NotesonCoastalRowing:What?,Why?,andHow?

SagarSen

Inthesummerof2006, during myfirstsjourinFrance.NicolasParquicaskedme,SagaAryouwanttogo

toBrest to rowon ze
sea for ze Championnatsde Bretagne
?Zerewillbe wavesandit willbeinterestingto
adapt to zem!. Not knowing what to say right away I plunged into a
oui mais..
moment of
lightheartedness. Ihadrowed onlyon water thatwasflatlikeamirroror inaslightly choppy St.Catherines
river backinCanada. Rowing a sixtyfivekilogramboat (almostthricetheweightofanormalrowingdouble)
on the relatively big waves of the Atlantic ocean was quite out of the comfortzoneI knew. Nevertheless,
Nicolashad a voiceofpersuasion as he had alreadyshared withmea lotabout the Frenchwayofrowing
thatI foundvery intriguing andinresonancewithmy innerself.Weagreedtodoitand drovefromRennes
toBrest carrying the oarsofRennestudiantclub.Nicolasandmyselfpaddledintotheoceaninaborrowed
Eurodiffusions coastal rowing double along withtheother teams. Aswe headedto thestartline wecould
feelthe deepbreaths of the oceanintheformofwaves rocking our boat. Nicolastoldmenottoworryand
think aboutkeeping ze blades inthewater asIrow,letitfollowthewaveand
dontfightwithzesea.Imust
reveal that Nicolas and myother friends spoke Englishwitha beautiful Frenchaccentwhich amongother
factors like the music, literature, science, food,andthehistoryinspired me to learn Frenchinabout ayear
fromthen.

A coastal rowing race is around a circuit of three or four large

buoys derived from the format ofsailing
races. I didnt think much aboutallthat and letNicolas (sittingbehindme)takechargeofplacingourselves
on the startline andeventually ensurethatwewere goingtherightway.Nicolassaid,Letsplaceourselves
next to zeese guys from Concarneau, zose guysarefast. The race started with the longsound of an
air
horn andan instant laterI could hear
phu phuphu..soundsof breathingoutallaround me.The racewas
frantic and the start as weheaded for the first buoy almostalltogether. IfIremembercorrectlyweavoided
crashes except hitting the buoy on the right side. Boats then slowly spread out over a gruelling twelve
kilometer (today the races are six kilometers long) race. Nicolas nicely managed navigatingtheboat and
kept pushing me tosurfandrowlight..
lgerSagaArlger
hesaid.The meaningofthesewordsdawnedon
me a few dayslater andthat'swhenbeganmyloveforthesportofcoastalrowing.Coastalrowingistheart
ofsurfing, slicing and dicingthroughthewavesofthehumblingseaand thisisanarticleaboutthewhat,the
why,andhowofcoastalrowing.

Whatiscoastalrowing?

Before we delve into what coastal rowing is it is worthwhile to get an overview of rowing itself. Those
familiarwithrowingingeneralcaneitherskipthefollowingsectionormuseonsomeofthebasics.
Rowingitself: Rowingisa watersportwhereyouprincipallyuseyourlegs,back,andarms topropelaboat
on the surface of water. Essentially trying to makeit
glidebycreatingairbubblesundertheboat.Whenyou
rowwith oneoar andhopefullywithatleastoneotherpersonthenitscalled
sweeping
. Whileif you rowwith
two oars one in each hand thenthismodeofmovingtheboatiscalled
sculling
.Youcaneither gooutalone
scullinginasingleorscull/sweepwith one,three,orsevenotherpeopleinalongerboat.Nottomentionthat
youneeda leadersometimescalledthecoxswain tosteertheboatandbringcohesionamongrowers. That
was a simplified explanation ofwhat rowingis.However, to me whatreallyis gratifying aboutrowingisthe
meditative state itputs you into. Imagine putting your blade in the water and takinga stroke and watching
the landscape goby withoutmuch soundexcept thatoftheairbubblestrappedunderyourboat.Thisisthe
feelingthatdrivesmostpeoplebackontheirboats.

CoastalRowing:
In coastal rowing you row with thegeste that constantlyadaptsto elements calledwind,
waves, and currents tryingtogetfrompoint Ato B to C to Dand backtoAalongwithotherboatstryingto
do the same inthe opensea.
Occasionally,
you
are
bumped into by either
another boat, a buoy or a
dolphin. Extremeadaptivity,a
good sense of orientation
and a heightened state of
awareness arethehallmarks
ofcoastalrowing.PeterBerg,
a 2014 world champion incoastalrowing simply putit likethis,
olympic rowingonflatwaterislikeroad
bikingwhilecoastalrowingontheseaislikemountainbiking.

