Six nights in Nelson, rowed on the Haven from Nelson Rowing Club at Port Nelson, with a coaching staff on the water for every session, a room of your own with no single supplement at the Rutherford Hotel Nelson, and dinner with the coaches every evening.
Six nights in Nelson, rowed on the Haven from Nelson Rowing Club at Port Nelson, with a coaching staff on the water for every session, a room of your own with no single supplement at the Rutherford Hotel Nelson, and dinner with the coaches every evening.
Who this is for
This week suits the sculler who would like to end the year in a New Zealand summer, with six days of close attention to their rowing on sheltered water. You row from Nelson Rowing Club on the Haven, with a local coach who knows the tides. Sessions follow the tide rather than the clock, which gives each day some room.
The rowing and swimming standard is in the booking terms.
The week
We meet you at Nelson Airport. Each day has a full session, the morning's work talked through over lunch and a lighter second session, with the hours set by the tide tables. Dinner is together each evening and the fourth day is a rest day. The last morning is a timed piece. That afternoon you and your coach set down what to carry into your own training at home.
The week is planned around the water. Sessions and outings can move with weather and conditions.
The coaching
The coaching is the work Sparks has done since 2010: learning when to stay with discomfort, when to attend to effort and how to balance the two. One head coach sets the approach and every coach on the water teaches to it. The aim is that you leave able to read your own rowing and take a sharper approach into your own training.
The hotel and the table
The Rutherford Hotel Nelson is on Nile Street West. Each guest has a room of their own with no single supplement. Dinner is at one long table with the coaches at it and the food from the region. One evening the table moves out to a local venue (TBD).
What is included
- 6 nights in a room of your own at the Rutherford Hotel Nelson
- 6 breakfasts
- 5 dinners together, with wine, including the evening out (venue TBD)
- 4 lunches on training days
- 4 coached days on the water, and an easy paddle on the rest day for anyone who wants it
- Airport pickup and return at Nelson
- Video of each full session, reviewed with you
- The evening talk
- Transfers between hotel and water
- Boats provided and rigged for you
- What you and your coach set down to work on
- A 30-day drill plan built from it
Not included
- Airfare. Travel insurance. Personal gear. Dinners on free evenings.
Good to know
- The Haven is tidal, so every session is set by the tide and the daily hours follow it. The Boulder Bank keeps the water sheltered. If a session cannot go out it moves to the next tide window. Sessions move, they do not disappear.
- December is summer and peak season in Nelson. Book flights early once the guarantee email arrives.
- Rowing standard: as in the booking terms.
- Solo guests always have their own room and are never paired.
- 105-day confirmation: No later than 105 days before departure, Sparks confirms by email whether the week will run. If it will not, you choose a full refund or a transfer to another 2027 departure. Please wait for this email before booking flights.
- $1,000 deposit to reserve. Balance due 90 days before departure.
- Travel insurance covering medical and evacuation is required. Cancel-for-any-reason cover is recommended and offered at checkout. Every guest signs a participation waiver. Gratuities are not expected.
Questions
Reserve a seat
Early Access
Seats are sold in tiers with the lowest price first. Prices are all-in per person, excluding airfare. Tiered pricing rewards early commitment. The current price and the seats remaining at that price are shown above. A $1,000 deposit holds your seat, and the balance is due 90 days before departure.
Before you arrive
Thirty days before departure you receive the welcome packet: the gear list, training suggestions from the coaching staff, the arrival plan and local contacts. Final logistics follow a week before you travel. If you would like to talk the week over first, chat with us in the lower right corner or click here to set up a call.