a brief history:
open water + coastal
rowing
Modern coastal rowing got its start in the 1970s, with the development of the Alden Ocean Shell. Initially intended to be the most stable and efficient hull design for recreational rowing, eventually Alden owners began racing their hulls at small events and even the Head of the Charles. World Rowing has held a Coastal World Championship since 2007 and there’s a proposal under consideration for adding an exhibition coastal event at the 2024 Olympics.
beginnings
Naval Architect Arthur E. Martin is known as the Father of Recreational Rowing. After lots of tinkering with designs, in 1970 he started producing the Alden Ocean Shell, a first-of-it’s-kind sea-worthy fiberglass one-man rowing shell utilizing a sliding seat and 9'9" sculling oars. For years, these hulls were produced by the Martin Marine Company (later renamed Alden Rowing Shells) in Kittery Point, Maine.
At the time, Martin Marine was the only rowing shell company that devoted itself exclusively to making single sliding seat recreational rowing shells.
Alden Ocean Shells bridge the gap between competitive racing shells and seaworthy fixed-seat boats. These unique boats have sliding seats, narrow but stable hulls, graceful flared lines that get them above open water waves, and curved coamings keep out most of the spray.
Martin maintained that his ''10-minute, 75-cent lesson'' is all that most people needed to feel comfortable in a recreational shell.
According to early Martin Marine marketing, “Many racing oarsmen, past, present, and future, are using Alden boats. Beginners, young and old, use them as a step toward the racing shells. Active competitors use them to keep in shape during the off-season. Doctors prescribe them for the prevention or treatment of heart attacks. Children of discerning parents are learning to row, and discovering a way of life that TV cannot provide. Many others just row for health and relaxation, and a respite from the stress of business, politics, and mechanized living.
“racing people might scoff at our comparatively slower boats, but…”
— Arthur E. Martin, designer of the Alden Ocean Shell
Arthur E. Martin figured that some competitive rowers - and lots of recreational rowers - would “relish the opportunity of rowing wherever water, rough or smooth, was within driving distance. Others might be enticed by durability, stowability, or the safety and stability in cold water.”
isles of shoals race
According to Alden Ocean Shell designer Arthur E. Martin, in his autobiography Life in the Slow Lane, it was inevitable that some recreational Alden rowers would want to see how fast they could go in relation to others… (but) It would be foolish to have a race between an Alden and an obviously faster racing shell.
So in 1973, Martin devised a 7.5-mile out and back race off the coast of Kittery Point, ME and around the Isles of Shoals. This was the perfect place for his new race because his deep love of the ocean, the environment, and boats was born and flourished at the Isles of Shoals from his childhood onward.
John Pickering – among the dozen rowers to participate the first year – won that year, plus the next two years , and went on to become captain of the Harvard lightweights and eventually a 5th place finish at the 1980 World Rowing Lightweight Championships in Hazewinkel, Bel.
The Isles of Shoals continued for 35 years, and a group of rowers is quietly working to bring the event back to life.
The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately six miles off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire.
catalina crossing
In 1976, to mark his 50th birthday, Charles Hathaway decided to climb into his 300-pound, fixed-seat dory and row from the Isthmus of Catalina Island to the California Yacht Club’s guest dock in Marina del Ray. The following year, the 32 nautical mile Catalina Crossing Regatta was recognized as an official race and remained the most prestigious offshore rowing event for more than 30 years. It was hosted over different periods of time by two different clubs – Cal Yacht Club and Long Beach Rowing Club – and from two different locations. Cal Yacht Club is located in Marina del Rey by Santa Monica and Long Beach Rowing Club is Long Beach Harbor. At this time, there are no plans for another crossing.
A STEP FORWARD
pensacola international coastal rowing regatta
In 2015, Pensacola Coastal Rowing Club hosted the first USRowing-sanctioned international coastal rowing regatta in the United States. Using a World Rowing beach sprint format, it featured 2000m elite and open class 1x events, and a 500m 2x and 4x course.
Held in in Pensacola, FL, the event was jointly sponsored by the Portofino Resort, Pensacola Coastal Rowing Club, Southern Racing Club, USRowing, and the Canadian Rowing Federation (Rowing Canada Aviron).
