WORLD ROWING COASTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS for clubs

General Description

Rowing along a sea coast and out into the sea… Confronting the open sea in a rowing boat is obviously not quite the same as Olympic rowing, where the requirement is to row in a straight lane, preferably on very flat water and with very little wind. Coastal rowers do not row on flat water. A competition without any waves is, for coastal rowers, utterly devoid of interest.

History

France has been organising national coastal rowing championships since 1901, with a long gap between 1966 and 1997. A resurgence of interest in coastal rowing was noted in 1980 when the first Frenchman Gérard d'Aboville crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat. Five years later, coastal rowing clubs and challenges began to spring up nationwide.

Before reinstating a national championship in 1997, the French Rowing Federation (FFSA) decided to standardise coastal rowing at a national level. With the standardisation of rules came the standardisation of boats, which allowed coastal rowers who competed locally, each in their traditional boats with their own set of rules, to finally begin meeting up and competing with fellow coastal rowers from around the country.

The French model has been used as a stepping stone to international competition, with its standards being adapted to a relatively new World Rowing event, the World Rowing Coastal Challenge.

Denis Masseglia, Chairman of the Rowing for All Commission at the International Rowing Federation (FISA) and Secretary General of the French Olympic Committee has worked very hard towards this goal along with the members of his commission. "Coastal rowing offers FISA a great potential for development," he says.

Competition Description

Boat categories include the single, the double and the coxed four. The style of competition considerably differs from Olympic rowing. No lanes are defined, and the course is triangle in form, representing a total distance of six kilometres: women cover the course once and men twice, with only one race per boat category.

FISA Coastal Rowing Regulations

Official Entry Procedure

A. Rules of participation

Only Club crews are permitted to compete in these Championships.
Only Clubs registered with their respective National Rowing Federation will be allowed to enter crews.
All members of a crew must be members of the same Club.
All competitors must be registered with the National Rowing Federation of the Club they represent.

B. Entry procedure

Note: Entry forms below will be updated current 2010

1. The Club should send its entry form to its National Rowing Federation, together with the following documents for each competitor and team official:

a. A signed FISA Commitment form ;
b. The first page of his/her passport; and
c. A completed athlete biography form.

2. The National Federation will endorse the entry form and submit all documents to FISA. In endorsing and submitting the entry form, the National Federation certifies that all participants comply with and respect the rules for entry and participation.

C. Entry Deadline 2010
1- Entries must be received at FISA in Lausanne by 4 October 2010 at daniela.oronova@fisa.org

2010 Event

In 2010, the World Rowing Coastal Championships will take place in Istanbul (TUR) from 22 to 24 October.