The Hammer Regatta is a unique blend of athletics, music and art being held this Sunday at St. Ignatius’ Murphy Field House from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hammer has partnered with members of the Cleveland arts community that have been part of recent Ingenuity Festivals. The Hammer is free to attend, and if you decide to participate, your entry fee will go towards the Rivergate Park campaign fund. The Hammer is also serving as a fundraiser for a new home for rowing in Northeast Ohio as the current Cleveland Rowing Foundation boathouse location is currently within the planned footprint of a new casino complex.

For a look at ’36 Views of a Bridge’, a video installation by Alex Boxerbaum that will be shown above the competition line, click on the below links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cLX2urmPQc, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mIq6NXS6CY

The Hammer has also secured the services of Andrew Kaletta, director of lighting for Oberlin College’s theater department and technical lighting advisor to Morrison Dance. Andrew has been involved with many Ingenuity Festivals and his efforts will create a unique visual landscape for the Hammer. There will also be a DJ playing music that H.S. and college kids have requested when they registered for the Hammer. Each of the 26 competition ergs will be linked to a computer and large display screen, allowing spectators to view the race (typ. 8 minutes long) and position of individual participants as the race progresses. Hammer promoter Jim Ridge promises there is nothing quite like watching 4 kids tied with 500 meters to go sprinting for the finish line.

More information on the Hammer can be found at http://clevelandrows.org/annualevents.php
Link to Rivergate Park fundraising campaign is at http://clevelandrows.org/rivergate_park.php
Link to video from the 2010 Indianapolis Indoor Rowing Championships (to give you an idea of what an ergatta is) http://row2k.com/video/view.cfm?vid=8953

Also check out the ‘Hastily Made Hammer Promotional Video’. Hammer staff had a lot of fun making it as they are just a bunch of rowing fans that want to throw a fun indoor rowing party in February for their fellow Clevelanders. http://clevelandrows.org/2010HammerVideo.php

Please feel free to share this information with folks you think would be interested in this unique event, and I GREATLY appreciate you assistance in spreading the Hammerword. See you Sunday!