[CUCBC Captains] Dangerous and inconsiderate coxing

[Tom Grimble]

** This message should absolutely be passed on to all coaches and coxes in
your club if they are not already on one of these lists.*

Dear all

The river is getting very busy with boats as the end of term nears,
particularly in the mornings. Also the number of incidents of dangerous
behaviour and inconsiderate coxing that could easily lead to a serious
accident has increased massively too.

Please read the following and heed this warning as there will be no
tolerance for stupid behaviour for the rest of this term.

*1) Lights*
All crews out in the 15 minutes after lighting down in the morning and in
the 15 minutes before lighting up need to have lights on their boats.
Marshals watch for this in the morning ad you will be fined for not having
lights that are sufficiently visible. The only acceptable type of light is
a *BRIGHT, WHITE light* on both bow and stern. If it is faint, buy some
batteries!
Also, saying the river was really busy and you didn't have time to stop to
put lights on your boat is not a valid excuse. If you have an outing late
in the afternoon you should be aware of when it gets dark and plan
accordingly.

*2) Spinning*
The *ONLY* places where you may spin are at Jesus and Baitsbite Locks at
either end of the river and at the P&E (alongside the small car park at the
start of the towpath) and between the posts at the bottom of the Long
Reach. Spinning elsewhere because you can't be bothereed to wait is
unacceptable. When you want to spin you MUST ensure that the river is clear
and that you will not impede anyone coming the other way. When you are able
to find a safe place to spin please only spin 1 boat at a time. If you are
behind, *WAIT YOUR TURN*. Once you finish spinning, clear the area as
quickly as possible and THEN pull in.
All crews should get out of the spinning areas as quickly as possible and
you definitely should not be stopping and doing exercises as this blocks
the river for everyone else.

*3) Overtaking queues and on corners*
It is an unfortunate reality that there is a massive queue in the mornings
of boats trying to clear around the P&E and at Ditton to spin. If everyone
used some more sense while trying to spin this would help matters (see
previous section).
If there is a solid queue of boats all the way ahead of you, *DO NOT
OVERTAKE*. We have had innumerable incidences of crews pushing their way in
front and they end up impeding a boat coming the other way. This usually
ends up with all 3 boats getting tangled and it now takes 10 times as long
for them to get out of the way making everyone sit around in a a queue for
longer.
No crew may overtake unless they ask permission to come by and can see it
is safe. A massive queue in front *IS NOT CLEAR OR SAFE.* The cox being
asked for permission to overtake also has a responsibility to respond even
if it is a negative. This also goes for corners where you can't see around
the bend, you should only overtake where you have a large clear space ahead
of you that you can see.
Not even University crews should be forcing their way through queues of
boats without making sure it is safe and clear, although college crews are
asked to give them priority where it is reasonable to do so. This is just a
request, they do not have a right of way over others, but we all want to
see them steaming past Oxford next year.

*4) Crossover points*
Pleas heed the massive signs at the crossover points!
If you are going downstream (from the boathouses to Baitsbite Lock) you *MUST
GIVE WAY TO UPSTREAM CREWS*. Be patient and do not push your luck trying to
quickly nip across. Some of the worst accidents we've had have been a
result of crews crossing over into others. It takes longer than you think
for an VIII to get across the river and out of the way again. If you can
see a crew coming ahead upstream you should probably sit and wait for them
to go by.
Upstream crews you do have priority but also have a responsibility to not
cause an accident so *BE SAFE* and stop if you have to!

*5) Holding up other crews with slow exercises*
The stretch between the boathouses and Chesterton is narrow and windy and
almost impossible to overtake on. In order to keep the flow of boats moving
along here we ask that everyone keep to a minimum of half crew, half slide
so that people don't end up stuck stationary when it is cold.
If you have a clear river in front of you, *DO NOT SIT THERE DOING ARMS ONLY
* while a massive queue of boats are stuck behind unable to overtake.
Your coaches must plan for this and should only do slow exercises where
there is space and should adapt their outing plan accordingly. If they
can't they're a crap coach and I strongly recommend you get a new one.
If there is nothing behind you, fine do it. If people are waiting, pull in
and let them through or get your boat moving and let everyone have a chance
at a decent outing!

Now you've read all that I expect everyone on the river to now be
completely safe and to do everything perfectly for the rest of term....

Please be patient and please be considerate of others it will help a lot.

Tom Grimble
CUCBC Honorary Secretary
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.cucbc.org/pipermail/captains_lists.cucbc.org/attachments/20121116/fa501180/attachment.htm>