Boat Plans And Patterns | Vogalonga Why Venetians do it standing up

Boat Plans And Patterns

The Vogalonga is a priceless opportunity to row round the Venice lagoon, passing through the islands of Murano and Burano before making triumphant progress down the Grand Canal itself, and finishing outside St Marks Square.

Participants take to the water in whats probably the widest variety of different, oar-powered craft youll ever see in one place, mostly flamoyantly dressed, and as determined to have good time as they are to take on the 30km rowing challenge.

There were just so many reasons why we kept saying "Oo, look at that one!"...

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Event: Vogalonga
Where: Venice, Italy

Distance: 30km

Time: About 4hrs - it isnt a race!

Boat type: We were in a wide 4+, but any human-powered boat will do

Number of crews in the event: Hundreds

Event Organiser: www.vogalonga.com

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What does Vogalonga mean?
Literally, "long row". Voga=row and longa=long, not surprisingly.

While youre at it, "Vog" rhymes with "dog" not "Vogue". Never try to sound posh when speaking Italian as you will have got the vowels wrong (and while Im at it, "Latte" rhymes with "paté" not "Art A"). Thanks for letting me get that one off my chest.

A bit of background, including "focole"
When you think of rowing in Venice, most of us, myself included, think of the expensive, black tourist gondolas, and thats it. But when you think about it, what WOULD the average Venetian do as a sport? Not many facilities for football, hard to train for a marathon when youre turning corners every 20m and falling over tourists every 10m, and race cycling is clearly right out. So its actually quite logical that Venice has a number of rowing clubs, all tucked away off the tourist track a little.

A Venetian rowing clubs fleet of "stand up" boats.
And a Filippi double.

But when I say rowing, its not as we think of it, Jim. For starters, they often dont sit down. And they face forward. Why? Well, the islands of Venice - the main one, the Lido and the outlying islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello - stand in a lagoon. A shallow lagoon. There are various dredged channels through this that allow function as roads for the motor boats, but you could stand up in most of the square meterage of water out there. However, there are plenty of rocks strewn around this area, so if youre standing up and facing forwards as you row, you can see these and avoid them. 

Which is a lot better than putting a hole in your Empacher single.

The clubs collection of "focole".

Not only do you not get to sit down in Venetian rowing, you also dont have a button to lock your blade onto the gate - and to make matters even worse, the "gate" is a rather open-plan affair, and is basically a half-circle carved out of a wooden post called a "focola". Focole often have more than one carving in them - enabling a gear change, which is a natty idea. I think I saw some, though there isnt an example here, where there was a carving on the back of the focola - for backing down.

"16 men went to row"

About the event
The Vogalonga is not a race. Prizes ARE presented but only to crew numbers randomly drawn out of a hat afterwards. And everyone gets a little medal and a poster.

Rather, its a celebration of unpowered rowing in a city where the many commercial motorboats - "vaparetto" water buses, and the elegant but expensive water taxis - throw up a heck of a lot of wash. As a result, any human-powered craft is welcome in the Vogalonga, and this ranges from 1-man plastic kayaks, to the most extraordinary and unique boats, some involving large number of standing-up oarspersons.

There were also dragon boats, outriggers, a Finnish chuchboat, and many, many I didnt begin to recognise.

What to wear?

Note the white skirts.
Not sure what the rug trailing in the water is for...

As far as we could tell, the formal kit for a Venetian rower is white trousers, a horizontally striped top, and a matching sash round the waist. Which was obviously all fine until ladies started rowing. Now, your average Italian donna can get away with skin-tight white jeans, or even hotpants in a way that we Brits, with our Anglo-Saxon skin, cant even dream of. But despite apparently embracing female members of the club (not literally, doubtless some of that goes on too, but thats not the point here), it appears that certain traditions have to be observed, so lady rowers wear short white SKIRTS. Most of these appeared to be tennis skirts,  although I saw one lady who appeared to have been unable to get to her local branch of Lillywhites before the event, and had resorted to rowing in her petticoat. Well, it was short and white. Although it also had lace round the edge.

Boats came in all colours.
Sometimes with matching oarsmen.

