Elfsteden Roeimarathon
The Elfsteden Roeimarathon is a rowing regatta that is held every year on the weekend after Ascension Day on the route of the traditional Elfstedentocht in Friesland .
Route
The original route of the Elfstedentocht cannot be completely driven by rowing boat. Since the regatta continues through the night due to its length, the route is slightly different.
The tour begins at Prisentuin in the center of Leeuwarden , where the boats are launched every 15 seconds. It goes north to Dokkum , where the original route of the Elfstedentocht is reached at Barthelem. The city is circled once. Then it goes back to Leewarden following the original route, where the later destination is passed after midnight.
Then it goes via Sneek , Ijlst , Sloten , Stavoren , Hindeloopen , Workum , Bolsward to Harlingen . Deviating from the ice skating route, the route now follows the Van Harinxma Kanaal to Franeker , as the original route is not continuously accessible by boats. From Franeker, the canal continues to Leeuwarden, where after 200 kilometers the destination at the Wetterville rowing club is reached.
For the 25th anniversary, the route was relocated in 2010, and from Franeker a part of the original route was driven and the Van Harinxma Kanaal was not used again until Weidum. This extended the tour to a total of around 210 kilometers.
procedure
An average of around 100 teams start at the Elfsteden Roeimarathon.
The tour is generally driven in controlled gig - double twos with a helmsman. Due to the Dutch regulations, boats with excess length are also permitted. Most boats run the tour as a relay , with a team consisting of at least three and a maximum of 12 members.
There are the following classes:
- Open class
- Veterans (Masters B, minimum average age 36)
- Mixed (at least 50% women)
- Mixed veterans
- Buiten 6
- Buiten 3
- Toer
The Toer category is only about driving the route, there is no official ranking.
Results
The fastest teams reach an average speed of 12.4 km / h on the route. Team Gyas holds the record over the 200-kilometer route with 16:19:34 hours, achieved in 2009.
The times are very dependent on the weather conditions. In strong winds, the route often has to be shortened or repositioned.
particularities
The Elfsteeden Roeimarathon has some special features for rowing regattas.
Rowing at night
The regatta will start on Friday evening at 8 p.m. So the boats drive into the onset of dusk and the first boats reach Sloten before dawn.
The boats are equipped with position lights for this night voyage and often have spotlights mounted on the bow to illuminate the canals. In spite of everything, the boats mostly drive in complete darkness, as the headlights dazzle the other crews and the canal banks are sufficiently visible even without light.
There are many junctions and junctions on the route. Therefore the boats have to find their way with maps by themselves. In the meantime, GPS devices are allowed and greatly simplify navigation, but boats keep getting lost or making unnecessary detours, which often have a significant impact on the outcome of the regatta.
Low bridges
Many bridges are lift bridges, some of which are less than 70 centimeters high when closed. The rowers must therefore accelerate the boat in front of the bridges and lie flat in the boat under the bridge so that they can swing to the other side of the bridge. There are always accidents and lacerations if the teams don't get on board in time.
Often the bridges are too narrow to be able to row through them, so that the rowers have to make their sculls long. Sometimes the boat even has to be brought through by paddling or pushing with the hands on the underside of the bridge.
Turning points
The relay teams change rowers every six to ten kilometers. To do this, the boat is often pulled to the bank at full speed using poles, the rowers are pulled out of the boat by the rest of the participants and the new rowers are put in. The stretcher is adjusted while pushing off. Good teams can make a change in about 10 to 15 seconds.
cops
In the Buiten three, jokingly referred to as the bull class in German , the teams drive the entire route without changing the team, but only with a team-internal change of the helmsman. Although the teams do not have any breaks like the other teams, they sometimes achieve positions around 20th place in the overall ranking and at average speeds of around 10 km / h times of around 20 hours.