August 1998

Dear Sprints Regatta Participant(s),

The races are listed in the sequence they were run, including heats and finals. Two races that were split into two sections, with awards presented in each section, are shown as "A" and "B" races. Others that were split, but had the sections combined for awards purposes, are shown as single races.

Thank you for participating in the regatta and helping make the 20th anniversary version (counting predecessor regattas) a success. We particularly appreciated the presence of out- of-town and out-of-state crews and scullers who traveled long distances.

Our traditional good luck held again with the weather, but, unfortunately, not with the aquatic weeds. Our regrets if you were impeded by them. The rapid growth of the duckweed, followed by an equally rapid decline, is a regular occurence on Lake Merritt in late spring and early summer, but never in our collective memory has the stuff persisted past mid- July. Perhaps another thing to blame on El Nino and the extraordinary weather patterns this year. The City of Oakland does some cutting and harvesting, but cannot always keep up because of manpower and budget limitations. We are developing contingency plans for next year, in case the growth season is unusually late again.

The tentative date for the 1999 Sprints Regatta is Sunday, July 31. As many of you know by now, the USRowing Masters Nationals will be held on Lake Merritt in the year 2000. We will be gradually upgrading our regatta equipment, and the 1999 regatta will be, in some respects, an early trial run for the Nationals. By next year we are also hoping to augment our regatta crews with additional volunteers from other Northern California rowing organizations, anticipating the increased personnel requirements of the Nationals.

The popularity of specific events tends to change over the years. To assist us with updating the program we plan to solicit your recommendations in a preliminary mailer next spring. In the meantime, if you have suggestions or comments, or would like to volunteer to help at future Sprints and at the Nationals, you are welcome to contact Doug Dove (mail: 369 42nd Street, Oakland, CA 94609; phone: 510 654-7402; e-mail ddove@flash.net).

See you next year.

The Regatta Committee

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