March 20, 2011 With the recent warm weather, the ice is fast clearing from the Cousins River. We expect to have the dock in place and boats at the yard by mid-April.
While most  of were awaiting the spring thaw, Dusty Carter and George Hamilton (once again) took home a first place finish at the Life Saving Museum's 32nd Annual Snow Row on March 12th in the Livery-Double category. The race was held at Windmill Point Boathouse in Hull, Massachusetts. Some great photos of the event can be found here.
And for some added motivation, watch crews make the most of the icy waters of Canada. Here's a great video from the Grand Defi Des Glaces. January 6, 2011
 YRC rowers are meeting at Fitness Success in Yarmouth for circuit training led by our own Monica Swan. She offers training classes Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:30 am. Contact Monica directly at mswan7@gmail.com for details.
There's also plenty of erging to be done. Several of us participated in Concept2's Holiday Challenge and are now engaged in the January Virtual Team Challenge. Crossfit Casco Bay is holding the 2nd Annual Maine Indoor Rowing Championships on February 5th. For more information, click here.
 Want to take a BIG adventure (or just dream about it)? How about rowing the Upper Zambezi River from the Angolan border to Victoria Falls with Row Zambezi this summer?
And finally, for those of you who are visiting this site as a way to procrastinate and avoid the erg, check out Princeton's Boathouse Tri video. Annual President's Report  Ahh, winter in Maine! Whether that initial sound is one of blissful enjoyment or anguished frustration, the season is finally showing its true colors, with browns and grays and whites predominating. We, who are accustomed to the sleekness of spandex, who sweat even in the pre-dawn crispness of November, are bundling into bulky coats, swathing ourselves in mittens and scarves, and slipping toe warmers into our boots. And yet, when we drive past bodies of water, we still consider the rowing conditions every time I see flat water, the anticipation of spring sends a little buzz through me.
And, like all things, the rowing season will be on us before we know it. And even perhaps especially those of us who spent the last season on the sidelines, due to injury or illness or simply logistics the lure of the river remains strong. But I wax rhapsodic. There is much still happening: Bob and I continue our search for the next club boats. Our hope is to find an upgrade for the Sunshine, and, if funds allow, to purchase another 2X for general club use, along with sculling blades to go with them. Please remember that YRC is a registered non-profit organization, and that donations to the Club will enable us to invest in better equipment. There is talk of a Great YRC Preseason Triathlon. The planning is in early stages, but now that Ive written it down we will need to get serious. We will entertain any notions or ideas you have to make this fun for everyone. 2010 was a great year for YRC, with new members ranging from young elites to novice masters, to former National teamers. We had more boats and rowers in more races than ever before, with great success I, for one, look forward to being (back) on the water in 2011. Happy Winter! CC
November 14, 2010
Our racing season concluded with a terrific showing at the Head of the Charles on October 23rd & 24th. The club raced boats in the Senior Masters Men's 4+, Masters Women's 4+, Senior Masters Men's 2x, and Lightweight Women's Single. Congratulations to the Senior Men's 4+ for earning a guaranteed place for 2011, finishing 13th out of a field of 36. For full results, click here. Other racing included:  YRC Open 4+ sport their tats
July 10, 2010 Saturday marked an historic event in the State of Maine as YRC and Portland Community Rowing competed inwhat is believed to be thefirst everclub scrimmage on the Back Cove in Portland. Club members raced eights over an improvised 1,000 meter course. Click here to see local media coverage. July 7, 2010 Fresh PRESSURIZED water is finally here. A newpump was justinstalled on the water collection tanks that makes cleaning the boats easier and faster. Don't forget that there's plenty of great local racing this summer. Check out the Maine Rowing Association website for details.  July 3, 2010  The summer rowing season is in full swing with boats going out almost every morning. The water and the weather have been beautiful.
March 8, 2010 
Don and Dusty Carter took first place in the Livery 2x class at Saturday's Snow Row andGeorge Hamiliton paired with Brian Chourney to take second place. See full results here. Meanwhile, the YRC Wms 4+ traveled to sunny Boston on Sundayfor a headstart on the sweep rowing season. January 3, 2010
A brave few ventured out for a New Year's Day row in the snow. Others are erging, skiing, and meeting weekly for yoga (rowga). We'll be back on the water officially in mid-April.
2009 President's Report- Excerpt 2009 provided a marvelous rowing summer despite dreadful weather for the first seven weeks of summer. As we segued from April to May and finally to June we gathered numbers both new and old; taught a few novices, raced the youth crews, and started working into groups of regular rowers.
