Handling Equipment

HANDLING EQUIPMENT - (HRC Requirements - You Need to Know)

1. OARS

• Colour code and storage system

• Different Sizes - Concept and Croker

• Gearing – Length, Handle & button position.

• Race sets / Standard sets

2. BOATS:

• Booking System <HERE>

• Green & Red Fleet Boat (Red only by permission) <HERE>

• Crew weight & hull shape

• Terms – E.G .Bow-Stern, Bowside-Strokeside, Foot stretcher, Deck, Gunwale, Gate, Pin, Rigger arm backstay.

• The main crew commands in handling boats

3. BOAT HANDLING: ( Land Preparation)

• Boat Trestles

• Quick release Riggers

• Taking the boat out the rack to the trestles

• How to hold and handle the boat

• How to rig the boat

• Necessary adjustments before hit water (Footstretcher, Gates, Slides, Heights, Lights)

4. PONTOON AND SAFETY :

( Pre-Water preparation)

• Footwear

• Rolling the boat

• Use the horizontal timbers as support

• How deep walk into the water, how to put the boat in the water,

( To-Water preparation)

• Distribution of crew along the boat

• How to flip and hold the boat

• How to transfer boat between vertical levels (down, hands, shoulder, overhead)

• Down on the ramp

• Rolling and walk around boat

• Walking down ramp

• Putting the boat on the water

( On-water preparation)

• Holding boat on the ramp

• Half crew hold the boat other Half crew get oars

• Hold the rigger through the pin

• Keep boat away from the dry part of the landing (deep enough to leave fin and rudder out of contact with the deck.

• Cross the oars in on the rigger in front of the gate with blades at the correct side

• Land side oar (bow side) in first with the blade as close as possible from the gate and shaft crossed over the rigger

• Put the oar in the gate through the shaft not through the sleeve

• Step on the foot plate (not on the bottom of the boat) holding rigger with the left-hand side

• Put stroke oar one by one in the same position of bow oar

5. GETTING IN THE BOAT AND AWAY FROM THE PONTOON

• One by one, from bow to stroke, hold stroke handle, step on the plate, slide oar in the gate until the button touch the gate, seat on the boat

• Remaining rowers hold the boat through the pin

• After all rowers are seated in the boat and put their feet ON (not in) the shoe/stretcher, coxswain enter in the boat

• Seated in the finish position

• Use bow oar to push the boat away from the pontoon

• With the boat away from the pontoon, do adjustments, put your socks and your feet in the shoe.

6. LANDING THE BOAT:

• Bow seat is responsible for the landing

• Coxswain is responsible for the instructions.

• In case of coxless boat, bow seat is responsible for both

• Before approach to the pontoon, bow seat removes their feet from the footstretcher

• Boat should approach to the landing in a 45 degrees angle coming diagonally to the landing in a low but continuous speed.

• Bow seat puts its left foot out of the boat and looks back to control the turn of the bow avoiding it crashing onto the landing.

• As the boat approaches, turn to position the boat sideways (parallel) to the pontoon by checking the boat strokeside (all crew except bow seat)

• Bow side oars lift (hands down) to pass free over the ramp

• Bow seat “anchor” the boat with its left foot.

7. GETTING OUT OF THE BOAT

• All crew with their left foot out of the boat and on the pontoon

• Bow seat pull its bow side oar in until the blade touches the gate with shaft resting over the rigger

• Bow seat take stroke side oar out first and close the gate

• Rotate the oar passing perpendicular to the rigger resting it on the rigger in front of the bow side gate parallel to the bow side oar

• Open the bow side gate and take the oar out

• Close the bow side gate

• Stands up with right foot on the foot plate and left foot out of the boat on the ramp

• Step out

• Get the oars together

• Take the oars to land

• Come back to hold the boat

• Rest of the crew follow the same steps

Note crews must clear the boat staging area as quickly as possible as a courtesy to other users and as part of river safety. Blockages at the boat staging area can pose serious on-water safety risk of collision with crews banking up on the river and added difficulty for crews landing boats, increasing risk of damage. For this reason no HRC fleet is to be de rigged on the HRC staging. All to-water and from-water rigging is to be confined to the bitumen apron immediately adjacent to the HRC sheds.

HRC. November 2019.