Readers may have noticed that AON ended their sponsorship of Rowing New Zealand in October last year. It appears that the underlying reason is that globally they have withdrawn from the Marine Pleasurecraft Insurance market. Rebecca Caroe and Natalee Taylor had insurance with AON for their 2x and were advised that the business had been transferred to AMI who would "see you right". After much discussion with brokers and the AMI team, it appears that they will not insure privat

Rowing New Zealand is launching a national series of Masters Training Camps in 2026. They are now inviting clubs to express interest in hosting one of these weekend camps. Camp Overview Each camp will include: • Four on-water sessions in big boats (more where possible) • Erg and technical video analysis • Education seminars • Individual feedback for participants (videos) Camps will cater for 16–24 masters rowers, grouped by ability. These initial camps are not designed for ra

Your rowing club is probably like many others, dependent on external sources of money to run your club each year. Whether you apply for grants or host sausage sizzles, both are time consuming and raise money only for the current season. Next year you have to do it all over again. How to get away from sausage sizzles, give-a-little, and endless grant applications.  How to become a self-funding club with strong community connections. Your questions answered   There is another

Consider this: ninety percent of the time, your boathouse building and equipment sits idle. Between morning and evening training sessions, during midday weekdays, and throughout slower seasons, your valuable facilities generate no income. What if you could change that?   The concept of sweating your assets was famously pioneered by McDonald's in the 1970s. Ray Kroc realised that his restaurants sat largely empty during morning hours, with staff and buildings incurring costs b

Photo: Grant Craies leading the crew from the boat park. Photo Credit: Melanie Lo The famous Auckland schools regatta, Head of the Harbour, has started adding Masters events to the schedule.  Run on Saturday 7th February there were strong entries in the Masters single sculls event with West End's Amanda Badger winning and Brittany Smith coming second. Honourable mention to the lone Cambridge Sculler. Jen Muller making the journey north.   The masters Doubles event was also wo

A small regional rowing regatta in New Zealand has sparked an unexpected debate about what happens when elite athletes compete alongside weekend warriors.   The Blue Lake Regatta, known for its relaxed atmosphere and community feel, recently hosted Olympic gold medallist Emma Twigg and fellow elite rowers Finn Hamill, Matt Dunham, and Michael Brake competing in a range of events including mixed masters eight, quad and double. Their participation drew an angry response from on

Sue Wright chair of the working group has presented a proposed strategy for masters rowing to the Rowing NZ CEO, Simon Wickham, on 14th October 2025.

The team ready for action Spring weather in Rotorua Roll up, Roll up Cambridge RC novice four Cambridge RC novice four using their winners glasses Alice Beban, Hawkes Bay RC won 1x Alana Hawke, BOPC raced 1x Rose Lampen-Smith, Inge Morton, Claire Russell, Lorraine Anderson from St Georges RC North Shore masters RC winning 8 Jill Edwards and Alana Hawke, BOPC won new masters 2x

Maclaine Stuart I wanted to thank you again for the money towards my U19 campaign to attend the World Champs in Lithuania. The grant provided was a huge help towards the overall costs and I am very grateful. Sorry for the delay in updating you, I spent a bit of time travelling after and have […]

Our juniors did us proud in Trakei Lithuania at the U19 World Rowing Championships. The photo below shows the recipients of $3,000 donations from the Legion of Rowers members. The full team is listed on ​Rowing NZ website​. World Rowing results

Rowing is a sport which should be very aligned with climate action. As water users we are very aware of variable water levels and weather patterns changing. I’m sure you have experienced a regatta cancellation due to high winds. The World Rowing Federation is actively supporting three UN Sustainable Development Goals #13 on Climate Action, […]

Masters rowers, we are just over a month away from 2025 NZ Masters Rowing Champs in Twizel!! This year, your registration to enter is different. Rowing Connect is the new individual registration system for Rowing New Zealand. This means everyone participating in rowing this season will need to self-register. NZ Masters Champs entries open 11th September and […]

Rowing can create harmony at home or rowing can rock the domestic boat. For a masters racer who regularly competes in addition to a busy work schedule, time-blocking to give enough attention to a non-rowing partner has its challenges. If the scales are not balanced, all-day weekend regattas, early morning practices, long rows, mixed boat […]

Administrator of the Year Chris Williams, Whangarei Rowing Club Chris Williams has been a dedicated member of the Whangarei Rowing Club since 2011, beginning asa Masters rower and evolving into a highly respected coach and President. His unwaveringcommitment to the club and its athletes is evident in the countless hours he devotes each week tocoaching, […]

Rowing New Zealand’s Community and Schools Rowing Co-Ordinator emailed this letter to all clubs on 15th July 2025. Please ensure your club committee and your masters members respond with feedback before the 29 August deadline. Hello Rowing Community, A Strategy for the Future of Masters Rowing in New Zealand In July 2024, Rowing New Zealand […]

An athlete asked this question Anyone familiar with imposter syndrome in middle aged athletes and how to get past it? I mean, not me, obviously, just asking generally. It is surprisingly common to find masters rowers thinking that they are less skilled, less deserving of being in good crew lineups and generally “talk themselves down”. […]

We have a giant list of trophies which were won (see document at the end of the article). And a correspondingly giant photo gallery of winners. Full 1k/500m regatta results list. Full Long distance 5k results list. Grateful thanks to Adie Pederson and Mike Harrison for taking the photos. Trophies Presented Singles 16 – Masters Para single […]

There have been some changes to the conditions of racing – please be aware. Summary of principal changes. See file below for the full details. Entries Open: April 3rd at 10 am Entries Close: April 17th at 10 pm Supplementary Entries Open: April 19th at 10 am Supplementary Entries Close: April 30th at 10 pm SCRATCHING FEE to apply […]

Looking for the right training recipe to boost your results this year? Race pace workouts are a key ingredient for boat speed. Your conditioning is going to improve through the season. In the early weeks develop a solid base of fitness and technique where you stick to lower intensity workouts until you feel your technique […]

The Regatta Committee are keen to get more trophies to present and when asking around, the Auckland Rowing Association told us “we’ve got lots of trophies which are no longer presented”. Wow, what a find! Terry Tidbury reviewed the cupboard full of cups and found among them the WG Mason coxless fours trophy first presented […]