Waves and winds:

In the open sea, winds come
fromanydirection leadingtothecreationofsurface
waves. These waves look like sine waves but are
actually
trochoidal waves
.
They have a circular
motion asseenthe
figure
above
. If you haveever
beenscuba diving trochoidalwavesgivethefeeling
of being
pushed back and forth
underwater
.
Rowers must put their blades in the water at the
right moment to possibly get on the
forward and
deep faceofawave
.Thisleadsto
surfingandthe
boat travels at the
speed of the wave which is
often faster than other boats that dont catch the
swell at the right moment. Waves can hit a boat
transversally often breaking a nice rhythm. Being
a little stubborn and getting back in the game to
keep the boat moving isthejoyofcoastalrowing.
Depending on the height ofthewave rowers often
adjust their
oar locks and bring themhigh enough
toavoidgettingthe oarstuckina bigwaveasseen
in the figure with the coastal double.Winds
on an
open sea turn oar blades ontheboat to little sails.
The blades are often pushed around by the wind
leadingtomany errors intherowingstrokethatonly
addup on inches lost. Arower adornedwith good
bladework will try to create least resistance to the
wind. A smart rower checks the wind and wave
forecast on
WindGuru
. Ofcourse, some prefer to lickthefinger andstickitoutinthewind,butIkeepthat
asalast option. Wavescanputthe boat onan unevenwatersurfacehenceitisimportanttohave
different
hand heights
on the oars to be good grip of the water. Developing such a rowing style is a
key pointof
difference
between flat water and coastal rowing. When Ilived in France weoften went toSt.Maloon the
coast oftheAtlanticocean.The atlantic oceanhastidalwavesthatcreatesswellsdifferentfromusualwind
waves. These waves represent the feelings of a
heartbroken lover trying to reach the
moon but never
makesitthere.Rowingonthemgivesasurgeinyourownpalpitatingheart.

Currents in the sea can make a bigdifferenceinthespeedoftheboat anditsdirection.Ideally,itisalways

a good idea to learn about the currents in the coast from locals.
Currentscanbe longshore currents, rip
currents, gulf currents, upwellings and downwellings to name a few. Given an initial itinerary based on
shortest paths between pointsit isoftenvery useful(andsafe)toredrawanitinerarybased onthecurrents
in the sea.Sometimesa long pathmay befasterduetothepossibilityofusingcurrentsbetweentwopoints
Aand B viaathird pointC.In2011,
LocGraldmydoublespartnerandmyselfwereracingonthebasinof
BasseIndre close to the cityofNantes. Weplaced ourselvesinthemiddleofthebasinwhiletherestofthe
boats weresticking to the coast line. Wewonderedwhyeveryone was stickingtoeachother onthe coast
and increasing their chances of collisions. As soon as the race started it feltlike we were rowing in mud
instead of water. We were stuck in the middle of acurrent likeduct tape. Those onthecoasteffortlessly
went past usafterhundred meters in the raceand wecouldntdomuchabout itexceptnotmakethesame
mistakeon the second lap butit was a bit too late.Thecurrentisoftenstrongest inthemiddleandleaston
the shores.However, withoutacurrentitisalways
advisabletorowindeeperwaters
thaninshallowwaters.
As boat speedincreases inshallowwater
thereisincreaseddrag
.ThatdayonwardsI madeit pointto make
friends with the locals and listen to a captainsmeeting ataraceandrelylessonlyon myphysicalstrength
towadethroughanything.Informationbegetsfairnessincoastalrowing.

Boats: Coastal rowing boats are designed to be resilient in choppy, windy, and wavy conditions. For
instance, ideally the
front
doesnt dive down into waves,can
selfevacuate water
becauseofanincline
and open back, and can
slice through and
surf
on waves. Oars are rigged higher than usual when the
waves get bigger (greater than 1 meter). Most coastal boats must follow the
regulations set by the
international rowing federation FISA before arace.Thereare anumberofboat manufacturers catering to
different price ranges and with varying levels of performance in different conditions.
Here is a list of
wellknown boat manufacturers
:
Leo coastal (
video
) ,
Filippi (
video
)
,
Salani
(
video
), Safran
,
and
Eurodiffusions
. Which boat is the best? This is a hard question to answer as they depend on multiple
factors such as their suitabilitytoseaconditions andthe crewsexperience. Iwouldholdmyselfbackfrom
givingmy personal opinion on these boats asthis would be biasedgivenmy limitedexperience with some
boats in this wide spectrum of choices. A good source of informationare the resultsand videos from the
French,Italian,Spanish,andWorldcoastalchampionshipsuptothelastfiveyears.

