Body of water big enough to row on?

jnethercutt · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

I just received my copy of "Essential Sculling" by Boyne in the hopes
I would find the answer to my question - How big is big enough. I
didn't find the answer.

I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
in taking up this sport.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Archived from group: rec>sport>rowing

Ted van de Weteringe · Joined: 09 Dec 2007 Posts: 51

jnethercutt wrote:
> I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> in taking up this sport.

Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
a racing single.

bookie · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 17

On Feb 12, 7:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
wrote:
> jnethercutt wrote:
> > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > in taking up this sport.
>
> Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> a racing single.

mmm...that's a bit short to me, you probably would want something at
least 1500m long, so 6-7 minutes before you have to turn or you will
get very bored indeed,

i always wonder how many lakes and bodies of water there are in the UK
(lakes, reservoirs etc) would be ideal for sculling on but are not
used for that purpose, ie wasted!!! I hate seeing perfectly good
expanses of flat sheltered water inthe countryside which is not being
used for rowing on, just dreadful, why do the locals not utilise their
natural resource and start up rowing clubs? thats the first thing i
would do. maybe they are busy doing things like working for a living
and all that craziness but that's still no excuse. there must be loads
of big lakes in parts of the country which could used for rowing
training without having to think about building man made things like
dorney

had similar experience actually when i popped over to singapore before
christmas (after being assured by some people that there is rowing on
the island of singapore I found no evidence of it whatsoever); Whilst
i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!! it
must have been at least 2km long and it was quite wide and sheltered,
a complete waste! I don't know what the name of the lake was, think it
had a big pagoda type thing at one end, but anyway the whole
possibility of there being this fabulous potential training facility
really bugged me all the way through the rest of the zoo, in the
'rainforest experience', the ben and jerry's cafe afterwards, and on
the bus ride home too.

anyway my cat is yowling at me for some reason, have to find out what
she wants, probably just the back door opening, for some unknown
reason she is covered in dirt so god knows what she has been up to
whilst i was out on the water this arvo, no good i suspect

Bookie

Alistair Potts · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 50

"bookie" wrote in message @s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> Whilst
> i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
> island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
> think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
> near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
> any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!!

Well duh. It's probably where they keep the hippos.

david.henderson · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 15

On Feb 12, 8:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
wrote:
> jnethercutt wrote:
> > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > in taking up this sport.
>
> Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> a racing single.

A number of places in the UK only have about 800m, Talkin Tarn,
Hollingworth Lake, Birmingham, hasn't stopped them from producing top-
class crews, at least at a regional level. Used to be a club in the
North East, Ebchester, whose regatta was only 200m, I don't think they
had much more than that to paddle on.

jnethercutt · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

On Feb 12, 3:36 pm, "david.hender...@aea.be"
wrote:
> On Feb 12, 8:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
>
> wrote:
> > jnethercutt wrote:
> > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > in taking up this sport.
>
> > Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> > rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> > a racing single.
>
> A number of places in the UK only have about 800m, Talkin Tarn,
> Hollingworth Lake, Birmingham, hasn't stopped them from producing top-
> class crews, at least at a regional level. Used to be a club in the
> North East, Ebchester, whose regatta was only 200m, I don't think they
> had much more than that to paddle on.

Thanks for the posts. According to Google Earth, my "lake" is 200x500
meters. Might be too small but I'm still optimistic.

Christopher Anton · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 190

"bookie" wrote in message @s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 12, 7:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
wrote:
> jnethercutt wrote:
> > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > in taking up this sport.
>
> Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> a racing single.

mmm...that's a bit short to me, you probably would want something at
least 1500m long, so 6-7 minutes before you have to turn or you will
get very bored indeed,

Well we don't get bored in Birmingham, and have in years past even won a few
Henley medals.

