RegattaCentral

April 15, 2018 Lake Perris, CA

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Newport Sea Base Rowing is excited to announce this year's newest regatta, the EMPIRE SPRINTS.  Named after the Inland Empire of Southern California, the EMPIRE SPRINTS regatta will be held on Lake Perris, rowing site of the 2028 Olympics.  With the cooperation of the California State Park system, the City of Perris and the members of Newport Sea Base Rowing, we are excited to open up a new 2000 meter race course in the USRowing Southwest region, in addition to offering a regatta to serve the needs of the junior and Masters rowing communities.  Lake Perris is a beautiful location, surrounded by desert hills with plenty of sunshine.  Additionally, this regatta will help the SW Stewards in their seeding process for the SWJRA Championships, as it is a 2k course, which allows for a better assessment of each boat's speed and proper ranking for heats at Championships.

Tthe regatta director is Bob Maclean, and some of you may know me from my previous days as Head Coach at Pacific Rowing Club in SF, and later as the Men's Varsity coach at Capital Crew at Lake Natoma.  At both PRC and CC, I helped organize and run many, many regattas, including the PACIFIC INVITE, and LAKE NATOMA INVITES.  It is my goal to help provide a well-run regatta, and run on-time.  

We are installing 3 full lane lines prior to the regatta, giving each crew a racing lane line for the full 2k distance.  We will also have perimeter buoys.  Plans are in place to install the remaining in the future.  Furthermore, we plan on setting up safe traffic patterns so that crews will not need to "cross bows" while launching and landing.  A map with that diagram will come later, but suffice it to say, the beach launching area at Lake Perris is fantastic, with plenty of room.  Crews will launch straight out, and upon finishing their racing, will recover further down the beach, closer to the finish line, thus providing a safer traffic flow for the athletes, and less stress for coaches.  

The dam has a "dog leg" in it;  our course will run straight, diagonal to the dog leg, but mostly parallel and close to the dam.

The beach area has TONS of room for boat storage.  The launching chutes will be to the left, recovery to the right, all closer to the dam.  Again, there is plenty of room for boats and movement.  There are gazebos and grassy areas up above the beach for team areas.  And---we have received State Park permission to allow spectators to ride bicycles along the paved road atop the dam.  Yes, bring your bikes, and pedal along with the race!  There aren't many race courses like that on the West Coast!

Additional info:

--USRowing referees will officiate the races

--3 buoy lanes (2 crews per line, one on each side of the lane line)

--floating starts  (I will be the aligner for the regatta)

--spectators may bring bicycles and ride along the top of the dam on the paved road while following the races

--plenty of trailer parking

--plenty of bus / car parking

--vendor row

--results to be posted on HERENOW.COM

--State Parks will cordone off our regatta area, and buoy off our race area from motorboats.

--normal conditions during April are typically flat water, or light tail winds on this lake.  That's what the Ranger said who's been there for decades!

Being this is our first year, we ask that all coaches understand the following:

--we have only 1 day's worth of time slots--WE HAVE LIMITED CAPACITY THIS YEAR.  In the future, it could go to 2 days.  For this year, though, we have to manage entries and may have to limit team entries per event.  If you have 3 boats entered, but 3 other teams want in, we may have to drop some boats, or create a 2nd flight, if time allows.  Please be ready to be flexible so that this regatta can be a success.

--EACH EVENT MUST HAVE 3 TEAMS ENTERED, or the event will be scratched.

--AGAIN:  we will need to place caps on events, and if necessary, on teams attending.   We are waiting until after March 1st to enforce any needed caps.

--there is some flexibility to drop certain events, or combine them.

--we will work with coaches to adjust the schedule if major conflicts arise, but please be realistic, and understand that not all requests will be granted.

--please prioritize your boats--this regatta is only weeks before Championships, and coaches should be clear about their top boats.

Attached is my first preliminary schedule.  It can, and will, change.  NO LANES HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED YET, but I have indicated what teams are already entered in which events.  We WILL NOT go to 7-lanes.  Rather, we can possibly add 2nd flights on some events.

PLEASE LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY MAJOR ISSUES, EMAIL ME DIRECTLY.  I will then run it by other coaches.  The goal is to make it work for the majority.  Again, PLEASE BE REALISTIC, and PRIORITIZE.  I have tried to create a schedule that allows boat sharing, and efficient loading for trailers as the day goes on.

FINAL NOTE:

Going forward, I plan to update everyone at least once per week on entires and possible entry caps, and maybe twice per week.  We want to accommodate you, and will do the best we can given our time slots.

If you have any questions about LAND RELATED issues (trailer parking, bus / car parking, tents, bathrooms, BBQ's, waivers, etc., contact Michelle Green directly at:   Michelle Green [email protected]

If you have any racing / schedule questions, contact me, Bob Maclean, directly by email to my email address:  [email protected] 

We look forward hosting this event, seeing all of you there, and having some great racing on the newest course in the SW region!  It is an exciting development for our region, and the sport of rowing in California.

Masters will compete in 1000 meter races.

General Information: The regatta will be officiated by USROWING Judge-Referees. Coaches are expected to prepare athletes for participation in a formal regatta conducted by licensed officials. Races will run on time. Please advise of any needed hot seating of boats or athletes so that we may adjust the schedule accordingly to help accommodate each program’s needs.

Equipment Safety: Bow balls and bow numbers are required for any boat preparing to race. Bow balls and Bow Cards will not be provided by the regatta organizers. Each Shell must be equipped with quick release footgear or heels attached with strings to allow quick release.

Coaches, Coxswains and Officials Meeting: A meeting will be held at 7:00AM at the Registration tent to review the regatta procedures and the final schedule. All teams should send a representative. Entries will not be accepted after the conclusion of the Regatta Meeting.