Overview

Mission

We provide a safe, organized, well-monitored and fair practice and racing area for all competitors:

  • To assure all races start in a safe, organized, effective and timely manner.
  • To provide a safe, organized and well-monitored warm-up area for competitors prior to their races.
  • To assure that the entire course from basin to finish is safe and well-monitored during all racing on Saturday and Sunday.

The goal is to keep boats moving as safely and as quickly as possible through the Eliot turn and along the course. Congestion is very likely upstream of the Eliot Bridge. See the Regatta Operations map and the position descriptions for Friday morning, Saturday and Sunday racing and Friday afternoon practice to see exactly what each position does.

New for 2024!

“RC” numbering

We have implemented a new River Control numbering scheme this year (2024). All River Control positions, except those in the basin, now have different numbers from previous years, which should help us maintain a sense of order if and when we need to add or remove positions in the future.

Numbers are now grouped by zone on the Regatta Operations map:

All numbers from the old (pre-2024) scheme are included in parentheses for reference on this website.

Practice launch windows

Also this year, the Head of the Charles will experiment with restricting boats launching from FALS by class during two time windows of the practice session. In an effort to better manage launching and landing traffic at FALS, crews will be asked to sign up for Practice Launch Windows. We advise using this as a reference on when to schedule practice times with their team, understanding that peak practice hours are from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. At the start of practice hours, between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., only singles and doubles will be permitted to launch from FALS docks. Between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., only coxed boats may launch from FALS docks. Boats launching at this time should be equipped with lights. No crews permitted to launch after 5:00 p.m.

Friday Racing and Practice

Racing will take place on Friday morning. Launching for practice will begin at 10:30 a.m., just before the conclusion of racing.

Friday racing means that boats will be crossing the course in the morning to launch and land. Once the course switches to the practice traffic pattern, no crossing or turning on the course will be permitted. The traffic pattern for crews during practice is a continuous, uninterrupted circuit from and back to their launch point. (HOCR Rule 8.4.) A memo will go out to boathouses on the course (primarily Riverside, Weld, Cambridge Boat Club, and Winsor/Belmont Hill) that crews launching from those docks must launch and land in the direction of traffic, i.e. bows to the right on the dock, and may not turn onto the course from the dock or onto the dock from the course.

Safety

  • Competitor safety is of the utmost concern.
  • We are there to assist First Aid launches in the event of an incident as they deem necessary. There will be First Aid launches throughout the basin, course, and finish area (12 during racing).
  • Launches and land personnel will be positioned up and down the race course and work to provide safe crossing, practice and dockings for all crews.

Report Egregious Safety Violations to Umpire Central: 617-864-0183

Provide crew identification:

  • Bow number
  • Type of boat (single, double, quad, four, eight)
  • Gender
  • Event (may be difficult if you cannot speak with the crew)
  • Identifying markings (blades, hull type, uniforms, etc.)

Please make a written or electronic record of the information above and time of incident and send this along with a brief description of the violation to Umpire Central.

Communications

Each launch will be equipped with a radio provided by HOCR. Each marshal should also have his or her cell phone (in case of emergency). Communications will be conducted through the MIT boathouse coordinator position via radio. There are three radio channels for river operations:

  • Channel 2 for the basin, RC01–RC14 (old RC00–RC13; this includes additional SADL personnel for Friday racing)
  • Channel 3 for the Riverside/Weeks/Anderson/CBC/Eliot area, RC20–RC53 (old RC14–RC31)
    Note: Channel 3 does not reach MIT. To call the MIT Coordinator, you must switch to Channel 4.
  • Channel 4 for the finish area, RC61–RC65 (old RC32–RC36)

Response Protocols

In the event of an emergency, switch to radio channel 1 and follow the procedure here.

Types of non-emergency situations that you may be asked to handle on the water as part of the safety crew:

  • A rower or cox requests a wrench for broken rigger, footstretcher, etc.
  • A rower or cox needs a band-aid.
  • A bow number requires additional tape to be secured.

River Control Operations

The river will be divided up into 3 sections:

  1. The basin, including MIT boathouse, and start line, responsible for:
    • Safe circulation during warm-up
    • Marshalling the crews in the chute safely
  2. The race course, responsible for:
    • Responding to situations that may arise
    • Managing the crossings at SADL/Riverside
    • Keeping traffic flowing on the Boston shore in the travel lane
    • Safe crossings from the CBC dock for all crews landing and launching from the dock
    • Safe crossings from the Belmont Hill/Winsor dock and returning to the dock
  3. The finish line and turning zone, responsible for:
    • Keeping crews moving through the finish area
    • Moving crews past the Northeastern Boathouse before turning them
    • Keeping traffic moving on the warm-up lane and dock launching landings after crews have turned

The Basin, including MIT Boathouse, and start line (Zone 1; Radio Channel 2)

The basin circulation traffic pattern allows for a safe warm-up area for competitors and a buoyed queuing area with lanes for an odd/even line-up for all boats (odd-numbered boats will be towards the Boston shore and even-numbered boats along the Cambridge shore).

