Racing
Manual 
2002
Stanley Dragon Boat Championships
To ensure the Race a smooth and joyful one, please pay attention to instructions in this Manual which should be read in conjunction with the Rules |
This document can be downloaded from our web
site.
All participants should have a chance to circulate & read it in
advance.
revised
2002/5/20  |
Prepared by：Stanley Residents Association (Stanley Dragon Boat Assn)
96 Stanley Main Street, Hong Kong (Tel :[852]28130564, fax :28135704)
Email: dragonboat@hongkong.com
A. General
| 1. Race Day | Dragonboat Festival Day Proper (2002/6/15 Monday, 2003/6/4) |
| 2. Venue | Stanley Main Beach, Hong Kong (see Site Plan fig. 1) |
| 3. Time | 08:00 - 18:30
(please refer to Race Schedule for details),
provisionally: Chinese Men's 1st
Round ( Class B )
0800-0900 Ladies' Plate Final
1430 Men's B Joint (C/E)
Plate Final 1500 Men's Stanley Cup Championships Grand Final (Shield, Bowl, Plate, Cup) 1700- 1745 |
| 4. Ceremonies | Eye-dotting and Ribbon-cutting Ceremony will be held at 13:30 , Prize presentation at 18:15. Some trophies for Men's Class B will be presented before that. |
| 5. Land Transport | There will be
a huge crowd on race day and normal to see a serious
shortage of parking space. Bus companies will provide
extra service. Except Race Officials & the press,
parking space will not be allocated. Please use public
transport & prepare for outbound traffic congestion
afterwards, till 7p.m. Alternative transport options
include buses or minibuses to / from Stanley Plaza.
Usually it is much easier to find seats on buses there. |
| 6. Sea Transport | 6.1 Team
member(s) and their companion(s) traveling t??and
returning from pleasure boats moored outside the buffer
zone should always keep away from the race course. No
unauthorized entry into the race course and buffer zone.
Otherwise the wave and the blocking caused by these
shuttle boats not only lead to delay, or become a
nuisance, but also endanger both the rowers and their own
passengers. Any one intentionally deny the rules &/or
disobey proper instructions of designated official(s)
will, perhaps accompanied by the whole team, be
disqualified at once or, be classified as stand-by entry,
or even suspended in future events. Every year such
motor boats cause a great trouble for race management and
lead to delay, so please be cooperative 6.2 Anyone opting for such "unofficial" boat ride are at their own risk and should avoid overloading. |
| 7. Security and Safety | 7.1 Temporary
Police Command Post & First Aid post will be set up
at the Grand Stand. The organizer take no responsibility
for safety of any personal belongings 7.2 It is the responsibility of the person or organisation making the entry to satisfy himself or itself that all crew members are physically fit and are able to swim. The organizer recommends wearing buoyancy aid (conforming to British Standard BSI 3595) at all time.
7.3 Practice should be restricted to the official racing area (i.e. 400m radius from the Stanley Main Beach). Race course is 300 meters long.
