Coastal Rowing & Touring Australia (CRATA) is a Club aimed at fostering Coastal Rowing in all its formats. Ocean challenge racing (6-8km endurance races), Beach Sprint Racing (sprinting down the beach, rowing out to buoys over 250m, then back to the beach with a sprint up the beach to the finish line), and Adventure Tour Rowing.
Coastal rowing is the extreme version, the adventure side of rowing. It involves rowing along the coast and out into the sea and is one of the fastest growing communities of rowers around the world.
Handling the boats in pumping waves, strong tides and wind requires skill. However, just knowing how to handle a coastal boat is not sufficient to become a good coastal rower. Crew must be able to negotiate tides and currents plus navigation, and understand maritime traffic rules, buoys and what to do in cases of bad weather. When racing you have to interact with all the other boats and negotiate turns at the buoys and beach breaks.
Coastal Rowing and Touring Australia (CRATA) is a Club with members in two states and a fleet of boats based in two locations.
Our members come from traditional rowing backgrounds and by direct entry to the sport.
There are no Australian manufacturers of FISA class coastal rowing boats yet. Therefore, the boats are fully imported. This significantly adds to their cost.
The Australian coastal rowing fleet is continuing to grow with accelerated interest, in recent years. Rowing Australia and State Rowing authorities will develop refine strategies for the growth of the sport.
World Rowing Beach Sprint Pescara, France.
Racing these boats is an absolute blast! You can surf waves and crash over rolling swells, the boats are very manoeuvrable. Pitting yourself and your skill against other boats and the elements is a completely exhilarating challenge.
Endurance Racing is conducted on courses close to the coast in front of crowds where possible. Women and men row the same course. Beach Sprint Racing has also becoming very popular. These races are match races with two/four boats over approx. 250m, out and back, zig zagging between buoys in lanes. Similar to surf boat racing, but without the steep waves.
In the UK and France athletes move freely from Coastal Rowing boats into fine boats and back again with no difficulty. Coastal rowing is often used for endurance training, it’s fun and relieves the monotony of early morning starts or choppy conditions.
When cruising you can row the coastline/ rivers and drop into a cafe or pub, or just take a snack and pull up on a beach and brew up.