Sulkavan Suursoudut
Encyclopedia
Ocean rowing
Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. The sport is as much a psychological as it is a physical challenge. Rowers often have to endure long periods at sea without help often many days if not weeks away. The challenge is especially acute for solo rowers who are held in especially high...
race, held every July in Sulkava
Sulkava
Sulkava is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
, Southern Savonia
Southern Savonia
Southern Savonia is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders to the regions Northern Savonia, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijänne Tavastia, and Central Finland...
, Eastern Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The first competition was held in 1968. The boats used in competitions are Finnish traditional style wooden rowing boats, normally now made of plywood. Since 1984 there have been competitions in 40 foot 'church-boats', 14 seat craft plus a cox that were traditionally used in church trips. The race route is approximately 60 kilometers. Current records of the competition are 5.05.50 for men singles, 6.05.53 for women singles; the church boats travel the distance in about 4 hours.
Between 7- and 8,000 competitors and 20,000 spectators take part in Sulkavan Suursoudut every July. 2010 saw the introduction of the World Masters Rowing Event for church-boats, attracting 13 crews from abroad. The competition was held over distances of 2 and 60 kilometers. The fastest foreign crew over the latter distance was the squad Eco from Russia, finishing in 4 hours 48 minutes, 45 minutes behind the winning squad, Joutele from Helsinki, Finland
External links
- http://www.suursoudut.fi/en/Competition homepage in English
- http://www.suursoudut.fi/kuvagalleria/ Crew photos and more from 2005 to present
- Route map
- http://www.wmrowing-sulkava.fi/ home page of World Championship organizers
- http://woodenboat.com/boat/?p=907 - great picture and short preview of event
- http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=81202147748&ref - Facebook page