7.4 For safety reasons, all members of the team must be familiar with the "Capsize Drill" ( may opt for different formats, e.g. call out orders/ number off or memorize the one sitting next to each one before setting off, and in case of incidence each member should be accounted for "in water" as such ). After sinking, all crew members must return to the shore and all crew members line up right in front of the Judge Table / Official Stand for Team Captain/ Manager to take roll call to make sure everyone is accounted for. Then the team may dismiss or carry on with the remaining race or practice only when the team leader has reported to the "Beach Marshal Table" that the whole team is save. |
| 8. Cleanness | Please exercise self-restraint to keep the beach clean. Each team manager should claim a garbage bag from the Enquiry Booth and take care of cleanness of the team. |
| 9 Resting Booths | For hiring resting Booths (tents), please contact the secretariat in advance ( $2000 for a W10' x L12' x H12’ Booth ). The team banner, flag, etc. should only be put inside the booth/ tent for identification purpose and should not exceed 8 feet x 2 feet in size. Otherwise a fee of HK$3000 will be charged as for advertisements. |
| 10. Weather | As it is in early Summer and wind and rain condition is unpredictable, for safety reasons in undesirable conditions, or under instruction of the police to finish it before dusk, the race may , partially or otherwise, be terminated, canceled, combined or shortened. No appeal or request for refund will be entertained if such decision is made due to such weather. (For practice sessions read also 4.4 of part B) |
| 11. Enquiry | 11.1 Team
Managers and Team Captains should familiarize themselves
with this Information Pack, Race Rules and details of the
draw sheets as printed in the programme. Important
information should be shared with and conveyed to members
of the team. This information booklet should be
circulated in the team. 11.2 Most important messages will be post up in the Race web page. The Secretariat is extremely busy. Once information is dispatched by post, we will not entertain any request of sending it again by e-mail or otherwise. 11.3. On the event day, do NOT swamp the Umpires' Desk with questions or irrelevant requests and hamper their work. All enquiries should be directed to the Information Desk [which is to be set up in front of the Official Stand]. |
| 12. Trophies | The fastest 6
finalists in Plate and Cup Finals will each receive a
trophy (unless otherwise announced, such as the Grand
Final in which only the fastest 3 will obtain trophies). To further enhance the lively atmosphere and your enjoyment, we will again set trophies for the “Most-Outstanding-Outfit Teams”. Contestants for such must parade at the beach in front of the Judge Table at lest once, before 2:30pm. Prize presentation time to be confirmed. |
| 13. Souvenirs | T-shirts and
other souvenirs can be found in our special booth. Team
Managers should also come forth to the Information Desk
to claim a souvenir for the team before their own first
race with your Membership Card shown. |
| 14. Payment | 14.1 NO TEAM
SHOULD MAKE PERSONAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THE OFFICIAL
STEERSMAN &/or TRAINER OR PAY THEM DIRECTLY and
bypass the proper booking procedure. It may cause
difficulties in accounting and other serious problems. 14.2 All pre-race payment must be settled at least one day before the race. |
| 15. Classification / Crew | To improve
the event further, we have modified the rules in 2002 as
follows: 15.1 Men's Teams of both Chinese and Expat are further divided into 2 classes as Classes A & B. Each class has its own Cup & Plate events. But only those in class A will be able to advance to the Stanley Cup Championships Overall Grand Finals (event #35-38 ) . [ not relevant for Ladies' teams ] 15.2 Class A is the Elite grade. All Cup finalists and the fastest 3 in the Plate Final in previous year in both Chinese & Expat Men's Category should enter Class A. [ see attached chart ] However, the organiser allow negotiation. First entry will be decided by actual team profile. 15.3 To reduce to chance of sinking, each crew is further adjusted this year and limited to 20 people only, including 18 rowers, one steersman and a drummer. And the average weight of the crew must not exceed 200 pounds. 15.4 For expatriate teams, over half of the crew must be non-chinese. For Chinese teams, over half of the crew must be ethnic chinese. For ladies's teams, all crew members except the helmsman & drummer must be female, but for men's races , there is no restriction for gender. There is no limit (ceiling) for reserves, but "full list" of team members should be submitted later as instructed. 15.6 The Judge Panel may, in case of unfavourable weather and sea conditions, announce it mandatory to lower the number of rowers on each boat. |
B. Practice & Race
| 1. Steersmen | 1.1 Due to
risk of injury to competitors, damage to boats and
disruption to the racing progamme caused by inexperienced
steersman not holding a proper course, the Organiser has
introduced a system of testing and registering steersman.
