Our juniors are about to embark on their annual ergathon, a morning spent chipping away at 20 miles on the erg. Would you like to support them? They certainly need it. What they’re about to do is a challenge!
Here’s how to chip in: https://www.gofundme.com/f/BRASS-ergathon. The success of the program depends upon support like this.
Thank you in advance!!
Connell was the winner of the first erg raffle we offered. Look how happy he is that he participated!
Though he loves his erg, he stores it at the boathouse and has loaned it to us indefinitely. So not only did Connell support us by buying a ticket, but he did so again by giving us access to this invaluable piece of equipment. See, he’ll even get off it for you to use.
So, you want to buy a ticket now? Here’s how to do it. Follow this link. Or, if you don’t have a Regatta Central account, email us at berkshirerowingandsculling@gmail.com. And don’t you worry about getting your prize-winning erg when your ticket is drawn: Concept 2 will ship it right to you!
We are embarking on our 3rd Annual Concept 2 Ergometer raffle giveaway! When you buy a ticket for this raffle, you do important work in supporting out club financially while also buying a chance to win the most durable, versatile, and challenging piece of fitness equipment available.
On an erg, you can do resistance and weight training as well as cardio challenges, all while keeping it low-impact and low risk of injury. Plus, ergs break down and stow away easily. This blog-writer keeps hers in bathroom corner, wheeling it out each day through the winter months for those Concept 2 challenges that keep you on the rail.
Here’s how to buy a ticket via Regatta Central. If you don’t have an RC account, just email the club at berkshirerowingandsculling@gmail.com and we’ll get you in on it with a paper ticket.
We’re not going to lie to you. It’s been a tough year as far as staffing goes. We’ve had difficulty finding reliable help. But the ones we’ve got have been great.
Take Loren, for example. His second year with Berkshire Rowing, Loren is affable to the core. Eager to greet you (even at six in the morning), quick to help (even with awkward, sometimes heavy equipment), chipper in conversation (even when it’s foggy, windy, rainy, or cold), Loren is also, it turns out, good to have nearby when things get rocky.righting the tippled
One of our members wrote of her experience:
I am very grateful Loren returned to the boathouse this summer. Last Saturday, it was windy, and I was leery of heading out onto the lake in a single. Loren gave me strategies, though–clear and with confidence in my abilities; and then he was ready at the dock to celebrate with me when I returned.
The next day I was set to enjoy my 25th row of the season, and I was elated with my speed and my ability to implement what I’d learned at the winter erg classes. Loren was staffing the boathouse again, and he celebrated with me.
The following day, though, I had a tougher time, starting right as I was leaving the dock. Those singles are twitchy, and that day this inherent instability left me feeling rattled. But Loren was there to help me, to right and stabilize the boat, and talk me through my ambivalence about heading out anyway. He reassured me that I would have a good row–which I did.
Loren has been of inestimable help to me rowing this summer. He is knowledgeable, always courteous, and his suggestions are given with great encouragement and awareness of my abilities. I am thankful each morning I arrive at Ononta to see Loren on deck.
Taylor, a new staff member at the boathouse, is eager to help out, open to learning about rowing, and all-around great presence.
A native of eastern Massachusetts, Taylor moved to the Berkshires a year and a half ago. She lives close to the boathouse, and enjoys the company of her boyfriend and her two cats. She works full-time at Target, and therefore appreciates the hours here among the very-early-morning set since she can manage both jobs.
Give her a warm welcome, as she has filled a great gap in our rowing season and done it with warmth and good humor.
As a club, small though we are, we have some amazing volunteers, dedicated not only to rowing and to making the usually elite (which is to say expensive) sport of rowing available to those who aren’t of the British aristocracy, but dedicated even more so to the city of Pittsfield, its social and natural potential and need. Those of us who know BCR best know that we’re potentially a force for good here in a place that we love.
So, we build–the Cuyler boathouse, Boathouse B, and most recently the oar closets that will make our storage of gear more efficient. And who would you find at the foundation of all this building? 
Randy, of course.
Chris, of course.
There are others–chiefly Karl, who built the walls of the oar closets, ordered the garage door for them, got permits from the city, so it would all be on the up-and-up, and probably took the pictures above (so he wouldn’t have to be in one of the pictures above).
So, thank you to all our volunteers, most recently exemplified in Karl, Randy, and Chris, though including many others. From those who row, from those who will one day row, from those who long to see Pittsfield and Berkshire County a place of community, mutual respect, and teamwork in all sorts of ways: THANK YOU!
We have a new coach. Having (sadly) sent Tanya along to her next chapter in life, we’re now pleased to have found Mike, who will bring his own talent and enthusiasm to the task of bringing up juniors and making faster masters.
Here’s what he has to say for himself: “I’m from here in Pittsfield, but I went to Boston for high school and eventually college. It was at Endicott College where I learned about rowing. Thinking I’d do baseball most seriously, at the encouragement of a friend, I tried club rowing.
One practice on the erg and I was hooked. just drew me into the sport.
Here are two of our juniors erging a 5k instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning. Why, just look at those shadows. You have to ge tup early in the morning to see shadows that long in early summer. 
They say ergs don’t float, but spending time on one certainly can help you move a boat faster. Well done, guys!
Ergs in summer always feel a little insulting. But…
…the fog can roll in fast over Onota, and is often surprisingly slow to lift. So you do what you must. Way to persevere, folks!
The Festival Regatta is always a fun way to end the spring season for our juniors (and our masters sometimes, though none raced this year). Our juniors, and our fearless coach Tanya, were bright spots on the dock and yellow blurs as they came down the course.
It was a gorgeous day!
Unfortunately, few other clubs sent their juniors, so ours ended up rowing against each other. But that can bring out a fighting spirit that makes everyone better.
