Ready, Set, Row - To the Lighthouse
By Sue Clark on Apr 28, 2009 in The Light Side 
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To most US lighthouse lovers, a Lighthouse Challenge means Signing up to visit and/or climb several lighthouses in a weekend, gaining a token at each one. At the end, you turn your tokens in for a certificate or small prize. Not so in Great Britain. The Eddystone Challenge, sponsored by the Mayflower Offshore Rowing Club gives new meaning to the word Challenge.
This Challenge, which takes place August 15 this year, is a race from Plymouth to the Eddystone Lighthouse in the Western Approaches of the English Channel and back - a distance of 40 km, in open sea. It’s open to any rowing boat, for example Quad sculls (pictured below), Sweep oars, Celtic Longboats, Cornish Gigs, Single or Double Kayaks, etc.
From the website of the Club, comes this description of the race:
The event is a tough mental and physical challenge.
The course is due south and out through the western channel end of the breakwater (1 ¾ miles) and then south to the Eddystone Lighthouse another 12 miles. Crews will round the Lighthouse in an ant-clockwise direction unless directed otherwise by safety personnel on station and return to Plymouth Sound via the Eastern Channel end of the Breakwater. The course between the Breakwater and the Eddystone reef, will be zoned by identifiable yachts flying the ‘M’ (Marshall) flag at 2 mile intervals providing communications links and precise direction to and from the lighthouse. They will also act as zone markers monitoring crews in and out of their respective zone and keeping event organisers appraised of crew positions.
Crews must give wide berth to both ends of the Breakwater, where large rocks lie just beneath the surface. Some large navigational and mooring buoys are located around the Sound and crews should be aware of movements of pleasure craft and commercial fishing vessels making for open water.
Are you ready to take the challenge? The entry form and the rules can be found at www.mayfloweroffshorerowingclub.co.uk/html/race_2009.html
Photo Credits:
- Quaker City Masters Regatta by michaelwm25. Some rights reserved.
- Eddystone Lighthouse by Preceymeister. Some rights reserved.
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