BUMPS COXING NOTES

lifejacket on the outside
bow bobble firmly attached
heel restraints (these may be checked)
Valid EA Registration/Exemption plate
who charges the coxbox?
adjustable spanner
check boat over, eg nuts tight, rudder and fin straight etc.
Set a time to meet at the boathouse. You should be putting your boat on the raft just after the division before you pushes off for their warmup. Then get into your boat while they are racing past.
Find out who the last crew in your division is.
One person can only cox one crew and row in another. No-one can cox twice unless special permission is given (usually due to illness).

Do not boat until the last racing crew of the previous division goes past your raft. Listen for the OURCs announcement.
Everyone boats with their bow bobble to the LEFT
Direction of traffic is reversed from normal above the Gut, ie STAY ON THE LEFT
Direction of traffic is normal below the Gut, ie STAY ON THE RIGHT
Overtaking is fine if the river is clear, but leave the centre of the river clear for cruisers during warm-up.

Be below the Gut, or perhaps even spinning onto your bungline by the 5-minute gun.
If you need to delay the start, speak to a marshal. If you are not given permission to delay the start and if you are not there and holding onto your bungline, you will be penalised.
Have someone organised to count you down.
Make sure you do not let go of the bungline until the start "gun".
Rehearse the start calls and when the crew comes forward, etc.

If the race needs to be stopped, a klaxon hooter will sound. This will be communicated by radio to the other marshals so that all klaxons sound. When you hear this, HOLD UP IMMEDIATELY - don't wait to confirm it.
If the race involves a senior division, it will be restarted, with all bumps already completed standing, their crews returning to their boathouses and their bunglines empty. Those crews who have not bumped out will race again, as soon as possible.
If the klaxon sounds and you are about to bump, you must NOT delay your wind down: you are likely to be penalty bumped and in any case will not get the bump after the hooter has gone.

judge boat speeds - if crew behind is a lot faster, concede v. early, possibly even before the gap has closed.
To concede, raise your outside arm UP and OUT e.g. if crew behind is approaching your SS, use your RIGHT arm
if in doubt about which arm to use, the left is most visible from the towpath.
Wind down after a couple more strokes, but start moving out of the racing line immediately.

Try to plan how your bumps are going to occur, and be ready to move out of the racing line, wherever you make the bump. Be ready to tell your crew to keep rowing, even though they should wind down, so that you can move clear of the boats behind you.
It is better to take a couple of strokes to get proper boat/blade overlap, and to bump cleanly, rather than to crash the other boat so that it cannot wind down.
Equally, plan how you will act if you are bumped. If you are seen to acknowledge late, then you will be penalised. Bumps are considered to have occurred if contact has been made, even if the cox has not acknowledged.

See picture and detailed instructions. Very few crews should cross the river.
Crews from the main boathouse stretch between St. Anne's and Keble MUST go to the Head of the River, turn onto the meadows bank and go into their boathouse in the flow of warmup traffic, whether they bump out or not.
Please allow crews in the next division to get clear of the rafts before you try to land.
Keep to the left and only turn at the usual points.
Tell OURCs in advance of racing if you are going to have to take a boat straight back for the next division to use.

The function of the senior umpire in disputes is to ensure that the Rules are followed. The Senior Umpire will only overturn an OURCs decision if the OURCs Rules of Racing have been broken.