On the men’s side, the second Varsity 8 placed 3rd of 12 teams in a strong field.  The men’s Third Varsity 8 also claimed a bronze medal, placing 3rd out of 8 teams.   Putting in a strong performance in a tight race was the Men’s Varsity 8, taking 6th of 16 teams and finishing less than 2 seconds out of 3rd place.  Also racing was a men’s Lightweight 8,  Novice 8, 4x, Varsity 4+, Second Varsity 4+, Lightweight 4+ and Freshman 4+.

On the women’s side, the Varsity 8 took 3rd out of 19 boats.  The Varsity 4, in an effort to better their morning results, took silver, placing 2nd out of 21 teams.  The novice women, racing the same lineup twice, pulled in 2 silver medals, placing 2nd of 6 in the Third Varsity 8 and 2nd of 13 in the Novice 8.  Also racing was a Women’s Second Varsity 8, Second Varsity 4+, Lightweight 4+, 2x and 1x.

GAR will be back on the water against Lake Brantley Rowing Association and Plant High Rowing Association with Jacksonville Episcopal’s men joining in on Saturday, March 27 at Newnan’s Lake.

lineups

On the women’s side, the ladies brought home a gold in the 2x, silver in the 1x, 4x and novice 4, and bronze in the novice 8 and 1x.

The men had a good showing as well, bringing home a silver in the freshman 4+, a Championship level event,  and coming in a hard fought 4th in the novice 4+.

Also in attendance was GAR’s middle school sculling program, racing against the high schoolers in the men’s and women’s 1x and the men’s 2x.  The middle schoolers also raced a mixed boy’s & girl’s 8+ against several other middle school programs.

The novices will see competition again on March 13 at the OARS Regatta back on Turkey Lake in Orlando.

Lineups

On the men’s side the Varsity 8 claimed silver in the grand final, coming in 2nd  against Belen Jesuit of Miami in a hard-fought race.  After losing a tough race in the opening round, the men’s 2nd Varsity 8 reversed their fortunes by winning their consolation race against Boone High School of Orlando.  In the 3rd Varsity 8 GAR advanced to the semi final before being out-stroked down the course by Lake Brantley Rowing Association of Orlando.

Women’s racing saw the Varsity 8 reclaim the Women’s V8 Opening Day Trophy for the 2nd year in a row in a close race against Lake Brantley that came down to the last 100 meters.  The women’s 2nd Varsity 8 also made it to the finals which saw GAR in another showdown with Lake Brantley.  In a back and forth dogfight down the course that saw both crews fighting for the lead, GAR came up  short, taking a silver medal with 2nd place overall.

Both men’s Head Coach Michael Moseley and women’s Head Coach Justin Burgess saw the racing as a good starting point for each squad to build on and develop from through the rest of the spring season.  Varsity rowers are back in action on Saturday, March 13 at the OARS Regatta on Turkey Lake in Orlando.

We had at least eighteen entries over the weekend and our Youth Rowers and our Master Rowers made GAR very proud. The weather was excellent, and the community very welcoming and accommodating to all who attended, what ended up being a record attendance at The Hooch!

Our Youth Rowers placed First (Gold) in the Mixed Youth 8+ race! Our Masters placed First (Gold) in the Mixed Open 2X. Jen Figueroa, our Sculling Coach and Master Rower, received a Silver Medal in the Women’s Master 1X race and was only 3/10′s of one second from Gold! With some races having almost 50 entries (competitors) our Youth were within 30 seconds or less off of the first place time in some races. Great job!

With continued training, I am looking forward to a very successful end to the Head Racing season this Fall and an even more successful Sprint Season in the Spring! Coaches, thank you all for your dedication to this club and to our youth and their success!

And, well, we had quite an exciting trip home yesterday – one of our buses broke down and we had to combine two buses into one bus for a six hour ride home. I want to thank everyone for their understanding, cooperation, and their excellent sense of humor during this “crunch” in getting all of us home safely and not very late, considering the circumstances. Our “Novice” parents learned what it means to be GAR family – everyone was such a good sport about this and we got to know each other very well!

I want to thank everyone for all of their help this weekend setting up and taking down, serving at the food tent and dinners, and chaperoning the rowers and the halls on both nights. Thanks to Mike Driscoll for driving the food trailer up to Chattanooga and Nina and Tom Cornwell for organizing the food tent for the weekend. This is truly a team effort so thank you again, all of you, for your help with anything that was needed!

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!

The full results for the 2009 GatorHead Regatta can be found here: Gatorhead 2009 Results

Thank you to all of our visiting teams: Bolles, Boone, Jacksonville, Lake Brantley, Lyman, Maclay, Melbourne, OARS, Power Ten, and ROCCS. I hope these teams enjoyed the competition and a beautiful day at Newnans Lake in Gainesville, Florida. We are looking forward to great competition again next year and finding out which team will take home the Gator Head trophy in 2010!