Whycoastalrowing?

Norway is mynewhome away from home (which isIndia) and has a rich tradition inrowingonthe seafor
both transport and sport. My
initial motivation to write this article was to promote competitive coastal
rowing in Norway whichis nowa fast growingsport worldwide.Historyisgoodplacetostartbecausewhen
beliefs are deeprooted itgeneratesemotions that can makemountainsmove. Istartedto blowthedustoff
Norwegian history books to get glimpses of
what could strike a chord in the heart of
every Norwegian about theirlifestyle before
they found oil in the 1960s. These glimpses
are unshakeable stanchionsinthepotential
of the human spirit. ChristopherColumbus
himself was preceded five hundred years
ago by
Leif Eriksson
, a Norwegian viking,
whocrossed the Atlantic rowing with acrew
of thirtyfive men.
Frank Samuelson and George Harbo
, Norwegianborn
Americans, were the
first ever to cross the Atlantic
rowing in a double
. Survival inNorway(beforethe
1960s) depended on their great resilience and hunting skills in the cold north.
Fridtjof Nansen
,one of the

greatest Norwegian explorers, donated his personal

inuit kayak with
seal fur
hull to the studentrowing
club in Oslo,
Norsk Studenters Roklub
. He
hunted
seals and walruses for dinner. Henrik Ibsen, a
Norwegian playwright, once wrote a now famous
poem about
Terje Vigen
. Terje Vigen lives on the
south coastofNorwayclose toGrimstad. During the
Napoleonic wars he rows alone in a boat to Denmark to bring backfoodfor his
family. Ontheway back theBritishfindhimand makesahole in therowingboat
therefore sinkingitwithallthefood,resultinginhisfamilysdeath.Hehimselfistakentoprison.Thepoemis
a little sad but itbrings to surfacethegritand resilience of the state of mindof aNorwegianatthat time.
TerjeVigenwasa man who rowedallthewaytoDenmark tosavehisfamily. Intheconsumptionoriented
world welive in today,rowingandfishingisdone forrecreation andnotsurvivalthatmuch.MagnusHarju,a
swede livinginNorwayfor tenyears,grabs his
Lowrance SONAR
,a fishinglinewith abait,andsetsoffona
coastal rowing boat to fish on the Oslofjord. Rowing at a pace of not more than 10 kmph he dropshis
fishing line to catch mackerels, trouts, and cod in the fjord. He then usesthemackerels asbaittocatch
lobsters for dinner.
Life is good but a lot of talent and genetic residue can be canalized towards a new
purpose. It is the right moment to revive rowing for speed and survival in a modern context.
Another
anecdote in my life, not directly related to rowing,that I would alwayscherishwaswhen Itravelledto the
Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil. The native guide and hisassistant could spotasloth oran iguana hundred
meters away in the thick canopy of a tree with their naked eyes. While, we never managedto do soon
several occasions even with binoculars. What was itabout them thatmade them so sharpintheir natural
context? This question resonated in me and wasone of the most humbling experiences Ihave ever had.
Working out in a closed gym gives an athletic contour, however, we will cease to develop skills of
adaptation,orientation,andsurvivalthatonewouldwhileembracingnaturalelementsincoastalrowing.

Competitive coastal rowing:

I started talking topeopleabout competitive coastal rowing. Iwas metwith
less thanexpectedinterestinthecountryofoceanicexplorers.Idiscoveredthat Olympicrowingonflatwater
anditspromotionoverthelastdecadeshadcreateda number ofmythsandpresumptions.Anotherobstacle
is that people love training on rowing machines in fitness centers, which have now turned into dating
venues. Hence,letstake alook atsomeofthemythsand challengethemto remindNorwegiansabouttheir
deeprelationship to the sea to awakentheexplorerwithin.
I must also mentionthatthereasonsto take
to the sport of coastal rowing are universal and it is open toeverybodywhowould like to revive
theirinherentevolutionaryrelationshiptothesea.

Myth #1, Coastal rowingisfor masters rowers.

