On Saturday 23 November, three hundred crews will take to the Yarra River in Melbourne to race the 63rd Head of The Yarra (HOTY). In what can be described as a “coxes’ race”, the course stretches over eight kilometres through eleven bridges from Melbourne central business district to Hawthorn. Reporting down under, JRN speaks to HOTY veterans Kendall Brodie, Hayley Verbunt, and Jordan King to hear their tricks of the trade ahead of this year’s race.
There’s lots to play for at this year’s HOTY. Both the men’s and women’s records were broken in 2015 on a strong incoming tide, with the Melbourne University Boat Club Men’s eight setting a time of 24:40:19 and the Mercantile Women’s crew setting 27:05:51. ROWING SOLUTIONS will be making an award for “The Cox of the Course” for the coxswain steering the shortest distance as measured by the units.
Offering her words of wisdom for coxes, Hayley Verbunt said: “The best advice I’ve ever received about HOTY comes from Mercantile Coxswain & coach extraordinaire David ‘Chipper’ Colvin who said you need to always be thinking one turn or bridge ahead.
“What he means by this is ensuring that the line you’re taking exiting one turn on the river or position from a bridge, is setting you up to have the best line heading into the next part of the course (whether this is a straight or another turn/bridge). If you’re able to think ahead during the race, it minimises your need for massive manoeuvres to get back on course or waste time in slow-moving water.
“Sitting down with a map of the course with your coach and choosing the best racing line beforehand (knowing that on the day this may change due to river/weather conditions) can help you with this thinking ahead mentality.”
Kendall Brodie offers a similar view, emphasising tactics and planning.
“In general, the course can feel intimidating, but this is an exciting opportunity for you to bring a huge positive impact to your crew,” she said. “It is all about strategy – you need to anticipate where is best to overtake by being familiar with the bends and assess your speed relative to other crews.”
Registration
Bow numbers and GPS tracking units can be collected from Hawthorn Rowing Club between 1pm and 4pm on Friday 22 November or on race day (Saturday 23rd) in front of the MUBC shed.
Getting to the start
Before leaving for Melbourne,, many crews opt to fit a larger rudder to help them navigate the infamous ‘Big Bend’. It would be worth getting out with a larger rudder ahead of the race to get used to how it feels and responds.
The Yarra is a tidal river so Jordan King recommends checking the river conditions prior to racing.
King said: “Rain cancels out the tide pretty quick on the Yarra if there has been heavy rainfall. If there hasn’t been too much rain, there can be a 10 to 15 point split swing with the tides”.
The river will be closed from 6:30am on race day and the first of four race brackets starts at 8:30am. This gives little time to warm up before racing. You may want to discuss a land-based warmup with your crew and try to arrange access to ergs at one of the local clubs if you are travelling to the race.
You may be able to head upstream through the CBD, although the marshals will be trying to keep the landing stages clear for racing crews.
Jordan recommends: “Get there for the first event and take a stopwatch with you. Get a feel for what the marshalls are wanting from crews, time the start gaps and have an idea in your mind of where you want to be on the river so you can get the fastest line off the blocks.”
Course Map
Marshalling and the start
Unlike other head races, crews are set off four abreast on the river in different groups. The start order will be based on the previous year’s results so you need to put your crew in the best position off the start line.
Crews may well try to jostle for the North bank position so stay calm and hold your line. Once you have passed through the start, you’ll want to follow the first left-hand corner round to Swan Street Bridge and go through the north side arch. Once through, you will want to drift into the centre of the river and aim for the south arch of Morrell Bridge. After coming out of Morrell Bridge, be careful not to get too close to the south side bank as, on low tide, there are lots of rocks.
Next up is Hoddle Bridge, where you’ll want to aim for the centre arch.
The Cremorne Railway Bridge is where coxes can start to test their confidence and aim for the north arch.
King said: “Check the tidal conditions and river depth ahead of racing here. It’s a life hack if you are able to get under the north arch but you have to be careful of silt and grounding your boat as this can get quite shallow”.
Once out of the Railway Bridge, you’ll want to hug the north bank passing through the north arch of Church Street Bridge all the way to the island to shave off some time and metres.
Once out of the island, start drifting to the centre to line you up to Powerhouse Rowing Club, where you’ll aim to hug their dock on the south side of the river. Past this dock is a floating rubbish collector on your bowside. Here, you will want to think about using this as a market to line yourself up for Big Bend.
Verbunt comments: “I would argue from the start line to the infamous Big Bend is where the most important part of racing occurs; it’s where crews are evenly spaced, you have the most opportunities to overtake, and Big Bend usually acts as the bottleneck where crews can slip past to gain the best racing line heading into the top half of the race towards Hawthorn. Last year, many of the race’s most decisive moments came down to Big Bend.
“Having a clear plan for what you want to do in this first part of the race is integral, knowing where you want to be steering your crew through the early bridges, what you want your crew’s rhythm to be and ensuring you’re putting yourself in the best position possible getting to Big Bend.
“Around Big Bend you want to ensure when you come out the other side that you’re able to continue on the racing line, rather than ending up going wide around the corner and having to correctively steer back onto course and loosing pressure time.
“Positioning yourself into the corner is the most important part of this, and communicating with your rowers when one side of the boat or individual seats need to row harder/lighter to help get you around the bend.”
Verbunt continues: “Once you’re through Big Bend, there aren’t as many opportunities to overtake, corners become narrower, and there starts to become “no overtaking” zones under bridges. If you imagine the first few kilometres of HOTY as a drag race to Big Bend, upstream of it is almost like the middle part of a marathon, where staying in your rhythm and holding consistent speed becomes extremely important.
“A coxes’ impact can be just as vital in this part of the race, making sure you take tight lines around the narrow upstream bends, while also keeping your crew focused and together as the fatigue of this monumental race really starts to creep in. Having clear technical focuses to keep coming back to and some emotive calls up your sleeve can make the difference in keeping your crew consistent with speed during this section. If the time trial is tight, it will most likely come down to the crew who can maintain their pace the best in this second section of the race.
“Be warned for the last corner coming into Hawthorn Straight, there is a sharp L-shaped turn many underestimate in the final stages of the race. Once you’re around it, it’s all about going max out for the last bit of the race and enjoying the sprint to the line past Hawthorn Rowing Club where the rest of the regatta is eagerly watching from up on the banks. It is such an awesome way to finish off this massive race.”
As you come out of Big Bend, aim for the south bank where you will use this as a reset point with 4.5km left to go. The next bridge you will approach will be MacRobertson Bridge – try to go through the centre arch and aim for the south bank to line you up for Burnley Railway Bridge. Again, pass on the south bank arch. For the Freeway, aim for the central arch; if there are other crews around here, you can overtake them on the 450m Scotch College Straight afterwards. Be aware that there is lots of sediment on the north bank on the inside corner so don’t try to cut this too much.
For the next corner labelled O, you’ll want to try and stay in the centre. Don’t be tempted to cut the corner here. Thenm drift over to the south side (right-hand bank).
The penultimate bridge is Wallen Road Bridge, which is a tight one, where you will aim for the centre arch! You will want to have got all of your overtaking completed before this bridge as there’s no overtaking between here and Hawthorn Railway Bridge. You will now have a big left-hand turn to contend with that you can use just the rudder for, and you’ll want to aim to stay wide or in the centre of the river.
Hawthorn Bridge is the final bridge with no arch, and you’ll want to stay straight down the middle. Be wary of low-hanging trees after the bridge and the closed-off right-hand side of the river that is shut off for other crews returning to land.
Wishing all coxes and crews the best of luck!
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