HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL DRAGON BOAT RACES 2005

RACE RULES & REGULATIONS

1. General

1.1 All races will be governed by the following:

1.1.1 Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race 2005 Rules and Regulations.

1.1.2 Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race 2005 Notice of Race.

1.1.3 Any amendment issue by Racing Committee on the race days.

1.2 Any team or crew that fails to observe the Rules and Regulations herein or received 2 warning from the racing committee may be disqualified.

1.3 Admission badges will be issued to each crew. These are for the use of the crew and its officials on the race days only and are not to be used by other persons.

1.4 A crew must follow the directions of the Race Officials from the time it is called to the Crew Assembly Area, until it leaves the Crew Assembly Area after its race.

1.5 Each crew must have a Team Captain, who must be present in the Crew Assembly Area during the time that the crew is under the control of the Race Officials. The Team Captain will be responsible for liaising with Race Officials.

1.6 The entry fee paid is non-refundable should the crew decide to withdraw from the races or should the races be cancelled for reasons beyond the Organiser's control. (Applicable to local teams only)

1.7 The Organiser reserves the right to refuse the entry of any crew in the races at its sole discretion.

1.8 By the entry deadline, if there is less than 4 entries in a local category, the Organiser reserves the right to cancel the race. Each of the crews will be invited to another local category if it fulfils the entry requirements. If it is not eligible to enter into another local category, the crew can still enter into the Men’s/Mixed/Women’s International Championship - Qualifying Races. If the crew considers withdrawing from the event, the Organiser will refund the entry fees to the crew.

2. Safety

2.1 Each competitor must be able to swim at least 100 metres wearing light clothing. It is the responsibility of the person entering a crew to make sure that all members of the crew comply with this rule.

2.2 Each competitor is solely responsible for his or her own safety during official practice sessions and during races and no responsibility will be accepted by the Organiser or any other individual or organisation connected directly or indirectly with the races for any death, injury, damage or loss incurred or borne by competitors or members of a crew.

2.3 Personal flotation equipment may be worn by competitors but this does not relieve the competitor and the person entering the crew from complying with Rule 2.1.

3. The Crew and Crew Composition

3.1 Each boat may carry up to 20 paddlers or not less than 16 paddlers. Each boat must carry one drummer and one steersman. A non-paddling crew captain may also be carried.

3.2 Except for the Men’s/Women's International Championship, the Mixed International Championship, the Men’s/Women's Open Championship, the Mixed Open Championship, all races paddlers can be Men’s or Women’s.

3.3 No women may participate in a men's crew or vice versa, except as steersman and/or drummer. A mixed crew shall race with at least eight female paddlers, up to a maximum of twelve.

3.4 Each crew is entirely responsible for its own conduct and for complying with the race rules. This rule also applies to crews who choose to use steersmen or drummers supplied by the Organiser, who will be treated as members of the crew for the purposes of the race rules.

3.5 Every member of each crew must wear a same uniform, distinctive singlet or shirt while under the control of Race Officials.

3.6 All paddlers must have been continuous full-time permanent employees of the company or bona-fide members of the organisation entering the crew for at least three months at time of submission of bio-data form which is to be completed by each member of the crew for the processing of the crew members' identity cards.

3.7 Persons for whom a bio-data form has not been submitted will not be permitted to race. International teams are not permitted to recruit locally drafted paddlers.

3.8 In the event of any contravention of Rule 3.7, the Organiser reserves the right to disqualify such crew and refuse an entry in future races.

3.9 A paddler should only be registered under the name of one crew and may not compete in any other crew in all events except the International categories.

3.10 A crew may have a drummer and/or steersman who is/are not employee(s) of the company or members of the organisation.

3.11 In the event of Rule 3.6 being contravened, the Organiser reserves the right to refuse the crew entry in the races.

3.12 In the event of any contravention of Rule 3.6 being discovered after a race, the Organiser reserves the right to disqualify such crew.

4. Marshalling, Embarking and Proceeding to the Start

4.1 A crew must be reported to the crew assembly area 30 minutes before the time of its race and be ready to boat 15 minutes before the time of its race.

4.2 Crew identity checking may be carried out by Race Officials at any time and crew members must be able to produce identification upon request. In particular the Team Captain must be present in the Crew Assembly Area with his crew in order to assist with identification checks when required.

4.3 A crew must embark the boat in accordance with the instruction of the Crew Marshals.

4.4 A crew is not permitted to choose which boat to use and must use the boat allocated to it by the Organiser.

4.5 Each boat will carry a number indicating the lane in which it is to race. A crew must race in the lane allocated to its boat.

4.6 After a crew has embarked, it must immediately leave the boarding pontoon and proceed to the starting area.

4.7 A crew proceeding to the starting area must keep clear of the course and must not interfere with any race which is in progress. Boats proceeding to the starting area must keep close to the bank, away from the race course.

5. Starting Procedure

5.1 A crew in the starting area must obey the instructions of the Starter, Umpires and Course Umpires.

5.2 A crew must take up its correct position in the starting area in the lane allocated to it.

5.3 A numbered platform will be moored in each lane behind the starting line. A crew member must pick up the bow-line in order to hold the boat straight to its course. Lines attached to the starting line of stern-rope must be picked up and held by steersman. The steersman may release the line only until the starting signal is given.

5.4 All paddle blades should be above the water surface before the start signal.

5.5 When the Aligner is satisfied that all crews are correctly aligned, the Starter will alert all crews with the verbal warning "READY". A gun will then be fired to signify the start of the race.
N.B. It is the responsibility of each Team Captain to make sure that each crew member is familiar with the starting procedure. The starting signal is the gun.

