hardware we carry around), and the reduced subset, which we actually take on the water. Better to have an extra tool with you than to risk losing a race because something came loose on the way up to the starting line. “

Keeping your Boat on its A-game Between Moves
Excerpt: “One of the coxswain's most valuable contributions is to keep the boat sharp when it comes down off a power piece or finishes a drill. This is to avoid the dreaded "two boat" syndrome -- a boat being really sharp and moving impressively when it is "on," but which then sags and becomes an entirely different boat in between. The coxswain must work to make sure that Boat A is the one that shows up all the time.

This is your opportunity to do some true coxing magic. Test yourself in practice, what is the first thing that goes bad when the boat comes down off a piece? Set? Blade heights? Catch timing? Finishes? Heads and hands dropping at the catch? It's different for every boat. “

Seven Things Not To Do Before the Head Race Season Starts
Excerpt:” 1) DON'T Use The Same Rigging Numbers Used In The Sprint Season
Why? Because the leverage used in sprint races should be different (heavier) than that used in head races. Longer races at significantly lower rating and rowed at a time when many rowers are not in strong physical condition dictate that things need to be lighter for rowers.

2) DON'T Assume That Your Water Way Has Not Changed
Why? Because somewhere out on your river/lake/creek someone has either (a) placed a net across your race course that is sure to catch everything alive (including a Mercury outboard), (b) sunk a 40 foot cabin cruiser that lurks just 4 inches below the water and is just looking for a few skegs to join it....”

Audio Recordings:

• Head of the River Race
• Marlow Regatta Mens Senior 8s
• Mens lightweights Eastern Sprint
• Seth Bauer and Pete Cipollone Coxing the HOCR

Sign up to our newsletter - we write weekly articles all about coxing.

The Head of the Yarra is Australia's big head race.  It will be held this year on November 26th, so the time to start training is upon you.  In this article on preparing to steer the Head of the Yarra, Olympic Bronze Medalist, Michael Toon, tells you how to prepare your crew for the tight turns and long haul you’ll encounter on this course, because he knows it like the back of his hand.  Watch this space for monthly articles from Michael leading up to the event.

Each November, Australian oarsmen and women focus their attention on Victoria’s endurance classic, the Head of the Yarra.

Undertaking this pilgrimage annually from the comparatively massive expanses of the Brisbane River I am rewarded with a great challenge in the coxswain’s seat negotiating the many turns and encouraging my crew along the 8.6km course upstream of Federation Square.

Preparing for the Yarra

It is a unique event, without peer in Australian Rowing for not only the challenge but enjoyment. Unique preparation is required. Limited similarities to the Yarra course are provided on the more forgiving waterways of Brisbane, and indeed other states where I have trained.

One must be opportunistic and creative in finding situations in training to prepare your crew for racing around tight bends. In the months leading up to the Yarra, I try to remind my crews when approaching a turn that we will have to maintain speed, rhythm and balance on the turn just as we will during the race itself. In these situations I try to take turns tight and concentrate on applying the rudder effectively so as to maximize the turn but minimize the disruption to the boat’s run and balance.

The most effective way to do this in my experience is to ease the rudder on slowly over a few strokes and importantly advise your crew of what you are doing so they don’t try to adjust against you. Holding the rudder on when the boat is maneuvering satisfactorily while urging the rowers on the outside of the bend (eg bowside for a turn to port) to drive hard off the catch where they have maximum turning leverage will ensure that the boat is propelled around the turn efficiently.

Coming off the turn, once again, advising the crew that you are easing off the rudder and straightening is imperative so they can also anticipate subtle adjustments and even the power to straighten the boat with minimum fuss. I like to concentrate the whole eight on a big push and to lengthen out coming off turns to ensure that anyone who has been too tentative gets back into the full swing of things.

In preparation for the Yarra I have often steered an intentional slalom course, using tight zig-zags, down the river (having first checked that there is no traffic ahead or behind that I am disrupting!) in order to prepare myself and my crew for coming on and off the rudder while maintaining speed and composure.

I encourage all crews to rehearse the aspects of the Yarra where they are most likely to become unstuck. One of these is the sharp turns and the feeling of racing whilst hard on the turn which should be experienced well in advance of race day. As the coxswain you should take the lead in seeking these moments in your crew’s preparation, trying new things multiple times and, of course, talking them through it.

The other important aspect of the Yarra is maintaining your crew’s enthusiasm and concentration over approximately half an hour of relentless rowing. This I will explore in my next discussion.

The annual Head of the Charles Regatta is fast approaching.  The event is October 22nd to the 23rd, and this course is not to be taken lightly.

The event is 3 miles long serpentining through 300,000 spectators and under more than half a dozen bridges.  There’s a buoy system set up to separate returning crews, and with the time penalties, crossing the buoy line can cost you the race.

Coxmate has collaborated with expert coach and coxswain, Meli Mathis, whose home course is none other than the Charles River in Boston, MA.

Meli has written an expert guide to steering the HOCR just for you, Coxmate readers, with over a dozen photos through all the major points.  She’s overlaid the images with red arrows showing you exactly how to maneuver the river.  Read Meli's guide.

Expert Guidance all on one page

1. Yasmin Farooq's article on preparation
2. The official Head of the Charles race guide
3. Audios of Seth Bauer and Pete Cipollone coxing the HOCR
4. Aerial photo and GPS path from Jim Dwyer - the actual route he took on the course visually mapped

Excerpts from Meli’s in-depth guide:
“This is the view once through the Anderson Bridge.  It is very important to hug the buoy line for the quickest course as this is a gentle turn leading into a jug handle turn in front of Cambridge Boat Club (CBC).  But it is extremely important to yield in this section of the river to any crew that is overtaking you.  You do not want to be jockeying too much for positions at the Eliot bridge - while the river is wide enough to accommodate three crews across, the bridge can only take two through its center arch.”

Measure your speed while you cox the Head of the Charles with the Coxmate SX with GPS speed measurement.

Part Two of an interview with University of California Davis coxswains, Antonia McKee and Justin Nool.