By Tyler Harper
BLACK PRESS
High winds wreaked havoc on two boats in the Nelson Rowing Regatta, bringing the popular races to an abrupt end.
The boats, both from Vernon, took on too much water before breaking apart during the men’s masters quad final on in Nelson on Kootenay Lake.
Two paddlers from the Shuswap Association for Rowing and Paddling, Peter McLean and David Miege were in one of the boats that snapped in half.
“It was very chaotic and everything happened at once,” said organizer and athlete Kim Shea of the Nelson Rowing Club, who was acting as a boat marshall at the start line when the boats snapped.
The frightening incident brought the annual event to a subdued conclusion.
Two races had previously been scrapped prior to the accident by choppy conditions on Kootenay Lake, and seven more were called off after the accident.
Some of the 12 swimmers in the water were left waiting for up to 25 minutes as volunteers ferried rescue boats back and forth from the shore.
“I’m very thankful... that nobody was injured, nobody was hurt,” said Shea. “There’s some lost equipment but they have insurance for that.”
Shea said the wind picked up suddenly just prior to the accident.
She had previously sent back junior rowers set to compete in a singles event, but thought the larger quad boats could handle the conditions.
“Usually quads are a lot more stable in the water than a single,” said Shea. “I didn’t think it was a concern. I didn’t expect the wind to come up quite that fast and quite that hard.”
Rowing boats have air chambers in the bow and stern to provide buoyancy. But when enough water seeps into the middle where rowers sit, that weight between the air chambers can cause boats to snap as they did Saturday.
Walt Murphy of the Vernon Rowing and Dragon Boat Club was in one of the boats that went under.
He said it took on too much water before his team could react.
“It fills up quick. It doesn’t take long. You get four big guys in the boat and we’re rowing along and all of a sudden it snapped and you hang onto the boat,” he said.
“You don’t panic. Stay with the boat. I wouldn’t want to have stay longer in the water. If you’re not living on the edge you’re taking too much room.”
Before the boats went under, both McLean and Miege performed well in their earlier races.
McLean and Miege posted the fasted course time of the regatta, and earned a total of four top three finishes, before their final race in the Men’s Master Quadruple Sculls.