After an hour or so of loading up boats, gear, and people, Rudder sailed (um,
wrong sport) off this morning to head up to Sacramento for Masters Nationals. He
expects to arrive on Wednesday, which should give him time to rig the boats, do a
practice row or two, and find a good spot to set up the awnings. You can only rent
a commercial tent close to the water, which they've done, but an awning back in
the trees should be handy for naps and such, not to mention more comfortable seats
than the folding ones in the rented tent.
The race starts on Thursday; heats are Thursday and Friday and finals (of course
they'll make it to finals!) will be on Saturday and Sunday. Not all of his events
have heats; some had fewer entries and so go straight to finals. He's racing in a
single, a couple of doubles, and a quad. Any readers who are interested and who
know his real name or want to email me for it) can watch results at
href="http://www.racetrak.com">Racetrak for the following races:
Thursday:
Event #47, M1xB at 2:29(first heat)
Event #54, Mx4xC at 3:56
Friday:
Event #121, Mx2xB at 4:12 (first heat)
Saturday:
Event #47s, M1xB semifinal at 7:45(if he's in the top 3 on Thursday)
Event #42, MLt2xA at 1:14
Event 47, M1xB final (if he's in the top 3 in the morning) at 2:29
Event #54, Mx4xC at 4:09 (if they're in the top 3 on Thursday)
Sunday:
Event #90, MLt2xB at 11:30
Event #106, MLt4xB/C at 2:45
Event #121, Mx2xB at 4:12 (if he's in the top 3 on Friday
Abbreviations: the first symbol in each boat is M or Mx, for Men's or Mixed (half
men, half women. Next may be Lt if it's a Lightweight boat, which for men means
rowers weigh 160 or less (he's borderline, but should make weight). Next is the
boat type: 1x for single, 2x for double, 4x for quad. Last is the age category:
youngest is AA. A is 27-25, B is 36-42, C is 42-49 or so. Age of rowers in the
boat is averageed, so Rudder is rowing two different mens' doubles with different
partners and will be in different age categories (as you can surmise, he can only
race one boat at a time in one race). I'll be there to watch Saturday and Sunday,
but will be glued to the screen watching Thursday. I'll miss the Friday race
because I have to go catch my flight out.