Part of

Rowing Venues

Google Earth Links:

Open the links using Google Earth and you will find them referenced in "Temporary Places" in the "Places" box on the left-hand side of your screen.  Clicking on a u mark will drop down a menu (and show a q mark).  We have split the rowing venues in to "Other" (so far containing Henley, Wallingford, Lake Mercer, Strathclyde, Lake Jarun and Lake Karipiro) and "South Africa" (with venues mention further below).

Note that our placemarker is a Rowing icon.     OK, so we might improve it over time but for now this one will do.  The default file only has one marker checked per venue, but a number of venues have more markers available (including start/finish positions and even directions to get there).  You can of course scope out the surrounding terrain if you so desire.

As an aside, you can also check out Google Moon.  Try zooming in on the Moon's surface and then zoom in as far as it will go.

Western Cape

Berg River Dam (proposed)

There were proposals to utilise Berg River Dam as a rowing venue.  At the time of writing the dam was nearing completion.  Due to requirements that the dam be kept pristine there are problems in getting rowing traffic on the dam, especially petrol-powered umpires launches and safety boats.  The may be other opportunities to consider - watch this space.

Eikenhof Dam

Eikenhof, near Elgin, is the venue of most Western Cape standard regattas.  The course is close to 2000m in length.

Knysna

Knysna provides a venue for midway regattas - midway between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.  Two regattas take place annually  -  the school's regatta and the senior's regatta.  The specific location is under review; the existing location provides for a 900m course.

Melck Run

First run on 18th June 2006, the Melck Run is the Western Cape equivalent of the long row in Gauteng.  The length of the race is approximately 18km.

Misverstand Dam

Misverstand Dam provides a fine venue for training as well as being the venue for Western Cape boat races.  The river is navigable for about 12km upstream from the dam wall, meaning that a boat of around 6.2km is perfectly feasible.

The Waterfront

The Cape Town waterfront is a premier tourist destination.  The Waterfront Regatta showcases rowing in Cape Town. It is a stunning, if busy, venue. Races are short (under 500m) and challenging (tight course) but spectators can get excellent views from many different vantage points.

Zeekoe Vlei

Zeekoe Vlei is a close surburban venue for practicing rowing in the Western Cape.  There are regular 500m sprint races in the bay in front of Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club and a 2000m course down the main part of the vlei is a possibility.

Elsewhere in South Africa

We will add up-country venues over time.  For starters we have the following venues:

Roodeplaat Dam

Roodeplaat Dam is the venue for all major Gauteng-based regattas.  The venue has a permanent 2000m course.

Buffalo River

The annual Buffalo regatta takes place on the Buffalo River in East London.  The regatta caters for school and senior entries.

Port Alfred

Port Alfred is the venue of the Schools Boat Race and the Universities Boat Race.  The Kowie River is navigable for several kilometres upstream, easily yielding a 6.2km course for racing.

Other

There are a number of other South African venues listed in our Google Earth links.  We will provide more detail on these in due course.  They include:

• Belfast Dam in Mpumalanga
• Boathouse Row - proposed Olympic-standard rowing venue in Gauteng.
• Durban Harbour in Kwazulu-Natal
• Ebenezer Dam in Limpopo
• Van Der Kloof Dam (Orange River) - venue for SASSUR sprints
• Victoria Lake
• Wemmer Pan

Internationally

We are looking forward to adding links to a number of international rowing venues.  These will include links to local sites as well as our own descriptions of how to get there (and why you would want to do so).

Croatia

• Lake Jarun

United Kingdom

• Henley