The Ninth Annual

Head of the Foster City Lagoon

14th November 2004

Hosted by Peninsula Aquatic Center Junior Crew
in conjunction with the City of Foster City Office of Parks & Recreation

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Foster City Lagoon is an ideal venue for competitive racing. It is protected from wind, and free from currents and powerboats. The gently curving 5-kilometer course is carefully buoyed and marked to make it interesting, safe and easy to navigate. We can almost guarantee perfect racing conditions!

FEATURED RACES: for which Perpetual Trophies are awarded:

– Fall Lightweight Women’s Four Championship –

– Fall Junior’s Single Sculling Championships –

– Fall High School Fours Championships –

– Fall Master’s Doubles Championships –

– Fall Quads Championships –

– Fall Eights Championships –

– Fall Pairs Championships –

 

DIRECTIONS:

From 101: Head east on Hwy. #92. Take Foster City Boulevard exit. Turn left at lights onto Metro Center Boulevard . Turn right at lights onto Foster City Boulevard . Turn right at lights onto East Hillsdale Boulevard . Turn left at next light onto Shell Boulevard .

From San Mateo Bridge : Take Foster City Boulevard exit. Turn right at lights and right again onto Foster City Boulevard . Turn right at 2nd lights onto East Hillsdale Boulevard . Turn left at next light onto Shell Boulevard .

With a trailer or cartopping: turn right (second possible right) on Shell Boulevard into the Foster City Community Recreation Center parking lot.

PARKING: NO parking will be available in the Community Recreation Center parking lot for participant or spectator vehicles and they must be parked in the unpaved parking lot across the street. All participants and spectators MUST use the crosswalk at the light to cross from the unpaved lot to the staging area. The Community Recreation Center parking lot will be used as a storage area for trailers and boats only. Trailer towing vehicles and cartoppers will be required to move to the unpaved parking lot after unloading. Trailers must not be parked or unloaded on the street. Boats MUST NOT be carried across the street. Trailers may park overnight (Saturday) in the unpaved lot across the street. Trailers MUST be moved to the Rec parking lot on Sunday morning. There is a wedding at the Rec Center on Saturday, so no parking for trailers on Saturday night at the Rec Center. Please be courteous.

REGISTRATION: Opens at 7:30 a.m. Each boat will receive a packet containing a boat number, a course map and the final race day schedule. No boat will receive a packet unless every member of the crew has signed a waiver. Entries for Mixed events only will be accepted on race day until 11:00 a.m. No entries will be accepted on race day for any other events.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT: Every boat must have a bow clip, bow ball and heel restraints for any shoes. A hard plastic bow number is also required to accommodate a paper boat number that will fit over your plastic one. Each boat will be inspected for safety each time it is launched.

COACHES/COXSWAINS MEETING: This mandatory meeting will be held at 8:00 am. sharp.

WEIGH-INS: Lightweights may weigh in at anytime from 7:30 a.m. up to 1 hour before race time.

Crews must weigh-in together. Lightweights: Women ~ 135 lb., no averaging. Men ~ 165lbs. max, 160lb. average (except 1x). Coxswains will not be weighed.

INTERMEDIATE 1X, 4+ & 8+: These events are to accommodate novice and less experienced rowers.

RACE COURSE: The course starts at the southern end of the Lagoon and traces a path shaped like the numeral ‘2’, passing under three bridges, along the boardwalk at Central Lake and finishing before Port O’ Call Shopping Center, a distance of 5 kilometers. The course is clearly marked with large orange BEMA buoys. Racing begins with rolling starts with a 10 seconds interval between boats. Please note that this is the reverse direction of the course used for HOTL regattas prior to 2002.

RULES OF RACING: An overtaking boat has the right of way and slower crews must yield and move to the outside of any curve. Passing is not allowed from 100m before any bridge until clear of the bridge; crews must hold their position and line until they have passed through the bridge. Crews will be excluded for rowing in an unsportsmanlike manner, and penalized 30 seconds for passing a buoy on the wrong side if doing so gives them an unfair advantage. Crews must continue rowing at least 100m beyond the finish line.

AGE HANDICAP: Masters will be divided into age categories that will promote competitive racing and time handicapping for age will not be used wherever appropriate age groupings can be achieved. If age handicapping must be used the race times will be adjusted as follows: Sculling ~ 4 sec/yr. & Sweep 3 sec/yr.

AWARDS: Custom medals will be awarded to the winners of each event. Second place medals will be awarded to any event with more than 6 entries.

PERPETUAL TROPHIES: Crews may take home our perpetual trophies as long as they sign a guarantee that they will return them in good condition, and pay for replacements if they damage or lose the trophies.

PHOTOGRAPHS: All crews will be photographed while racing. The pictures can be downloaded for free from the PACJC web site 3~4 weeks after the regatta. (Sorry, there are so many that it takes time to post them!)

REGATTA SHIRTS: We are not certain if there will be a regatta shirt, but we are trying!

FOOD & BEVERAGES: We will serve coffee and tea again this year, along with bottled water, sodas, pastries, cookies, bagels and muffins. Please be aware that we must pass 20% of our income from the food and beverage sales to the City of Foster City to help pay for our use of the Lagoon.

QUIET ON THE LAGOON: Please remain quiet on the Lagoon before 9:00 a.m. Use common sense thereafter as this is a quiet residential neighborhood and we would like to be invited back!

COURTESY: The Community Recreation Center is a public facility paid for by the tax dollars of the residents of Foster City . We must allow them access to the Community Recreation Center parking lot.