April is an itchy time of year for islanders. Fishermen are itching to get traps overboard, gardeners are itching to get in the dirt, and kids are itching to get out of school. As the relatively novice sport of rowing continues to grow on the Maine Coast, members of the Vinalhaven Rowing Club found themselves itching to get back at the oars. With the weather still nasty outside, VRC members brought their rowing hunger indoors, hosting their first Indoor Rowing Race on April 11.

The competition was a spontaneous idea of Jennifer Wadleigh and Heather White, both members of the Granite Island Girls (or GIG Girls), the rowing club’s all-women rowing team. The original International Indoor Rowing Races are the brainchild of Concept 2, manufacturers of the ergometer rowing machines. According to Concept 2, “Hundreds of Indoor Rowing Races are now held around the world each year. Some are small – a handful of people at a local club; others are huge, like CRASH-B, with over 1,500 competitors on over a hundred ergs at a large indoor track location.” Vinalhaven’s first competition drew 19 participants ranging from ages 10 to 68, utilized three Concept 2 machines, and was held in the school cafeteria.

White, a third-grade teacher, commented, “The turnout was surprising. Jen and I were pleased with the mix of students, teachers, and community members, and the wide span of age groups. I think it was great for the kids to see their teachers, librarian, and parents, with sweat pouring off of them, giving it their all. Everyone was cheering everyone on.”

Several members of the Vinalhaven community now own the Concept 2 machines and lent theirs for use at the school for three weeks before the race. Most of the participants rowed 2,000 meters every day prior to the competition. A few impetuous souls simply jumped on the machines the day of the race. It was first thought that the adult rowers would be broken up into age categories, but it was soon evident that training, not age, had the advantage, and in several races older participants beat out the younger ones. Competition between the all-male 14- to 16-year-old group proved to be the fiercest, with first place and second place separated by one-tenth of a second. At the end of the individual races, rowers were spread out into relay teams, each team consisting of one female adult, one male adult, one student over 14, and one student under 14.

Robb Warren, a middle-school English teacher, stated, “It was exhilarating! … a great chance for me to push myself.”

Sue Dempster, librarian and coxswain for the GIG girls, added, “It made me excited to be rowing again.”

White and Wadleigh are already making plans for next year’s Indoor Race, and White is filling out an application to receive two erg machines from Concept 2. The company donates a year’s worth of use of the machines to 25 different schools in exchange for statistical accounting of the students’ times and progress. The company then offers the machines at a reduced cost. They also provided training videos and posters for the race participants.

12-year-old student Courtney Oxton summed up the event, “It was hard but cool!”

Rowers and their times for the 2000 meter race were as follows:

Students age 13 and under; Chelsey Moyher, 9:30.6; Jacob Watt, 9:33.6; and Courtney Oxton, 11:08.08. Trey Warren participated in the relays only.

Students 14-16; Chris Sawyer, 7:31:0; Oakley Jackson, 7:31.1; Sam Rosen, 7:46.9; Ethan Watt, 8:23.3.

Adult Women: Jennifer Wadleigh, 8:26.3; Torry Pratt, 8:48.5; Heather White, 8:57.9; Sue Dempster, 9:37.3; Jennifer Hall, 9:45.4; and Kathy Warren, 10:20.0.

Adult Men: Mark Jackson, 7:56.1; Robb Warren, 8:00.2; Steve Rosen, 8:10.0; Burke Lynch, 8:47.7; and Bill Alcorn, completed 1,383 meters.

Rowing, whether indoor or outdoor, is known as a full-body workout that can be done by anyone at any level of experience, athletic ability or age. The “gigs” referred to with the GIG Girls, are the 30-foot, six-oared, Cornish Pilot Gigs growing in popularity along the Downeast Coast. The fleet now includes boats owned by North Haven Community School, Vinalhaven High School and Deer Isle-Stonington High School. Belfast’s “Come Boating” launched its first gig in 2002 and is at work on a second. Rockland’s “Station Maine” owns one and is having another constructed. Islesboro Central School and Thornton Academy in Saco have expressed interest in beginning rowing programs at their schools as well.