This weekend on the Charles...and other stuff

Hello Sports Fans, a few scrimmages this weekend to be aware of. Please adjust your schedules to work around these events. SATURDAY 7AM, CBC/UBC scrimmage on the Head of the Charles course (BU Boathouse to 10 strokes past the wooden bridge at Herter Park). Should have a fair number of boats so non-participants should give a good amount of time (like half an hour or more) before arriving at the start line to do your piece. If you are not part of this through an official channel, please don't jump in and screw up the timing. 9AM, BU v. BC fours scrimmage on the Head of the Charles course (BU Boathouse to 10 strokes past the wooden bridge at Herter Park). Not sure of numbers, but again, give them a wide berth. and yet, ANOTHER note of caution to the rowing world Just because you are doing a Head of the Charles timed piece does NOT mean that Head of the Charles rules are in effect. It does not matter if the quicker line on the Magazine Beach turn or from Weeks to Anderson is to pass on the right - you are supposed to pass on the left. And, even if you are doing a timed piece, you can't just run over the slower boat in front of you at Anderson where there is only one arch with an obstruction on the upstream side. I won't go into the details of a sculler taking refuge in front of the abutment (to the center of passing boats), but we need to do better than we have been. Yesterday, several clubs were involved in not giving way for overtaking boats on the big turn. When one boat does not want to give way, and the next boat sticks their bow inside to get the inside of turn, that equals 2 boats way on the wrong side of the river. Seriously people, just give way. Or, if a boat is really being a jerk and doesn't give way, and you stick your bow to the inside to take the inside of the turn, at least have the decency to shove the other boat (and yourself) back over to the right side of the river. Bottom line. Please refresh your memory of the sculler impaled by an eight, detailed in the attached New England Journal of Medicine article and be sure to get a good look at the photos - and then act accordingly. CRAB fine print and legalese.... CRAB is not the boss of you. We cannot tell you what to do. We offer information that we believe to be true in a good faith effort to improve awareness, communication and boating safety. And we do this because we believe that the boaters of the Charles River want a safe boating environment for all. This is not an official document from CRAB, it is informational only.