Fuller's Head Of The River Fours

GENERAL

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.
Please read these rules carefully. In the event of a serious transgression (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.

Please be aware that all boats including those from overseas, must display must display a standard form of boat identification. More Information on codes and format can be obtained from British Rowing. www.britishrowing.org/club-list.

Failure to do so may result in a time penalty being applied.

The Committee does not accept any liability for crews or their equipment.
ENTRIES
Entries close Friday 21 October 2011 or after 520 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
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.
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.
NO CREW OR COMPETITOR MAY COMPETE IN MORE THAN ONE EVENT. Crews are eligible only for the prize of the event they have entered.
All coxn’s must have reached the age of 16 in the calendar year of the race (i.e. born in 1995 or earlier), unless express permission is given by the race committee. The HOR4s does not require junior crews to be coxed by juniors.
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 2009), 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 the Junior 4+ events, and entries from overseas and clubs affliated to Scottish Rowing, all sweep crews entered in the HOR4s must have at least eight points both at the time of entry and on race day (i.e. subs must have sufficient points to maintain the eight point minimum for the crew).
Clubs affiliated to Scottish Rowing should consult their national web site and should ensure that they provide all individual registration numbers in the Notes field in OE. If asked, they must provide evidence to support that their crews are at an equivalent level of competence.
Please note that this rule is non-negotiable.
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.
In the Quad events, no minimum point criteria will apply, although, as per rule 12, 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.
Overseas Crews (i.e. those not affiliated to British Rowing, Scottish Rowing or Welsh Rowing) can only enter the Elite or Junior events. The Committee may reject entries to Elite events, if they are not satisfied they are of Elite standard.
Overseas Clubs and those affliated to Scottish Rowing that are not already registered, will need to contact British Rowing (onlineentry@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.
With the exception of coxns (see rule 9), all athletes entered in the Junior events must have been born on, or between the 1st September 1993 and the 31st August 1997 (See Briitsh Rowing rules of racing 3-3-3a and 3-3-3i).
No composite crews will be accepted in either Open or Women's J 4+ events. A club may not enter more than one crew in each of these events. Entries from school Alumni Clubs will not be accepted.
START ORDER
Start order, further instructions and results will be posted on this web site www.hor4s.org.uk.
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 preferred 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, its associated crew composition. Crews must race under the Start Number allocated to that OE Crew ID - your club's nominated OE admin rep will be able to tell you what it is (or see pubished start crew lists to make sure you know where your crew is starting).
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.
CREW CHANGES / SCRATCHINGS
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.
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.
Once entries have closed, the crew will be baselined in OE and it will subsequently only be possible to substitute up to half the crew (as well as the cox). Please note that after this time it will not be possible to change status or boat type - see the Crew Change page for more details.
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
Where possible, crews must be amended online, using OE. This service will be available up until 10pm on the DAY BEFORE THE RACE (Friday 4th Nov).
After that time, substitutions can only be made on race day at Chiswick Pier House. 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.
TIME ONLY
Crews who are forced to substitute more than 50% of the rowers (because of illness etc) may request to race for Time Only - it is not possible for clubs to make these subs via OE- so please contact the Entries Secretary by email (entries@hor4s.org.uk) - see the Crew Change page for more details.
Where a substitution puts a crew above the points level for the event in which they are entered, the committee may allow the crew to race for Time Only. Again, these subs cannot be made via OE so please contact the Entries Secretary as above.
Where it necessary to sub someone into a crew from a club other than that named in the entry, the committee may allow the crew to race for Time Only. Again, these subs cannot be made via OE, so please contact the Entries Secretary as above.
For events where a point minimum applies (see rule 11), no option to race for Time Only will be extended to crews who wish to sub below eight points and any senior sweep crew found racing with less than eight points WILL BE DISQUALIFIED and may face further sanctions.
Lightweight Crews where one or more competitors fail to report for weighing, or fails to be within the maximum individual weight by 10:30am on the morning of the race, may still race but for Time Only. There will be no change to their start position.
Crews given permission to race for Time Only, will be given a time but will not be awarded a finish position in the published results.
PARKING & TRAILERING
The Committee is reliant on the goodwill and assistance of the Authorities at Putney and Hammersmith 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 instructions issued to those clubs boating from Putney and Hammersmith, and may refuse entries in future years.
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. . This is an important safety requirement.
LIGHTWEIGHT WEIGH-IN
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.
Lightweight competitors are requested to arrive as a crew to be weighed, and are requested to bring their valid BR racing license with photo as the preferred form of ID. Crew photos may also be taken at weighing-in for traceability to subsequent racing crew.
Competitors must weigh in wearing their racing kit (ie all-in-one / shorts & shirt). Anyone failing to wear suitable attire may be refused weigh-in.
Any crews withdrawing from weighing-in are kindly requested to send a representative of the crew to one of the weigh-in stations to avoid umpires waiting for a no-show.
DURING THE RACE
Captains must ensure that they only enter competent crews and that their crews are properly prepared for the race.
Captains must ensure that their crews must follow the standards for safety set out on the British Rowing Guide to Good Practice in Rowing, and particularly the requirement at section 2.1 to wear personal floatation devices where competitors cannot demonstrate the ability to meet the swimming standard or there is a medical problem which presents a risk that the competitor may become unconscious or immobile.
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.
Owing to the particular safety considerations of this race, the use of Megaphones and radio equipment is prohibited for all except race officials.
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.
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.
Coxswains and Steers should maintain that which they consider to be their best course but MUST NOT impede or move towards the course of an overtaking crew. Failure to observe this rule will lead to disqualification or a time penalty.
The onus to maintain a safe line lies with the overtaking crew, however ALL crews have a responsibility to avoid collision and may be penailsed if judged to have contributed to the causes of a collision. Any crew which chooses to row in bow-coxed boat has a special responsibility to make their cox aware of any overtaking crew.
FINISH ORDER
Any complaints about the behaviour of other crews during the course of the race must be made to the Umpire at Chiswick Pier House, within one hour of the last crew crossing the finish line. If you turn down Edensor Road off the A316 and go straight on until you reach the River you will find Chiswick Pier.
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.
Crews have until 6pm on Tuesday 8th November 2011 to make any appeals over penalties or the published result order. Appeals should be addressed to the Chief Umpire, and copied to the Hon Secretary and Entries Secretary - contact can be made via the committee page on the Hor4s website.
RACE CANCELLATION & REFUNDS
The committee would like to make it clear that entries will no longer be refunded in the event of a cancellation as, following the cancellation of the race in 2009, we are no longer maintaining a cancellation reserve.