Regatta Bulletin for Competitors

• Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 30, July 1 & 3, 2023
• Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, PA
• Hosted and run by the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia
• This is a USRowing registered regatta. The Regatta will be conducted in accordance with USRowing Rules of Rowing.
• Questions – Contact Clete Graham

Registration

All registration is done at Regatta Central.  Details at Competitors | Registration. Registration deadline is June 23. After that, late entries on a lane-available basis with a $25/boat late fee.

There is no on-site registration at the regatta, but you are welcome to check in with us at the Regatta HQ tent, located just downriver of the St. Joe’s Boathouse, near the return dock.

Race Course

• All dash races will be 1/4 mile, starting at the top of the island.
• The adaptive doubles, novice singles and all masters races will be 1000 meters.
• All other events will be 2000 meters.
• There will be stake boats at the 2000 meter starting line only.
• All crews must pass under their lane number on Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Violators may be penalized.

Race Schedule

• Races will be held in the order listed. There will be no exceptions to this.
• Time trials will begin at 9:00 am Friday. Racing will begin at 8:00 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday unless large numbers of heats necessitate an earlier start time.
• Races will not be delayed for crews that are late to the line for any reason. Crews should be in their lanes and, for 2000 meter races, locked onto the stake boat two minutes before the start of their race.
• The safest and fairest way to run 250 races in July heat is to keep the regatta on schedule. We will be ruthless in starting races on time and will not hold races for any reason.

Juniors

• Youth – A Youth is a Competitor who in the current calendar year does not attain the age of 19, or who is and has been continuously enrolled in secondary school as a full-time student seeking a diploma. A Competitor thus ceases to be a Youth after December 31 of the year of his or her 18th birthday, or of the year in which he or she completes the 12th grade of secondary school, having been a full-time student, whichever is later.
• U17 – A competitor may compete in the U17 category until December 31 of the year of his or her 16th birthday
• U15 – A competitor may compete in the U15 category until December 31 of the year of his or her 14th birthday

Masters

USRowing master definitions apply: A master is a competitor who has attained or will attain the age of 21 in the calendar year. AA = 21-26, A = 27-35; B = 36-42; C = 43-49; D = 50-54; E = 55-59; F = 60-64; G = 65-69; H = 70-74; I = 75-79; J = 80-84 and K = 85 and over. Average age of the crew determines eligibility. The age category of a masters crew shall be determined by the average age of the crew, rounded down to the highest contained integer. Time handicaps will be applied in any masters event that combines two or more categories. A competitor’s age is determined as of December 31 of the calendar year.

Masters crews are reminded of the rule requiring them to report any line-up changes in writing not less than 2 hours prior to the start of the race. This allows the regatta committee time to recompute the age handicap and announce it to the other competitors prior to the start of the race. Violators risk disqualification!

Novices

A novice is a rower who has never rowed in a rowing race prior to January 1 of the calendar year. Specifically excluded from the “novice” category are rowers who have raced before as sweep rowers but are racing for the first time as scullers.

Intermediate/Senior/Open

“Intermediate” and “senior” are “classifications by skill” defined by Rules 4-103 and 4-104 of the USRowing Rules of Racing. Basically, if you have to ask, you’re probably an intermediate.

1. Intermediate: A Competitor is an Intermediate who has not advanced to the status of Senior or Elite.
2. Senior: A Competitor is a Senior who has won any Intermediate or Senior 2,000 meter event at the USRowing National Championships regatta or at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, and who has not advanced to the status of Elite.
3. A Competitor who is an Elite as a Sweep Rower shall be advanced to Senior for all Sculling Events, and a Competitor who is an Elite as a Scull Rower shall be advanced to Senior for all Sweep Events.
4. Elite: A Competitor is Elite who has been a member of the Senior USRowing National Team or any country’s Senior National Team as a Competitor (including as a spare) or a medalist at the U23 World Championships in the category at issue.

Octuple Sculls

The octuples scull event is an open event. Crews can be all male, all female, or mixed, with any mixture of males and females. In order to encourage more participation, handicaps will be assigned by the regatta director, at his sole discretion, to all masters crews. All line-up changes mus be made on Regatta Central no later than 2 hours before the race time.

