Mega – WHAT?!?!

One of my many other interests is rowing. I began rowing in 2009, shortly after moving to Austin, Texas, at the Austin Rowing Club. I immediately loved it and a group of us formed a squad from our Intro To Rowing class. Motley Crew has been around ever since.

I new twist is that I thought it would be interesting to explore being a US Rowing qualified referee. I started down the path in late 2019, but Covid put that exercise on hold. I started it up again this year, and have been a ref candidate at the Waco Rowing Regatta (head race) and the Heart of the Texas (sprint). One more regatta and I should be able to sit for the Assistant Referee test.

One of the tools that a ref needs to have is a reliable megaphone. Whether you are starting a race or keeping racers from potential injury, it’s a critical tool. The floating Blue Ocean ones look cool, but at $400 is too rich this early in the process. Pyle is the other big name in the megaphone world. The one that seemed to me to be one with enough muscle yet not crazy expensive is this 50-watt Pyle that uses both a rechargeable battery and regular C batteries.

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