Coastal rowing ready to debut in Istanbul

So far entries have been received from Denmark, France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Norway and Ahmet Senkal, vice president of the Turkish Rowing Federation, says he is expecting entries still to come from Greece, Bulgaria and Switzerland.

“Sweden and Italy have the most people coming,” says Senkal, “with the men’s coxed quad the event with the most entries.”
Senkal is predictin
g that the weather for racing in less than a month’s time will be nothing like the conditions at Plymouth in 2009 where the rough water and rain made the racing into coastal rowing at its extreme. Senkal is predicting moderate wind and waves with maybe a bit of rain.

The racing is to be held in Caddebostan where a long coast line makes it easy for spectators to watch and the region is surrounded by green parks and recreational areas.

“As Istanbul is the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2010, people in Istanbul have had the opportunity to watch a lot of international activities during the year. Now they are proud and excited and are waiting impatiently the new ones,” says Senkal. “After the big success of the Turkish national team at the World Basketball Championships, sports events are extremely popular and thus this Coastal Championships will be watched with big interest.”

The Istanbul course is rectangular to make the most of spectator visibility from the shore. Competitors, thus, will have to navigate around four buoys before ending at the same point as they started. A full loop is 8km.
Racing begins on Friday 22 October with heats. These will be followed by A and B Finals on 23 October with Sunday 24 October reserved as a spare day if required due to weather delays.