General Rules of Henley Women's Regatta
June 2008

Additions/alteration for 2008 are in red.

Brief Background to the Events.
Several years ago the ARA conducted a competition review and the idea of renaming events as Intermediate, Senior and Elite was put forward. At that time it was suggested that HWR should lead the way forward and rename its events as Intermediate, Senior and Elite.
Intermediate events are aimed at oarswomen who have recently joined the sport, but are no longer really novices and who have not achieved in the sport ie have not won in  higher level events. The aim of the event is to encourage these women to move forward and achieve at a  higher level. The points level for these events is set at senior 3 level.
Senior events are aimed at those who have been in the sport for a longer period of time and who have already achieved at a certain level in the sport but not at the highest levels. The points maximum for these events is set at under the maximum for senior 2.
Elite events are aimed at those who had been in the sport for several years and who have been achieving at top club level or beyond.

1 Powers of the Committee.

1.1 Races will be rowed under the rules of the Amateur Rowing Association, with the addition of specific Local Rules.
1.2 All questions of eligibility, qualifications, interpretation of the Rules or other matters not specifically provided for, shall be referred to the Committee, whose decision shall be final.
1.3 The Committee reserves the right to alter the published programme.
1.4 The Committee reserves the right to reallocate a crew to the appropriate event if it considers an unsuitable category has been entered.
1.5In the event of no racing taking place on Friday, processional races may be run on Saturday. When it is not possible, for whatever reason to complete an event, the draw pattern may be changed or times from the time trials, heats or semi finals may be used to determine the winner. Competitors will be made aware of the method to be used.
1.6 All boats must be removed from the Regatta site no later than 9pm on Sunday 22nd June. If any boats remain after this time they will be removed and all costs incurred will be charged to the appropriate club.

2 Eligibility.

2.1 No rower or sculler shall be eligible to compete at the Regatta for a club unless she is and has been for at least two months before the closing date for entries a member of that club and has registered this with the appropriate National rowing federation (e.g. ARA, WARA, SARA). That club must have been established and continuously affiliated to an appropriate national federation for at least six months before the closing date.
2.2 ARA points required for events will be those accumulated by a competitor as at 31st March 2008.
2.3 A rower or sculler can only compete for one club at the regatta.
2.4 Performance in events in 2008 will be taken into account.

3 Event Categories in Rank Order.

Competitors should note that for 2008 “lightweight” events have been combined under the “elite” heading and “senior lightweight” combined with “senior”.

4 Close of Entries.

4.1 Entries close at 2pm on Monday 2nd June 2008

5 Substitutions and Withdrawals.

5.1 Up to 50% of the crew may be substituted after the close of entries and before 9am on Monday 9th June. No oarswoman shall be substituted after this time without the consent of the committee.
5.2 No competitor may be substituted down an event category.
5.3 Any crew withdrawing from the regatta must do so in writing.
5.4 The Committee will examine the withdrawal of any crew after the close of entries and reserves the right to exclude the club from all other events at the regatta.
5.5 Any competitor withdrawing from an event will not be allowed to substitute into any other event at the regatta.

6 The Draw.

6.1 The draw will be held at 8am on Friday 6th June 2008.
6.2 The draw will be published by Tuesday 10th June 2008.
6.3 The Regatta reserves the right to “seed” crews in each event based
on their performance in 2008.
6.4 No allowance in the timetable will be made for boat sharing.
6.5 All competitors (except juniors) should be prepared to race on Friday
20th June.

7 Event Size Limit.

7.1 In Elite, Lightweight, Senior and Intermediate events where the entry is greater than 32, the first round will be run as a processional race on Friday 20th June.
7.2 In Elite, Elite Lightweight, Senior and Intermediate events where the entry is between 16 and 32, the committee reserves the right to run the first round as a processional race on Friday 20th June.
7.3 In Junior events where the entry is greater than 16, the committee reserves the right to run the first round as a processional race on Saturday 21st June.
7.4 Crews will be selected on the basis of their performance in the processional race. The successful crews will be published in alphabetical order. The names of seeded crews will not be identified.

