Boaty McBoatface: The Surprise of a Lifetime for One Rower

As a small-scale manufacturer of a high-end product, we often have the pleasure of having meaningful contact with our customers long after the sale has been made. It's one of the many things we love about being RESOLUTE. Not only do we have the honor of building fast boats for some of the most talented athletes in the world, it is our great enjoyment to know the stories and personal goals of those we serve. Those stories give meaning and value to the work we do -- and it shows. From the way we rally together to get a surprise boat unveiled at just the right time to how we show up at those unexpected moments when a crew needs us for a part, we know our clients' stories and are always on board to see them flourish. 



In the case of Boaty McBoatface, the team at RESOLUTE was alight with excitement as we prepared to send the new shell as a surprise to Liam from his mum, Barbara, in Australia back in October. It seems 'Boaty McBoatface' is what happens whenever you ask the internet to decide on a name, and it became quite the sensation. What initiated as a reference to the similarly-named polar research vessel earlier in 2016 set the stage for a similar naming contest on social media for what to call Liam's new RESOLUTE. And so, 'Boaty McBoatface' won the poll. Barbara frequently wrote in, giving us updates on the unveiling, the first rows and the first reactions. Earlier this month, we were reminded of what an honor it is to have that kind of personal relationship with our customers. We'll let Liam tell the rest of the story --

Dear RESOLUTE,

I was given your contact details by my mum, Barbara Ramjan, who gave me possibly the biggest surprise of my life by arranging with you all to secretly obtain a fantastic Resolute Z1 1x late last year. In short, the boat is absolutely wonderful, and I just wanted to say thank you to you all for such an impressive piece of kit!

My rowing backghround started way back in about 1998, when I first began rowing at a club in Balmain, NSW Australia.  I was originally famously slow to learn, with one of the older members commenting that I "couldn't row out of sight on a dark night!" However, I absolutely loved it, and was soon racing and really enjoying the competitive side of the sport.  I learned to move a 1x much more quickly, and as I enjoyed the sport and became quicker, I started winning races (something I honestly thought I would NEVER do when I began in the sport). Although I've never made a State or National Team, I have really enjoyed my 18 or so years in the sport, and have won my share of races, including a state 500m sprint championship, and an invitational 200m event in 36.77 seconds (ave 1:32/500m).  I've always liked the sprint events over the regular 2,000m distance, though I have raced plenty of both. 

I don't mean to say any of the above to talk myself up or to suggest I am any more than a club rower and long-time tragic who loves his sport - more recently I've been coaching in our para program and with able-bodied juniors, and its been a very long time since I trained at any serious level, much less competed at that level (I blame a back injury - now healed - together with starting full-time work as a litigation lawyer). However, since jumping into the new Z1 'Boaty McBoatface', I absolutely could not be happier.  The boat is amazingly quick, and it has taken me quite a bit of time to learn to row it and to understand the different way it cuts through the water compared to my last boat.  As I get more and more used to it, I am learning more about what it wants to do, and how it likes to do it, and I really like the way it moves.  It has far less rock from bow to stern than I had expected, despite being shorter than my old boat, and it is extremely smooth around the catch and early drive, as it is so much stiffer, so you can really feel the connection to the water. 

After only a relatively short time back in the boat, I'm getting some fantastic run out of it...where I can REALLY feel the difference between it, and ANY other boat I have rowed. I still have a VERY long way to go to improve my fitness and to get back to racing, but I wanted to get in touch and say thank you for a boat which is so exciting to row!

Cheers,

Liam