Thisis ontopof listofmythsthatIhaveseencirculating
and is not
quite true anymore.
Highperformance coastal rowing races has
changed a lot in format from a 12 kmcourse
back in 2006 to 8 kms, and now are only 6
kms long. This intermediate distance has
attracted athletes from a wide range of ages.
Inrecentyears,a numberof highperformance
rowers in Europe havetakentocoastalrowing
asan extensiontotheirflatwater season.The Gountounas twins(whonormallyrowinapair)fromGreece
participated at the World Coastals in2014. Thepictures show LassiKaronen (aworldclass single sculler
who participated in the world coastals in 2013 at Helsingborg), and world champions Adrien Hardy and
Jeanbaptiste Macquet in coastal rowing boats to name a few. Coastal rowing I believe creates a level

playing ground for experienced rowers or socalled masters rowers leveraging experience and ability to
adaptwhichareintradeoffwithsheerphysicalstrength.Allareatthemercyoftheelements.

Myth #2, Coastal boats must be heavy and more suitable for beginner.
Coastal boatsarerowed on
salinewaterwith
higher buyoancycompared to fresh waterinlakes.Thismakescoastallighter thaninitially
perceived.The wettedsurface areavarieswithwavesoftenleadingtoverylowerfriction asboatsliterally fly
fromwave power.Surfing onawave can maketheboatgoreallyfast,sometimesmuchfasterthanarowing
shell. Thisfeeling is exhilarating.Coastalboats aredesignedtoslicethroughwavesandmaintainstabilityin
choppy conditions. It is not a boat for beginners in rowing and needs considerable skill in rough sea
conditions. In the summer of 2014, in rough fjord conditions, Paul Bencze and myselfafteran initialfight
cruisedpassedan eightpersonboat inacoastaldouble.Wefinishedthe15 kmraceseveralminutes ahead
of the eight, while the eight finished with a lot of water to bail out. The flat water boats are simply not
designedtogohandleroughconditionsofthesea.

Myth#3:Coastalrowingdevelopsbadtechnique.
Thisistrue tosomeextent providedyourgoalisto row
on flatwateraswell.A combination of flatwaterrowing inasinglescullwithcoastalrowingwillgiveyouan
incredibleamount ofconfidenceinrough conditionsineithersetup.
Imustalso
emphasizeanother ofmy
observations: ifyouhaveseemingly indiscernibletechnicalflaws on flatwater they are
greatly
amplified
on roughseaconditions.Rowingontheseaisaverygoodwaytovisuallyidentify weakpoints andfocuson
thedetailsforimprovement.

AfterchallengingsomeofthemythsIdiscusssomeofthekeyreasonsIbelievecoastalrowingrocks!

Coastalrowing iscomplete.
Ifyoudocoastalrowing(andthelandtraining associatedwithit)thentheonly
other thing you would possibly need to do is Yoga to stay focused and supple. Rowing
solicits major
muscles
andis
impactfree.
Thechaosthrownbytheseaaddstoaheightenedstateofawareness.

Coastal rowing canbe for athletes from different background:

The learningcurveto coastalrowingis
not very steep especially for those with a different sporting background. Magnus Harju contributes the
reallife story of Lars Gumprecht to illustrate this point. He hopes that the story will inspire endurance
athletes from crosscountry skiing, running, kayaking, swimming etc. to givecompetitive coastalrowinga
shot. Lars lives with his wife in Torrevieja, Spain and has been windsurfing and kayaking his whole life.
Sometimes he windsurfs abouta 100kmsinaroundthreehours.Heownsfivedifferentkayakstobattlethe
waves off the spanish coast whileexploringthecoastlines or deepseafishing fortunas faroff the coast.
The first timeLars sat ona rowing machinewasin2009.Atthatpoint hewasusing therowing machineto
get fit for the kayaking season. He soon realised that he was actually doing quite well on that machine
compared to the other members at the Real Club Nautico of Torrevieja rowing club. A year later the
manageroftheclubtalkedhimintoattendingtheworldindoorrowingchampionshipsin Bostonwherehedid
very wellwith a timethat wassubsix minutesfor2000m(oftenachievedonlybytopnationalteamrowers).
One more year later Lars tried rowingon the waterfor the first time. With hisvastexperience from ocean
kayaking, the strength hed built up on the machine and not the leastthedeterminationof taking the gold
medal, none of the traditional rowers were abletostop him whilehe was racingthrough the wateroff the
swedishcoast.Hewascoastalrowingworldchampion2013inHelsingborg,Sweden.

Coastalrowing tounleashcreativity in anyone.