had similar experience actually when i popped over to singapore before
christmas (after being assured by some people that there is rowing on
the island of singapore I found no evidence of it whatsoever); Whilst
i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!! it
must have been at least 2km long and it was quite wide and sheltered,
a complete waste! I don't know what the name of the lake was, think it
had a big pagoda type thing at one end, but anyway the whole
possibility of there being this fabulous potential training facility
really bugged me all the way through the rest of the zoo, in the
'rainforest experience', the ben and jerry's cafe afterwards, and on
the bus ride home too.

sounds like you're talking about Seletar reservoir. Upper Peirce rservoir is
long enough but you couldn't get a course wide enough in without some
serious excavations. Unfortunately Google Earth's got a cloud in exactly the
wrong place. 1.4N 103.8E will take you just about to the potential course.
The pictures people have posted have showed it's quite a pleasant location.
And you may be surprised to know that SIN is a member of FISA and their
website is www.sara.org.sg

J Flory · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 39

> Thanks for the posts. According to Google Earth, my "lake" is 200x500
> meters. Might be too small but I'm still optimistic.
My 2 cents: it really depends on you more than anything else. If
going back and forth over 500m is OK with you, then it will be fine.
One of the guys I race against trains on a 1km stretch and is really
fast, so it works for him.

Personally, I want more room and fortunately I have it on the river
where I train: essentially limitless. There is a 1000x1500m L-shaped
lake nearby (1 lap = ca 5000m) where I row sometimes and I think I
would go crazy on even that if I used it all the time.

Another thought is to use your lake most of the time and go to longer
stretches when you have more time, perhaps on the weekends.

bobmcmillen11 · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

On Feb 12, 4:43 pm, jnethercutt wrote:
> On Feb 12, 3:36 pm, "david.hender...@aea.be"
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Feb 12, 8:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
>
> > wrote:
> > > jnethercutt wrote:
> > > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > > in taking up this sport.
>
> > > Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> > > rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> > > a racing single.
>
> > A number of places in the UK only have about 800m, Talkin Tarn,
> > Hollingworth Lake, Birmingham, hasn't stopped them from producing top-
> > class crews, at least at a regional level. Used to be a club in the
> > North East, Ebchester, whose regatta was only 200m, I don't think they
> > had much more than that to paddle on.
>
> Thanks for the posts. According to Google Earth, my "lake" is 200x500
> meters. Might be too small but I'm still optimistic.

If I had a 500m lake, I would certainly be out there.

You might want to try a slow (recreational) boat, or a racing boat
with resistance. Resistance can easily be added by towing some sort of
drag device. A 3" by 12" section of PVC pipe towed end on, and with a
few 1/2" holes drilled through, works fine.
Resistance can be increased by adding additional sections of pipe.
Cheers,
Bob

go-row · Joined: 18 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

Your small lake will be perfect for you to become accustomed to your
boat and learn the basic stroke. And yes, you can zip around the
shoreline, changing direction, etc. But even a several mile long lake
can become overly familiar if you never row elsewhere. You will want
to load your scull on the car and seek out other scullers on other
lakes, rivers, even the ocean. So, by all means, if you're really
interested, do it.

> > > > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know
the minimum
> > > > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > > > in taking up this sport.

TidewayUmpire · Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 17

On Feb 13, 12:50ï¿½am, go-row wrote:
> ï¿½ Your small lake will be perfect for you to become accustomed to your
> boat and learn the basic stroke. And yes, you can zip around the
> shoreline, changing direction, etc. But even a several mile long lake
> can become overly familiar if you never row elsewhere. You will want
> to load your scull on the car and seek out other scullers on other
> lakes, rivers, even the ocean. So, by all means, if you're really
> interested, do it.
>
> ï¿½> > > > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know
> the minimum
>
>
>
> > > > > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > > > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > > > > in taking up this sport.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Coming in a bit late on this topic, sorry.

From your post it sounds like you are complete beginner at any sort of
rowing?
You dont say how deep the lake is or if it is on private property
[probably] and if it is secluded or not, but it probably is?
You know where I'm going folks Smile

Dont want to put you off in any way, rowing / sculling is by far the
best way to spend your free time & get fit etc., BUT you must always
consider YOUR safety.
Learning to scull, on your own, on a private lake that is probably not
overlooked is VERY dangerous as if you go in and you will you have a
very high probability of not coming home.

