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General principles

• Keep a good look out, assume others can’t see you. If you are bow steering look round every 5 strokes.
• Avoid collisions - if you see a crew which is in danger of hitting you (or someone else), shout ‘Head and the boat type or club name’ loudly and give everyone plenty of time to change direction or to stop. 
• Be polite and considerate to all other river users (even the idiots in the large white gas guzzlers).
• Don’t baulk ie don’t row immediately in front of someone or attempt to slow down a faster boat which is trying to overtake (even if they are going too fast and creating massive wash – report them instead). If you want to do starts or exercises, move to the side of the big boat.
• Let people know in good time what you are doing, especially if you are in the wrong place.
• Allow yourself plenty of time/space when stopping, turning around or crossing the river
• Only approved ‘steers’ should cox/steer boats. At the moment it is up to your club how you ‘approve’ steers – but be sensible, make sure that they are competent and know the rules. If you have a novice cox, make sure you have someone who knows what they’re doing at bow and two.
• Crews on the water when it is dark/lighting-up time MUST have white lights visible for 360 degrees and 150m on the stern and bow. Flashing lights are not legal.
• If you see a any type of boat breaking the rules, report it via the TRRC website. The PLA is concerned that they receive loads of complaints against the rowers but that we don’t bother to report the cruisers which makes us look like the bad guys and we all know that this isn’t the case.

•  Allow enough space on stroke side to allow the Cockney Sparrow or similar sized boats to pass you without running aground.
• Divide the river into four zones: the 2 inshore zones and the 2 directions of travel in the fairway.

Rowing where ColRegs apply ie there is no rowing channel/inshore zone

Stick to the right / bow / starboard side of the river ie pass all boats going in the opposite direction port to port or red to red or stroke-side to stroke-side. This applies to The Thames upstream of the Syon House crossing and downstream of the Putney crossing. It also applies to virtually all other stretches of water in the UK.

Overtaking - You do not have right of way !!

When going against the stream, according to the rules you should overtake on the outside.  This is fine if the crew doing the overtaking is a lot faster, but if it isn’t, it is polite to let the overtaking crew pass on the inside so that you minimise the amount of time it takes to overtake. If you are being overtaken, tell the overtaking crew that you are moving out (this helps reduce the chance of collision).

When going with the stream then the crew being overtaken must maintain its original course and the overtaking crew must go around it.

Rowing two abreast

Is allowed, except for between Kew road and rail bridges - but use your common sense – if the tide is very low, and there isn’t much river to share don’t do it.

Rowing three abreast is not allowed, except when a crew is overtaking two crews rowing two abreast.

Stopping

You must not stop or cross over within 75 metres of any bridges.

When you are stationary, avoid causing a blockage by:

• keeping the boat parallel to the bank;
• sitting in single file

Between Kew Rail and Kew Road Bridges

In this area, you must not:

• Overtake
• Paddle two abreast
• Do slow exercises e.g. pairs paddling in an eight, single strokes

In other words row through this area as quickly and safely as possible. This is considered to be a particularly dangerous stretch and inexperienced novice crews should not go here.

Between the end of Oliver’s Eyot and the downstream end of Kew Pier, you are allowed to turn round, but you must do this quickly. You must not stop here for a rest!

Very Low Tides

At low tide, if you cannot get through the inside arch of a bridge, you MUST stop, look round and only go on through the nearside of the centre arch if there is nothing coming in the opposite direction.   Only go through the middle arch when it is clear and get back onto the inside ASAP. If, as you go upstream of Kew Road Bridge there is not enough room to go on the inside of the buoys, then you must stop and turn around – this means there is not enough water for you to continue further upstream in the inshore zones.

When the tide is on the turn

If you are not sure what the tide is doing, keep a good lookout and stick to the Starboard rule. 

To work out the direction of the stream:

• Look at what everyone else on the river is doing
• Look at the buoys or bridges – the water forms a ‘tail’ downstream of the current
• Sit still in your boat with your oars square and buried the stream - the direction that your boat travels should be the direction of the stream – but this will not be the case if there is very little stream and a very strong wind in the opposite direction

Other Useful Stuff

Sound signals (sometimes emitted by the big boats)

One short blast              -           I am turning to starboard ie my right

Two short blasts           -           I am turning to port ie my left

Three short blasts           -           I am about to reverse. This is usually followed by one blast or two blasts  to show which way the boat is about to turn whilst reversing

Five short blasts             -           I have no idea what you are doing and I am worried about your position

One Long blast              -           I am coming but I cannot see fully where I am going!

• Make sure your coach has a launch ready for his/her use i.e. at the water’s edge with petrol, a paddle and a properly equipped safety bag. Your coach should also have a mobile with them.
• Put your boat onto trestles, check that everything is safe and working and adjust your feet to where you think they should be;
• Look at the river, work out which way the stream is running, and remember to put the boat onto the water with its bows pointing into the stream

When setting off - paddle away from the shore and get clear of Chiswick Bridge or the finish post before taking your wellies off and putting your feet into the shoes.

When coming ashore - stop the boat well before your bit of hard, put your wellies on and then approach the hard. Remember to land ALL boats against the stream, and to do this very slowly to avoid damage.

When taking sculls/oars to or from the boat, (unless you are in a single) leave at least one person to hold the boat off the shore.

Finally…When you are being swamped by some prat in a Gin palace, you CAN do something about it, you can call the PLA VTS number 020 8855 0315, inform the PLA of the situation and with any luck the boat will be stopped either downriver or at Richmond. All coaches should have this number stored in their mobileso they can report the problem immediately, it is time that we did some reporting too!