Racing towards book #9!

The 9th Ginger Gold Mystery Murder at the Boat Club releases in just a few short weeks! If you’d like to catch up on the series or prefer to read paperbacks, make sure to enter this awesome Ginger Gold giveaway! P.S. this prize would also make a great gift for the bookworms in your life! 😉

Part of the writing process involves lots of research which means I learn plenty of fun facts along the way. Here’s a bit of information about Boat Racing!

Competitive rowing dates back as far as the early tenth century with experienced watermen racing each other on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom. In the 18th century, British public schools began to form Boat Clubs that opened up the sport to amateurs. As the sport gained popularity, rowing clubs popped up across England, the United States and Germany. The International Rowing Federation was founded in 1892 to provide consistency in regulating the sport across the globe.

Two of the major races that took place in the United Kingdom are The Boat Race and Henley Royal Regatta. The longest standing annual race is the Doggett's Coat and Badge which began in 1715 and continues on today from London Bridge to Chelsea.

Rowing was primarily a male-dominated sport until the mid-1900s when women began to enter competitions. This was largely due to the efforts of trailblazers like Anne Glanville who demonstrated that women were just as capable as men. She made a name for herself alongside her female crew for winning races against some of the most talented male competitors of the time. In 1892, four more headstrong women in San Diego began the ZLAC Rowing Club. This club is believed to be the longest standing women's-only rowing club in the world. The first international women's rowing competition was hosted in 1951. In 1976, women's rowing was included in the Olympics during the Summer Olympics in Montreal.  

Did you know?

• Rowing was one of the first sports to be considered an Olympic sport.

• There are two styles of rowing. Sweep-oar rowing is when each rower has one oar. This style is usually done in pairs. The second style is sculling where each rower has two oars. This style is usually done in groups of four, two or with a single rower.
•  In boats with more than one rower, the lightest individual sits in the bow seat at the front of the boat while the middles seats are reserved for the larger rowers. This is to help maintain the balance of the boat.
• A coxswain is a coach who rides with rowers to provide motivation and relay important information. Typically these individuals are petite.
• Competitive rowing has lightweight and heavyweight classes. Lightweight rowers must weigh in before a competition to ensure that they are beneath a certain weight. Heavy-weight rowers do not need to meet a weight restriction.

Did you learn something new? Let me know!

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Murder’s a Bad Stroke of Luck!

River Thames boat races between the London University colleges are popular events, and Mrs. Ginger Reed is excited to attend for the first time, especially since the son of a good friend of her new husband, Chief Inspector Basil Reed, is racing.

When a very unusual murder presents itself at the boat club,  Lady Gold’s Investigations is hired to take on the case. Ginger’s determined to solve the mystery before someone else dies, but can she manage it without ruining another pair of Italian leather T-strap shoes?