RegattaCentral

Dear Visiting Club,

Welcome to Long Beach and thank you for participating in the 53rd year of the Long Beach Rowing Association's Christmas Regatta!  Taylor Gooch, Chief Referee, and his team of 10 referees, as well as LBRA and I, want your experience to be memorable and fun so please read and share this information, directions, and recommendations with your coaches, team members and whoever will be visiting the regatta.  The FINAL schedule will be sent to you on Thursday, December 5 that will include late entries. Please print the attached map for your team members.

PARKING

• Vehicles and trailers will be parking in two different locations within Marine Stadium but all will be on the racecourse (see attached map):

o   Marine Stadium vehicle parking entrance is off of the intersection of Appian Way and E. Third St., Long Beach, CA  90803.  Be specific about this intersection in your navigation system for ease of locating the entrance. There is no charge for parking in the parking lot. Vehicle parking will begin on Sunday at 6:00 am.  Be aware that the parking lot is DIRECTLY in front of homes so please keep the noise to a minimum.

o   Marine Stadium trailer parking entrance is at Bayshore Drive and Paoli Way, Long Beach, CA  90803 (no fee for parking trailers).  Please call Kristina Duggan (714) 293-9604 to let her know first if your club is bringing a trailer and second when you will be arriving with your trailer.  The entrance for trailers will start at 6 am on Sunday.   

o   If you are planning to arrive on Saturday night, please call me at (714) 293-9604 for further instructions.

GOOD INFORMATION TO KNOW

•  Marine Stadium is a beach launch but not rocky.  Low tide brings some seagrass but easy on the feet. 
• Bring your pop-up tents for the parking lot and beach team setup and don’t forget your beach chairs! It may rain so this is another good reason to bring your EZUp!
• We will have a food truck, JL Racing, spectator area and free entrance to the Lifeguard Museum from 11-2 which is located near registration and the food truck. 
• 2nd Street, a 10-minute walk from course, offers fabulous restaurants, coffee spots, shopping, and a drug store.  Go to https://www.belmontshore.org/home/directory/ for a full listing of local amenities. 

A REQUEST FROM LBRA AND THE CITY OF LONG BEACH – WE WANT TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS

Marine Stadium is in a residential area with homes located less than 50 feet from the beach.  Essentially, this is their front yard. As host to the regatta, we like to remind visitors:

• Please keep noise to a minimum especially before 8 am, pick up trash and respect property.  We also ask that along the beach, please stay out of the landscaped parkway located between the homes and the access road next to the beach.  They have my personal number, and they are not afraid to use it!

WHEN YOU ARRIVE - REGISTRATION

This year, we have 5-minute centers for our 850-meter course.  When you arrive, please have one representative check-in at registration which is located near the 7S restrooms at the end of the beach toward the finish line.  Registration opens at 6:15.

• Please have your representative provide any scratches that you know of at that point for the day. All subsequent scratches should be communicated with registration as soon as you know. Please print out the attached Scratch Form and fill it out for Sunday.
• Each club will receive a packet with several copies of a printed schedule and bib numbers (see below). 

BIB NUMBERS should be placed on the back of the bowman or coxswain of each race.  You will have a bib number for EVERY EVENT that you are entered.  This is important.  We have heavy traffic in our warm-up area and need to stage quickly and efficiently. This allows marshals to see what event boats are in to help crews get in line with less stress and as safely as possible.  Remember to stress to your crews that this is to help them, so we need to have everyone honor this request.

COACH AND COXSWAIN MEETING

Coach and Coxswain's meeting will be at 6:30 am at 7S where the end of the beach meets the vehicle parking lot toward the finish line near registration.  We want to make this a quick and efficient meeting.  Our Chief Referee Taylor Gooch will give a brief overview of the most pertinent rules and answer any questions that you may have.  It is expected that at least one representative from each team is in attendance.  

ON THE WATER - CONTROL COMMISSION/LAUNCH CONTROL

• Boats can launch at 7:00 am – this will be strictly enforced 
• Control Commission/Launch Control (see map), where you launch your boats, will be in the middle of the beach area by the 500-meter pole.  Consistent with USRowing rules, your crew and equipment will be checked in the following areas for safety:

o   Heel ties

o   Bow ball

• Your boat will be checked EVERY time it enters the water
• Your crew will also be checked for bow numbers:

o   Each club is responsible for bringing their own bow numbers for each race – lanes 1-6 (some races are seeded for lane 7 – please plan accordingly).  Displaying the correct bow number is imperative for the flow of the race and will be reviewed by Control Commission.  If you do not have a bow number, do not expect to race. 

• The first race will take place at 7:30 with 5-minute centers.  Lunch is currently scheduled for 11:30 – 12:30. 

WEIGH-IN

•  There is no official weigh-in as our regatta is based on the “Honor System.”  

NO CHANGES ON RACE DAY

• Lineups are due on December 2.  We will not make any lineup changes on race-day.

I am so glad that you are racing here at Marine Stadium, the beautiful 1932 Olympic venue.  If there is anything that I can do to make your visit better, please send me a text or if urgent, give me a call.  We will have volunteers throughout Marine Stadium who will answer your questions or find out the answer.  

Kristina Duggan

Long Beach Rowing Association

Regatta Director

(714) 293-9604