FISA World Masters 2006

	1x : The Single Scull	mentally the hardest boat to race	here I'm taking it a little too easy ...

	2- : The Pair (smallest Sweep Boat)	technically the hardest boat to row	Rachel and I mirror each other to stay upright

Here we battle it out with the Irish and Alexandria, but with the help of our dedicated fanclub and the 'Deutschlandachter Magik oarlock' we got to the line first and collected our medal at the awards dock.

	2x : The Double (a Sculling Boat)	they say 'good doubles are made in heaven'	Horacio and I met on Lake Carnegie though

This moreover is a maximally mixed boat: brazilian guy, german girl, australian boat. We rowed the painful crap out in the first race of the day, the mixed A2x (age average 27-35). But in the B2x (age average 36-42) we followed our race plan: go hard, get ahead, and stay there! In the end, a medal eases any pain.

	4+ : The Coxed Four (Sweep)	with a coxwain who usually lies in the bow	(pictures borrowed from Cromwell Cup)

Here me, Rachel, Ann, and Janie have left our brain on the dock and let cox Cait steer, strategize, and most of all tell us to pull harder. As you can see I always row on Port Side in sweep boats: oar on my right, so the left hand holds the weight of the oar, the right hand feathers (i.e. flips the blade), and I turn around my right shoulder.

	4- : The Straight Four (Sweep)	without the cox it's faster but more stressful	Rachel, Paige, me, and Emily ...

... got particularly stressed here when we realized on the dock that we had three port rowers and only one starboard. So Rachel had to steer her first four (the rudder is fixed to a shoe that can be rotated a little), Paige had to do the thinking and calling part, I got to row my first piece on starboard (tap right, feather left, turn left??? - relax!!!), and Emily got to sit in stroke seat (to set the rhythm) after not having rowed sweep for a few years. We still cruised to a Riverside double victory!

4x : The Quad (largest Sculling Boat)	the most dynamic boat: 8 oars for 4 rowers	me, Jen, Patricia, and Kate demonstrate the art:

accelerate the boat by standing on the legs,	finish the stroke with the arms,	and relax (?) when rolling back up to the catch,



collect the medals,	look pretty	(although we're average age B >36),


	and smile!	Mary, Shana, me, and Megan tried the same in the A4x	but even a narrow second place means loosing

8+ : The Eight (largest Sweep Boat)	the fastest boat and always steered by a cox	Cait, me, Rachel, Paige, Pam, Anne-Marie, Mary, Courtney, and Shana ...

... are cruising	to a powerful victory	after a crowded start


	when Cait called ''I'm on 4 seat, give me bow ball!''	so we pulled harder to give her open water,	a collection of medals, and a picture.

Last race of the weekend and time to have some fun: For the B mixed eight the small team from Trier hired the fastest mens pair from Sweden, a womens double from Berlin Wannsee, Astrid (an italian powerhouse), and me (a german in swiss club colours who could provide an american boat).

We demonstrated international collaboration by sailing away from the field and winning with a 10 second margin - 1000m in 3:17 ! The medals were awarded by US head coach Mike Teti.

Complete Results: