Kiwis row the marathon Canal du Midi

It's become a name familiar across masters rowing circles - the Canal Du Midi - built in 1666 for King Louis the 14th of France, it connects the towns of Toulouse on the Atlantic coast with Beziers on the Mediterranean coast. for one week a year, rowing boats are authorised to use the waterway and a volunteer organisation runs the "Rallye" - loosely translated as a tour - using "Yolette" boats. These are like coastal coxed quads and are supplied and owned by the French rowing federation.

The event is hugely international - the organisers wonder how so many of us hear about it - and this year teams from UK, Germany, Australia, France and of course New Zealand were touring. Wanaka sported two crews and North Shore/Mercer, one.

Each day the crews covered up to 45 km of canal with "portages" around locks in heat which began at 27 degrees and rapidly escalated to 38 degrees. Lunchtime stops for amazing food under the riverbank or trees in town squares gave plenty of rest before re-starting the afternoon rows.

Lifting the Yolette out of the water [click picture to view video]

The photo gallery shows some of the shenanigans we experienced - changing seats in the boats on the water, lifting and lowering the boats in and out of the canal and rolling the boat on a trolley round the locks.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•