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In surf lifesaving, long boats, called surf boats , while no longer used for rescues, remain one of the most popular events at surf lifesaving carnivals. The boats weigh between 180 and 250 kilograms and are crewed by four rowers and a sweep.
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In surf lifesaving, long boats, called surf boats , while no longer used for rescues, remain one of the most popular events at surf lifesaving carnivals. The boats weigh between 180 and 250 kilograms and are crewed by four rowers and a sweep.
The positions in the boat are as follows:
Bow (1) - the position nearest the bow (front) of the boat. Often regarded as the most dangerous of the positions.
Second Bow (2) - the next nearest the bow, their oar is on the opposite side to the bow rower's and these two rowers comprise the bow pair.
Second Stroke (3) - the next seat away from the bow and probably the seat closest to the centre of the boat, their main role is to stabilise the boat. Their oar is on the same side of the boat as the bow rower.
Stroke (4) - the seat closest to the stern (back) of the boat and the rower responsible for setting the speed and timing of the crew's rowing stroke. They combine with Second Stroke to make up the stern pair and their oar is on the same side as that of Second Bow.
Sweep - the person in charge of steering the boat and, as they're the only one who can see what's ahead, they generally call the shots on the water. They also frequently double as the crew's coach.
The boats race by rowing out to a marker buoy placed several hundred metres offshore, turning around it and returning to shore as quickly as possible. Boats work to avoid crashing through waves on the way out as they seriously slow progress, but aim to catch a wave as early as possible on the way back as this is the fastest method of travel for a boat. The surf factor is where things get interesting as boats slew sideways, roll, crash into each other, have sweeps and rowers thrown into the water - generally creating an exciting spectacle for spectators.
Piha Surf Life Saving Club pioneered the use of surf rescue boats in New Zealand, with the country's first surf boat, launched in 1936. On 9 April 1939 the first ever surf boat race held in New Zealand took place at Piha Beach with Piha winning against Wainui Club. In 1940 a Piha crew comprising; Tom Pearce, Haden Way, Max Cleary, Jack Rae and Tiger O'Brien rowing in a randomly allocated boat were the inaugural winners of the National Surf Boat Championship Series, held at Wellington's Lyall Bay.
In 1967 Sir Jack Butland of Butland Industries provided the surf boat Piha built by Bailey Bros of Sydney to the club. In 1971 Sir Jack provided the club with Miss Chesdale. Another boat Ches'n' Dale was dedicated in 1979. More Ches'n'Dale boats followed, with numbers three and four donated in 1985.
Piha won the gruelling Tuakua Sands River Race – from Tuakau to Port Waikato in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986. In various competitions during 1987 Piha accumulated 33 wins and 2 seconds. In 1985 at Mount Maunganui a Piha crew comprising Steve Booten, Mike MacDonald, Peter Digan, Mark McCarthny and Mike Zainey as sweep became the first New Zealand "Test" Crew to beat Australia.
The first attempt at rowing a surf boat from Onehunga to Piha over the unpredictable and treacherous Manukau Heads Bar was made in April 1971. It was decided to negotiate the north channel as the safer south channel used by shipping would have added another seven kilometers to the row. As the crew comprising Andy Sekula, Mike Zainey, Ray Markham, Brian Sullivan and Alan Foubister rowed down the narrow northern channel with big dumping surf on either side, huge swells came up and the channel petered out leaving the boat in the surf zone. There was no route to get through the surf line leaving no option but to wait for a lull and head for the beach on a wave. The boat hit the beach with such force that the keel was split in half and all the ribs in the boat were broken. Despite the boat being a write-off, sponsorship for the row and publicity gained about $2,000 for the club. The feat of getting all the way to Piha was not fully accomplished until 1992 with a crew comprising George Thompson, Brett Sullivan, Martin Wienk, Johan Broekhuizen, Duane Rice and Geoff Calvert rowing Lend Lease all the way to Piha. The trip took over five hours in high swells and stiff winds. At one stage in this row George Thomson was thrown overboard after the surf boat hit a three-meter-high (9.8 ft) swell.
The first Piha Big Wave Classic (Day of the Giants) was held at Piha Beach in April 2005 with 12 crews on the beach and Piha coming in second in the open men's race. These races, held annually are part of the national surf life saving championship surf boat series. In 2007 three crews came from Australia (Bronte, Jan Juc and Austinmer) to compete in these races. In 2014 Piha became the first club to win the trifecta at Piha - Mark HORSE Bourneville Swept 3 crews the Open Men's, Open Women's and Under 23 Men. The big wave classic will be held at Piha on February 21, 2015.
