how do you take your rig?

So it's Monday ... but don't let that stop you from looking for adventure! I came across something rather neat recently, courtesy of my pal Gareth who happened to be part of this interesting rowing/ science experiment. It involves rigging, i.e. the order/ placement of the riggers on the boat. You've got some rather standard and traditional rigging styles that you see on about 95% of boats. But then there are the "different" ones. Mostly known as a bucket or the Italian rig, it consists of having usually two rowers of the same side directly in front/ behind each other. But Imperial College Boat Club took that to a new extreme in an 8+ recently. The full explanation appears in "The New Scientist" (not sure if this is only in the UK or not) but for an explanation you can just head over to Imperial's website: http://tiny.cc/qb87j

The photo above is of the crew putting their experiment to the test. I'll be honest- I'm kind of glad that's a boat I didn't get to cox? Either way it's pretty cool to see rowing mixing with science. So check out the article (and the research behind it if you'd like) .... happy reading!

movie

Ok, so I thought I'd add a few more bits on the movie. Only because every time I was the proper trailer I get really excited. Here is the imdb link to the movie's page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/ The director, David Fincher is awesome; he's directed a few films you might know like Seven, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button oh and everyone's favorite, Fight Club. So go see it. It'll be better than you think and it'll be my 2 1/2 minutes of fame. Cheers! xxx

it's been a while

Well hello there! It has been a while hasn't it? My sincerest apologies to anyone who actually reads this thing; I have been pretty busy coxing, coaching, being a movie star (yes, more below...), traveling. But fear not! I intend to try to post more often... and I mean it this time.

So recap: I got to cox at Henley Royal this year in the Ladies Plate with the "B" boat at Leander which was a lot of fun. Yes, having a length put on us by the end of the island by Harvard was tons of fun! No, seriously, it was a great experience. I'm so lucky to have had the opportunity to race and be a semi-finalist; I am one lucky girl.

On top of coxing and coaching for Henley I got to do a lot of coxing for a movie. Yes! you heard me right- a real movie... It's out on October 1st in the states; October 15th in the UK. (http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/) Be sure to check it out! Basically the story is that the Winklevoss twins raced in the final of the 2004 Grand Challenge Cup v the Dutch Olympic Team (stroked by Michiel, how ironic...) and lost. It was the catalyst that caused them to take Mark Zuckerberg to court. So my Leander teammates and I portrayed the Harvard (that's me!) boat and the Hollandia boat. We did two filming runs during finals at HRR and then a week and a half of filming at Dorney Lake for a total of about 2 1/2 min of screen time. Wicked cool.

Beyond that I went to Scotland for half a week. I didn't get to race at Nat Champs because it was so far away and no one sent coxed boats (no one I knew anyway) but my teammates and friends were racing so I came for moral support and a vacation. I took a day and was very touristy in Edinburgh- where I thought of my parents a lot since they spent some time there, oh about 25 years ago....

Other than that I'm back in Henley, enjoying the summer until we start training as a group again at the end of August. Still looking for a job (because making movies is cool but not reliable employment) and just enjoying life. Because after all- you should live life to the fullest, right? Photos from Henley, Yorkshire and Scotland are all on facebook. Until next time ... adventure is out there! xxx