Rules and Regulations

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1) TEAMS & ELIGIBILITY

A team roster is allowed to hold up to 25 crew members. All teams registered for The Orillia Dragon Boat Festival must have a minimum of 8 female paddlers for a total race compliment of 20 paddlers and 1 drummer in the race boat for each race. (For this year's event the steersperson will be supplied by the Festival, at no cost to your team.) Under special circumstances, and only by approval of the Festival Co-ordinator, a team roster may be expanded; e.g. for health reasons. All requests for an expanded roster are considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for an expanded roster must be faxed (325-6817, marked "Attention: Orillia Dragon Boat Festival") or e-mailed (cfoa@csolve.net ) to the event office by August 30, 2008. Note: teams with an expanded roster will still only receive 25 free t-shirts. Additional t-shirts are available at a cost of $5 each.

A registered team member must be Fourteen years of age or older in the year of competition and no team member under the age of eighteen (18) will be allowed to practice or race without written consent and a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian. Please contact your Team Captain for the required documents.

A final team roster, along with all signed waivers, must be submitted to the event office by August 30, 2008. Teams will not be permitted to race if all the team waivers, matching the team roster, have not been submitted to event officials.

AN INDIVIDUAL MAY ONLY REGISTER FOR ONE TEAM AND PADDLE ONLY FOR THAT PARTICULAR TEAM.

The Team Captain shall be responsible for the conduct of his/her team, and for communicating and distributing all practice and race information to the team. She/he is responsible for collecting and submitting all Festival forms and waivers and submitting them to the event office by August 30, 2008, except waivers may be submitted no later than the teams practise date.

2) SAFETY, & WAIVERS

All team members must sign a waiver prior to participation in any practice session or race. The Team Captain is responsible for duplicating, distributing and submitting all signed waivers to the event office prior to the team's practice.

Be aware of forecast weather conditions during practices and on race day. The Practice Supervisor will be responsible for the suspension or cancellation of practices due to hazardous weather or marine conditions. In this case, attempts will be made to re-schedule the practice, however, this provision is based on availability.

A referee boat will follow each race, and a safety boat will be on standby. If your dragon boat veers off course or becomes swamped, please remain with the boat and wait for the referee and/or safety boat to arrive. Follow their instructions!

Wearing a Personal Floatation Device (PFD) is mandatory and these will be supplied by the Orillia Dragon Boat Festival. Bring your own approved PFD if you prefer.

Alcohol may only be consumed in licensed areas. Festival officials reserve the right to refuse access to the dragon boats to any individual appearing to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

3) DRAGON BOATS AND EQUIPMENT

The Orillia Dragon Boat Festival will be using Great White North dragon boats. On race day each boat is fully equipped with dragon head, dragon tail, paddles, steering oar, drum and drumsticks. The boat is not dressed for practices.

Paddles will be supplied, as required. Teams may use their own paddles as long as they conform to required specifications. Any unmodified Grey Owl dragon boat paddle or any paddle supplied by race organizers will meet event specifications. No substitutions!

4) RACE VENUE AND LOGISTICS

The Orillia Dragon Boat Festival is being held at the Couchiching Park (Provincial Dock area). The racecourse is a 300-metre course, clearly marked with neon buoys. Electronic timing with manual back-up and finish line video replay will record official race times and placing.

The start sequence of the race will initially be controlled by the referee, who will in turn hand the race over to the starting official. The referee will direct the teams to the start line (pre-start position). Once each boat is in the pre-start position the referee will hand the race to the starter. As soon as all boats are aligned and stationary at the start, the starter will voice the command, "ATTENTION PLEASE" and within a 2 second period the start cannon will fire. A five (5) second penalty will be issued to any team that begins paddling, in whole or in part, prior to the start cannon. In all cases, the starter can call back the race for a re-start.

Once a race has begun, each team is responsible for remaining in the centre of their respective lane until they cross the finish line. A team that wanders outside the racecourse or into another lane may be 'disqualified' (DSQ), particularly if they interfere in any way with the progress of another boat. A team that enters into another team's lane but does not interfere with the progress of another boat, may continue but will be disqualified if the team does not cross the finish line in the team's own lane. The decision as to whether interference has occurred is made by the referee, whose decision is final, without appeal. A team that is interfering, or is about to interfere, with another boat may be told to stop their boat by a race official. If the team does not stop their boat they will be disqualified.

The finish line is marked with RED buoys. The finish of each boat is recorded as the dragon's nose breaks the plane of the finish sight line approximately 1 metre behind the red buoys. All crew members must be in the boat at the end of the race or the boat will be recorded as 'Did Not Finish' (DNF). The decision of the judges is final.

Upon completion of their race, all crews must return immediately to the dock mooring area and follow the instructions of the dock marshals so that the next heat can begin on schedule.

Official times and finishing positions will be announced as results become available and will be posted on-site. Team advancement into divisional semi-finals will be posted as soon as they are determined by qualifying heats.

5) RACE SCHEDULE FORMAT

The race schedule will be available on the website (www.communityfoundationorillia.ca ) one week prior to the event or by faxing in your request for a fax copy to the event office at fax number 325-6817 (marked "Attention: Orillia Dragon Boat Festival"). It will also be posted on-site on race day. Each team will race a minimum of three times on Saturday: in a qualifying heat and subsequent seeding of teams for divisional semi-finals and finals. Teams may race in Challenge Cups, where applicable.

6) SPONSORSHIPS

The Orillia Dragon Boat Festival retains all rights to advertising, sponsorship and commercial representation for the event.

Teams are encouraged to solicit individual team sponsors. However, representation for these sponsors is limited to team uniforms, accessories and a flag or banner not to exceed 1.5 square metres which can be used only on the team's tent to identify the team's on-site assembly area in the "Team Village".

Any other promotional or visual displays must receive prior approval from the organizing committee. Enquiries regarding event sponsorship, on site promotions or product sampling should be made to Keith Bell at the event office, 325-4903

7) TROPHIES

Trophies/awards will be awarded at the close of the event.

NOTE: The Orillia Dragon Boat Festival and it's officials, reserve the right to disqualify any team considered to be in violation of the above listed Rules and Regulations.