Plenty of advice on this group about safety and the hazards of
immersion in water, even 'warm' water, hypothermia and what to do and
not to do.

Search on the forum for 'heel restraints', 'bouyancy', 'straddle &
paddle', read all Carl Douglas's posts or go to www.leoblockley.org.uk

NEVER go out on your lake alone, even if you get to Olympic standard.
I doubt if Sir Steve or Matt Pinsent would & that should be good
enough for anyone.
ALWAYS have someone on the bank at least so they can assist/raise the
alarm if you get into trouble.

Dont just believe what I say, go to any rowing club and ask them, they
will tell you the same & probably get you to join them so they can
teach you sculling & rowing in comparative safety.

The last thing we want is for you to go out one bright morning on your
lake, all fit and keen and ready conquer the world and not come back

danielwspring · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

On 12 Feb, 19:56, bookie wrote:
> On Feb 12, 7:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
>
> wrote:
> > jnethercutt wrote:
> > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > in taking up this sport.
>
> > Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> > rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> > a racing single.
>
> mmm...that's a bit short to me, you probably would want something at
> least 1500m long, so 6-7 minutes before you have to turn or you will
> get very bored indeed,
>
> i always wonder how many lakes and bodies of water there are in the UK
> (lakes, reservoirs etc) would be ideal for sculling on but are not
> used for that purpose, ie wasted!!! I hate seeing perfectly good
> expanses of flat sheltered water inthe countryside which is not being
> used for rowing on, just dreadful, why do the locals not utilise their
> natural resource and start up rowing clubs? thats the first thing i
> would do. maybe they are busy doing things like working for a living
> and all that craziness but that's still no excuse. there must be loads
> of big lakes in parts of the country which could used for rowing
> training without having to think about building man made things like
> dorney
>
> had similar experience actually when i popped over to singapore before
> christmas (after being assured by some people that there is rowing on
> the island of singapore I found no evidence of it whatsoever); Whilst
> i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
> island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
> think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
> near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
> any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!! it
> must have been at least 2km long and it was quite wide and sheltered,
> a complete waste! I don't know what the name of the lake was, think it
> had a big pagoda type thing at one end, but anyway the whole
> possibility of there being this fabulous potential training facility
> really bugged me all the way through the rest of the zoo, in the
> 'rainforest experience', the ben and jerry's cafe afterwards, and on
> the bus ride home too.
>
> anyway my cat is yowling at me for some reason, have to find out what
> she wants, probably just the back door opening, for some unknown
> reason she is covered in dirt so god knows what she has been up to
> whilst i was out on the water this arvo, no good i suspect
>
> Bookie

i would agree, there is plenty of water around that doesn't get used.
I remember racing at the Metropolitan Regatta when it was held at
Thorpe Park......why don't we row there anymore ! Lose in the first
round and spend the rest of the day on the rides ! http://www.thorpepark.co.uk/

bookie · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 17

On Feb 12, 8:37 pm, "Alistair Potts"
wrote:
> "bookie" wrote in message
>
> @s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Whilst
> > i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
> > island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
> > think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
> > near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
> > any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!!
>
> Well duh. It's probably where they keep the hippos.

i thought it might be too but that was in another lake, anyway fleeing
a maternally enraged hippo might be considered a good training tool

