Fuller's Head Of The River Fours

1. The race is held under the British Rowing Rules of Racing, Guide to Safe Practice in Rowing, these Rules, the Marshalling Instructions and any other instructions published by the Committee.
Non Tideway clubs MUST have obtained written/email permission to boat from their host tideway club before completing an entry form. Captains will ascertain time and order of boating of crews from those in authority at the club from whose Boathouse their crews intend to boat. The Committee reserves the right to direct where crews will boat and issue traffic directions.
Start order, further instructions and results will be posted on this web site www.hor4s.org.uk.
A full list of provisional times will be available as soon as possible after the race finishes. Prizes will be presented at a reception to which winning crews will be invited at a later date. Winning competitors will receive an individual medal and winning Crews will receive a sign written Blade Spoon.
Entries close Friday 30 October 2009 or after 550 complete paid entries have been accepted, whichever is the earlier. Note that there is NO possibility of reserving a place not paid for and NO “WAITING LIST” after entries close
Entries to Academic events are restricted to any club (no composites) listed in the British Rowing Almanack as a School, College, Hospital or University.
Please note that Crews from Acadmeic clubs (as defined above) may NOT enter either of the 'Club' Events
All athletes entered in the Junior events must have been born on, or between the 1st September 1991 and the 31st August 1995 (See Briitsh Rowing rules of racing 3-3-3a and 3-3-3i).
Overseas Crews (i.e. those not affiliated to British Rowing, Scottish Rowing or WARA) can only enter the Elite or Junior events. The Committee may reject entries to Elite events, if they are not satisfied are of Elite standard.
The committee reserves the right to cancel specific events in the event of insufficient entries. In this situation, crews will be offered the opportunity to race at a higher status where available.

Overseas Clubs and those affliated to Scottish Rowing that are not already registered, will need to contact British Rowing (Irene.townsend@britishrowing.org) and let them know your club details and the names of the competitors you wish to enter. British Rowing will then set you up on their Online entry system so you can enter the event.

Please be aware that all boats must display a standard form of boat identification. Specific requirements can be found at www.thames-rrc.org/rowing-on-the-thames/ara-club-codes.
Failure to do so may result in a time penalty being applied.

Lightweight Rules: The designated maximum weight for lwt competitors is the the individual weight as set for indoor rowing (currently Men 75kg, Women 61.5kg). No crew average weight.
With the exception of coxswains, no rower who has competed at a senior level for their Country (World cup, Senior World Championships or Olympics) in either sweep or sculling during the two years prior to the race (i.e. since November 2007), will be allowed to enter any status other than Elite, regardless of whether they are entered in the same discipline or not.
With the exception of overseas and clubs affliated to Scottish Rowing, all sweep crews (club and academic) entered in the HOR4s must have at least six points both at the time of entry and on race day (i.e. subs must have sufficient points to maintain the two point minimum for the crew). Clubs affiliated to Scottish Rowing should consult their national web site. They should give all individual registration numbers in the Notes field and must provide evidence to support that their crews are at an equivalent level of competence. The committee reserves the right to reject crews entered at a status deemed to be above their ability if, on request, they fail to provide sufficient evidence as to why they should be allowed to race at that status.
Please note that this rule is non-negotiable. The committee recognises that a 6 point minimum is not exactly comparable to the 2 point rule under the old points system, and will review the impact of the change on entries levels after the 2009 race.
No composite crews will be accepted in any of the IM2 4+ events (club or academic)
All coxn’s must have reached the age of 16 in the calendar year of the race (i.e. born in 1993 or earlier), unless express permission is given by the race committee.
In the Quad events, no minimum point criteria will apply, although the committee reserves the right to reject crews entered at a status deemed to be above their ability, if they cannot provide evidence as to why they should be allowed to race at that status.
Captains must ensure that they only enter competent crews and that their crews are properly prepared for the race. Crews should be capable of completing a ten mile outing and may be on the water for three hours. The Weather in November can be wet and cold. Hypothermia is a real danger. Crews should take sufficient warm clothing on the water with them. A plastic bag is useful for placing clothing in during the course of the race.
All Coxswains and Steers should be familiar with the Marshalling Instructions and Rowing Code of Practice for the Tidal Thames between Putney and Richmond before boating at any time. This can be found at www.thames-rrc.org/rowing-on-the-thames/navigation-on-the-river-thames/ .
No crew may win more than one set of prizes. NO CREW OR COMPETITOR WILL BE PERMITTED TO ROW TWICE, OR ENTER FOR TWO EVENTS. Crews are eligible only for the prize of the event they have entered.
The Committee will determine the order of start. It will generally be in event order. Clubs entering two crews in the same event are requested to inform the entries secretary if the crews have a prefered order (e.g. which is the A crew and which is the B crew), using the notes section in the British Rowing Online Entry system.
A Crew is defined by its Online Entry 6 digit Crew ID number and associated crew composition. Crews must race under their allocated Race Order Number. Where more than one club crew has been entered in a single event, it is the responsibility of the club concerned to ensure their crews race under the start number allocated to that crew by the event organisers; failure to do so will result in disqualification.
Late crews that are not started with the rest of the crews in their event , may be liable to a penalty of up to ten seconds.
Returning crews are to be presumed responsible for accidents with racing crews, unless it is impossible for them to avoid the racing crew, without causing a greater danger.
Notice of scratching, in writing, or e-mail, must be received by the entries Secretary before the race. On race day notice may be handed in at Chiswick Pier House, (if you turn down Edensor Road off the A316 and go straight on until you reach the river, you will find the Pier House - see map on right). Notice of scratching must include a full explanation of the reasons for the scratching. Failure to provide an adequate explanation could affect the acceptance of a Club's entries in future years
Crew changes.