8 Registration.

8.1 A representative of the crew or sculler, must report to the Entries Secretary not later than 45 minutes before their first race on each day. In the case of lightweight crews and scullers, this must be in time for them to weigh in i.e. between 1 and 2 hours before the first race in their event on the day of their first race. Crews will be given an Entry Confirmation form, which will be used as a weight certificate for coxswains and lightweight competitors.
8.2 Racing licences with photo attached (or other acceptable documents must be presented before numbers are issued.
8.3All finalists must lodge racing licences or appropriate documentation with the entries secretary at least 1 hour before boating for their final.

9 Weighing In.

9.1 Coxswains must comply with ARA rule 2-3-7 (any necessary deadweight must be provided by the competitor).
9.2 All coxswains must report to the Control Commission, to be weighed before their first race on each day.
9.3 The Regatta reserves the right to re-weigh the coxswain and/or dead weight at any time during the regatta.
9.4 Lightweight competitors shall be weighed each day they are racing, not less than 1 hour and not more than 2 hours before the scheduled start time of the first race that day of each event in which they are entered.
See ARA rule 2-3-6 and 3-3-1.

10 Objections

10.1 Objections and protests must be lodged with the Entries Secretary as soon as is practicable (and not later than 30 minutes) after the incident and shall be confirmed to her in writing, stating all relevant facts and the reason/s for the protest not later than 1 hour after the incident.
10.2 Any objection regarding eligibility of any competitor must be made in writing to the Entries Secretary at the earliest opportunity.

11 Safety and Circulation.

11.1 In order to avoid congestion in the starting area, crews may not boat more than 40 minutes before their race time.
11.2 Failure to observe the Circulation Pattern, or obey instructions from Marshals, may result in disqualification.
11.3 The first named crew in each race will have the Berkshire (regatta enclosure) station.
11.4 All competitors must be in the start area at least 5 minutes before the advertised time of their race and be attached to the stake boat 2 minutes before their race. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action of exclusion from the race.
11.5 In the event of delays to racing, the Start Marshal, in conjunction with Race Control, will instruct crews and Umpires of any action to be taken.
11.6 In the event of a dead heat the crews will re-row from The Start.
11.7 Any crew going further than 300m up-stream of the finish OR beyond the end of the warming up zone at the start may be disqualified (see map).
11.8 After finishing their race (at Remenham Club) crews must turn off the course onto the Berkshire (regatta enclosure) side in order to return to the rafts.
11.9 All crews must boat from the Regatta rafts at Remenham Farm. Local club crews may obtain special permission to boat from their clubhouse. These crews must call in at the rafts on their way to the start for their boats to be inspected.

12 Practice Outings.

12.1 Practice outings are not permitted during the hours of racing and all crews must be off the water 30 minutes before the start of racing.
12.2 Safety boats and first aid will only be in position during the hours of racing.
12.3 Boat racks will be available on the Regatta Site from the evening of Tuesday 17th June, at the user’s own risk.
The Regatta regrets that it is not able to make a training area available.

13 Boating at the Regatta.

13.1 All crews MUST boat from the regatta site during the regatta unless permission in writing has been obtained from the Entries Secretary.
13.2 Crews whose boats are not stored on the regatta site MUST NOT return to their host boathouse during the hours of racing by rowing down the course.
13.3 All boats must be removed from the Regatta site no later than 9pm on Sunday 22nd June. If any boats remain after this time they will be removed and all costs incurred will be charged to the appropriate club.

14 Outside Assistance.

14.1 Crews and their coaches are advised that ARA rule 2-5-3 regarding assistance to steering from outside the boat and ARA rule2-5-9 regarding advice or assistance to a crew from outside the boat will be strictly applied.

15 Insurance.

15.1 It is a condition of entry that clubs and competitors must take out their own third party insurance cover. Responsibility for loss or damage to their boats, equipment or other property on the Regatta site or elsewhere will not be accepted by the Regatta.

16 Spectators & Competitors.

16.1 Spectators and competitors are reminded that the facilities of Henley Royal Regatta are not available to them and movement on to Royal Regatta land or property without express permission is forbidden.
16.2 Henley Royal boat tents and landing stages must not be used before, during or after Henley Women’s Regatta.

17 Boat Registration.

17.1 All boats including those from overseas must clearly display their 6 digit Identification code. Overseas crews will be issued with the 6 digit code to display.

 

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