We takea digression from the competitiveaspectof
coastal rowing foramoment. Peopleoftentell me that rowing isalittlestrange asyoudontseewhereyou
aregoing. Itell them that this iswhat helps developasixthsense.Rowingintotheoceanorthefjordtakes

youaway from the noiseofthecityand theradiation from mobilenetworks.Withyourhandsandlegstiedin

action all you can hear are passing seagulls, the wind, and the air bubblesunderthe boat.You areina
meditative state of mind that Iwill
show byexample havegivenpeople theirmostcreative ideas.Jacques
Perrin, the french movie maker knownforZ, CinemaParadiso,theBrotherhoodoftheWolf,andtheChorus
got his best ideas while rowing on the Seine he tells
Gran R Buckhorn for the blog
hearthe boat sing
.
However,I am notsureifhismovieswouldbedifferentifhe rowedonthe oceaninstead.TheFrenchauthor
Jules Verne who grew up in Nantes (a city known for its rowing
culture) was inspired by rowing on the sea as key adventure
elementinmanyofhisworks.AnotherFrenchauthorfromthesame
epoch, Jules Leclercq wrote a memoir on his trip to Norway,
sometimes rowing as he narrates in hisepic
Voyages dans lNord
dEurope
. Rowing not only inspired writers and observingpainters
like Van Gogh and Monet but also scientists. These scientists
probably got their best ideas and revelations while rowing.Rainer
Storb,aNobelLaureateinMedicinefor marrowtransplants,rows to
work everyday to the Hutchinson center. Rowing has been an
important part of the lives of many Nobel Laureates some of whom include GeorgeA. Olah, Sir.Charles
Sherrington,JensC.Skou,StanleyB.Prusiner,LeeJ.Silverberg,andWillemEinthoven.

Coastal rowing is breaking barriers.

Coastalrowingcompetitionsdo not followthetraditional olympics
format of pitting countries against each other where every athlete needs to hold a passport of their
respective nations and row only with the people with the same passport. Coastal rowingdevelopedas a
competition betweenclubswhere athletescancomefromanynationality.This situationis ideal foraworld
with increasinglyrichmigratorypatterns.
Imyselfhavelived infourdifferentcountriesoverthelasttenyears
and have competed with people from different lands. Another interesting outcome of the situation are
dinnerswithtreats from aroundtheworld. IrememberhavingmadeIndian food(withlessspiceonrequest)
on several occasions during my years in France. Coastalrowingcompetitionspromotemixed crewraces
where menandwomenrowinthesameboat.Mixedcrewsrepresentaninterestingdynamic betweenpower
andfinesseamountingtodevelopmentofmutualtoleranceinmanycases.

Adaptability and humility,a gift from theoceans.

The unpredictableoceanmeansanythingcanhappen
toanyone. Oars can break, boats can overturn, oryoumay justbe luckywiththe wavesand currents that
help you along.Coastal rowingracesarelikethechariot raceinthemovieBenhur andsomethink ofitas a
Formula 1 race. In my opinion a lot more fun than rowing in a straight line in separate lanes. This
unpredictabilitycreates a sense of adaptabilityand humilityinthecoastal rowing community rarelyseenin
otherhighperformancesportswherethearenafluctuatesverylittle.

Environmental Awareness.
Rowingontheseacreatesawarenessabouthowwetreatouroceans.What is
oftencovered upon landislaterfoundintheocean.We often seefloatinggarbage,oilslicks,anddwindling
fish populations that makes us think hard. Promoting coastal rowing on thevastcoastlines of the world I
believe will generate aprofoundsensibilityforouractsonland.OntheOslofjrd,JanneHunsbethoncesaw
a duckthat swallowed a plastic tubepart ofwhich was seen hangingoutsidethebeak. Shecouldseethat
the duck would soon die. She would have never seen something like that on land. Erik Damman, a
Norwegian author and government scholar, and theperson who startedthe organisationFramtiden i vre
hender(TheFutureinourHands) isvery fondofrowing. Herowsonholidayswithhis wifealongthe coastin
a woodenboat.They think rowing isperfect forenvironment friendly recreationasopposed to usingmotor
boats.

Howtoprepareforacoastalrowingcompetition?

The sport of competitivecoastal rowing isbasedontheFISA

racerulesandnorms
.How cananindividual
whois eitherrowing single or partofteamsupposed topreparefora coastal rowingcompetition?Iwillnot
enlist a step bystepprocedurebutgiveasetofviewpointsandletthe readerthink abouthowtobringthese
elementstogethertobestsuithis/hercurrentsituation.

