Racing boats are extremely expensive and equally fragile and we quite obviously cannot enjoy our sport without them. All of our fleet should be treated as the valuable and fragile pieces of equipment they are, even the older ones. This will ensure they remain fast and enjoyable to row for as long as possible.
Below are a few simple rules to try and protect and preserve our boats, old and new. This covers handling boats on and off the water, and which boats it is appropriate for different abilities of rower to use.
If you see boats being mishandled please do point it out and refer people to these rules.
Boat Handling
Racks:
- If a boat has a cover, this must remain on whist taking it on and off racks.
- For big boats (quads/fours and eights) one person – either the cox or a member of the crew – should be responsible for making calls to move the boat.
- LOTS of damage happens to hulls from the riggers of the boat above:
- On the rolling floor racks, someone needs to hold up the riggers of the boat above when sliding the rack in/out.
- On any other rack the boat must be carefully rolled on from a half turn, on most of our racks there is not space to slide directly in or out.
- Watch out for the fin.
- Do not try and lift a boat that is too high for your crew to comfortably reach or too heavy. Ask for help and use the steps. If you are stretched you will not be able to control how you lift the boat and this is when damage happens.
- If you do damage a boat, write it in the book so we can fix things promptly.
Rigging:
- Check your boat when you use it, whether you rigged it or not. Things to check:
- Are the riggers tight?
- Are the feet tight? This includes the foot stretcher and the shoes themselves on the foot plate.
- If anything is loose, tighten it. DO NOT row with loose fittings; this damages the fittings and the hull.
- If something comes loose whilst you are using it TIGHTEN IT as soon as you can. DO NOT leave it loose for the next person.
- If something feels wrong i.e. pitches, or there’s something you cannot fix yourself write it in the book.
Boat Use:
Boats are allocated for use for training sessions and races by the Club Captain (who may delegate to Directors of Rowing) to ensure they are suitable and safe to use for the size and experience of each crew.