And what not to say to a gondola-builder
Our team of nine were fortunate to have arranged to borrow a sliding seat, offset coxed four from a tiny rowing-more-as-we-know-it club out on the Lido. It was a bit battered, but ran nicely, although the undercarriage on one seat broke as we were rowing it across to the start area the day before the event. Fortunately, the place where the boats were being stored overnight was next to a gondola-builders workshop, so I approached the master craftsman within, brandishing a 30-year old, broken rowing seat at a man who makes utterly exquisite craft, that sell for up  to E30,000 a piece, and asked him if he could help us. After considerable sighing, some glue and some clamps were produced. It was rather like Fabergé if he could just slop some paint over a hard boiled egg. But we were back in business.

Onboard refreshments being served to a canoeist.

Out on the water
With nine in our team and only five seats in the boat, I was in "crew 2", and we caught the vaparetto out to the tiny island of Burano, which was roughly the half way point, with the aim of finding somewhere we could swap over with "crew 1". We quickly identified an ideal spot along the main canal that runs through the centre of the island. A large barge was moored there, with a group of French people aboard, who were preparing mounds of sandwiches, and unpacking boxes and boxes of chicken drumsticks. As the first crews approached, they would easy, and call up their food - and drink - order. "Do vin rouge? Certainement!" "Des sandwiches?" Bien sûr!". The French would then load the victuals onto a round metal bar tray, mounted on a long pole, and pass the order out to the crew.

Compared with the "no alcohol/early night" discipline of regatta and head racing, Id been fairly amazed at the cocktail party laid on by the organisers of the Tour du Léman the night before the race, but drinks DURING the main event - this was truly continental.

Anyway, we hopped into the boat, and headed out from Burano, further across the lagoon, and then through the canal on Murano, the glass-blowing island. Then we were back into open water again, overtaking smaller craft, and being overtaken by larger ones, all of them fascinating to look at. 

Steering under the Rialto is one of the most
memorable moments of my coxing career.

Finally, we turned into the main bulk Venice, entering a canal in the North where both banks were lined by cheering crowds. We soon turned into the Grand Canal itself, and lapped up the incredible experience of rowing under the Rialto.

The event ends in a complete frenzy with well over a thousand small boats gathering in St Marks basin, where it was incredibly choppy - whilst the man-powered craft might not cause much wash, a stiff breeze, and a massive cruise liner than had come in to berth (I think theyve stopped that now) made it all pretty rocky. 

Which, of course, meant that conditions were not ideal for the obligatory salute that boats make on finishing, which is called the "alta remi" or "high oars" - you take your blade out of the gate and hold it vertical. All of you. At the same time. And in our case, VERY briefly.

The "alta remi".
Well, some of us.

Unmissable
The logistics involved in the Vogalonga a are fearsome for Brits - its a long way to drive with a boat trailer, and even then, you need a character-ful boat to do it in, or youll just feel like youve somehow got into the Stewards enclosure at Henley wearing jeans. It would detract from the experience.

But if you can overcome these, you will be rewarded with a spectacle like you have never imagined, filled with craft, costumes and colour, good humour, numerous languages, and supportive crowds. YOU will be part of the Venice that the tourists have come to see. 

But do try to avoid being photographed in your petticoat...

This boat almost certainly wasnt made to
be propelled  this way, but why not!?

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Canoe Boat Plans | Skiffing with the Olympic Torch Relay

Canoe Boat Plans

Rowing has provided me with many fantastic experiences, and one of the best was taking part in the final stage of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. 

Despite the (very) early hour, the riverbanks were lined with people. The brand new Royal barge Gloriana, launched for the Queens Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, only a few weeks earlier, and crewed on this occasion by former British Olympic rowing medallists, had had a special flame cauldron installed in her bows, ready to take the flame when Sir Matthew Pinsent arrived with the torch. 

But this wasnt a voyage that Gloriana would be making alone...

The swan and the ugly ducklings
The official plan was that the flame would travel from Hampton Court to the Olympic Park in Greenwich, on board Gloriana. For the first part of this river progress, as far as Richmond, this majestic craft, covered in gold twiddly bits, including a couple of heraldic lions, and with eight flagpoles mounted on her indescribably ornate cabin, was to be accompanied by Thames Skiffs; from Richmond, her escort would change to junior rowers in quads (I think); and finally some cutters, possibly associated with various.