bookie · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 17

On Feb 12, 9:45 pm, "Christopher Anton"
wrote:
> "bookie" wrote in message
>
> @s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 12, 7:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
>
> wrote:
> > jnethercutt wrote:
> > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > in taking up this sport.
>
> > Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> > rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> > a racing single.
>
> mmm...that's a bit short to me, you probably would want something at
> least 1500m long, so 6-7 minutes before you have to turn or you will
> get very bored indeed,
>
> Well we don't get bored in Birmingham, and have in years past even won a few
> Henley medals.
>
> had similar experience actually when i popped over to singapore before
> christmas (after being assured by some people that there is rowing on
> the island of singapore I found no evidence of it whatsoever); Whilst
> i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
> island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
> think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
> near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
> any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!! it
> must have been at least 2km long and it was quite wide and sheltered,
> a complete waste! I don't know what the name of the lake was, think it
> had a big pagoda type thing at one end, but anyway the whole
> possibility of there being this fabulous potential training facility
> really bugged me all the way through the rest of the zoo, in the
> 'rainforest experience', the ben and jerry's cafe afterwards, and on
> the bus ride home too.
>
> sounds like you're talking about Seletar reservoir. Upper Peirce rservoir is
> long enough but you couldn't get a course wide enough in without some
> serious excavations. Unfortunately Google Earth's got a cloud in exactly the
> wrong place. 1.4N 103.8E will take you just about to the potential course.
> The pictures people have posted have showed it's quite a pleasant location..
> And you may be surprised to know that SIN is a member of FISA and their
> website iswww.sara.org.sg

seletar reservoir rings a bell actually, and i did try to contact the
singapore rowing federation but got no answer, in fact all messages
bounced, so who knows whether they still exist

it is still a waste of a resource, hippos or not

bookie · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 17

On Feb 13, 2:44 pm, danielwspr...@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 12 Feb, 19:56, bookie wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Feb 12, 7:36 pm, Ted van de Weteringe
>
> > wrote:
> > > jnethercutt wrote:
> > > > I have a small lake on my property and would like to know the minimum
> > > > length (length of the body water) one should have accessible before
> > > > investing in sculling gear and taking lessons. I'm really interested
> > > > in taking up this sport.
>
> > > Well, 750 m is probably doable for semi-serious training: 3-4 minutes
> > > rowing, 20-30 seconds turning. That's for a rather proficient sculler in
> > > a racing single.
>
> > mmm...that's a bit short to me, you probably would want something at
> > least 1500m long, so 6-7 minutes before you have to turn or you will
> > get very bored indeed,
>
> > i always wonder how many lakes and bodies of water there are in the UK
> > (lakes, reservoirs etc) would be ideal for sculling on but are not
> > used for that purpose, ie wasted!!! I hate seeing perfectly good
> > expanses of flat sheltered water inthe countryside which is not being
> > used for rowing on, just dreadful, why do the locals not utilise their
> > natural resource and start up rowing clubs? thats the first thing i
> > would do. maybe they are busy doing things like working for a living
> > and all that craziness but that's still no excuse. there must be loads
> > of big lakes in parts of the country which could used for rowing
> > training without having to think about building man made things like
> > dorney
>
> > had similar experience actually when i popped over to singapore before
> > christmas (after being assured by some people that there is rowing on
> > the island of singapore I found no evidence of it whatsoever); Whilst
> > i was visiting the world renowned Singapore Zoo in the north of the
> > island I discovered an enormous lake next to the zoo grounds (I don't
> > think it was actually part of the zoo but i could be wrong), kind of
> > near the elephant enclosure i think, with absolutely no evidence of
> > any kind of watersports activity taking place on it whatsoever!!!! it
> > must have been at least 2km long and it was quite wide and sheltered,
> > a complete waste! I don't know what the name of the lake was, think it
> > had a big pagoda type thing at one end, but anyway the whole
> > possibility of there being this fabulous potential training facility
> > really bugged me all the way through the rest of the zoo, in the
> > 'rainforest experience', the ben and jerry's cafe afterwards, and on
> > the bus ride home too.
>
> > anyway my cat is yowling at me for some reason, have to find out what
> > she wants, probably just the back door opening, for some unknown
> > reason she is covered in dirt so god knows what she has been up to
> > whilst i was out on the water this arvo, no good i suspect
>
> > Bookie
>
> i would agree, there is plenty of water around that doesn't get used.
> I remember racing at the Metropolitan Regatta when it was held at
> Thorpe Park......why don't we row there anymore ! Lose in the first
> round and spend the rest of the day on the rides !http://www.thorpepark.co..uk/- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

how long is that lake then?

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