Welcome to the 29th Annual

Textile River Regatta

Dear Coaches, Competitors, Vendors, Volunteers, Supporters and Friends of the TRR.

We welcome you to the 29th Annual Textile River Regatta.   Good news -- we have set a record for planned attendance with 484 boats and over 2500 competitors from 72 clubs spread from Pennsylvania to Maine.

The bad news?  Same as the good news - we have set a record for planned attendance - and as a result, the logistics of real estate and boat operations at the newly renovated Bellegarde Boathouse will be a big challenge this year.   And while the renovation is not exactly complete, we have organized this year's regatta around that fact and this note is designed to give you information that you can use that will make your visit a pleasant one, and let you focus on the rowing. 

This entire welcome message, along with some of the key maps and other documents will be available this afternoon (Thursday) in the Update section on our web site for off-line viewing.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

• Continue to notify us of roster changes and scratches.  E-Mail to info@merrimackrowing.org will suffice.
• Continue to pay your entrance fees on Regatta Central until Friday night
• Continue to get your waivers in order.  Preferably on-line, less preferable but acceptable if you bring them on Saturday/Sunday Check-In.  Coach's sign a waiver too.
• Coaches & Coxswain's meeting -- 7:10am on Sunday morning.  Check-In is open on Saturday 4-6pm and on Sunday morning 6a - 11a.  Late arrivals after 11a, go to the medals desk.
  
  

DOCKMASTER TIPS FOR TRR 2008

• Bow Markers are expensive.  Please be sure to return your bow marker if it's not ripped from your vessel when you return.
• Coxswains - the Traffic Coordinator - aka "Godfather" - at the top of the main docks is your best friend.  Treat him with respect and good things will happen to your crew.  Always present the boat with bow pointing toward the dock and you leading it.  He speaks only to the coxswain to avoid having your boat go in two different directions, and is very happy when he doesn't need to put his bullhorn in your ear.
• This is a head race in case that's not obvious.  So all bow numbers are sequential from 1 through 600.  If you think you might be late for launching, check the bow numbers queued ahead of you and behind you before approaching the Traffic Coordinator with a launch priority request.
• We will be pre-inspecting boats for bow balls and heel ties on Saturday evening and very early Sunday morning.  If you have been pre-inspected, you will have an encrypted identifier that tells the Traffic Coordinator that your boat is ready.  If you have not been pre-inspected, please be sure that your heel ties and bow balls are secure -- we will not have stretchers available if you must be pushed off queue for repairs.
  
  

PARKING / DROP-OFF / CAMPING

• See the Boathouse Vicinity map on the web site. 
• NO BOATS between trailer lot and boathouse. Please camp your boats upstream of the trailer lot and downstream of the vendor area. Squeezing your single or double in between the cracks of the trailer lot and the boathouse will likely result in an unfavorable situation for your boat.
• EARLY ARRIVALS (Saturday afternoon, Sunday very early) - You will likely have your pick of the parking with your trailer starting at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. There is a Heart Walk on the boulevard that afternoon centered on the pavilion near the bath house downstream of the boathouse, so no promises until 4pm. Please keep in mind that curbside parking upstream of the trailer lot is VERY limited, and trailer parking is on a first-come first-served basis in the main trailer lot adjacent to the boathouse. There is ample additional curbside parking past the vendor area moving downstream.
• BATH HOUSE & DOWNSTREAM PARKING - At some point downstream of the boathouse, you may find yourself far enough with your trailer that it makes sense for you to walk your boats to the BATH HOUSE for launching, and this year we are making that location more enticing for you by staffing it with a Dockmaster and whiteboard to keep you informed. The bath house is also the best choice for you if you have boats that will require hot-seating since you will have faster turnaround at this location. At this moment we're not sure, but we're hoping to also have an audio feed from the announcer's booth at the boathouse, or at least some amplified audio equipment that will help keep you better informed.  Add 15 minutes to your crew travel time to account for the 1km of additional rowing to the start.
• DROP OFF OF PEOPLE is allowed in front of the boathouse, but think twice about loitering for more than a quick stop.  Please don't toss your athletes from a moving vehicle unless absolutely necessary.
• PARKING for CARS and LIGHT TRUCKS is available in the lot across from the boathouse for $5. There is additional FREE parking if you travel on the boulevard back toward the bridge -- keep going straight at the bridge intersection, and then on your right you will see a sign for TRR PARKING. This is about a 1/2 mile by hoof, so plan accordingly.
• CAMPING - We own the boulevard for Saturday pm through Sunday. You can camp your trailers overnight. While we are not responsible for their safety, please use caution to make sure they don't obstruct the walkway. We will have ONE security guard walking the grounds overnight. Make it obvious that you are not leaving valuables nearby.
  
  

COACHES WAIVER

Why should rowers have all the waiver fun? Exactly, they shouldn't. So we're asking all coaches to sign the Coach's Waiver which basically means you are attesting to the fact that all of your rowers are who you said they were on the waiver forms. We have no way to police this issue on game day, so please feel our pain, sign the waiver, and bring it to check-in.

HOT SEAT PROTOCOL

Hot seating is a desirable way to keep your travel costs lower and run your athletes ragged.  That's a win-win.  Keep in mind the following ideas to minimize the number of boats you bring and maximize the miles per rower.

• It makes a lot of sense to beach launch a boat that will be hot-seated with another crew.   The basic schedule guideline is that all said and done, a boat should figure to be on the water for about 90 minutes, 60 minutes is an absolute minimum.  If you have crew or peeps that are going to hot seat, then launching from the bath house gives you a much quicker return and re-launch, as opposed to being backed up by the Return Traffic Dockmaster at the main docks.  Launching boats will always have priority at the main docks, so heed this advice if you have some closely scheduled hot seats.
• If you will be returning to the main docks with a boat that is to be recycled for a hot-seat, the coxswain should notify the Miss Ginny, the Return Traffic Dockmaster who will give you priority to the docks.  DO NOT RETURN TO THE DOCKS WITHOUT THIS PERMISSION OR YOU WILL BE WAVED OFF AND MAY BE ASSESSED A BUOY VIOLATION.   See the Boathouse Vicinity map for her location at the boathouse, she will be about 50m downriver of the main docks in a staked boat near the boathouse.  Woe to the coach at the dock who is not ready with his outbound crew.  If you are hot-seating oars, please present your boat to the Traffic Coordinator at the main docks only when your returning boat is in view, we don't need a boat on the docks that is not ready to launch.

That's about it on the update.  We look forward to receiving you at our fine new boathouse this weekend, and as always, if you have any questions or issues - e-mail us at info@textileriverregatta.org.

Textile River Regatta Co-Chairs,
Jay Feenan 
Carl Popolo