Junior Octuple Sculls

The junior octuples scull event is also an open event. Crews can be all male, all female, or mixed, with any mixture of males and females.

Lightweights

Lightweight men shall weigh no more than 160 lbs. Lightweight women shall weigh no more than 130 lbs. Averaging is not required. Weigh-ins will be held at the regatta HQ tent downstream of St. Joe’s boathouse. Weigh-in times will be posted once the race schedule is posted. Competitors must weigh in each day they compete. Only one weigh-in per day is required. Coxswains do not weigh in. All members of a crew must weigh-in together.  Photo ID’s are required.

Per the recommendations of the USRowing Sports Medicine Committee, athletes must be within one pound of the required weight on the first try, or they will not be allowed to weigh-in again. If they are within one pounds they are allowed to return one additional time.

Progressions

• 25 to 36 entries: 6 heats – top 2 to semi-finals
• 19 to 24 entries: 4 heats – top 3 to semi-finals.
• 13 to 18 entries:  3 heats – top 2 advance to final
• 8 to 12 entries:  2 heats – top 3 advance to final
• 7 entries: 2 heats – top 2 advance to final, plus the next two fastest times
• For heats where not all competitors show up, advancement will remain as listed. For 2 heats with 3 to advance, for example, and only 3 boats appear at the starting line, all 3 will advance, subject to maintaining racing pressure and cadence in accordance with the Rules of Rowing

Mariner Point Trophy 

Sponsored by Mariner Insurance Group, the trophy will be presented to the club earning the most points in the regatta. All events will count towards the points total. Composite boats do not count. Here’s how points are calculated, per the USRowing Rules of Rowing:

We’ll have a running tally at the regatta HQ tent at the Canoe Club on Saturday and Sunday. Composite crews are not eligible for points. Please let us know if your crew is a composite.

Under-subscribed Events

If fewer than four entries are received or if all the entries are from the same club, the event may be scratched and the clubs will be notified.

Composite crews

No competitor may represent two different clubs in the regatta. Boats composed of members from various clubs should register as composite crews.

Bow numbers & bow balls

No shell may launch without a bow ball and no shell may race without its appropriate lane number affixed to its bow. It’s the only way we can tell who you are as you cross the finish line. Any crew reporting to the starting line without a bow number may be assessed a warning (“false start”). A second warning will result in exclusion from the race.  Except for time trials, each crew must supply its own bow numbers. Bow numbers will not be provided; however, bow numbers will be available for sale at the Regatta Headquarters tent at the Canoe Club, $15 for a set of 6. The regatta will provide bow numbers for time trials.

Uniforms

All crews must wear matching shirts. “Matching” means identical in style, color, and detail, including any insignia. 

Bow-coxed boats

Bow-coxed boats must adhere to USRowing rules governing the size of the opening, i.e., minimum 2.3 foot long longitudinally, minimum 1.64 foot length as wide as inner hull, inner surface smooth and free of obstacles.

Substitutions

Per USRowing Rules, a crew other than a single scull may substitute up to 50% of its rowers, as well as the coxswain. Substitutions must be reported at least one hour prior to the first race of the event in which the crew is entered. No substitutions are permitted for a competitor in a single scull.

Drones

The Local Organizing Committee, working in conjunction with the chief referee, is charged with approving the use of any and all drones at the regatta venue both on shore and in the field of play, including the airspace above the course (in accordance with local and FAA drone regulations for the specific venue), and approving the use of any/all media launches on the field of play.

Anyone wishing to operate a drone at the regatta venue, including media, competing organizations (including athletes, coaches, support personnel, parents, or fans), or spectators, must have prior approval from the LOC.

Any drones operating in the field of play must be controlled from a media launch with an experienced drone operator and launch driver. The drone itself must remain at least 10 meters behind the crew in its lane and at least five meters above the highest point of the referee launch. In addition, all media launches, with or without drones, must keep an appropriate distance behind any crews in contention, so as to not wake any crews with the opportunity to advance.