Many of us raced this summer, some for the first time, in many different races: George and Mac continued their dominance in smaller boats, starting with the February Snow Row and ending not long before the ice came in. The Kennebec 5K saw several YRC boats, despite near-dangerous water. The Cow Island Classic and the Maine State Championships kept rowers local, while a few of us ventured farther afield, traveling to New Jersey and Philadelphia for sprint racing.
The Club floated six fours at the Textile River Regatta five youth crews proving their mettle, and the Masters Women repeating their victory from last year. We floated seven boats at the New Hampshire Championships, with the same Youth boats, the Senior Masters Men taking third, and a Womens Double winning the Masters race.
And, in the crowning event of Fall racing, the Head of the Charles, The Masters women managed to get on the podium with a third place showing, while the Senior Masters men secured that elusive guaranteed entry by finishing in the top half of a very tough field. So congratulations to all who raced.
CC November 29, 2009  The club enjoyed a final row on the Cousins River on the
Sunday following Thanksgiving - now an annual event. We then de-rigged the boats and transported them to the Stockly's for a thorough washing. The fleet is now safely stored in the barn for the cold Maine winter. Thank you CC & Ayres for storing our boats and for the delicious chili lunch!
October 18, 2009 Congratulations to the YRC Women's Master 4+ on their 3rd place finish at the Head of the Charles. The YRC Men's Senior Master 4+ placed in the top half of their field and secured a guaranteed entry for 2010. July 5, 2009
Summer Session Underway: We just came off of a great tide cycle. Boats were out every morning. It was great to see the full range of rowers on the river - from new rowers right out of our learn-to-row program to more experienced rowers training for Masters' Nationals in August. Yes, We Have (nearly) Fresh Water!After several long seasons of hauling water from home in 5 gallon pails, x-large thermoses, and recycled apple juice bottles, we now are collecting and storing water off of a nearby roof. With all the rain so far this season, we've had plenty of water to thoroughly wash the boats every morning. Join us on Facebook:Search Yarmouth Rowing Club, and you will find our group on Facebook. Upcoming Racing: Pre-registration for the Kennebec Row 5k closes this Monday, July 6th. The course is beautiful, and the lunch that follows is always outstanding. Several YRC members have already signed up. Visit www.rowmaine.org for details. And don't forget, the Maine State Championships (aka Highland Lake Regatta) is Saturday, August 1st. May 9, 2009 YRC's Don Carter and George Hamilton dominated the competition at this year's Essex River 5.5 mile open water race in the fixed seat double category. They beat the second place boat by over 6 minutes. The Essex River Race is open to all seaworthy human-powered rowing and paddle boats. Participants' crafts usually include Banks dories, fixed seat singles, doubles, multi-oars with cox, multi-oars without cox, sliding seat singles & doubles, single & double touring kayaks Sunday, April 19, 2009 Thank you to the volunteers that came down to the boat yard for the club workday last weekend. The wooden rack has been replaced with a more streamlined metal rack and most of the fours are now rigged and ready to row.
Sunday, April 5, 2009  Our Women's Masters 4+ from the Head of the Charles traveled to California in early April to compete at the San Diego Crew Classic. They joined four other women and a fearless coxswain from Avalon Rowing Club to race in an eight. They finished 3rd in the Women's Masters "C" race.
November 30, 2008 Our 2008 rowing season has officially
ended. Two crews enjoyed a final row this morning on the Cousins River. The dock was icy and the temperature was in the 30's - but, it was the last chance to be on the water until next April! 
Club members then gathered at the
boatyard to wash and de-rig the boats. The boats were thoroughly cleaned and inspected before being loaded onto the trailer. They traveled just a few miles up the road to the Stockly's barn, where they will spend the winter. Thank you to all the members who helped out this morning. 
Friday, November 14, 2008 
You can't miss the YRC Senior Master Men's 4+ on page 33 of the December issue of Rowing News! The captions reads "Crews jockey for position on one of the many twists and turns at the Head of the Charles Regatta."
Saturday, October 18, 2008 Two YRC boats competed at the 2008 Head of the Charles. Our Master Womens 4+ finished fourth out of a field of twenty-three and thus earned a guaranteed entry for next year. Our Senior Master Mens 4+ finished 14th out of 26th boats. For full results click http://www.hocr.org/results/results.asp 
YRC's Master Womens 4+ gains on Carnegie Lake Rowing Association
October, 2006 The club was featured on WCSH6 Bill Green's Maine on Saturday night, October 21, 2006 at 7 PM. Here is a link to the video.