The Quantified Rower:

(a) Being coachedon the turbulentseaby aperson onamotorboat,
lets faceit
,is
for the most partunrealistic.Therefore,we ask,howdoyouknowthatyouraredoing wellascoastalrower?
A modern coastal rower measures and quantifies him/herself alone and also when in a team boat. In a
chaotic environment such as theseait isvery easytobe thrown offrhythm and put into a false rhythm.
This is the illusion of making effort by going back and forth on the slide but actually contributing little to
making the boat move. The best way to determine
effective rowing
is to measure individualheart rate,
speed, and direction of the boat. Everyrower in aboat ideallymust owna heartrate monitor withaGPS
watch. Popular GPSenabled watches amongst rowers are
Suunto and
Garmin
.
Lars Gumprect
, a
selftrained world coastal champion, used such a device extensively in his training with practically no
coaching. He got most of histechnique from videoson YouTube whileeating vaporcookedcarrots. Lars
uses suchadeviceto setupwaypointsinanopenseatocreatecircuitstokeepdirectionandpracticeturns.
Lars likes rowing alone but such a device is also very handy for every member of a team boat. Every
membershouldverify his/her contribution in termsofeffort measured in heartrate range and to do his/her
best to contribute to boatspeed (something everyoneis awareof from the GPS).Executing astrategy like
taking
tenhardstrokesbecomes veryeffectivewheneveryoneobservesariseinheartandboatspeeddue
totheirindividualefforts.
(b)
Another wonderful selfassessment instrument is a video camera. Looking at oneself and accepting
ones faults is the greatest human virtue thatmostofus trytoavoid. Itsan eternalquestforanindividualto
detach oneselffromhis/herego.Rowerswiththe courage todoso useawaterproofcamerasuchasthe
Go
Pro Hero glued to the boat togeta wideangleviewofblades goingin andoutofwaterforeveryrower.The
GoPro givesa vivid representation of what isgoingrightandmostofthetimewrongwhenitcomesto team
cohesion andgeste. It isvery useful toonce in awhilelook atteamvideoswithaconstructive outlookto
improve rowing geste andteamcohesion. Avideopresentsthenakedtruththatisoftenincontradiction with
what we feel andthink.Videos can challengestronginnerbeliefs/impressionsandsometimeschallengethe
integrity inateamas membersmay lose trust in eachother.A conversationarounditmustbeconstructive
andnotblatantly judgmental. Sometimes arowermaylook greatgesturallyas seeninthevideobuthis/her
effortmay not beoptimalat all. While,arowerthatdoesnt lookgoodonvideomaybetheonewhoactually
contributes toboatspeed.
Hence,fusionofinputfrommultiplesensors:video,speed,andheartrateis
the stateof theart intruth that is easily accessibletodaywithmassmarkettechnology.
However,I
dont recommendgoingoutfullyequippedwithtechnologyonevery
sortie. Thefrequencyofanalysisalso musttake into consideration
the psychological impact on each rower and the time to absorb
lessons learnt. Too much feedback can easily make somepeople
neurotic.

A LOT ofpractice in rowingas ateam:

Set yourselfan objective
of lets say 2000 km of effective rowing a season together with
your teammates. Just as a reference olympic athletes often row

between 500010000 kms a yeartogether. Thisis ofcourse not possibleforeverybodywhohasajob,ora

family, or even both. An agreement maybe reached onanumber Xand thenwork towardsit.InRennes,
oneof mycoachesFredericDelaiveintroducedtheconceptof50kmweekendsthatcanbeachievedintwo,
three or four sessions. This was afeasible targeton dayswhere most people were available. Imust also
emphasizetotry androwina widerangeofconditions.Notonlyoncalmsunnydays.Thegoalforrowinga
LOT together is to feel lighter on the boat and be able toadapt together to changes in rateand external
circumstances such as wind,waves, turns, and otherboatsto name a few. WhileI livedin France, wegot
ourbest trainingwhiletouring longdistances(a)around spots in the southofBretagnesuchasSt.Marine,
Lorient, Ile de Groix, Les Glenans, Quiberon, Ile dArz, Golfe deMorbihan(b)alongthepinkgranitecoast
and Ile deBrehat (c) and whiledescending the Loire valley(whilevisitingthewinecavesontheway)from
TourstoNantes.

