VCB Youth Race 2014

By Sally on November 9, 2014

From Youth Race 2014

A large and enthusiastic crowd attended the Annual VCB Youth Race at the Village Community Boathouse on Pier 40 on Saturday, 11/8. Five high school rowing groups fielded 15 teams. In attendance were Cortlandt Community Rowing, The Sound School, Harbor School, Stuyvesant High School and Building Bridges Building Boats. As usual, the names of the teams were the best part- Kiss my Stern, The Pineapples, Canoe, Magic Unicorns, Hardy Boys, Tiger lilies, Water Phoenix, Row for Joe, Cortlandt Wildcats, and The Sound School Avengers
The Sound School team, Water Phoenix won the final race finishing .5 seconds ahead of Harbor School’s team Row for Joe.

Thanks to Phil Yee and Mary Nell Hawk for Coordinating and thanks also to all of the VCB volunteers who made the event such a success

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VCB Youth Race – Photos by MN Hawk

By Sally on November 7, 2014

Photos by MN Hawk

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Head of the Weir 2014

By Sally on November 1, 2014

By Dexter Tong

From Head of the Weir 2014

On Saturday, October 25th, the Village Community Boathouse sent 2 crews up to Hull, MA to participate in the 28th annual Head of The Weir River Race held by the Hull Lifesaving Museum. The Head of the Weir is a 5.5 mile open water race from the Weir River to Windmill Point, pitting 61 boats of varying shapes and sizes against each other. In the Warrior was the Stuyvesant High School crew, consisting of Jenny Chen, Elia Portnoy, Alex Grattery, Brendan Fu, and Tony Fung. Sitting in the VCB’s newest whitehall, the Pete Seeger was a mixed crew of Stuyvesant students, and one each from Brooklyn Technical High School and NEST+m, along with a coxswain from NYU. They are David Kang, Cindy Lin, Malkiel Jurado, Teresa Wang, and Dexter Tong.

Eric Cerny competed in the ocean shell singles category, and Joe Fung entered with a crew of Atlantic Challenge participants in the Lady Moody. The Lady Moody finished in 53:56, the Warrior in 59:22, the Pete Seeger in 59:41, and Eric in 1:05:31. Both the Warrior and Pete Seeger finished second in their respective categories (Youth fours and Mixed Y/A fours), while the Atlantic Challenge crew easily placed first in the Mixed Y/A category. Overall, it was a great experience for the youth rowers.

From Head of the Weir 2014

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Rowing the Loyaute

By Sally on October 31, 2014

By Eric Cerny

From Rowing the Loyaute

Three VCB youth decided to stay another night in Warren after the Head of the Weir to try out the Bantry Bay gig Loyauté. A few of us went down to the town dock for a morning row on Don Betts’s pilot gig, Cady, with a few of its regular rowers. All met back at Don’s house for breakfast and got ready to head to the beach where we would launch Loyauté. Once on the boat, the first-timers were taught how to come to oars and with only nine rowers and a cox, we were off. The newcomers got right into it and none of them even caught a crab. Approaching some mooring buoys, we all got a taste of a rowing slalom. At the Atlantic Challenge Contest of Seamanship, an international contest using Bantry Bay gigs, the slalom event involves weaving through buoys, making an about-face turn and weaving back, all without a rudder.
Soon, we grabbed hold of a mooring buoy elsewhere and raised the fore and main masts. Crew members who were new to sailing were given instructions on the several jobs for manning the sail: halyard, dip, tack and sheet. We performed some practice tacks and went out for a sail in the almost 20 knot winds. We got one successful tack done, but we needed three tacking oars to do it. It was a cold and very wet sail, but despite the rough conditions and the boat being a bit short-staffed, everyone had a great time and learned a lot about how to use the boat. The Stuyrowers said they can’t wait until the next time they visit Warren for another round on Loyauté.
Joanna Omar hitched the trailer back up to her car and we drove home, dropping the boats off at VCB around 9:00 PM.
Loyauté Crew: Don Betts, Mary Evans, Riley Hall, Joanna Omar, Roman Bezault, Joe Fung, Eric Cerny, Jenny Chen, Tony Fung, Teresa Wang

From Rowing the Loyaute

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Round Manhattan Row Fundraiser 2014

By Sally on September 29, 2014

From Round Manhattan Rpw 2014

On Saturday, September 27th, 50 rowers in 9 row boats circumnavigated the island of Manhattan to raise money for Village Community Boathouse. Setting off from Pier 40 at 7:00 AM, the fleet rounded the Battery at 7:30. for the Battery, the fleet was back before 5:00 PM. There were three stops: The DEC dock in Gantry State Park, Long Island City; the beach on the west side of Randall’s Island; the beach behind the pier on Dykeman Street on the Hudson.
The event was a great success on many levels-The fundraising goal at the outset was to raise $5000 but the total at the end of the day came to more than $6500. Most important, everyone had a grand time. Thanks to all of the intrepid rowers who donated their time and money to make this fundraiser such a great success!
Special thanks to David Shehigian and Rob Buchanan for organizing and Briana Hulet for doing a fantastic job catering the after party.

Rob’s Round Manhattan Row Photos:

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