There are to be a minimum of 12 River Control launches monitoring the basin traffic at all race times, with 7 in the warm-up area and 5 in the queuing and start funnel area. If possible, each launch will be staffed with a marshal and an assistant who will also serve as a spotter for the starters. Each launch will have a specific task with regard to queuing the boats. Those tasks will be provided the day of the shift.

Physical Elements

The buoy system includes a triangular starting chute and queuing area as well as a rectangular warm-up loop. The warm-up area has large rounding buoys at each of the 4 corners, with an additional 2 buoys in between. In the event of rough water we may allow crossings at those buoys, but usually no crossing is allowed in between the 2 end buoys.

The rectangular warm-up area is counter-clockwise traffic pattern, ONE-WAY. Boats will be permitted, under direction, to cross directly into the queuing area (from either Boston or Cambridge side) and bypass the warm-up area if they are late to their event. Marshals need to be very alert to cross-traffic in this area between the circulation pattern and the queuing zone and issue very clear commands to boats requiring this passage.

Buoys have been provided to keep crews away from the BU and MIT docks.

Basin Traffic Management
  • All competitors are required to be upstream of the 500 meter markers 5 minutes prior to the start of their race.
  • An odd/even queuing pattern for all events will be used; odd numbers on the Boston side of the queue and even numbers on the Cambridge side.
  • Marshals MUST be proactive in moving competitors through the queuing area to the Start Line.
  • Do not assume a crew has reviewed materials posted at docks. Please be clear with your commands.
  • Boats late to the start (for any reason): make your best effort to get them to their starting position; otherwise they start at the end of their race. When you make contact with these boats, please inform rowers of this procedure.
  • Crews should cross the river at your discretion, at a time when the absence of traffic makes it safe to do so. If a crew disregards your directions, and crosses without permission, please identify the crew and report it to Umpire Central.
  • Breakage: please send boats immediately to the MIT Boathouse for repair. Radio the MIT coordinator to notify them of the issue.

The Race Course

Marshals from the BU Bridge to the Weld Boathouse are expected to:

  • Assist with the crossing of crews from Riverside/SADL.
  • Keep crews tight on the Boston shore and moving well through the travel lane.
  • Allow crews to launch and return safely to/from Weld.
  • Keep an eye on the river, calling in any emergencies that may arise.

Marshals from Anderson Bridge to the Belmont Hill/Winsor boathouse are expected to:

  • Make sure all downstream crews continue to paddle at all times and do not stop.
  • Communicate with River Control marshals on the CBC dock to allow safe crossings at all times. Crews launching must wait for your authorization to cross and they must do it quickly. Crews landing must return to the launch at Newell Boathouse before they may cross, after which they must tightly hug the Cambridge shore. Any refusal of them to listen to you will lead to a penalty.
River Crossings (SADL/Riverside/Weld/CBC/BB&N/Belmont Hill/Winsor)

Note: Crossings are only permitted during racing and not when the course transitions to the practice circulation after racing ends late on Friday morning. Boats returning to CBC, Belmont Hill, or BB&N may not cross near Eliot Bridge. Instead, they must continue in the downstream travel lane towards Newell. They should check in with RC41 (old RC19), just before Newell. When it is safe, RC41 (old RC19) will directly the crew to cross to RC40 (old RC20).

Crews should cross the river at your direction, at a time when the absence of racing traffic makes it safe to do so. If a crew disregards your directions, and crosses without your permission, identify the crew and report to Umpire Central.

These crews will all need to receive permission from you to cross the river. It is important to make sure they cross quickly and safely without blocking traffic. At each position, you will have another official to contact on the landing or launching dock. This must be open communication.

  • Launching crews receive commands from the dock personnel.
  • Landing crews receive their commands from those on the Boston shore.
  • Both sides must openly communicate so the send and receive occurs at the same time.

River crossings are some of the most dangerous maneuvers which will occur on the river. It is critical that you act as the eyes for the crew crossing.

The procedure is as follows:

  1. Crew notifies you they intend to launch or land.
  2. Radio to the other side to notify them of the pending launch or land.
  3. Determine when the crew will be ready to cross and if there is a break in racing coming up.
  4. Have the crew ready to go. If needed, have the upstream RC station hold traffic in the travel lane.
  5. Both RC stations (dock and land) give the green light and the crew goes very quickly.

The key to success is communication!

The Finish and Turning Zone

This is a critical component of the river, as you will be dealing with all crews finishing the race and helping to efficiently turn them around so they can return to the dock they are trying to get to. The majority of crews will be returning to FALS. Many will be unfamiliar with the river and will benefit from your guidance.

You will be communicating with the FALS dock staff (Channel 6) as needed to work with congestion and help crews to land in the most efficient manner possible.

RC62 (old RC34) and RC63 (old RC35) will be in the finishing chute. At your discretion (only for 1xs and 2xs, and only if there is not a large crowd of boats), boats may turn at the red buoy. For all 4+s, 4x+s, and 8+s, boats should proceed past the blue buoy and may turn at the yellow buoy, at RC63 (old RC35). It is crucial that boats continue to move past the buoys, because large events will back up quickly and approach the finish line.

Crews returning to Community Rowing should stay to the Cambridge shore and continue towards the Arsenal Bridge. After turning, crews returning to FALS should be in a single- or double-lane queue along the Boston bank and proceed to FALS, exiting towards their dock as they approach it.