Bowmarkers 

Bowmarkers must be picked up at registration. Shirt cards must be worn visibly on the back of each single sculler or bow-rower, pinned at top and bottom.  Shirt cards must be worn on the backs of all coxswains of stern-coxed boats. All shells must be equipped with a bowmarker holder. The bowmarkers must be affixed on the bow of the racing shell.  Any shell without a bowmarker will not receive an official time or placement.

Safety 

All shells must be equipped with a regulation bow ball. Each set of shoes within the shell must be equipped with properly-secured heel tie-downs.  These may not move more than three inches

A boat in which the body of the coxswain is enclosed or partially enclosed within the hull of the boat shall conform to the following requirements:

(a) The opening through which the coxswain enters and exits shall be at least 2.30 feet (70 cm.) long when measured along the longitudinal axis of the boat.  For a length of at least 1.64 feet (50 cm.), the opening shall be as wide as the inner hull of the boat itself.

(b) The inner surface within which the coxswain’s body rests shall be smooth and free of any obstacles, devices, or other structures that would hinder quick exit.

In the event of inclement weather or course conditions, an alternate race course may be implemented with a start line located approx. ½ mile upstream from the Cromwell motorboat club boat ramp.  At the discretion of Regatta officials, individual events or the entire Regatta may be cancelled for safety reasons; there will be no refund if such a cancellation occurs.

Classifications 

All competitors must be eligible for the event-division in which they are competing. Any crew containing an ineligible competitor will be violating the rules of fairness and will be excluded from the Regatta.

Masters - must be over the age of 27 as of December 31st, 2008.  Age determined by the competitor’s age as of December 31st, 2008, rounded down to the nearest integer, with average age used for multiple-competitor boats.  Masters events will be divided into USRA age categories.  If sufficient entries are not received in any age category, competitors will compete in the next-youngest age category.  A Masters single sculler or crew may compete in a lower (younger) age category.  No Masters single sculler or crew may compete in a higher (older) age category.  Handicapping will be used for all crews in events not divided by age category and to determine overall winners in the Men’s and Women’s Masters Singles events for the Mayor’s Cup.

 Collegiate - must be currently enrolled full-time at a college, university, or community college. 

High School or Youth - a rower, sculler, or coxswain who will not be more than 20 years old by December 31, 2008 and who is enrolled full time at a high school or equivalent entity (such as a private secondary school.) 

Junior Varsity - Any High School or Youth program having entered at least one crew into the Varsity event may enter additional crews into the Junior Varsity event.  Separate medals will be awarded to winners of the Junior Varsity event. 

Club - The club category is limited to persons (including coxswains) who in any sculling or sweep-oared Event (master and veteran Events excepted) meet the following criteria: 

·        Did not finish in first or second place in that event in the preceding year’s Head of the Ohio, Connecticut, or Schuylkill Regattas.

·        During the current calendar year did not compete beyond the quarter finals of the Henley Royal Regatta.

·        Did not finish among the top six places in the San Diego Crew Classic, Dad Vail, EARC or EAWRC Sprints, Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, NCAA Championships, IRA, or Canadian Henley.

·        Did not finish among the top six places in any major international regatta such as Lucerne-Rotsee, any national, international or world championships, or any national team selection trials. 

Novice - any rower who is eligible to row as a freshman/novice at their own institution or has not rowed in a race prior to January 1, 2007.  There are no race categories for High School or Youth novice competitors. 

Lightweight -

(Men) The weight of each individual rower or sculler in a boat must not exceed 165 pounds.

(Women) The weight of each individual rower or sculler in a boat must not exceed 135 pounds. 

Quadruple Sculls - with or without coxswain. 

Octuple Sculls - with coxswain. 

Composite Boats - must be registered indicating the affiliations of all competitors. 

Mixed Boats - must contain equal numbers of men and women rowers. 

Men’s divisions are for male participants only. Women’s divisions are for female participants only. Coxswains may be of either sex. Masters’ coxswains may be any age. 

Limit on High School Entries - To help ensure collegiate compliance with NCAA Rule 13.11.1.2 regarding tryouts, specifically regarding limits placed on high school athletes competing against collegiate teams, the Head of the Connecticut Regatta has instituted the following rule: 

Individuals or teams otherwise eligible to compete in categories entitled “High School” or “Youth” must compete in such events.  These individuals or teams shall not be allowed to compete in other categories including, but not limited to, “Open,” “Club,” and “Collegiate.”  Club boats including one or more athletes eligible to compete in a high school category shall be allowed to compete in any event (including “Open” or “Club” events) provided that the high school athlete in question is a regular member of the crew’s practice and competition lineup and has not been inserted into the lineup for this Regatta only. 

