RegattaCentral

DC Strokes Rowing Club and The Stonewall Regatta Organizing Committee (ROC) are pleased to invite you to the 16^thannualStonewall Regatta on Saturday, May 30, 2009.  As in past years thiswill be a USRowing sponsored event. We look forward to welcoming backcompetitors who have attended and supported our regatta since 1994, andwe welcome all new participants.

Rules and RegistrationInformation

Registration:  All registrations before the deadline will be done this year through Regatta Central at www.regattacentral.com.

Registration closes at MIDNIGHT, Friday night, May 22.  Entries maybe accepted after that date with a late fee only if space permits andat the discretion of the regatta registrar.Events not having at leasttwo entries from at least two different clubs will be canceled at thistime.No additional heats will be added after this date.

**PLEASENOTE**Masters event entries must have BIRTHDATE information on ALLrowers in order to be considered 'on-time' to avoid a late fee. Pleaseprovide all birth dates for masters rowers with the entry.

USRowing Registered Regatta; 2009 Rules of Rowing apply

Rule2-311,all broken equipment in the starting area will be given 5 minutesto repairwith an immediate restart following the repair
Rule 3-105, Bow ball; every boat must have a bow ball 
Rule 3-109, Footgear Release; the heel shall not raise more than 3 inches
Rule 4-107, A female rower may not compete in events for men, and a male rower may not compete in events for women.
Rule5-203, all clubs must be USRowing organizational members except forsingleentries who, if unaffiliated, must be full-privilege individualmembers of USRowing.
A competitor shall represent only one club

Hot-Seating:Allcompetitors are expected at the start line 5 minutes before thescheduled start. Hot-Seating of rowers/coxswains/boats is permitted,however rowers/coxswains/boats should not be registered for heatsscheduled within 30 minutes of each other.Race starts will NOT bedelayed for late arrivals.

Waivers: All rowers will need to sign a waiver of liability prior tocompeting.  Waiver submission is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to be done onlinethrough RegattaCentral: https://www.regattacentral.com/athletes/.  (thisprocess has been improved upon since last year).Paper waivers can besubmitted on the morning of the race at the registration.

Scratch Policy:An entry to an event may be withdrawn up until the registrationdeadline, midnight Friday night, May 22), with a full refund of thefees.  After May 22nd, no refund will be given. Substitutions among thesame size boat, however, will be allowed if space permits, i.e., therewill be no penalty for moving an entry among same-sized events (e.g.,from a masters to an open race).

Regatta/Event/Heat Cancellation Policy: Inthe event that it is necessary to cancel either the entire regatta or aportion of the regatta due to weather or hazardous river conditions, norefunds will be given. The decision to cancel the Regatta, event, orheat will be based on the recommendation of the Chief Referee, but isthe final call of the Regatta Director.

Ifscratches on the day of the regatta result in an event having only onecompetitor, that event will be scratched and the entry fee refunded forthe remaining entry.

Refunds will be made within 30days of the date of the regatta.

Race Fees

1x   $20.00        2x/2+   $30.00              4+/4x     $45.00            8+     $85.00

RowerQualifications

AlthoughStonewall Regatta XV is sponsored by DC Strokes Rowing Club,thenation's first and oldest Gay and Lesbian rowing club, participationis open to all rowers, regardless of sexual orientation. 

Novice: The Stonewall Regatta defines a novice rower as one who is within 1year of his/her first regatta. For example,if a rower rowed his/herfirst ever race at last year's Stonewall Regatta, he/she would beineligible to row again as a novice at Stonewall Regatta XVI. ALLrowers competing in a novice event must be novice, although thecoxswain does not.   In addition, an experienced sweep rower learningto scull may compete as a novice sculler (and vice versa), assuming itis within the first competitive year as noted above.Novice races will NOT be age handicapped.

Masters: Masters events are age restricted.  A Masters crew shall be comprisedexclusively of Masters rowers, coxswain excepted.  The age of a roweris whatever age he/she will attain by December 31, 2009.  For a crew,the age is determined byaveraging the ages of all rowers in the boat(excluding the coxswain), and rounding down to the highest integer(e.g., a crew with an average age of 34.7is counted as having anaverage age of 34).  If possible, Masters heats will be set by USRowing age class, so that handicapping is notnecessary.  If it isnecessary to combine age classes, we will handicap the event inaccordance with US Rowing procedures, which can be found in theUSRowing manual 'Rules of Rowing.'

Mixed crews:must be composed of an equal number of menand women.

AA Masters:  Rowers aged 21-26are eligible to compete in Masters events, but there will not be anydedicated AA category events; these rowers should compete in Opencategories.

Coaches/Coxswains Meeting

Therewill be a mandatory meeting for Coaches, Coxswains, and scullers infront of the boathouse at 8:00a.m (subject to change).  At this time,attendance will be taken, regatta protocols and safety procedures willbe reviewed, and changes made to finalize the schedule, if necessary.

Awards

Allraces/heats are considered finals.  Only first-place medals will beawarded for all races.  For races with multiple heats, each heat willreceive its own medal.  Medals will be distributed after the event onceits results are made official, and will be available at theregistration/results desk. 

Race Course

The regatta will be held on the Anacostia River.  All events are 1000 meters.   The start of the course is just downstream of the Pennsylvania Avenue(aka John Philip Sousa) Bridge.  The finish line is in between the twospans of the I-295 freeway bridge in front of the boathouse.  Thecourse,which is not buoyed, has five lanes.  Spotting points forcoxswains and scullers will be hung on the upstream span of the 295bridge and distance buoys will be placed at 250, 500, and 750 meterpoints.  A course map will be available at the regatta. 

Equipment

Bownumbers will be provided by the ROC.  Scullers are requested to ensuretheir shells have bow clips to accommodate lane numbers.  All shellsmust have a bow ball.  Shoe ties will be checked.

Boat Storage/Parking

Trailers will be accommodated in the yard behind the boathouse and in the dirt lot at the corner of 12^th & O Streets.  Parking on O Street will be restricted to car-topped sculls east of 12^th St.  Car parking will be at the adjacent Navy Yard ? enter through the gate at 11^th&O Streets.  If your plans require you to arrive the day before theregatta, please let us know to expect you so we can try to ensureparking in the boathouse yard, which is locked at night.  Trailers canalso park in the lot at any hour.  Storage in either location will beat your own risk.  DC Strokes Rowing Club and the Regatta OrganizingCommittee cannot be held responsible for mishaps.  You must provideyour own slings/racks and tie down straps.

Concessions

Asin previous years, food, snacks, and drinks will be available forpurchase. There will also be a Stonewall Regatta XV t-shirt and otherDC Strokes merchandise.

Contacts

Questions about the regatta, its operation, and policies, may be directed to Jarrod Shirk, Regatta Director, by email at [email protected].

Questions regarding registration and the status of your entries may be directed to the Registrar, Joe Henderson, by email at [email protected]

Questions regarding boat rental availability for visiting clubs may be directed to Andy Rabus [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you on May 30^th.So far the weather forecast is very promising!

Joe Henderson, Regatta Registrar

Jarrod Shirk, Regatta Director