When you see a skiff on its own, many people remark on the beautiful wooden craftsmanship. But next to Gloriana, we were definitely the "ugly ducklings". But that was the point. So, whilst Gloriana was moored right outside Hampton Court Palace, we mustered above Hampton Court Bridge as part of a flotilla made up of about 30 skiffs from the racing skiff clubs, and also including private boats, some of which were definitely traditional, wooden, and rowed, although not actually Thames Skiffs (one was a Shetland yole, for example). 

After the whole flotilla set off, a few plastic kayaks tried to join in, and were swiftly removed from the fairway by the Police boat!

My club, Thames Valley Skiff Club, owns seven double skiffs, and numerous members had expressed enthusiasm for being there at 5.15am to take part. Rather than leave anyone out, we crammed four to a boat, or in the case of my boat, five, but the girl squeezed in the bows was only 11, so we were only a little bit low in the water.

The skiff in the foreground contains our clubs
Olympian in his previously-unworn shorts.

One member of our club rowed at three Olympic Games (1984-1992), and turned up for the event wearing some casual shorts that were official GB team issue from Barcelona. "How appropriate!", we remarked, and he explained that today was the first time hed taken them out of their packet – exactly 20 years after hed competed. Perfect.

Colour scheme
Every boat had been issued with a white and gold flag – the theme colours of the torch relay, and wed been instructed to wear tent-sized white shirts that had been issued. Keen to stand out in pictures, Id managed to buy a bulk order of yellow caps (our club colours are yellow and black), which proved very useful for distinguishing us from the other boats full of white-shirted skiffers. 

Royal progress
The torch was behind schedule arriving on Gloriana, which was quite an achievement given it was the start of the day, but before arriving at the river bank it had been taken, iconically, round Hampton Court maze. Presumably someone got lost?

Spot our yellow caps in the foreground.

But we were eventually off, the river churned with so many boats vying for position, whilst also taking photos, and waving to the vast crowds lining the banks, not just at Hampton court, but on down the river. 

We were all under strict instructions NOT to pass Gloriana, who was to remain at the head of the Royal progress; inevitably, our former Olympian skiffer felt that this was a "challenge" and almost made it before being "marshalled" back.

We were more than happy sitting near the back of the pack, soaking up the atmosphere and pointing out the sights. All of the cruisers and narrow boats that are permanently moored along this stretch are usually deserted – but today every single one seemed to be hosting some kind of breakfast party, most were decked out with bunting and balloons, and we particularly like a baby that someone was holding up, which was dressed as a Olympic Torch with a "flame" hat. And dont forget, this was before the games had actually started, and Britain developed Olympic fever. It was definitely a taste of things to come.

Gloriana at Teddington Lock.

Five kilometres or so later, we got to Teddington lock, which has two chambers: Gloriana had a private one, and us skiffs crammed into the next one. Even there, the crowds were three deep, and it wasnt even 8am yet. 

Some flapjacks were shared out in our crew - and with neighbouring skiffs. The whole flotillas was buzzing with excitement, and some drizzle did nothing to dampen our spirits.

How many skiffs can you get into a lock?

there were still TV helicopters buzzing overhead ass we left the lock, and swept on past Ell Pie Island, Ham and eventually through Richmond Bridge, where the heavens opened and just as we sadly, but obediently, left Gloriana to continue down river on her historic journey.

Unexpectedly, I spotted a friend, who works in nearby Sheen, on the bank at this point, taking photos and running along with the skiffs. "Shouldnt you be at work?", I called: it emerged that his patriotic boss had decided to open two hours later than usual that day so his staff could enjoy the spectacle: a great example of the Olympic spirit of bonhomie that was soon to take over London, and much of the rest of the country. 

Of course, this isnt an example of expedition rowing that is likely to be repeated in any of our lifetimes, but I hope youve enjoyed reading about how much a few ordinary rowers enjoyed taking part in just a tiny piece of what definitely became the biggest show in the World in 2012.

Some of Thames Valley Skiff Clubs Olympic
Torch Relay participants in the rain at Richmond.

The video below shows just a little of the atmosphere of the event: points to note include the a brief view of some of the skiff flotilla at about 20sec in; massive crowds;  and Glorianas side-thrusters in action. We might have been totally powered by oars, but she was built with quite a few pieces of modern technology aboard!

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