For reference, please see an excerpt from the NCAA Division 1 Rules below: 

13.11.1.1 Definition of “Prospect” for Tryout-Rule Purposes. For purposes of the tryout rule, the phrase “prospective student-athlete” or “prospect” shall include any individual who has started classes for the ninth grade and is not enrolled in the member institution at the time of the practice or test therein described. 

13.11.1.2 Competition Against Prospective Student-Athletes. An institution’s varsity intercollegiate team may compete against a two-year college team but may not compete against a high school or preparatory school team. An institution’s varsity team may not participate in a contest against an established outside team (e.g., nonscholastic team) that includes high school prospective student-athletes except for permissible contests while on a foreign tour, exempted contests against a foreign team in the United States and the United States national team. Subvarsity teams are not bound by this prohibition. [Revised: 1/9/06 effective 8/1/06 (contracts signed prior to October 18, 2005 may be honored)]

First Aid 

First aid and ambulance services will be available at the Harbor Park (Middletown) launch site. On the water, first aid will be provided by the Middletown police and fire departments and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. 

Participant Liability 

Coaches and participants are reminded that participation in the Regatta involves a moderate risk of injury and/or property damage. While HCTR and the Middletown Lions Club, as an agent for the sponsor, will take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of participants, officials and volunteers, participation in the Regatta is at one’s own risk and responsibility for claims deriving from personal injury, damage, or loss. 

While the Regatta provides security for the Harbor Park and Cromwell launch sites for the night of Saturday, October 11, 2008, this in no way guarantees the safety of the competitor’s equipment.

Practice Rowing 

There is no night rowing permitted in Middletown. No crew may launch after 6:00 p.m. Saturday, October 11, 2008. Docks will close at 7:00 p.m. when all boats must be off the water.   Violation of this rule will result in exclusion from the following day’s racing with no refund.  There will be no practice rowing allowed on Sunday, October 12, 2008.  

Due to increased barge and pleasure boat traffic on the Connecticut River, extreme caution is required during practice rows.  The Regatta assumes no responsibility for safety during practice rowing and crews are encouraged to practice accompanied by a safety or coaching launch.

The Race Course 

The race course begins opposite the Portland Fire Department fair grounds in Portland and runs 3 miles downstream following a clearly marked lane of buoys.  

Orange buoys are used to mark the East side of the race course, and should always be kept of competitors’ port side while racing.  Buoys are used to mark start and finish chutes, and also to mark the starboard side of the course where necessary.  Yellow buoys will separate upstream launching/landing crews from downstream racing crews.   

When finished racing, boats must proceed downstream to the designated turning point.  All crews must proceed up the west side of the river and remain clear of the buoyed racing lane at all times, following the clockwise traffic pattern. In no circumstances will it be necessary or acceptable to cross an active race course, and doing so for any reason other than medical emergency will result in exclusion.  SEE MAP.

Course Safety 

The Coast Guard and other law enforcement patrol boats will have ultimate control of all boats and shells on the river. Regatta participants must obey and observe their directions. Failure to comply will be grounds for immediate exclusion. 

Contestants should be aware that the Connecticut is a tidal river and that the current is extremely variable.  Following heavy rains, the current can be very fast and may contain debris. Competitors and coxswains must review the course maps carefully to locate shallow areas and bad water.  All areas may not be marked on the course because of tidal fluctuations and lost buoys. The U.S. Coast Guard requires that we allow pleasure boats and commercial vehicles to pass during the Regatta. Be alert that boats will be transiting during the day.  While wakes from these passing boars will be kept to a minimum, such disturbed water will not be grounds for any protest. 

If a rower is ejected from a shell, that shell must stay with him or her.  Unlike sprint races, all competitors must be in the boat to qualify for a time;  and unlike sprint races which have following officials, the shell must stay with the rower in the water and summon help from Regatta officials and safety personnel

Launching

All scullers and crews will be limited to a maximum of 90 seconds on the dock.  Dock time limitations will apply for both launching and landing; only competitors and coaches will be allowed in the dock area; coaches may be allowed onto the docks at the discretion of the Dockmaster.  All tie-ins must be done away from the dock.  Failure to depart the docks in a timely manner will be subject to a penalty imposed by the dockmaster on the offending crew.