Only a Registered one can steer the boat on the race
day. 1.2 Each steersman can only race for the team he/she is registered for in that year as shown in the card. 1.3 Any request of booking an official steersman on the race day should be made direct at the special booth half an hour before the race with a charge of HK$150 per race. Please keep the receipt for verification. 1.4 To hire a steersman for practice sessions should pay by cheque and send it to the Stanley Residents Association Ltd . 1.5 A steersman not steering the boat properly or competently and cause collision regardless of his /her own mistake or caused by effects of alcohol or drugs, will have his/her registration and Steersman Identity Card suspended at once. 1.6 It is the responsibility of the steersman to tie up the boa at the beach after practice. New candidates need to demonstrate this skill in the assessment. 1.7 Starting from year 2001, a registered steersman need to be on duty on each boat even during practice sessions |
| 2. Braking / Stop | To avoid
accident or unnecessary damages to dragon-boats, we
request your co-operation and self-restraint, during
practice and the race, to stop the boats immediately
after crossing the finishing line. Please DO NOT run
them ashore. Both rower and drummer should also
always stay alert in water and be prepared to "Hold the boat" any time necessary. |
| 3.Bailers & Drum Sticks | 3.1 Please
bring your own spare plastic bailer(s) as well as spare
drum-sticks. Both ends of the sticks must be made blunt
and round (in the shape of small hemisphere). 3.2 All equipment must be returned in good order promptly after use |
| 4.Practice | 4..1 Any team
canceling the booked practice should inform the organiser
in advance and early, so as to allow for arrangement of
substitution and save resources. 4.2 Even in calm sea condition, practice should be restricted to the official racing area (i.e. 400m radius from the Main Beach)., so as to avoid accident and difficulties in rescue and monitoring. (N.B. the shortest distance from the Main Beach to the opposite beach in Shek O is 2000 metres, the Shake Prevention Net is about 180 meters .) 4.3 Please be punctual. Any teams returning the boats late, intentionally or otherwise, will need to pay a fine of HK$500 on each occasion. 4.4 In unfavorable weather condition (especially strong easterly wind and thunder storm warning), please phone the Assn to confirm whether practice still goes on. When the red flag is hoisted at the official booth, all boats are required to return to shore (All practices are cancelled) 4.5. Practice will stop one week before the race day so as to allow for repair and maintenance. 4.6 All teams should practise the "side-strokes" (refer to text below) 4.7 Some unauthorized individuals has been found openly and unscrupulously solicit for service at the beach during our official practice hours. This causes annoyance to our training teams. If such circumstances is encountered, please inform the organizer or field-officers-in-charge for immediate actions to be taken. |
| 5. Starting Procedure | 5.1To align
the boat for ready position, ALL teams at the starting
line should have one (at least) paddler pick up and
hold the “Bow-rope” AND the steersman pick up and
hold the “Stern-rope”. If your team is instructed
to do so by the Starter or other water umpires but fail
to do so, it is ground for disqualification. The bow-rope
action has becomes compulsory since l998.It actually [a]
stabilize the boat at the starting line where the sea is
very rough; and [b] more importantly, it greatly speed up
the maneuver of aligning the boats straight to its
course. (See diagram) 5.2 To get into ready position, “side stokes” by athletes on one side to move the boat sideways are sometimes much more effective than relying only on the steersman. Besides, such team action can also avoid turning the boats at the rough sea of outer area and thus minimize the risk of capsizing. Hence each crews should practise such maneuver. |
| 6.Race Conduct | 6.1 All
participants should demonstrate high level of
sportsmanship and should race in the best ability with
high respect to race officials 6.2 In consideration of the tight schedule, no team should capsize a boat deliberately. |
| 7. System of Play | 7.1
The"Draw Sheets" indicating the system of play
are shown in The Programme. Basically the first 3 teams
(or 5, as specified) in the First Round will advance to
the 2nd Round of the Cup Competition and the rest will be
invited to the Plate Competition or other Consolation
Races. The organizer will refine the schedule according
to the final entry profile. 7.2 Boat allocation of the first round will be done by random draw. But allocation in subsequent rounds are all determined by finishing places in previous rounds. Please pay attention to the Score Board and "Draw Sheets" in the Programme for details of the next round. |
| 8. Marshalling | Team Manager / Captain of each team should report to the "Beach Marshal Table" 15 minutes before his team's race. Teams must load the dragon boats according to Race Schedule as announced on the score board and get to the Start Line on time . |
(The End)
|
 SITE PLAN |
|
Health
notes & advice |
 Format
2002 |
Race
Schedule |
