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Two Canadian freighters block the route for a 5,000 meter rowing race on the Cuyahoga River

(Jim Ridge)

Tensions between recreational users of the Cuyahoga River and industry reached a head at the Head of the Cuyahoga rowing competition last week.

Two Canadian-flagged freighters, the Cuyahoga and the Algoway, moored parallel to one another on either side of the river at a tight spot creating a choke point in the middle of the race course. This despite a federal decree, enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard, essentially closing the river for the duration of the race to industrial ships, whether traveling through the channel or anchoring in it.

Freighters create a tight squeeze, forcing a course change for rowers

There were 1,600 rowers in town for the event and race organizers had to deliver bad news that the starting point had to be moved more than 2,000 meters downriver. The planned 4,800-meter course had to be cut by about half.

“It switched from a distance race to a sprint,” said Pat Connor, St. Ignatius High School rowing coach and chair of the regatta. “In rowing, fall is the distance season.”

Organizers said they were embarrassed to have to tell competitors that the race had to be drastically shortened. Out-of-towners wondered why cooperation between industrial and recreational users of the river was so elusive. And some wonder whether it was an honest mistake or a willful act by commercial shippers who seem frequently to be at odds with recreational users.

“They created a blockade. That is the first time I’ve ever seen that on the river,” said Connor. Last year, just before the Head of the Cuyahoga race, the freighter Buffalo chugged through the course, causing a delay of the start because buoys had to be re-set. Some wonder whether it’s purposeful.

"This issue is not going to go away," said Connor, also a board member of the Cleveland Rowing Foundation. That organization sent a letter to the Coast Guard demanding an investigation of what the foundation considers to be a breach of the federal order. Copied were Mayor Frank Jackson, Councilman Joe Cimperman and Port Authority CEO Will Friedman.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Kyle Niemi said shipping companies were notified of the river closure with phone calls and e-mails in the week leading up to the race and a message was broadcast to ship radios for captains to hear as they approached Cleveland.

He said the ships that blocked the race route arrived the evening before the closure and did not technically violate the federal order as they were moored on the river banks, not anchored in the channel.

The ships captains told the Coast Guard they did not realize that the way they parked would affect the race, Niemi said. The Coast Guard attempted to get them moved, but race organizers believed that moving them would have taken too long, so they shortened the course.

"It was a series of misunderstandings and miscommunications that unfortunately had an impact on this race. It's unfortunate. We hate that this happened," he said.

Though the locally based Lake Carriers Association opposed closing the river for the event, the ships that were parked in the river were not represented by that organization. A separate Dragon Boat Festival closer to the mouth of the river was not affected.



Cimperman described the incident as "a huge blunder." But he doesn't believe freighters willfully spoiled the rowers' event.

"The rowers have a right to be frustrated. But there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there and I don't buy in to that," he said. "This is an indication of how alive what I call the 'Verdant Valley' still is."

Connor said next year, the application for federal closure my be more encompassing.

“We might have to request a closing for 24 hours and patrols so this doesn’t happen again,” said Connor. “Even if this wasn’t intentional, we might say if they can’t get their act together for an eight hour window, we might need to increase that.”

The Coast Guard's Niemi said its Marine Safety Unit plans to meet with the rowing association to discuss what happened and devise a fix. There also are plans to get lake carriers and recreation representatives in the same room to discuss their needs.

"I don't think all parties were familiar with just how wide an area you need for a race like this," he said. "Moving forward, we're going to have a plan to resolve this."

Recreation advocates say it's high time they work directly with industrial users of the river to develop a consensus that embraces the Cuyahoga as a river for both work and play.

"The city of Cleveland can get a reputation for not having its act together," said Cimperman. "Whatever we do, we have to figure out how not to make this mistake again."