Racing is training:
You are rarely going tobea100%
ready for a race! See racing as training. I have seen
some people train and race for many years before
making it to the podium. It is however very rare that
someone gets to the top right away. Lars Grumpectis
one such example of a quantifiedrower who managed
tobecome world champion inthefirstattemptbecause
he knewthat hehadthelevers frommeasurementshe
made earlier. A very good idea is to recreate a race
course in a training area at home. For instance, Lars
Gumprecht recreated a closereplica ofthe
race course in Thessaloniki
at home in Torrevieja, Spainusing
his GPS device. Coastal rowing is not always in a straight line and there are crucial moments requiring
turningaround a buoy. Itisvitaltopracticeturningaround abuoyasitentailsslowingdownandanticipation
of a turn. Some boats, such as the Safran and Filippi, are very well designed to make quickturnswhile
some boats have a hard time turning while already moving in a straight line. Knowing your boat and
practicingtheturns isan essentialpart of your preparation. Doingso during aracerequiresarowing crew
torespectpriorityofboats. Thecurrent FISArulestatesthat anovertakingboatatabuoy musttakea larger
turn aroundtheboat first at the buoy.The boatfirst at the buoymustgo in astraight line after its turnand
notattempttoblocktheboatrightbehind.Makinganerrorcanleadtopenaltiesintime.Ihavehadmyshare
ofpenaltieseither due tostarting off ahead,or due tomissinga turn at abuoy.Stayingcalmintheheatof
themomentonlycomesfromdoingmanyraces.

Mental Toughness:
Your (and my)preparationmuststart with the
right attitude
and
state of mind
. You
must know that you areconfidentabout your preparation andhave an
unshakeable belief
thatyouwilldo
your best. Everyeffort in training orracemust involve heart,determination,andfullfocus.Itisgoodideato
visualize yourselfthrougha planfora trainingsessionor racewhile keepingfull focus, being energized
bytheeffort, andfeeling confident. Almost likeareligionmany rowers haveasimple routinebeforearace.
They either go running or row on a machine to get into the zone and find some alone time with their
teammates to focus. Whenever, you race especially in a team it is important to trust each other,
compensate, and adjusttomaintain
poiseandcomposure
. Ifyoulose trustinyourteammates youreffort
in the race may not be maximal. Get ridofnegativestinking thinking and takeeachstroke to gainevery
possibleinch of displacement. Fatigueandtime automatically generatesthoughtsof giving up.Circumvent
thesethoughtswiththoughtslike,this isaphase in mymind,let me row through itandit will begone, I
cannot let others down, let me finish what I started, let me shift my mental focus to my geste and
technique for the next ten strokes, I have five hundred meters to go and I have done it a hundreds of

times.One mustfocusontheprocessof
competingwell
andgivingtheirbest andwinningwilltakecareof
itself.

Planningthe year:
Like in any other endeavour planningis essential tosteadyimprovement inthecoastal
rowing programof aclub. Planningfor an entireyear willrequirecommitmentsinavailabilityfromrowersto
train togetherandattendraces. Havinga
calendarofevents(eg.
Frenchcalendar
)beforethebeginningof
the year will allow rowers to build up to the world coastalrowing championshipsthatis an open event in
October/Novembereach year.The calendar will ideally have a good mixofnationalandinternational races
and in varying conditions. For instance, rowing on the atlantic ocean is very differentfromrowing on the
mediterranean sea. Some of you maybe worriedabout the costsof travellingand rowing inthese varying
conditions. If people sharecarrentals,fuel andcooktheirownfoodEuropepresentsmanyopportunitiesfor
economicalrowingalongwiththeaddedbenefitofsightseeingand culturalexchanges.Rowingcommunities
in many parts of Europe and in France in particular from my experience are very warm and welcoming
makingtheexpensesforrowerstoaminimum inlodging,food,andboatrentalsforraces.Mostclubsdonot
want commercialgain but culturalexchangesandan opportunitytosharetherowing experience.Ihopeone
dayNorwaywelcomespeoplefromotherpartsofEuropetotraininthepristineserenityofitsfjrds.

Depending on the country you live inand its climate you will divide time between trainingon land/indoors
and being onwater. In Norway andCanada forinstance trainingis often indoorsallwinter longalongwith
crosscountry skiing orswimming as a crosstraining activity.A winter longtraining programshould ideally
develop general strength, maximum strength, power, strengthendurance and speed.Here is an
example
program in Excel (with supplementary material:
general strength
,
strengthendurance
,
maximum strength
,
power
,
holiday
) we developed in 20062007 that can be usedas atemplate andadaptedaccordingtoyour
specific local conditions. Indoor rowing is a major part of a training program and must be done with the
correcttechnique asshown in this
videowithLubomirKisiov andhisathlete. Ioftennoticetheinflexibilityin
hip flexorsand lower backinrowers. In myopinionitmaynotbea badideatogetregularsessionsinyoga
such as Ashtanga or Bikram to develop calmness and much needed flexibility. Nutrition for rowing is an
important subject that is beyond the scope of thisshort article.Many rowers see foodas fuel and eat a
high calorie diet aftera workout. Verymuchlike toplevel swimmerslike Michael Phelps. The2013world
coastal champion LarsGrumpectwhois37paysspecial attentiontohisdiet.Heresortstoaslowand vapor
cookedmealandavoidsusageofoilforfrying.

