Starting Procedures

Crews are to be at their starting stake boats two minutes before the scheduled time of the race. Once the boats lock on to the stake boat, the Starter at the start will supervise the alignment process. When all boats are level, the Judge will raise a white flag and say, “Ready?” If a crew is not ready, its bow person will raise his or her hand. When all boats are polled, the Judge raises a red flag, gives the commands “Are you ready?” and “Go!” At the “Go!” command, the Starter drops the red flag. Crews may then break the plane of the starting line once the flag begins to move.

In windy conditions, the Starter may dispense with polling the crews and use a quick start. Here, the Starter says, “Attention!” and if no crew(s) responds, immediately raises the red flag and gives the starting commands.

Crews can be assessed a warning for a false start, for being late to the start, or for traffic rules violation. Officials exclude from the event a crew that receives two warnings in the same race.

If a crew breaks equipment in the first 10 meters of the race, it should stop rowing and signal to the umpire, who will then stop the race.

Once the race has begun, the Official follows in a launch. He or she will instruct a crew only to avoid a foul or safety hazard. If a crew is about to interfere with another crew, the Official will raise a white flag, call the crew’s name, and drop the flag in the direction where the crew should move. If a crew is about to hit a known obstruction (such as a bridge abutment) the Official will raise a white flag, call the crew, and yell “Obstacle!” or simply “Stop!” If the official needs to stop the entire race, he will ring a bell or sound a horn, wave a red flag, and call out “Stop!” if necessary.

A crew that wishes to protest a race must raise a hand after it crosses the finish line and lodge the protest with the official. A written protest accompanied by $25 must follow. A jury will decide the protest after a hearing. If the hearing goes in the favor of the protest then the crew receives a $25 refund.