http://www.ourcs.org.uk A RSS feed of the OURCs name and shame forum en-us Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:30:35 +0000 webmaster@ourcs.org.uk Some other general points that will make things run a bit smoother in the mornings: * When spinning at the head, coxes need to use more bow side so that they finish the spin with the boat on the towpath side of the river, leaving space for the next crew to tap up into the gap. Nearly every crew Ive seen in the past two weeks has spun on the spot on the meadows side, which leaves you pointing directly at the waiting crew behind and holding everyone up. * When spinning or queueing at Longbridges, be careful not to drift way out and block traffic going in and out of the gut. Crews that have spun should be aware of boats paddling through and not pull out in front of them. * A reminder that crews should take reasonable lengths not to hold up others in the gut. If your novice crew is so slow rowing all 8 that three crews have to easy behind you then maybe it would be better for everyone if you kept rowing on the top stretch in sixes for a bit longer. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:49:57 +0000 paul.crewe@sjc Could Crews please stop coaching in the spinning area!?! The ones who are coaching there are wasting the times of others who are waiting in long queues!!!! Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:19:10 +0000 gwendolin.blossfeld@nuffield Beautiful Rowing, beautiful visibility, beautiful lights on that launch. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:28:32 +0000 sabbatical@ourcs[dot]org.uk A reminder that the ban on OURCs members rowing on the Isis between 8am-1pm on Sundays applies throughout the year, not just in term time. (ditto Wednesday evenings after 7pm). Sun, 26 Jun 2011 13:52:28 +0000 dudhia@atm Were getting to that stage of term when everyones more confident, but starting to misjudge situations and their own abilities. There were several near-misses on the river this morning, some of which could have been quite serious if crews were not lucky. With Torpids approaching, its time to get into good habits, become more observant, and always remember you cant rely on the other crews being good enough to get out of your way. * Green-Templeton pushing off without a working stern light - either missing, or not switched on, or not visible. Remember at least one of your lights has to be visible from any angle. * Going upstream from Donnington Bridge into the Gut, Wadham rowing slowly in fours with Pembroke already starting to overtake them and nearly into the path of another crew coming downstream. Wadham, you need to go all-eight full slide if you would otherwise obstruct someone, and Pembroke, its no overtaking in the Gut for a good reason. Its lucky the other crew coming down tucked in well so avoided a problem. * LMH did an ambitious deep overtake coming downstream along the Green Bank towards Longbridges. It went fine, they did it neatly, but then stopped fairly abruptly to spin directly across the mouth of the Gut, obstructing two crews theyd just overtaken who wanted to go through. Not very polite. Crews spinning at Longbridges must give way to all through traffic, and not block it. * Going downstream along the Green Bank, Wolfson (with St Cross blades) angled quite early to go towards the Gut mouth, and didnt look properly so clashed blades with a rather unnerved Jesus eight which was on the correct side going upstream, slightly more than a width out from the bank (starting to overtake another crew, I think). If youre going to change direction, you have to be very observant of what is in front of you. And that was a bit on the early side to cut across the centre-line of the river into the on-coming traffic, Wolfson. * Oriel probably had someone missing, as they went out in a 2- and a 4+. Understandable, but it does technically breach the "one boat out before 8am" rule - Ill leave it to the committee to decide if anything needs to be done about that. More importantly, the river was pretty busy and the pair did really need a bankrider if only for safety. Too many times they only realised they had a crew stopped in front of them when they got close enough to hear the cox. It may not be obligatory but it is common sense to bankride small boats when theyre out on a weekday morning at prime time. * Very early on, two crews both overtaking a third going downstream from the Christ Church raft - they were fine because the river was still empty in the other direction, but it wasnt obvious that they had thought about it. Nobody has a right to overtake. Sometimes stopping or slowing down until you can pass properly is more sensible, and there have been collisions recently due to double-/triple-overtaking. In addition - * Too many crews at the Head starting to spin too early - make sure your whole shell, stern included, is past the SECOND POST before you begin to turn, now that the Salters cruisers have been shifted. * At Haystacks, do not let your boat go past the white post while spinning, and keep the Isis Boathouse step clear if Academicals are about to take a boat out. Please be observant and lets get the standards up before Torpids or some of you will be finding yourselves missing bumps or being penalised as a result of over-bullish coxing. Thanks, RQ. Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:06:41 +0000 rachel.quarrell@balliol I will restate that coxes and coaches should know where the spinning areas are. If you dont - go and look now. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:14:55 +0000 sahil.sinha@st-hildas I spent much of this morning watching disaster after near-miss unfold at the head of the river. Please can I urge a number of things to consider when spinning at the head, particularly when the stream is quite strong, as it was this morning. 1) Please have a coach/bankrider with Novice coxes. For crews on boathouse island this does not mean that the coach comes around to the towpath side when their crew is spinning. The coach must be on hand to supervise the spin. I know that Tom is treating this very seriously and you can be penalised for effectively having a novice cox out without a bankrider. 2) Go deep into the spinning area. This means that when you are spinning with someone, the higher crew should be past the second steamer and the bridge on the left. This is to allow plenty of room for you and possibly the crew below you. When the stream is strong your boat will drift considerably downstream and it is worth going higher to give yourself more room. 3) Know where the spinning area is. R6(a)(i) " upstream of the second large mooring post on the City side at the Head of the River." This means that your stern must be passed the second mooring post, which currently has the bows of the first Salters steamer moored to it. A number of crews today span well below this, risking damage to their own boat and the crews below them. 4)When waiting to spin, please tap up so that you are close the crews in front of you. However, do not tap up to crews that are actually spinning. Give the crews in the spinning area the room they need, considering that they are going to come down towards you fairly quickly when side-on to the stream. 5) During the spin itself, please be aware of the effects of the stream and where it is fastest. This morning, and usually, it was fastest on the City or meadow side of the river. If when you spin you make sure that you cross to the county side, this will reduce the chance of you drifting downstream and becoming speared by a crew waiting. The stream also means that many novice crews will not have a strong enough stroke or stroke and six to back down and swing the stern in. It is worth remembering that when side on, bow will be able to turn you much more effectively that stroke; they are working with and not against the stream. 6) Finally, even if you have permission to spin with another crew, if you feel that they have not left you enough room, do not spin with them. It may be inconsiderate of them, but you must look after your own crew and not put yourself in a position where you may clash with other boats. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:10:11 +0000 sahil.sinha@st-hildas I would like to apologise for the LMH M2 boat spining early at longbridges this morning. The rigger of the five man had just split in half and so they were trying to get back into the boathouse as quick as possible in order to see the extent of the damage. Sorry if this caused any incovenience to anyone. Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:26:15 +0000 andrew.wilton@lmh Pembroke IV+ around 6.40am, and then again pembroke VIII+ around 8 am. both times they paddle past isis boathouse, and then stop for a nice coaching session, of course it is convenient to stop outside the isis tavern since no other boats are allowed up there!!!?? same coach, twice in one day. not sure if he doesnt know the rules (that were kindly pointed out to him by several academicals) or just chose not to follow them. 6. Spinning 1. Under green flag boats may only spin at the following places from iii below the red and white post on Haystacks Corner. A spinning crew must not keep paddling once downstream of this post, and must stay upstream of the white Isis Boathouse post as they spin. Crews must not use the stretch between the white post and Iffley Lock to be coached. Crews racked at the Isis Boathouse may use the area just below the white post to boat or land only but are recommended under blue or amber flag to spin above the post and drift or back down to land. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:59:23 +0000 katarzyna.bera@trinity Rule citation was to bring forum post in line with wishes of Ben. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:34:28 +0000 sahil.sinha@st-hildas