[CUCBC Captains] Queueing / Chesterton crossover

[Mark Jacobs]

Dear all,

This morning there was a collision between two boats queueing at 
Chesterton, resulting entirely from poor lookout and judgement, leading 
to serious damage to both boats. Luckily, this time, there were no injuries.

Please pass on the message to your crews that they must all be vigilant, 
and that this applies to rowers as well as coxes. A good shout from 
stern pair can help avoid a collision in a queue, and bow pair looking 
over their shoulder every 10 strokes or so in key areas of the river 
(i.e. Chesterton, where you have no bankparty and a known queueing spot) 
may pick up things your cox misses.

It's also important that your crew can actually stop the boat in an 
emergency - something crews on the Cam are very bad at compared to the 
rest of the country. There is an excellent video at
http://thamesrc.co.uk/the-club/safety/ listed under 'emergency stop'. 
All rowers should have their blades flat on the water and lift the 
handles firmly together. An VIII at paddling pace should be able to stop 
within one length.

While I'm on the topic of queueing, please try to be aware of boat 
movement at Chesterton. The lights will always impose a crossover point 
for boats travelling in one direction - therefore while queueing please 
try to leave a navigable channel. I appreciate that in the mornings 
there can be quite a few boats waiting and that there isn't necessarily 
anything to anchor yourselves to. However, provided that you decisively 
pick one side or other of the river as appropriate, and manouevre as 
necessary to keep yourselves there, this shouldn't create traffic flow 
problems.

Regards,

Mark Jacobs
CUCBC Safety Advisor
<http://thamesrc.co.uk/the-club/safety/>
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