OUC Ice Floe Race Rules
OUC 2015 Ice Floe Race
Safety Procedures & Rules
1)Should the river be completely frozen over at any point during the course, all racers must immediately inflate their BCs and proceed, with their floes, to the east shore (left hand side). This is to prevent racers from being swept under the leading edge of the river ice.
2)Should the river become shallow at any point during the course,any and all racers at the leading edge of a floe must immediately move to the side or the back of the floe. This is to prevent racers from being trapped between the moving ice floe (as much as 24,000lbs / 11,000kgs in weight) and the bottom.
3)Contact with, or running over the stationary steel channel markers in the river is strictly prohibited. This is to prevent racers from being injured by the markers as they rebound upon clearing the floe.
4)Deliberate interference or contact between competing teams’ ice floes is strictly prohibited. This is to prevent racers from being crushed between floes.
5)Any team wishing to pass another team’s floe must clearly communicate their intention to do so and must pass on the left. The team being passed must yield to the right.
6)In case of emergency, a Safety Boat may be hailed by whistle or standard distress signal. The Safety Boat Captain and Deck Hand will determine whether to tow the racer to shore or bring the racer on board. For minor concerns (leg cramp, etc.) we recommend racers rest on top of the floe.
7)A minimum of 8 racers and a maximum of 16 racersare permitted on any one floe
8)All racers must have registered andpaid the appropriate fees, must be certified scuba divers, must wear a Buoyancy Compensator and must have signed a Liability Waiver prior to the race.
9)Teams may only propel ice floes by human-powered means and everything (and everybody!) that goes into the river must come out of the river.
10)Team Captains must perform a head count of their team before and after the race and report results of each to race officials.
11)Consumption of alcohol by racers at any time during the race is strictly prohibited.
12)An on-shore Race Divemaster (Rescue & Safety prime) must be available at all times to respond to any emergency situation and to activate EMS, etc.
13)Team Captains must review these Safety Procedures and Rules with all their racers before the race.
14)Failure to comply with these Safety Rules may result in immediate disqualification from the race, not to mention serious injuryor death. Please race responsibly!
15)HAVE FUN!
2015_official_safety_procedures&rules.doc