Regatta London (Rowing) – Participant Instructions The below instructions should be read in conjunction with: • Regatta London (Rowing) Event Rules • Regatta London (Rowing) Route Card • Regatta London Event Guide KEY TIMINGS FOR THE REGATTA LONDON WEEKEND Day Time Activity Location Saturday 14:00 – 18:00 Event Pack pick All Host Clubs up, boat racking and equipment check. Sunday 05:30 Host Clubs open for crew arrivals Exact boating times to be confirmed in due course Sunday 07:00 All boats to be Barnes Bridge Marshal to beyond Barnes enforce Bridge Sunday BY 07:20 All crews to be in Southside of the river the marshalling between Barnes Cricket Club area and St Pauls School Sunday 07:30 Race Start Time Start Sunday BY 08:00 Last wave across Start start line EVENT PACK PICK UP Located in Chiswick/Barnes boathouses (ULBC, Putney Town RC, Quintin BC). These have been allocated pre-event to ensure an even spread across the boathouses and to encourage trailer sharing. You may find it easier to row to your allocated boathouse, if you choose to do this; you will still be required to check in on Saturday and leave your boat overnight at the allocated boathouse. This is so the officials can check your equipment before entering the water. Crews can also leave a small rucksack which will be taken to the finish at Greenwich. PROCEEDING TO THE START Crews are strongly advised to leave their boathouses in good time and to take account of the large number of crews on the river. MARSHALLING INSTRUCTIONS • The marshalling area is approximately 2000m in distance and sits between Furnival Sculling Club (East) and the Dukes Meadows Bandstand (West). All crews will be positioned on the south (“Surrey”) side of the river. • Crews must be in the marshalling positions shown on the map below at 07:20 (10 minutes before the start). • While marshalling, crews must keep as close to the bank as possible. Boats must maintain their position and neither allow themselves to become bunched together or allow gaps of more than one length of clear water to open up between them. • No crew is to paddle at race or firm pressure in the marshalling area. • Once in the marshalling area, crews will be under Marshals instructions which must be obeyed at all times. THE START During boating, the river will be flowing out and therefore once boated, crews should promptly make their way down the centre of the river, passing through the centre arches of Chiswick Bridge and Barnes Bridges, taking care to avoid other crews converging from other boating locations. On exiting Barnes Bridge, crews should look out for their marshalling location / neighbouring crews, stop rowing and spin to get into position with bows pointing upstream. Crews should take this time to double check equipment. Marshals will notify crews when to turn. Once turned, crews should be ready to commence the pre-start paddle under marshal’s instructions. When instructed by one of the start marshals, crews will in turn paddle under Hammersmith Bridge and line themselves up with one of the two ‘start gates’. It is recommended that crews continuously paddle light pressure to maintain steering. The Start Marshal will announce ‘Crew XX Go’, when it is clear for the crew to build to desired speed. [NOTE, in order to maintain separation, Start Marshal MAY request a crew to slow down or stop.] The Start (Processional Races) • All crews shall be allocated a number which shall be prominently displayed by the crew throughout the race; crews will be addressed by this number during the race. • The Start Marshal will present the crews in order, two at a time, in procession, to the Start, bringing the crews to race pace as they approach the start line. • The Starter will start each crew with the words: ‘Number XY’ ... ‘Go’, the ‘Go’ being given as or before the crew passes the line of the Start. • Your official event time will start automatically as soon as you pass through the start gate buoys. The start line and timing gate is marked by 3 yellow buoys 30m wide. There will be two timing gates side by side approx. 15m in width. Each gate can only be used by 1 boat at a time. This is located opposite Harrods Depository. Once a crew has passed the timing gate, it cannot turn around and re-start. • Should the crews present themselves to the Starter out of order, the Starter shall take them in the order in which they come. DURING THE RACE Competing crews should refer to the Regatta London Route Card at all times. The card clearly marks which arch(es) should be used for all bridges on the London Crossing Course. Overtaking: 1. ALL crews have a responsibility to avoid a collision whether they are overtaking or being overtaken. 2. When a boat is overtaking another boat, it is the duty of the overtaking boat to keep clear of other boats at all times or reduce speed until it is safe to pass. (The faster boat has to move around the slower boat(s)). 3. When a slower boat is being overtaken, it should aim to give way to the faster overtaking boat if safe to do so. Umpires and Observers will be posted along the course. Crews may be penalised or disqualified if judged to have contributed to a collision. THE FINISH The London Crossing Finish is at the Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) in Greenwich, SE10 9NN. Once across the finish line continue to the Red buoys marked with ‘Rowers’, keeping the red buoys on your right, each crew must turn right at each red buoy to turn and row upstream to access the landing foreshore area. There are four landing zones, marshals will be in place both on the water and on land to support this process and will direct you to a foreshore landing area to disembark. Please wait until you are called forward before rowing to the landing foreshore. For safety reasons, all boats and crews must be checked-off of the water, once on the foreshore after disembarking a marshal will direct you through the check-out point. ABANDONMENT PLAN In case the event has to be abandoned at any time while crews are marshalling or on the event route the following procedure will apply and be strictly adhered to: Crews, on seeing marshals waving red flags will immediately STOP. They will wait to be instructed on how and where to proceed by a Marshal. Crews must maintain a sharp lookout for other crews in the vicinity who may not have heard or seen the warnings and are continuing with marshalling or racing. If necessary, they must move to avoid any collision with such a crew. EQUIPMENT It is your responsibility to ensure your equipment fully meets the minimum standards as specified in the British Rowing RowSafe guidance and is in full working order. Control Commission inspections on crews will operate at all boating locations. Crews failing to stop for inspection when requested to do so may be disqualified. RIVER CLOSURE River closures will be in place from 06:30–12:45 between Chiswick Bridge and Greenwich. CUT OFF To allow us to reopen the river safely and on time and to allow river operators to continue their day-to-day services, we will be operating strict cut off times for all boats. 10:15 Cut-off time at Westminster Bridge 10:45 Cut-off time at Tower Bridge 11:25 Cut-off time at Canary Wharf 12:00 Cut-off time at Greenwich We want everyone to have a fantastic experience and complete their challenge, however it is very important that cut off times are strictly adhered to for safety reasons. Any boats not making a cut off in time will be ‘swept up’ by the safety team and taken to their respective finish locations by the welfare sweep vessel following behind the last paddler. Participants will be taken to the nearest pier where they will be transported back to the respective finish by a shuttle once all participants have cleared the river. NUMBERS Numbers will be provided within the event pack for each crew which should be collected during event pack pick up on Saturday 28 September. The pack will contain: 1x boat number plate – Make sure your number plate is securely fitted and fixed to the boat. 1 x Waterproof number and safety pins, worn by the cox. Boat plate numbers should be returned to the check-out team at the finish area on the foreshore at the end of the event. Responsibility for returning numbers rests with each competing crew. Boat number plates that are not returned to the event organiser undamaged within seven days of the race or are lost or damaged by whatever means will be charged at the rate of £30 per plate. ADVICE FOR STEERS AND COXES Obey the Water Safety Team, Sports Marshals and Umpires: The Water Safety Team, Sport Marshals & Umpires are there to assist you and ensure the safe and fair running of the event. Please obey their instructions at all times, although this does not exempt you from being responsible for the safe navigation of your boat. If you are unsure where you should be during marshalling, do ask a marshal. How the Tideway is different from non-tidal rivers: Because the Tideway is tidal, your boat is not stationary when you are easied. It could be moving at 3-4mph astern or ahead. ● If you are turning, do so promptly. ● Do not turn above (up stream of) an obstruction like a bridge, moored boat, island, buoy etc.