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RULES & UMPIRING

Each club, member of coaching staff, and athlete, acknowledges that Canadian Rules of racing apply to The Brown Cup and that, so far as relevant, the Brown Cup and Campbell-Dowd Cup Race will be conducted in conformity with those rules and regulations.

KEY TERMS

STATION - A crew's station is any water up to the centre line of the agreed upon course. In Victoria, stations are named Victoria and Esquimalt stations.​ 

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THE GOLDEN LINE – Is the agreed upon line from the start of the race to the finish that will safely allow the two racing crews, while side by side, to clear all navigation hazards. The following umpire will endeavour to drive this line from the start to the finish of the race. [ AS PICTURED IN THE GRAPHIC BELOW]

 

YELLOW CARD – a yellow card is given when a crew blatantly ignores the rules of racing. For example: late to the start, false start, or foul language. Two yellow cards may result in disqualification

 

FOUL – when a crew impedes the progress of the other crew by crossing the Golden Line

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The GOLDEN LINE

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The Golden Line is represented by the black dotted line on the map above. 

RULES OF THE RACE

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  1. Racing on Brown Cup day is limited exclusively to the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.  

  2. The umpire will have a meeting with coxswains and coaches before the start of the first race.

  3. A coin toss will be conducted at each tale of the tape. A member of each crew from the losing team of the previous year will make the call for the coin toss.

  4. The Umpire shall be responsible for positioning of crews at the start.

  5. Each crew shall be at the start line five minutes before the official start time of their Race: lateness renders a crew liable to be given a yellow card from the Umpire. If, once the Umpire has commenced the starting sequence, they considers that there has been a False Start they shall at once recall the crews to the start line and shall award a yellow card to the offending crew. A crew with two yellow cards shall be disqualified.

  6. The Umpire shall be the sole judge of a boat’s proper course based on the golden line of the course. They must warn either or both crews when they considers a crew is leaving their station and that there is danger of a foul occurring, or if there is any obstruction on the course, but they shall not otherwise direct the steering of either crew.

  7. Both boats shall pass through their own side of the centre arches of all bridges.

  8. It shall be considered a foul, when after the race has started, there shall be any physical contact between the oars, boats, or persons, of the two crews.

  9. A crew that is on course to cross the golden line will be given an immediate verbal warning by loud hailer. In the event both crews are converging on the golden line the umpire will warn the crew most off course first.

  10. When a crew is warned they will be expected to immediately move away from the golden line. Refusal to abide by the decision of the Umpire, or to follow his instructions, shall render a crew liable to disqualification.

  11. In the event of a foul occurring, either crew may claim, to the Umpire, that the other crew be disqualified. If the crew making the claim was in its proper course, and the crew against whom the claim is made was out of its proper course, the latter shall be disqualified unless the foul was determined not to influence the race. In this case the crew against who the claim was made shall only be disqualified if, in the opinion of the Umpire, it has seriously or deliberately encroached on the course of the crew making the claim.

  12. In the event of a serious or deliberate foul the Umpire shall disqualify the offending crew without waiting for a claim. He may do this at once or at any later time up to or immediately after the end of the race. (Note: This means that he may delay his decision, either in the interests of safety, or to see whether a foul has, in fact, influenced the result of the race).

  13. The crews shall abide by their accidents. But the Umpire may declare “No Race”, and order a restart, or a re row.

  14. In the event of a collision in which the Umpire can not determine an offender. The Umpire may immediately stop the race and order a restart from the point of the collision with the appropriate spacing awarded to the crew that was leading at the time of the collision.

  15. If either crew is interfered with by any outside agency to such an extent as to influence the result of the race the Umpire may stop the race and restart from the place of interference one the outside agency has been removed and the course made clear.

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