Closingremarksandacknowledgements
This article ismypersonalaccountofcoastalrowing.Iapologize ifIhavemissedsomeimportantaspectsof
the sport. Please send me an email (
sagar@simula.no
) andI will update the online articlebased on your
feedback. The article intends to motivate people to see the world through the lens of rowing onthesea.
More than 70% of the world is made up of water in the oceans and we need to rediscover ourinherent
relationship to it. There isa scientifictheorythatstates that lifeas we know itoriginatedandthrivedinthe
oceansfirstamong other theories suchaslife came from outerspace.Thearticleintendstoinviteathletes,
leaders, boat makers andingeneral individuals in search for purpose to create communitiestoexplorethe
vast coastlines of world. For instance, my home country, India, is adorned with a peninsula and long
coastline.Thereis a need for entrepreneurs todevelopourrelationshipwiththeseafor bothphysicalhealth
andenvironmentalawareness.

SomepeopleI personallyknow andlookup to,withoutthemrealizingit,helpedmegivelifetothisarticle. I

cite Lars Grumpect as anexamplequite a bit inmy articleashedevelopedintoa worldclass coastalrower
fromscratchand inadatadrivenmanner.He isaquantifiedandautotelicrowerwhohastrainedtoreacha

very high leveland I admirehimfor that. Imust mention that he givesalotofcredittohiswifeforstanding

by him in his endeavors. That said I have had the opportunity to meet extraordinary people in the rowing
world thatinspire me bytheir widespectrum of abilities rangingfromjustrowingtoorganizingcommunities
around the sport.Thesepeople(innoparticular order)includeCatherineBruneau, NicolasParquic,Frderic
Delaive, Hlene Rmmond, Gwen Savary, Peter Berg, the coastal team from St. Malo, Alberto Extarte,
Jeanyves LeCrenn andtheSafranteam,RenatoAlberti,Mike dePetris,Lionel Girard,LubomirKisiov, Matt
Leo, BriceKolko (my first rowing coach back in McGillUniversity, Montreal),PaulBencze,Stein Mrk,the
Swisswomenscoastalrowingteam,Mr.HowardCrockerthemakerofoarsfromAustralia,tonameafew.

All in all, Ihopethese notes have nudgedyouintolearning a bit moreabout the sport ofcoastal rowing. I
eagerly look forward to seeing you on the seas. If you are in Oslo feel free to check out our website
(http://www.christianiaroklub.no)orfindusonFacebook
(
https://www.facebook.com/Teamcoastalrowingnorway
). Finally, I am immensely grateful to MagnusHarju,
Nina Johanne Krogh, Katinka Wolter, Janne Hunsbeth, Paul Bencze and Aneel Nair for their edits,
comments, and overall enthusiasm in my notes. I simply wouldnt have the drive without their
encouragement.

FormoreinformationaboutrowingingeneralIsuggestsomeofthefollowinglinks:

Rowingquotes
Rowingbiomechanics
CarlosDinaresRowingTips
IndoorRowingTechnique
ThePhysicsofRowing
ThomasLangeTraining
SebastienVielledentandAdrienHardyTraining
FabriceMoreauAntics
IvanovVyacheslavRowing
Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski in 2004 Olympics
MaxRigging
BooksonRowing(Amazon)
GooglescholaronRowing
HeartheBoatSing
150YearsofScientificEnquiryaboutRowingandRowers
HarryMahonatthe1994Coachsconference

Glimpsesofcoastalrowing(youtube)
Gettingbackonaboat
WorldCoastals2010,Istanbul,Turkey
PrinceAlbertIIChallenge2011,Monaco
CassisRace2011
WorldCoastals2011,Bari,Italy
CoupedeFranceAvirondeMer2012
LarsGrumpecttraininginaC1x
AtlanticGamesforJuniors2014
FrenchNationalChampionships2014,Arcachon

WorldCoastals2014,Thessaloniki,Greece