5.6 In the event that the Starter considers that any crew has started before the gun is fired, a second gun will be sounded and the course Umpire will hoist the red flag to signify a false start and all crews must stop and return immediately to the starting positions. The race will be restarted. The Starter will issue a warning to the crew(s) that has(have) caused the false start.

5.7 Any crew that fails to return after a false start or that causes false starts while the race re-start may be disqualified.

5.8 The drummer must sit and remain in the designated drummer’s seat throughout the race and hold a drum-stick during the race.

6. Race Conduct

6.1 The proper course for each boat is a straight line from its starting position to a corresponding point on the finish line. Each boat must remain in its allocated lane and must not interfere with other boats.

6.2 Course Umpires will follow behind to observe the course taken by each boat at every race. Any boat failing to keep to its proper course may be warned by the Umpire.

6.3 Boats should not pass outside the buoys marking the edge of the course.

6.4 In the event of a boat failing to keep to its proper course and thereby interfering with the course of another boat which is on its proper course, or in the event of a collision between two or more boats, the Race Controller may, after consultation with the Umpire, disqualify the offending boat or boats or order one or more boats to re-row the race, or both, where, in the Race Controller's opinion, the result of the race has been materially affected.

6.5 Any boat failing to keep to its proper course may be warned by a Race Offical and may be required to replace the steering with one provided by the Organiser for any future races at the prescribed fee.

6.6 When, in the opinion of an Umpire or the Race Controller, a boat has been swamped or capsized deliberately by the crew, the Organiser reserves the right to refuse such crew's entry in future races and impose a penalty of HK$1,000 on the organisation entering the crew.

6.7 When, in the opinion of the Race Controller, the Umpire or any Crew Marshal, a boat is damaged deliberately by the crew, the Organiser reserves the right to impose a penalty of HK$5,000 on the organisation entering the crew. The Organiser also reserves the right to demand such organisation to pay for the cost of repair to the damaged boat.


7. Finishes

7.1 The finishing Line is defined by two designated marks at the starboard end and the port-end finishing line of a race course. Any buoys set between are for defining race course only and cannot be regarded as the finish line.

7.2 Boats finish the race when the most front part of the boat passed through the finishing line.

7.3 The finishing order of a race and the time taken by each boat will be determined by the Finishing Judges whose decision shall be final.

7.4 Each boat must immediately stop paddling and slow down after the bow of the boat crossed the finishing line. If any team failed to slow down and result to boat damage or any accident caused will be disqualified.

7.5 Each crew must return immediately to the Crew Assembly Area and disembark after the race.

7.6 The number of crews in a boat passing the Finish Line must be the same as the number of crews when embarking the boat in the same race. Any mismatch will be disqualified.

7.7 A boat capsized while racing will be considered as unable to complete the race and will be disqualified. No re-race will be arranged.

7.8 Where two crews from the same heat qualify for the next round with identical times, the Race Controller will draw lots to determine in which lane each crew shall row.

8. Protests

8.1 Eligibility of Protest

Protest against false start, finishing result and race equipment will not be accepted.

8.2 Protest Evidence Not Acceptable

Photographic evidence of any form about an alleged breach of a rule given by competitors shall not be accepted.

8.3 Lodging Protest

A protest shall be lodged by the team captain or term leader with the Race Officer on duty at the Race Control within fifteen (15) minutes of the end of the relevant race by way of completing a protest form and pay the protest fee (HK$500). The fee will only be refunded if the protest is successful.


8.4 Protest Hearing

If the Race Committee accepts a Protest and decided that hearing is required, it will immediately notify any other party involved in it and open the protest hearing to discuss the protest. Result will be announced within 30 minutes of after the conclusion of the hearing.

8.5 Appeal

A party to the hearing may appeal against the decision of the Protest Committee within 30 minutes of the announcement of protest result. When lodging the Appeal, the team captain or the team leader of the respective team shall inform the Appeal Committee by an Appeal letter together with the Protest Result and the Appeal Fee (HK$500). The fee will only be refunded if the appeal is successful.

8.6 Appeal Hearing

The Appeal Committee shall immediately conduct a appeal hearing. Appeal result will be announced within the same day of the race.

8.7 The Appeal decision issued by the Appeal Committee will be the final result.

9. Equipment/Accessories

9.1 All boats and paddles used by competitors shall be provided by the Organiser. The allocation of boats and paddles to individual crews shall be at the sole discretion of the Organiser. The Organiser will not be responsible for any failure of equipment during a race and each crew is advised to carefully check the boat and paddles allocated to it before racing.

9.2 No modifications or additions to the boat or the equipment within the boat may be made or carried by any competitors or crews In particular :

(a) Any pad or device for the rower to sit on should be of flexible material to the extent that it should be able to be folded over double and should not be thicker than 2 inches uncompressed.

(b) No equipment for removing water from the boat is permitted except plastic hand-held bailers with which the water is picked up and scooped out of the boat by a crew member. No pumps of any kind are permitted.

(c) No electrical, electronic or radio amplifying equipment of any kind is permitted in the boat.


10 Race Conduct

10.1 Conduct of Crews and Teams

Crews must follow the directions of the Race Officials at all times during the race. All Team Leaders shall monitor the behaviour of their team members to observe this rule.

10.2 Conduct of Crews

Any Dragon Boat Crew or competitor who attempts to win a race by other than honourable means, or who deliberately breaks the Racing Rules, or who disregards the honourable nature of the rules shall face disqualification from the race.

10.3 Abusive Language

Any Dragon Boat Crew shall not use abusive language towards any Race Officials. Any proven case may result in warning or disqualification from attending the race.

10.4 Race Control Area

All crews and competitors must not enter Race Control Office area without permission.

10.5 Attitude of Race Officials

The Racing Committee will also constantly remind all Race Officials to remain sincere, fair and cooperative towards all Crews and Competitors.