Thank you, too, to all of our sponsors who helped support this year’s Gator Head through either services or monetary support: Alachua County ARES/RACES, Gainesville Amateur Radio Society, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, APD, A.S.A.P. Screenprinting, Ashtin Communications, Captial City Bank, City of Gainesville, City Water LLC, Domino’s Pizza, Florida Food Service, Gainesville Amateur Radio Socity, Gainesville Sports Commission, and Capital City Bank. Special thanks to: Driscoll Engineering, Harwood Brick, Fringe Benefit Coordinators, P & J Marine, Publix Supermarkets, Larry Watts, GAR Alumnus, UF Rowing Club, GAR Masters, and GAR Parents and Rowers who have worked so hard to make this a successful regatta.

Stay posted – photos from the regatta will be posted here!

This afternoon, in the Director’s Challenge Mixed Double, Jen Figueroa and Bill Griffith were the fastest on the water by more than a minute in the 22 boat event. They rowed the course in an unofficial time 18:54.679. After handicaps were applied their great row gave them a third place finish. Full results for their event can be found here: http://www.hocr-timing.org/results/14435.htm

Also, congratulations to GAR Alumi David Fette. David Fette is a 2009 Alumni Rower of GAR. David is currently attending Boston University and rowing with their college crew team. David and his crew raced against 46 other club boats and their boat came in 4th! Full results for this race can be found here: http://www.hocr-timing.org/results/14393.htm

Congratulations to Jen, Andy and David!

Youth:
Womens Youth 8+ Final – 1st Place
Womens Youth Novice 8+ Final – 3rd Place
Womens Youth 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth Novice 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth Lightweight 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth 1x Final – 3rd Place
Womens Youth 2x Final – 2nd Place
Mens Youth 8+ Final – 11th Place
Mens Youth Novice 8+ Final – 2nd Place
Mens Youth 4+ Final – 4th Place
Mens Youth Novice 4+ Final – 3rd Place
Mens Youth Lightweight 4+ Final – 4th Place

Masters:
Mens Championship 1x Final – 2nd Place
Mens Championship 2x Final – 2nd Place
Womens Championship 1x Final – 1st Place
Mens Masters 4+ Final – 4th Place
Womens Masters 4+ Final – 3rd Place
Mixed Open 2x Final – 2nd Place
Mixed Open 4+ Final – 3rd Place

Again, congratulations to all of our rowers! It was a great day!

No desserts please. Please bring a serving utensil and label your dishes so it will be easier for our carbo feast coordinator, Amy Tackett (Billy Volante’s mother) to return items to you.

Before we leave, the coaches will speak for a couple of minutes and we will make sure everyone has a ride on Saturday morning. By 6:30pm, everyone leaves as we have a very early start the next morning.

Important – Rowers are NOT allowed to drive themselves – they must ride with an adult driver.

All rowers must be at the Race Site no later than 6:30 AM. Rowers will meet at the GAR Boat Trailer for instructions from their coaches. All rowers must stay until the end of the day and we have all of the boats loaded home and the award/recognition ceremony has been held. The final race is scheduled for 4:10 PM; we should be on the road no later than 6:00 PM.

Please plan on leaving Gainesville by 5:00 AM with ALL of your rowers. Directions to the First Coast Head Race in Jacksonville can be found here: http://gainesvillearearowing.com/contact/firstcoastmap/. I will also have copies at the Carbofeast on Friday evening. ROWERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE THEMSELVES TO OR FROM REGATTAS.

GAR will provide Bagels, Fruit, Gatorade and Water. Rowers need to bring their Nalgene bottles as the Water/Gatorade will be in large coolers.

GAR is not allowed to cook at this regatta, so please give your rower cash for lunch. Stanton will be cooking burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and the cost is approximately $5.

What to bring: Folding Chairs, Sunglasses, Binoculars, Camera, SUNSCREEN for you and your rower. A book or magazine to read in between races, might be enjoyable.

Also if you want a regatta T-shirt for your rower, please give your rower $20.

Good luck to all rowers this weekend!

Go GAR!

Lori Schiele

P.S. If you have any questions, especially the Novice Parents, please do not hesitate to contact me!

All rowers attending the Head of the Hooch regatta need to get waivers in for the Head of the Hooch ASAP! Fortunately, the process is all online. You can use the link listed below to register yourself, or your son or daughter and electronically submit a waiver.

http://www.rowingwaiver.com/

Select the “Athletes” circle at the top and then click the “sign a waiver” button that appears at the right

Follow the steps and provide accurate information. If you have any questions the link below gives answers to common problems or concerns with the electronic waiver process

http://www.roninracing.com/partners/hooch/howtowaiver.asp?p=hooch&pt=rowing

It will ask for the name of the coach registered and that is Michael Moseley and my email address is moseleyuf@gmail.com. This is so your waiver can be connected with GAR’s online roster.

Please try to have your child’s waiver completed by Monday, October 12th. The entire process takes no longer than 2 minutes. If you have any questions please contact a coach for help.