RegattaCentral

The 2019 ROWONTARIO Championships Regatta is hosted at Fanshawe Lake, home of Western University's rowing program, UWO Boat Club, Western Rowing Club, and now the London Rowing Club, which is also the home club to several high school affiliate programs.  

As part of it's 3 year partnership with ROWONTARIO, UWO Boat Club has committed to signficant upgrades to the infrastructure at Fanshawe Lake.  In 2018, the 1st year of the host agreement, upgrades were made to the race course itself (such as installing new buoy lines), the grandstands, and in partnership with Hudson Boatworks a brand new, fixed start platform was built and installed, including a removable control center. 

In 2019, work continued on the start platform.  An integrated light and sound start system was installed, as well as an elevated platform for umpires.  Umpires at the start will also have a dock to use for alignment in 2019, rather than being on the muddy beach. Much of the focus in 2019, though, has been in two areas - network infrastructure and site expansion.  Again with the help of the experts at Hudson Boatworks, host UWO Boat Club has put in a lot of work to strengthen the internet network around the regatta site to meet the needs of the FinishLynx timing system and the management of entries and the race draw between the Regatta Office and the finish tower.  A significant challenge of the site is that connectivity is limited in certain areas of the conservation area, but with the new antenna on the boat house and a new wireless repeater, it is expected to be greatly improved. 

The second major area of focus has been on site expansion.  Extensive work has been done since the spring to clear brush and create more space for trailer parking, racks for small boats, and increase the amount of parking available to cars.  Work has also been done to address the bumpy trek to the grandstand area, making it more accessible for those with a disability as well as vendors.