Competition Rules!

Mark Schofield has had what we at The Catch are calling, in our fake British accents learned from endless Monty Python watching, a ripping idea. You received an email about it earlier, but here it is in detail:

NHRC Single Scullers Ladder

We are proposing a single scullers ladder for interested members of NHRC. Similar to a tennis club ladder, it will introduce an element of friendly competition and give members more opportunities to practice racing. The challenge course will be from the dock with the diving board near Indian head on the Shelton side of the river to the center of the boathouse dock (a distance of roughly 1000 meters). Races will be run on a first-past-the-line basis with no handicap for age. Men and women will be on the same ladder. The initial ranking (based on estimated speed) will be decided by several senior members of the club.

The rules are simple:

1) You can challenge the sculler one or two places above you to a race. The challenger must offer up to three times and dates over a 15 day period for the challenge to take place. If no agreement can be reached, the challenger and the challenged switch positions on the ladder.

2) The losing sculler can not re-challenge the winner for at least one week.

3) If the person you challenge manages to move up the ladder before your scheduled race, they escape your challenge and you must challenge the new occupant of that space on the ladder.

If you are interested in taking part please send your name by June 15th to Mark (sorry, our rule against publishiing personal info on the internet means you have to either grab him in the boat house -- above the waist please! -- or look up his contact info yourself.) Entries received after June 15th will start at the bottom of the ladder.

The ladder will run from June 21st to September 21st with prizes given at the holiday party to the top male and female sculler, the occupier of the bottom rung of the ladder, and possibly by age group depending on the number of participants.


Other than the obvious opportunities for fun that this entails, such as flipping right next to the dock on a racing start and large groups of people ending their workout at the Indian Head to see the outcome of a challenge, this also gives all of us the opportunity to practice gracious responses to those who do not accept our challenges. For example:

"I understand perfectly. Many people are afraid of me, not just you." And: "Really, it's fine. Age before beauty and all that."