The last weekend of October, the Club traveled to Victoria, BC for two regattas, held annually and hosted by the University of Victoria. The team won eleven races: four first place, three second place and four third place. The events draw a few Northwest US rowing teams along with numerous Canadian teams, including Canada’s National Training Team, Victoria area rowing clubs, and several colleges and universities, some coming from as far as Calgary and Edmonton.
The Head of the Gorge Regatta, a 5 km race course running a narrow stretch of water west of Victoria’s inner harbor, has been described as complete madness as the Beach Master, dubbed “The Angel” and Marshals try to keep order as each competing boat moves through the narrows to the start. The Tillicum Narrows can be a daunting challenge to the rowers as boats come through narrow swirling water currents, rowing uphill as it were.
Vashon had a strong showing in the morning race events. The VIRC’s Men’s Masters 8, with Bruce Morser, Colby Atwood, Bob Horsley, Ed Zapel, Mark McKallor, Chad Magnuson, John Jannetty, Eric Gill, and coxswain Heather Dow, placed first with a time of 14:10.6. The Junior Crew Men’s quad, with Baxter Call, Ryan Bingham, Tate Gill and Gus Magnuson, took third, with a time of 16:15.6 in an open varsity race competing with Master and Collegiate level rowers.
In the afternoon, VIJC Women’s High School 8, with Avalon Koenig, TeraJane Ripley, Halimah Griffin, Kelsey Abella, Charlotte Kehoe, Hannah Russell, Katelyn Carter, Ella McConnell, with Sarah Warner coxswain, placed first with a time of 16:16.4. The club’s Women’s Master quad, embracing the Halloween spirit with their attire, placed third, with a time of 16:15.9. They achieved this even after having come to a complete stop just before the Narrows to avoid crashing with the Calgary boat, which broke a rudder, disabling the steering and causing them to pass through at a 90 degree angle. Rowing that boat were Sue DeWalt, Holly Zapel, Marilyn Kleyn, and Kim Goforth. VIRC’s Men’s Master Steve Haworth placed third, rowing a single with a time of 16:58.4.
The second regatta held Sunday October 30th, the Head of the Elk, is an 8 km race on Elk Lake, just north of downtown Victoria. In the morning, the Men’s Masters 8, with Steve Haworth, Colby Atwood, Bruce Morser, Ed Zapel, Mark McKallor, Bob Horsley, David Hattery, John Jannetty, and coxswain Heather Dow, placed second, finishing in 24:03.1 minutes. The Masters Mixed 8, with Holly Zapel, Marilyn Kleyn, Eric Gill, Nancy Foster-Moss, Chad Magnuson, Jim Hauser, Debbie Jackson, with coxswain Sarah Warner, took second with a time of 27:11.2. In the Men’s Open Quad, again racing against Master and Collegiate crews, junior rowers Ryan Bingham, Tate Gill, Gus Magnuson, and Baxter Call, took first in 25:25.9 minutes. The Men’s junior quad, with Ky Burton, Yusuf Griffin, Isaiah Mosser-Rohe, and Alec Spencer placed second with a time of 27:31.1.
That afternoon the Women’s Open quad, with Avalon Koenig, TeraJane Ripley, Halimah Griffin and Katelyn Carter, competing against two college crews, took first place in 29:18.9 minutes. The Women’s junior quad, with Kelsey Abella, Shannon Lipe, Charlotte Kehoe and Ella McConnell, place third with a time of 30:07.3.
Coach Charlie Helsby said, “I’m impressed with how strong and poised the whole team was during both regattas. It was simply a great team effort. Particularly the two Varsity boats that competed against college crews and won. It really shows the strength of the rowers.”