OCCOQUAN, VA October 4, 2009 - The Virginia Boat Club travelled to the Northern Virginia to compete in this year's Occoquan Challenge.
The Challenge 3 mile (5000m) course on the Occoquan Reservoir and is unlike any other head race currently held in the United States. Not a stake race, or a stop-and-go course, this race allows competitors to race flat out on a fully buoyed course with several challenging turns.
In this year's Challenge, VBC competed in three events by fielding a Mens Masters 8+, two Mens Masters 4+, and a Womens 2x. The racing proved to be exciting with the 8+ making several passes on its way to a 1st place victory. Despite a strong headwind on the return stretch of the course, the crew managed to stay above a 30 spm rating to finish with a time of 15:41.65. The 8+ line up consisted of Katie Wood (coxswain), Jason Rife (stroke), Steve Chilmaid, Steve Abbot, Joe Schinsky, Dave Sutherland, Paul Georgiadis, Olaf Barth, and Mark Willis (bow).
In the 4+ Event, VBC took 1st place and 5th place. The 1st place boat (K. Wood, J. Rife, S. Chilmaid, S. Abbot, and J. Schinsky) finished in 16:59.47 followed by the second VBC boat of Maura Norwood (coxswain), Dave Sutherland (stroke), Kyle Alford, Ben English, and Mark Willis (bow) with a 18:49.64 time.
In the Womens 2x event, Barb Faurot and Shannon Conner rowed a strong race with a finishing time of 20:19.59, winning their age category and bringing home another VBC gold medal.
Congratulations VBC!