In 2008 Piha crews comprising James Dallinger, Brad Mytton, Hayden Smith, Craig Knox, Matt Kirke, Mark Bourneville and Bruce O'Brien won the European Open Surf Boat Championships (also known as the World Surf Rowing Championships) at Biarritz, France. [1] In 2012 Piha A crew won the Battle of the Ditch Surfboat Race (New Zealand versus Australia) and became the first crew to win the Australian Surf Life Saving men's open Australian Surf Rowers League title.
In 2013 Piha became the first club to win five Golds Surf boat Medals at a New Zealand National Surf Life Saving Championships, [2] Mark HORSE Bourneville Swept 3 crews and won 2 x double titles and a gold and silver with U19 (Open Men long and short courses, Under 23 Men long and short courses and under 19 Men long course).
At the 2014 New Zealand Nationals Phia became the first crew to win 8 New Zealand titles in five consecutive seasons. The 2014 Piha A crew was Paul Gerritsen, Chris Morris, Scott Lissington, Benjamin Richards, Ben Scott and sweep Mark Bourneville. The under 23 crew also scored a first – the first to win 5 New Zealand National titles in the under 23 division, the crew included Mark Bournevilles two twin sons Cedric & Ludovik Bourneville. The club also became the first to win 4 of the 6 divisional New Zealand Surf Boat Series titles - Men's Open, Women's Open, Under 23 Men's and Under 19 Women. The current Piha surf boats, sponsored by Burger Fuel and Trillion Trust, are named after previous Piha great boaties:- Tom Pearce, E D Wright, Buddy Lucas and Tiger O'Brien
The Piha Boaties during Mark HORSE Bourneville's Boat captaincy the Piha boaties obtained the greatest decade in winning national titles 25 titles over a 10-year period. Bourneville himself won 21 of the titles.
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its oars may be referred to as sculls and a person rowing it referred to as sculler.
A surfboat is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach.
In watercraft, a racing shell is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is equipped with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats. The boat's long length and semicircular cross-section reduce drag to a minimum. This makes the boat both fast and unstable. It must be balanced by the rowers to avoid tipping. Being able to balance – or "set" – the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of sport rowing.
In competitive rowing, the following specialized terms are important in the corresponding aspects of the sport:
Inflatable Rescue Boats (IRBs) are rubber boats with an outboard motor used in surf lifesaving. IRBs have been used for all forms of surf rescue, retrieval, and service by Surf Lifesaving in New Zealand, Australia, and Del Mar, California since the late 1980s.
Coastal and offshore rowing is a rowing sport performed at sea. In North America, this sport is often called open water rowing.
Piha Surf Life Saving Club is a surf lifesaving club for the southern section of Piha, on the west coast of Auckland, New Zealand, some 45 km from the Auckland City centre. The patrol was featured in the TVNZ reality show Piha Rescue.
A coxed four, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain.
A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain.
An eight, abbreviated as an 8+, is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox".
In rowing, the stroke is the rower seated closest to the stern of the boat. In the United Kingdom, the "stroke side" is the port side of the boat, because sweep rowing boats are usually rigged such that the stroke is on the port side of the boat.
Sweep rowing is one of two disciplines of the sport of rowing. In sweep rowing each rower has one oar, usually held with both hands. As each rower has only one oar, the rowers have to be paired so that there are equal numbers of oars on each side of the boat. In the United Kingdom, rowing generally refers to sweep rowing only. The term pulling was also used historically. In the other rowing discipline, sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand.
Mark Trevor "Horse" Bourneville is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. He represented both New Zealand and France in international rugby league and is the only dual-international the two countries share.
The Wellington Rowing Club is a rowing club situated on Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. The current building, is classified as a "Category I" historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Daniel Noonan is an Australian former representative rower. He was a national champion, a world champion, a dual Olympian and an Olympic medal winner.
Simon Burgess is an Australian national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and dual Olympic silver medal-winning lightweight rower. He represented Australia ten times at World Rowing Championships between 1990 and 2002. He won world and national championships in both sculls and in sweep-oared boat classes during an eighteen-year elite level career.
Kristina Larsen is an Australian former representative rower. She is a two-time World Champion, an Olympian and won ten Australian national championship titles in sweep-oared boats, often at stroke.
Roger Arthur Ninham was an Australian Olympian stillwater rower, a surfboat rower and surfcraft boat builder. As a stillwater rower he was a six-time national champion across both sculling and sweep-oared boats and competed at two Olympic Games.
Islay Lee is an Australian former rower. He was a fifteen-time national champion in both sculls and sweep-oared boats, a national representative at world championships and a dual Olympian. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer Olympics. From 1976 to 1980 he was Australia's prominent sweep-oared stroke, setting the pace in Sydney Rowing Club crews which won five successive national titles in the coxed four, three successive titles in a coxed pair, and in three successive King's Cup winning New South Wales selection eights.