[CUCBC Captains] Navigation and traffic

[Mark Jacobs]

Dear All,

This morning there was a collision between two crews at the Ditton 
crossover, which caused significant damage to boats and which had the 
potential to have caused serious injury to rowers. With the mornings 
getting busier, and with more novice traffic getting further downstream 
each week, please ensure all of your coxes and coaches are aware of the 
following:

1) You MUST give way to crews travelling upstream (back towards town) at 
the two crossovers, Ditton Corner and the Gut.

2) If you are travelling upstream at the crossovers, please be vigilant 
and satisfy yourselves that the river is definitely clear before 
committing to changing sides.

3) Novices (and seniors) get it wrong sometimes. If you're impeded, 
better give the other crew space to sort themselves out than try to 
barge through anyway, get entangled, and make it worse for yourselves 
and everyone else around.

4) There's always a queue on the way home. Everyone isn't sitting beside 
the bank just to enjoy the scenery. Don't be THAT boat, the one that 
blithely rows past everything until it nearly has a head-on collision 
with a boat heading downstream, causing you to cut abruptly into the 
queue and get tangled up, meaning everyone is delayed. If you NEED to 
get back urgently (as in, medical need, not 9.00 lecture panic, everyone 
has that) then please proceed cautiously past the queue and warn people 
what you're doing.


Two weeks to go until Fairbairns, please keep your eyes open and play 
nicely...


Any questions, let me know.


Regards,

Mark Jacobs

CUCBC Safety Advisor