The 5 Minute Rule.

There seems to be some confusion out there regarding the five minute rule. The general misnomer is that this means that there is five minutes after every race for the crews to take to the water!

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Rule 37 g The Five Minute Rule!

There will be a 5 minute time limit imposed from the last crew finishing, at the Umpires direction, to the start of the next race.

The Signal An audible signal of two blasts on the air horn will indicate the start of this 5 minute time limit At the end of the 5 minute time limit the Starters will raise the Red flag, this will be accompanied by a single blast on the air horn to indicate that all crews must be afloat and ready to race under Starters orders.

Any crew or sculler not afloat and ready to race within 5 boat lengths either side of the starting line at this time will be disqualified.

Any late crew or sculler must join the start line from behind, any crew or sculler rowing in front of the starting line will be disqualified. Except at Southsea Regatta where all crews must be within the starting line and the submarine poles before the end of this time limit".

Equipment Changes All equipment changes should be done within this time limit on the beach in front of the Starters. If these boat changes are done by the Clubs in the space provided in the boat park crews should be aware of the risk of not coming under Starters orders. Stating that your crew will be delayed or not hearing the audible signals as reasons for not being afloat will not be accepted and the race will proceed without you. If all the required crews or scullers are afloat before the end of this time limit, the Starters will proceed to start the race.

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The essence of this rule is that if you have no boat changes you should be ready to start the next race as soon as the last crew nominated by the umpires crosses the line!

(Note:- If there are slow crews in the previous race the umpire may at his direction nominate a crew nearer the line as the last crew! DONT WAIT FOR THE LAST CREW BEFORE YOU GO AFLOAT!!)

Crews who do have boat changes should notify the starter of such changes and carry these out in front of the starters. Remember that this is five minutes to be on the starting line and ready to race!!

If no one notifies the starter of changes then the race may start immediately at his discretion.

Most regatta secretaries try and plan the racing so that there should be few boat changes. Its impossible to get a race plan with no changes.