Rowing Sessions and Training.

Due to the weather and daylight availability, coastal rowing is predominantly undertaken during spring and summer, but we will get out on the water at any time of the year if the conditions permit. Meanwhile, indoor training on rowing machines, stretching, circuits/strength training are available to you year-round. The on-the-water sessions have no additional cost for members but the indoor sessions incur a nominal fee per session (£2) in order to cover the costs of hiring the facilities (currently Lourdes pastoral centre on Victoria Avenue). The nature of these outdoor or indoor rowing sessions will vary depending on the time of the year, the experience and fitness level of the participants, or if there is a specific event or race which a crew are training towards. You can engage as much or as little in these sessions as you want, but if you have any suggestions or feel that your ability/interest is not being catered for, then please let us know.

Members can book rowing or indoor training slots each week when an Email is sent out. This is done using an online booking tool and App called ‘Spond’. A members’ WhatsApp group may also be used to update the arrangements for a session, e.g. by ensuring there is a cox for an outing, or quickly giving updated information.

Health

The sport of rowing is an excellent way to improve your mental and physical health. It works all the major muscle groups in your body and getting out on the sea to move a boat through your own effort is a great feeling. It is also the ultimate team sport where your other crewmates are completely reliant on you to turn up and share the effort with them and vice versa. As a result crews and clubs have a strong camaraderie which is hard to replicate in other sports. 

Rowing can be taken up at different levels of intensity/commitment. The more competitive end can involve very high intensity workouts and a large volume of training, but many enjoy just occasionally getting out on the water for a gentle paddle. High intensity exercise can have risks for rowers who have pre-existing conditions, e.g. heart, and in those cases medical advice should be sought before embarking on this type of exercise. Note that if you have a medical condition this does not stop you rowing and indeed might be encouraged by your doctor in moderation.

Booking a Row

WCRC - Basic Guide to Request and Organise a Local Row

Everyone is encouraged to look ahead for times and conditions that might be suitable to get out rowing safely on the water. All members can request for rows to be put on Spond, there's no need to wait for ones to be arranged by others to become available. Here is a summary and basic guide for any member to request and organise a row in Whitehead:

Check the tides – general rule of thumb to ensure boats don’t get damaged is no launching/recovering in less than .6m of water at the boatpark slipway. Check local tide height and times over the next 7 days here

Longer range tide tables can be found here as a PDF. They are all in BST (add an hour for BST), and 10 mins to Belfast for Whitehead.

Spring tides are marked by filled or empty moon circles. Neap tides by half filled circles.

Check the wind - Whitehead promenade faces a South-Easterly direction, therefore Westerly or Northerly breezes are most favourable for us (or none at all if we're lucky!) Check the wind predictions over the next 7 days here

For requesting a general row for a mixed-experience crew in Whitehead, an approximate guide to safe wind limits would be:

← Easterly: 8 mph (7kts, 13km)

↑ Southerly: 8 mph (7kts, 13km)

→ Westerly: 12 mph (10.5kts, 19km)

↓ Northerly: 12 mph (10.5kts, 19km)

For more detail about wind direction and tides, refer to the coxing page here.

Request a row – If both the tide and wind look within limits for when you want to row, put a message into the WCRC Whatsapp chat to say that conditions look ok for that day/time and ask if a row can be added. The Spond admin may have to consider other factors and conditions alongside the tide and wind, but these two are great starting points to use when asking!

Sign-up – When it’s added, sign up on Spond as attending. If another rower signs up who can also cox, it shouldn’t be assumed they intend to, unless they say in the comments. If you intend to row only then check if someone else is willing and available to cox. If you aren’t confident coxing yet you can attend cox training to learn more. If you have attended cox training, but still lack confidence, ask a more experienced cox to join the boat as a rower while you cox. They can advise and coach you till you gain more confidence.

Safe rowing – Well ahead of the row ensure there is a cox bag available for you to collect from someone, with a charged VHF radio. Weather and conditions are changeable and can affect whether the row will take place - a lot of our members keep an eye on the conditions and share updates on whether it is safe to go out, but all crew should be mindful of being equipped, the forecast conditions and whether it is safe to go rowing beforehand. Wind Finder is a great source to check wind-speed and direction closer to the time of your row.

Ask questions - We have plenty of members with sea-faring experience and knowledge to share – so it’s a great chance to chat and ask questions when you’re out rowing with different members.

Keep learning - Our WCRC website has some excellent information to learn more about rowing safely in coastal conditions that everyone should read through. It’s under the WCRC coxing page , but all crew should become familiar with the information and revisit it often, even as your experience and understanding the sea and our environment increases.

Guide can be downloaded here