Ten GAR Masters and a couple of our friends took on the 5,000 meter course on the Tennessee River and lots of tough competition at the Head of the Hooch November 7th and 8th in Chattanooga, TN. The Hooch is the second largest race in the country and this year over 1,700 boats were entered.

Aside from an early morning nip to the air, the weather was great for racing and the venue was, as usual, beautiful. The area has been receiving heavy rainfall and the river was running very fast this year. The TVA did an excellent job of regulating flow so the event could be held but the current did present some challenges. Race officials did an exceptional job of keeping the events very close to the schedule while making allowances for the water conditions.

As a club, GAR Masters finished in a tie for 16th place out of 44 clubs entered.

Here’s how the nine GAR boats did:
Men’s Master 4X – 9th
Mixed Open 2X – Gold Medal
Mixed Master 2X – 21st
Women’s Championship 2X – 9th
Women’s Master 2X – 15th
Mixed Master 4X – 11th
Women’s AA-A-B 1x – Silver Medal and 13th
Mixed Master 8+ – 17th

Special congratulations are in order for Jen Figueroa. In the Mixed Open 2X she and Bill Griffith rowed to a gold medal. In the Womens’ Masters AA-A-B 1X, after having to return to the dock to replace her failed boat seat, followed by a draining row to get the to start line in time, Jen was still fastest on the water and, after handicap, finished second by a mere 3/10 of a second.

Also, congratulations to Coach Justin who rowed to a silver medal in the Men’s Master 8+.

It was a good year for GAR Masters at the Hooch. The team truly demonstrated the progress we have made over the last year. Next year everyone can expect more and faster boats from Gainesville. Something to look forward to!