Blackburn and Essex River Race Dates Are Up

[eneumeier]

Go here:

http://www.blackburnchallenge.com/

Essex River is May 21

Blackburn is July 16.

Go here for the Outside Magazine article about the 2003 Blackburn:

http://outside.away.com/outside/features/2...hallenge_1.html

Although, I must say that I do not recall encountering any 6' waves, as the author describes here:

Incredibly, it got worse. The tide was running in direct opposition to the wind, and at each of the several rocky headlands that lie between Annisquam Light and Halibut Point, the sea pitched up in the most absurdly chaotic mess—a "potato patch," as sailors sometimes call it—short-period, six-foot-high waves that seemed to come from all directions at once. The footwell was perpetually swamped now, my forearms were pumped from choking the oars in a death grip, and dime-size blisters had begun to well up under the calluses on my palms.

I suppose that description makes for a more lively story.

Liz N.

[Al Peirce]

Liz, Rob Buchanan's article was based on his experience rowing in the 2002 Blackburn Challenge. Outside Magazine didn't publish the article until the early Summer of 2004 and it confused many that read it. His discription of the 2002 conditions was fairly accurate. Al