This Sunday, October 11, the Saratoga Rowing Association is hosting the
first annual Schuylerskiff Regatta on the Hudson River in Schuylerville.
Eight winners will be rewarded with a plane ticket to Turin, Italy where they will compete in the World Singles Championship, called the Silverskiff, in November.
Charles Wait of the Adirondack Trust and John Hedbring of The Fort Miller Group were instrumental in making this prize possible.
The Schuylerskiff is a singles only "head" race; individual rowers in single shells race against the clock. The regatta is open to all four classes of rowers, each with a men's and women's division; Juniors A, B and C; Elite and Lightweight; Masters A, B, C and D. Juniors will skull a four kilometer course, while the rest will challenge an eight kilometer stretch.
"When I planned the regatta, I was shooting for 50 entries. Now, we're almost at a hundred. It's pretty cool," Chris Chase, founder of Saratoga Rowing Association and the Schuylerskiff, said.
Rowers from all over the Northeast are competing, including some who have rowed red-white-and-blue for the Olympic and National teams. A handful of Saratoga rowers are also racing.
The first race will kick of at 8 a.m. with a musket volley at the starting line, performed by Revolutionary Era re-enactors who are involved in the Surrender Week activities at Saratoga National Historic Park.
Spectators are encouraged to attend. The spectator parking lot is in Fort Hardy, and boat parking is available at the beach across from the Yacht Basin, where registration and the award ceremonies will be held.
The Champlain Canal Tour Boat Company will be on-site, offering fans a ride on the river, while Schuylerville galleries, eateries and merchants will also be on site. All three National Park venues, the Schuyler House, the Victory Monument and the Battlefield will be open to celebrate Surrender Week. There will also be a reggae concert at Saratoga Apple Sunday afternoon; the Schuyler farms Corn Maze is also offering hayrides for families of rowers.
"This is going to be a huge event, it will definitely have a strong economic impact. We
are attracting interest to Schuylerville. Out of town rowers will see a cool little town, it will be really enjoyable for them," Chase said.
The Saratoga Rowing Association already has a huge impact on the Saratoga County economy, hosting other large regattas during the year, including the 180-team event called the Head of the Fish, which is taking place on October 24.
However, Chase organized the Schuylerskiff to encourage skulling, as the Head of the Fish is primarily a team race.
"Skulling is much healthier for young rowers. It increases longevity and growth because it is more balanced. It's more European; in America we think bigger is better, which is why most rowers start off in eights," Chase said.
An eight is a much larger shell, with eight rowers working as a team. Rowers use one oar, favoring either their starboard or port side.
In a single shell, rowers skull; they row with two oars, using both sides of their body evenly.
Saratoga Rowing Association rowers are required to skull before they are allowed to row in an eight, a rule that few crews have established. Most teams are strictly eights, and rowers learn to skull as an extra.
The Saratoga Rowing Association was founded in 1996, and currently has 178 rowers. In the past 12 years, 84 Saratoga rowers received Division One scholarships.
"That's incredible, you don't see that with any other sport. We have rowers at Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth, Miami and Duke," Chase said.
Charles Wait of the Adirondack Trust and John Hedbring of The Fort Miller Group were instrumental in making this prize possible.
The Schuylerskiff is a singles only "head" race; individual rowers in single shells race against the clock. The regatta is open to all four classes of rowers, each with a men's and women's division; Juniors A, B and C; Elite and Lightweight; Masters A, B, C and D. Juniors will skull a four kilometer course, while the rest will challenge an eight kilometer stretch.
"When I planned the regatta, I was shooting for 50 entries. Now, we're almost at a hundred. It's pretty cool," Chris Chase, founder of Saratoga Rowing Association and the Schuylerskiff, said.
Rowers from all over the Northeast are competing, including some who have rowed red-white-and-blue for the Olympic and National teams. A handful of Saratoga rowers are also racing.
The first race will kick of at 8 a.m. with a musket volley at the starting line, performed by Revolutionary Era re-enactors who are involved in the Surrender Week activities at Saratoga National Historic Park.
Spectators are encouraged to attend. The spectator parking lot is in Fort Hardy, and boat parking is available at the beach across from the Yacht Basin, where registration and the award ceremonies will be held.
The Champlain Canal Tour Boat Company will be on-site, offering fans a ride on the river, while Schuylerville galleries, eateries and merchants will also be on site. All three National Park venues, the Schuyler House, the Victory Monument and the Battlefield will be open to celebrate Surrender Week. There will also be a reggae concert at Saratoga Apple Sunday afternoon; the Schuyler farms Corn Maze is also offering hayrides for families of rowers.
"This is going to be a huge event, it will definitely have a strong economic impact. We
are attracting interest to Schuylerville. Out of town rowers will see a cool little town, it will be really enjoyable for them," Chase said.
The Saratoga Rowing Association already has a huge impact on the Saratoga County economy, hosting other large regattas during the year, including the 180-team event called the Head of the Fish, which is taking place on October 24.
However, Chase organized the Schuylerskiff to encourage skulling, as the Head of the Fish is primarily a team race.
"Skulling is much healthier for young rowers. It increases longevity and growth because it is more balanced. It's more European; in America we think bigger is better, which is why most rowers start off in eights," Chase said.
An eight is a much larger shell, with eight rowers working as a team. Rowers use one oar, favoring either their starboard or port side.
In a single shell, rowers skull; they row with two oars, using both sides of their body evenly.
Saratoga Rowing Association rowers are required to skull before they are allowed to row in an eight, a rule that few crews have established. Most teams are strictly eights, and rowers learn to skull as an extra.
The Saratoga Rowing Association was founded in 1996, and currently has 178 rowers. In the past 12 years, 84 Saratoga rowers received Division One scholarships.
"That's incredible, you don't see that with any other sport. We have rowers at Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth, Miami and Duke," Chase said.
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