SCULLERS HEAD OF THE YARRA
Competitor Information and safety Briefing
Approx
ClassStart TimeStart Location FinishDistance
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All Boats8:30 amHawthorn Rowing Club Judges’ Box8.6 km
Entries are due by 5.00 pm on the Monday before the race.Entry Fees are $6, plus the VSA Registration Fee of $24 if not previously paid. Fees can be paid online at by following the link to register.
In addition to overall winners for women and men in racing and tub boats, there will be results for the best prognostic times for racing boats, in Junior, Open and Masters categories.
Bow Numbers
Bow numbers will be used. These can be picked up at MUBC on Friday the night before between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm, or from outside Hawthorn Rowing Club after 7:30 am on the Saturday of the race. A $10 or larger deposit is required.
Starting and Marshalling
Getting to Hawthorn
Trailers will be arranged from Prince’s Bridge on Saturday morning. Loading will be at 6:00 am.
We expect that there will be access problems for trailers at Hawthorn Rowing Club. You may need to unload in the road above the Park.
If you are rowing to Hawthorn from a downstream club, you MUST arrive at Hawthorn Rowing Club at 8:15 at the latest. We cannot start the event if boats are still coming upstream on the course.
Allow AT LEAST 50 minutes to scull from Prince’s Bridge, 35 from Wesley, and 20 from St Kevin’s or Scotch. If leaving from Prince’s Bridge, you must leave by 7:15. A speed boat will follow up and if you are behind it, you will NOT be allowed to start.
If sculling from downstream, please collect your bow number from MUBC on Friday, because there will be a lot of congestion on the Hawthorn staging, and you can’t leave your boat on the water at Hawthorn while you collect your bow number.
Starting arrangements
The start will be opposite Hawthorn Rowing Club.Scullers boating from Hawthorn will leave the staging in bow number order, as shown in the table, from around 8:00 am, allowing plenty of time to scull upstream to and warm up before assembling 300m abovethe HawthornBridge in bow number order from 8:25am.
1 - 30 / 8:30 - 8:36 / 8:00 – 8:10
31- 60 / 8:36 – 8:42 / 8:10 – 8:16
61 - 90 / 8:43 - 8:50 / 8:16 – 8:22
91 -120 / 8:51 – 9:00 / 8:23 – 8:30
121- 150 / 9:00 – 9:05 / 8:30 – 8:40
150 + / 9:05 / 8:40
Once on the water, normal traffic rules will apply with upstream traffic keeping to the Hawthorn RC side of the river and downstream on the west or city side of the river. If you want to stop, go close to the bank. DO NOT STOP in the middle of the river. While waiting for the start, keep your bow pointing upstream into the current.
Flying Start
Safety
The river is not closed and competitors must keep to the right, and use only the normal downstream bridge arches. Use of the South arch of any bridge other than the Heyington railway bridge between St Kevin’s and Grange Road will result in disqualification. Motor boats will be used to check the river for debris, as safety observers, and follow the last boats to the finish. Marshals will be stationed at various points to observe.
Competitors must know the bridge arch rules.
Bridges you will encounter during the event are:
- HawthornBridge(at the start) – single span
- HawthornRailwayBridge– single span
- WallenRoadBridge- 3 narrow arches – use centre only in single file!
- FreewayBridge (at ScotchCollege) – single span
- Heyington railway bridge- 2 arches - use either arch – traffic is two way through the larger south arch
- MacRobertson bridge(Grange Road) - single span
- Chapel Street (also known as Church Street) – 2 arches – use north arch only – traffic is two way through this arch
- Cremorne railway bridge – 3 arches - use north arch only
- Punt Road bridge – 3 arches – use north or centre arch
- Morell bridge – 3 arches – use centre arch
- Swan Street bridge – 3 arches – use north or centre
- Prince’s Bridge (after the finish) – go through north or centre downstream, turn and use south when returning upstream
Overtaking
If a competitor boat is being overtaken by a faster boat, then the slower boat must yield the best racing line to the overtaking crew and warn the faster crew if they should alter their course. A crew is deemed to be overtaking if a faster crew has its bow ball within a length of the stern of the slower crew. For safety reasons, the faster boat must be prudent and delay the act of passing if a pass cannot accomplished without incident.
Presentations, and Refreshments at Yarra Yarra Rowing Club
After the event, there will be Trophy Presentations for the Winter Sculling Series, at Yarra Yarra. All competitors, volunteers, friends and families are most welcome.
Presentations will be made at approximately 11:15 am, and Scullers’ Head of the Yarra results are expected to be available at the end of the presentation.
Refreshments will be available, at no charge from 10:00 am.
A copy of a video briefing is at Ignore that it’s labeled 2014 – it applies the same for this year.
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