23.1 Before the entries close. The crew line up can be amended through the On-line Entry system and clubs can make as many changes as they want up until the point entries close. At that stage the crew will be baselined in OARA and it will subsequently only be possible to substitute up to half the crew (as well as the cox).
23.2 Clubs wishing to change status or event prior to entries closing should be aware that this requires the original entry to be scratched and a completely new entry to be entered. The new entry is treated as being received when it is made and not when the original entry was made.
If you scratch an incorrect entry and replace it, ask the Entries Secretary to transfer your payment. DO NOT PAY TWICE.
23.3. After the entries close - Prior to the race day. Crews must be amended through the Online Entry system. No more than two rowing or sculling members of the crew, plus the cox, can be substituted subsequent to the close of entries and it is not possible to change status or event.
23.4 After 10pm on 13th November 2009 / On race day. During this period all substitutions, must be declared IN PERSON at Chiswick Pier in advance of the race (8am to 12:30am). The HOR4s committee must have an accurate list of all crew members competing, in the race. This applies equally, if not more so, to coxn’s as, in the case of an accident or emergency, we MUST be able to inform the PLA and emergency services, exactly who the masters of the vessels concerned were. No more than half the crew can be substituted subsequent to the entry closing and it is not possible to change status or event.
Crew change forms are provided on this web site and will be available from the entries official at Chiswick Pier House on the day of the race.
The entries Secretary or his representative must receive notification of substitutes not later than one hour before race start time. THIS INCLUDES COX’NS. On race day the entries secretary will be at Chiswick Pier House. Failure to comply with this rule will render a crew ineligible for any prize and may result in disqualification.
All substitutions made on race day, must be declared in person, only at Chiswick Pier in advance of the race. The HOR4s committee must have an accurate list of all crew members competing in the race. This applies equally, if not more so, to cox’ns as, in the case of an accident or emergency, we must be able to inform the PLA and emergency services, exactly who the master of the vessels concerned were.
We have had several instances in recent years of coaches omitting to declare Cox substitutions to the committee as they did not deem them to be important. Spot checks will be carried out at boating areas and ANY crews found to have undeclared subs WILL be disqualified and may forfeit their club’s ability to enter in the following year.
In certain circumstances the committee will allow crews with more than 50% subs or who need to make a sub who has too many points for the entered event, to race for TIME ONLY - see the Crew Change page for more details.
In the event of two or more crews returning the same time the crew with the lowest starting number will be judged the winner.
A full list of provisional times will be available on this Website, www.hor4s.org.uk, as soon as possible after the race finishes. Prizes will be presented at a reception to which winning crews will be invited at a later date. Winning competitors will receive an individual medal and winning Crews will receive a sign written Blade Spoon.
In the event of a serious transgression of the rules (e.g. Rowing below status, endangering other crews) the Committee may disqualify not just the crew involved but all crews from the Club it represents and refuse entries in future years.
Owing to the particular safety considerations of this race, the use of Megaphones and radio equipment is prohibited for all except race officials.
Coxswains and Steers should maintain that which they consider to be their best course but MUST NOT obstruct or impede a faster crew that is overtaking. Failure to observe this rule will lead to disqualification or a time penalty. ALL crews have a responsibility to avoid collision and may be penailsed if judged to have contributed to the causes of a collision.
PARKING AT PUTNEY
The Committee is reliant on the goodwill and assistance of the Authorities at Putney if the Race is to continue with the same number of crews. The Committee will disqualify all the crews from any club whose representatives do not conform to the rules issued to those clubs boating from Putney and may refuse entries in future years. Please try and make arrangements to boat from Mortlake, Chiswick or Hammersmith.
The Police, Traffic Wardens and Council Officials must not only be obeyed at all times but treated with courtesy and respect. Traffic flows and regulations will be obeyed. Equipment must not block the road at any time. This is an important safety requirement.
The Committee does not accept any liability for crews or their equipment.