Don't head to the dock without having someone there to carry oars for you. Dock support people are there to assist with oars.
Adjust feet on the water, be quick on the dock
Row away from the dock, be aware of the buoy just north of the dock. A good place to stop is just past that buoy, to adjust shoes, etc.
WARM-UP
Warm-up heads north.
Turn before the Hawthorne Bridge
Upstream stay in the main channel, you can warm-up up to the Spaghetti Factory.
When turning, be aware of northbound boats heading up from Oaks Park or Portland Rowing Club.
STAGING AREA
The start is just south of the Ross Island bridge. You can start sorting your boats by number on the west side of the island, you will be called up to the staging area in groups.
We are using a 25-30 second start gap for this regatta to avoid major traffic jams on the turn.
RACING
The race is an out and back, so STAY ON YOUR SIDE OF THE RIVER. There are no benefits to having to stop because you have to stop to avoid a collision.
There are big ORANGE buoys on the course, keep them to your port side. Error on the side closer to shore.
THE TURN
A 180 turn is a feature from HOT Dog regattas of the early 1990’s.
We are bringing it back out of necessity—as the race is being run entirely in the no wake zone of Holgate Channel.
2 things to know:
A race official will be situated 50-100 meters before the turn. If two boats are near each other, the official will announce over a megaphone which boat will have the right of way on the turn. That way there’s no confusion or interpretation needed.
At the turn, team boats will be allowed to drag their PORT oars to make the turn using Starboard power. NOTE, the starboard oars must keep moving, no halting and turning in place.
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