October, 2005 October 19, 2005
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD
Sports page D1
Going Back to Rowing
GLENN JORDAN Staff Writer
Regan Hornney's peppy commands pierced the predawn gloom on the gravel-strewn bank of the Cousins River. "Hands on. Over the head. Ready? Up." Four sets of arms lifted the long yellow rowing shell and carried it above scrap wood scattered like steps over the mud to a narrow metal gangplank and onto a wooden float.
Roll it to the waist," said Hornney, an energetic woman holding a small tan seat cushion and a red coffee mug. "Ready? Down."
The boat splashed gently into the water. In the distance, rumbling tires from Interstate 295 could be heard. Behind thick gray clouds, the rising sun cast a pale light on the proceedings.
Regan and I used to yell at each other from across a courtroom," said Bob Checkoway, a retired lawyer wearing a drab gray sweat shirt with "Brown Univ. Crew" stenciled across the chest. "Now she gets to yell at me from this boat."
Hornney, of Yarmouth, is the coxswain for Checkoway and three other members of the Yarmouth Rowing Club who will compete in the 41st annual Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend in Boston.
The fledgling YRC, which operates out of the Lowell Brothers boatyard down a dirt road off Route 1, is sending two four-man boats with coxswains to the prestigious regatta.
The Senior Masters Four (average age must exceed 50) includes Checkoway of Freeport, Steve Westra of Cumberland, Tyler Clements of Yarmouth and Henry Scott of Portland. They technically will compete under the auspices of the Maine Rowing Association because the Head of the Charles accepts through lottery only one boat per rowing club.
Using the same yellow Dirigo shell but rowing under the YRC banner will be a Masters Four boat (average age above 40) pulled by George Hamilton of Portland, Mike Stefanakos of Freeport, Shaun Meredith of Harpswell and Don Carter of New Gloucester. Their coxswain is 15-year-old Zach Hynes, a sophomore at Yarmouth High.
"He's with us weekends and Wednesdays, when they start school late," Carter said of Hynes, who learned of the opportunity through a friend's father, a YRC member. "He's worked hard for (two) years. We could have had one of these more experienced coxswains steer our boat, but he's earned it."
Navigating the twists and turns of the Charles and avoiding the bridge abutments as well as competing boats that start at 10-second intervals can test even the most veteran coxswains.
A good coxswain can lop seconds off your time. An inexperienced one . . . well, there's a reason the banks near bridges are usually filled with spectators.
"It's a little like a fuel-free NASCAR," Checkoway said, "because people gather at the bridges and try to watch the collisions."
Checkoway, who's 53, returns to the regatta for the first time since 1972, when he rowed for Brown. He had come to Lowell Brothers to look at a boat when he noticed the rowing shells sitting atop a wooden rack among the weeds. The sight rekindled an old flame.
The experience of rowing, of being a cog in a perfectly synchronized machine, of walking this tightrope between balance and brute strength by means of precise technique, is something that stays with a person long after college.
Of course, muscle memory doesn't immediately translate into muscle ability.
"To go out and row six miles at a leisurely pace after not having done that for 30 years makes you want to go back and go to sleep for the rest of the morning" Checkoway said. "Other than that, I've been pleasantly surprised by how well it's gone."
Scott, who's 59, rowed in the second Head of the Charles when he was a sophomore at Boston University. He had not been in a boat since the early '70s until he saw a story about the Yarmouth Rowing Club in the Maine Sunday Telegram last summer.
"Having a club in this neck of the woods is phenomenal," said Scott, who runs a machine shop in Biddeford. "To me, that's the biggest story - the club actually being here.
"Nobody thinks of Portland, Maine, as a rowing community, but there are a number of old rowing members here who had an idea and made it happen."
Limited by tide tables and work schedules, united by their love for rowing, this aging quartet will start 19th of 19 boats Saturday morning. Should they finish within five percent of the winning time, they will receive an automatic invitation to next year's Head of Charles Regatta.
"It's like the script from every war movie you've ever seen," Checkoway said, "a rag-tag bunch whipped into shape to become an effective fighting unit. . . . It's a pretty auspicious thing to do for a homely little group like us." | 
Yarmouth Rowing Club
