Wooden Boat Plans And Kits | Ring a Ring a Rowers

Wooden Boat Plans And Kits

Several people have asked me recently what expedition rowers do in the Winter. Despite partly subscribing to the maxim "Theres no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing", theres no getting away from the fact that rivers flood, locks are closed for repairs and the days are much shorter. So, whilst I do go out on the water (including with lights at night), and also spend some time on the erg, an important wintertime activity is planning next years expedition rows. The first of these will be the 100km OC&C Ringvaart in Holland, which is previewed here using the medium of Lego.

People of all rowing abilities (as far as I can tell from the photos) on the race website take part in all sorts of boat classes, of which more later. After some debate, Im going to do it in a touring coxed double (C2x+, often known as a C2x because I dont think you dont get coxless touring doubles) with my friends Sandra and Rachel, both much better athletes than me, who are fortunately, from my point of view, happy to be "organised".

We have no intention of wearing pink leotards, by the way.

The Ringvaart is, I believe, quite a well-known route, just south-west of Amsterdam city center, along some canals. People cycle it. The astute amongst you wont be surprised to hear that its ring-shaped. If you think rings are roughly triangular and wiggly, that is. With the addition of a one-way bit at the end, its more like the outline of candyfloss on a stick. You start at the point where the sugary fuzz joins the stick, go round the candyfloss and back to the point you started, before proceeding down the stick to the end in Delft.

The Ringvaart: A rowing event in the Netherlands.

At 12km to go, theres a lock, where the clock is stopped for 45 minutes or till you start again on the other side of it, whichever is the sooner. Apparently you can get a massage and/or a meal at this point, both of which sound like awful ideas, and well probably just avail ourselves of the facilities and press on.

Its organised by students. Extremely well, by all accounts. 

This years edition takes place on Wednesday (strange, but true), 3 June 2015. Why a Wednesday? "Because its always the Wednesday after ascension Day." OK, that doesnt really answer the question, but never mind. Quirky is good. Perhaps its that University thing of "Wednesday afternoons are for sport" just extended a bit?

The tulips will be over by June, so itll probably look more like this, actually.

Each crew must have a "voelgploeg" (following team), and we wouldnt be doing this event if it werent for my British friend Adrian living nearby and always being keen to find opportunities to get out on his bike. He will refill our waterbottles and deliver bananas at key points.

Rough calculations show that the banana that the voelgploeg man is holding
here would be the equivalent of 26" in full size. 

According to the organisers, youre not allowed to swap who coxes. But if a crew did that, it might look like this:

Note that the person not swapping is grabbing the
 opportunity to have a bite of a giant banana.

And they would very much hope the swap doesnt end up like this:

Last year, my friends Martin and Marcel, both top ranked Dutch marathon rowers, did the event in the "single wherry" which could also be described as a wooden touring coxless single. Like this:

This is Marcel rowing. He doesnt have much hair.

They set a new record for the event, and later commented that "You spend half the time resting and eating, so whats not to like." Im considering this boat class for 2016 once Ive recced the course this year. Surprisingly, there is currently no Womens record for this category.

Naturally, a full report on how the event goes will be posted here in early June. But in the meantime, Id love to hear from anyone interested in expressing expedition rowing in the medium of knitting, felt, origami, plasticine, pipecleaners or even cake.





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Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport | The Grasshopper Book of Expedition Rowing

Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport

For those of us who grew up in English-speaking homes in the 1960s and 70s, long before the days of Wikipedia, our early education was shaped by Ladybird Books.

Extraordinarily, despite covering an extremely broad range of topics from Your Body, to Baby Jesus, via Ballet and The Beach (to name but four that I remember owning), there was never a Ladybird Book of Expedition Rowing.

There still isnt, but this is what one might have looked like. Particularly if their illustration department had been on strike.


Jane is an expedition rower. This means she likes to row long distances in new places.

She’s been on rowing expeditions in many different countries. Last year, she went on a long row in the Netherlands. She and her friends saw a windmill.

When she went on a rowing expedition in the south of France, the organisers expected her crew to drink two bottles of red wine at lunchtime. This is because the rowing tour was also a cultural experience.

Expedition rowers need to eat whenever they can. This is because rowing burns up a lot of calories. If they don’t eat enough, they become grumpy, say mean things to their crewmates and make poor decisions. That’s not good.

Jane always takes Jelly Babies with her on expedition rows. She shares them with the others. Recently she learned that the fourth Dr Who did this too, and she wonders if people think she’s channeling Tom Baker.

After you’ve rowing for several hours, you arse hurts. But Jane uses a special cushion called a “seat pad”, which delays the onset of the pain, and reduces it. In fact, she usually uses two. “Any idiot can be uncomfortable”, Jane laughs.

Expedition rowers just “shut up and row”. They don’t moan when their arses hurt. Or their hands, wrists, or backs. Anyone who complains doesn’t get invited again.

Expedition rowing boats are usually coxed. The cox is the person who steers the boat whilst the others row. The crew members take turns to cox.

Whilst they are steering, they usually also have to read the map, give information about how far into their stint they are, motivate the crew, eat, tape up their hands, take photos, and have a wee wee.

Coxes need to be good at multi-tasking!

Many rowing expeditions need a “land team”. This is a glamorous term for the poor bugger who has to drive the boat trailer from the start to the finish, whilst everyone else has fun rowing. Jane often appoints her boyfriend, Peter, to be “Land Team Manager”. The role is a functional one: there isn’t actually anyone else in this team.

He can track their progress on Yellowbrick. This helps him work out whether he’s got time to pop to the chippie before they get in. He can’t go to the pub, because he’s got to drive the darn boat home. Peter wonders if he should take up rowing.

If you think Janes hobby sounds super fun, and youd like to try expedition rowing yourself, visit www.PaddleducksRowing.co.uk.

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