What do I need to know as an umpire or official at a Rowing South Africa regatta, for crews of all ages from juniors to masters? Jury and officials' duties, aligning and starting, false starts, steering and interference, flags and commands, penalties, objections, protests and accreditation.
The RowSA Rules of Racing (effective 1 November 2020) apply to all rowing and sculling races, events and regattas sanctioned by RowSA and its affiliates. National championship, national, local championship and local regattas are all covered unless both of these happen:
Departures from the rules: an organising committee must apply to SAROC with full reasons. Approved changes must be in the regatta notice and published on the RowSA and regatta.co.za websites at least four weeks before the regatta. The rules don't necessarily apply to social regattas.
Schools regattas: the SASRU (South African Schools' Rowing Union) rules apply on top of the RowSA Rules of Racing, and take precedence where they differ. For example, they set a coxswain weight minimum for Open events and don't allow a cox to cox a younger age group, except an older experienced cox with a novice U14 crew. The SA Schools Championships have their own additional rules.
Guiding principles: safety and fairness for all competitors. Anyone who takes part in a competition run under these rules, in any capacity, is deemed to accept them without reservation.
Bye-laws, printed in italics in the rulebook, are modified by SAROC with RowSA Exco approval and are read with the rules.
President of the Jury (Rule 12.2):
The jury (Rule 12.3)
Adverse weather: at local and local championship regattas, the President of the Jury (after consulting the jury and the organising committee chair) may change the programme. At national and national championship regattas, the fairness committee does this.
Under Rule 12.5, the umpire:
All officials share the overriding duty to keep rowers safe and to apply the Rules of Racing consistently (Rule 12.1).
The aligner's duties (Rule 12.6):
Aligning procedure (Appendix E.3)
In a rolling start, the aligner keeps the crews level as they row towards the line, then raises the white flag and calls "PREPARE TO RACE" as they approach it.
False start: if a bow crosses the line after the white flag goes up and before the red flag drops, the aligner waves a red flag, calls "FALSE START", and identifies the crew or crews at fault.
The race is started by the umpire dropping a red flag, once the crews are ready and the aligner has said they are aligned. It is each crew's job to keep its boat straight in its lane.
Standard start (Appendix E.3 and E.4)
Rolling start (E.5)
The same starting procedure must be used for every race in an event.
Only the aligner may rule a start false (Rules 5.7.8 and 12.6.3).
Procedure (Appendix E.6)
What follows
A raised hand from a coxswain or rower means "not ready". The umpire may take note of it, but doesn't have to wait for every hand to drop before starting.
Late crews
Damaged boat or equipment
Before starting, the umpire:
Withdrawals: if crews withdraw, the umpire may combine or cut races after informing the President of the Jury and the finish judge.
Steering is the crew's responsibility. The umpire must not give steering instructions except to avoid accidents or stop a crew being impeded by an opponent. In principle the umpire doesn't steer a crew unless there is an obstruction in its lane. Where the course isn't fully buoyed, the umpire judges whether a crew's course is correct.
Signals and commands (Appendix E.8):
| Situation | Signal | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Crew about to interfere or leave its lane | Raise the white flag, call the crew, lower the flag to the side it should move to | (crew's name) |
| Two crews to separate | White flag held vertically | Both crews' names, then "KEEP APART" |
| Danger from an obstacle | Steer the crews round it, or hold the white flag up | "STOP ROWING" (may add "OBSTACLE") |
| Danger from another crew's poor steering | White flag up, aimed at the offending crew | "STOP ROWING" |
| To get a crew's attention or stop it | Raise the white flag | "STOP" |
| Restart a stopped crew | White flag raised vertically, then dropped straight forward | Crew's name, then "CONTINUE ROWING" |
Launch position: once the race starts, follow in the centre of the course. Position the launch so crews can hear you, and keep your wash off them when overtaking.
Capsize or rower in the water: make sure the rescue service is at hand, and if it isn't, take whatever steps are needed for the crew's safety.
Lanes: each crew has its own lane and must stay completely inside it, oars or sculls included. A crew may leave its lane at its own risk, but it then loses the umpire's protection and may be penalised if it impedes an opponent or gains an advantage.
What counts as interference (E.8.7): a crew's oars, sculls or boat encroach into an opponent's lane and disadvantage them, whether by contact, wash, distraction or any other way. The umpire alone decides whether a crew is in its lane and whether it caused interference.
Exclusion
Restoring the race comes first. If a crew loses its chance of winning, the umpire must restore it, not just penalise the offender. The umpire can:
A re-row is always from the original start line, never from a point down the course. If the impediment didn't affect the result, or its effect wasn't significant, the umpire may decline a re-row.
Under Rule 7.1, an umpire or the jury may reprimand, or penalise, rowers, coxswains or people accompanying them who behave in an unsporting or improper way or break the rules:
| Penalty | Effect |
|---|---|
| Warning (yellow card) | Two yellow cards in the same race become a red card |
| Exclusion (red card) | The crew can't row in that race |
| Disqualification | The crew can't row in any event at that regatta. Presumed appropriate for flagrant or intentional breaches of the safety or fairness rules |
| Relegation to last place | For racing in an underweight boat (exclusion if it happens again in the same event) |
Typical yellow cards:
Principles:
Also prohibited during a race:
Finish (Rule 5.9)
Judges at the finish (Rule 12.7) decide the order in which the bows cross, time each crew, check with the umpire that the race was in order, and authorise the results sheet. They don't announce an official result while an objection is pending.
Clearing the race (Appendix E.9)
Dead heats in preliminary races go to the President of the Jury, who decides how the crews progress.
1. Objection (to the umpire, Rule 6.1)
2. Protest (to the President of the Jury, Rule 6.2)
3. Appeal (Rule 6.3). A penalised crew may appeal in writing, stating its grounds, to the executive committee of the regatta's controlling authority directly after the jury's decision. That decision is final.
Control commission is the administration centre and launch control, based near the boat launching area. All crews must report to it before launching. Under Rule 12.4 it:
Underweight boats: if a boat weighs in light, the scales are tested in front of the crew representative and the boat is weighed again, and the second result stands. A crew that raced underweight is relegated to last in that race, and excluded if it happens again in a later round of the same event.
Officials' accreditation is coordinated by SAROC (the South African Rowing Officials Commission) under Appendix F of the RowSA Rules of Racing.
Intermediate official. You must:
National official
Water safety: anyone doing on-water duties must be able to swim and stay afloat. This is your own responsibility.
At national championship and national regattas, officials on the jury must be national umpires or national officials.