Crews launching from Harbor Park will launch and proceed directly upstream along the Middletown shore.  Crews must proceed slowly and carefully through the shore arch of the railroad bridge and upstream along the eastern shore of Wilcox Island.  The area between Wilcox island and the Middletown shore is dangerous; any crews rowing in this area will be subject to immediate exclusion.  All crews must remain on the paddle and row continuously at no more than 50% power from the launch dock until passing the upstream (northern) tip of Wilcox island.  After passing the island, crews will continue upstream where no turns will be allowed until crews pass the start line and enter the marshaling area.  The extreme upstream end of the warm-up area will be marked with a red/orange buoy and will be patrolled by Coast Guard or Law Enforcement personnel; crews proceeding beyond this point at the southern end of Gildersleeve Island will be subject to penalty or exclusion.

Crews launching from Cromwell will proceed directly upstream past the start line and into the marshaling area. 

Upon launching from the Harbor Park launch site (#1,) competitors must proceed up the west side of the river, keeping well clear of the buoyed racing lane and the starting and finish lines.  All shells must launch with their bows pointing north (upstream.)  All shells must remain on the paddle until after they have passed under both bridges when rowing upstream.

Start

Each entrant must be above the start fifteen (15) minutes before the start time for their event and arrive at the marshaling area not less than five (5) minutes prior to the scheduled starting time.

The start will be in sequence of events. Boats must pass between a chute of 6 yellow buoys just above the starting line to be official.  Failure to start in the chute will result in no time being recorded.

Boats arriving more than thirty (30) seconds after the last entrant has started will, at the discretion of the starter, be allowed to row at the end of that event. Such boats may be timed, but will not be ranked.

Racing

While racing, boats must stay on the designated buoyed race course with yellow buoys on the starboard and red buoys on the port. Oar blades may go over buoys but the hull of the shell must stay on the course  Missed buoys will incur a penalty, see “Penalties” below.

There are three types of penalties which may be imposed during the Regatta: traffic pattern penalties, buoy penalties, and interference penalties.  Interference penalties will be closely enforced, and crews must be aware that any shell being overtaken must grant the right-of-way and move or be penalized 30 seconds. A shell being approached from behind must give way to the approaching boat by the time the approaching boat gets within one boatlength of open water. Boats overtaking others must not force boats being overtaken any farther out of the way than is necessary to complete an unimpeded pass. No boat should press its right of way to the point of clashing of oars or collision; this infraction will result in exclusion.

Finish

The finish is clearly marked by a buoy with the letter F on it. The penalty for participants failing to pass through the buoy chute located at the Finish Line is exclusion. Once beyond the buoys, crews must immediately clear the area and remain well away from the finish area.  The exclusion penalty shall also apply to boats which stop rowing within 50 meters of the finish line.

Penalties

Minor Violations (10 seconds):

• Each buoy missed on the course.  Missing a buoy is defined as having the body of the shell on the wrong side of the buoy.

• Remaining on the docks for more than 90 seconds during launching or landing.  This penalty will be assigned by the Dockmasters.

Major Violations (30 seconds):

• Interference with crews marshalling in the start area

• Not granting right-of-way for overtaking crews

• Missing buoy chute at start

• Missing correct arch of the railroad bridge

• Shells without bow numbers at the finish

• Purposely starting out of order against directions of the Starter.

• Failure to follow traffic rules in the launching, landing or practice area

• Violations of the traffic pattern. Violations include traveling in the wrong direction on the race course.  Backing up to round a missed buoy correctly will be considered to be a violation of the traffic pattern in addition to a missed buoy.

Major Violations (60 seconds):

• Non-racing boat interfering with racing shells on the course

Exclusions and Disqualifications:

• Crews not arriving at the start within thirty (30) seconds of last entrant in their event

• Unsportsmanlike conduct through language or gesture (this is a Disqualification and not an exclusion) Any competitor or crew which is disqualified shall be removed from the entire regatta, not only the race where the infraction occurred.

• Crews not complying with specified classification of events

• Crews not heeding directions of the Coast Guard

• Crews not immediately following directions of Race Officials

• Missing buoy chute at finish

• Going past the top or bottom of race zone (give definition)

• Collision

• Any crews having a device capable of 2-way communication with land onboard

• Any crew or competitor who capsizes, swamps, or must be pulled from the water prior to or during their event is automatically excluded from the event; competitors must head immediately to their launch site and will not be allowed to continue racing. 

Protests 

All protests must be submitted on the HCTR protest form and submitted to the Race Committee at Regatta Headquarters at Middletown Launch Site within one (1) hour after the last boat has finished the event. Protests should bear the signatures of both the coach and coxswain or sculler. A $100.00 fee must accompany all protests. This fee will be refunded only if the protest is upheld.  Crews are strongly cautioned to remember that claims of interference which are upheld can only result in the exclusion of the offending crew; the aggrieved crew will not receive any less time than it actually rowed.

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