Aoraki Open Lake Ruger
Details
Sun 18 Feb 2024 08:30 — 17:00
Event information
Registrations for this event are closed.
Registrations are now closed for the Aoraki Open (11-Feb-24) and we have the following twenty (20) entries:
10M Rainbow Warriors
10M Marlborough Dragons
10M Ridge Riders
10M Southern Gold
10W Zonta
10W Simply the Breast
10W Pegasus Diamonds
10W Waimak Vibes Wahine
10W OPC Pango
20W Abreast of Life
20W Pegasus Panthers
20W Mana Wahine
20W Amazon Hearts
20W OPC Kakariki
20W Otepoti
20M Paddlateers
20M Beca
20M Northern Phoenix
20M Waimak Attack
20M Southern Premier
(where 10M=Small Boat Mixed; 10W=Small Boat Women; 20W=Std Boat Women; 20M=Std Boat Mixed)
- Teams arrive from 7am
- Sweeps and Managers Briefing 7:45
- Welcome, Bless our new Boats and briefing 8:00
- First Race 8:30 (last race expected about 4pm)
The Aoraki Open requires:
- "Mixed" teams to have a minimum of 8 female and 8 male paddlers (Standard boat) and 4 female & 4 male paddlers (Small boat). "Open" teams can have any gender mix. Again, we all race in Big Boats
- "Women's" teams must all be female (incl the Sweep, Drummer and paddlers)
- Callers/Drummers are mandatory for all divisions.
As with the other events, we’re offering 10-paddler boat races for those teams that can’t muster 20 paddlers. Please note that paddlers can’t mix between boats (i.e.no ‘waka jumping’).
Racing includes:
- One (approx) 1,000m Three-Turns race (actually 1,140 metres if you care to measure it out). Boats are sent off in 15-second intervals similar to the 2km race at South Islands and Nationals.
- Two Heats plus a Final in the 460m straight line race.
- Two Heats plus a Final in the 200m Dash
If your team Sweep will be ‘double-rostered’ (eg sweeping for more than one team, or sweeping plus paddling for another team), you must ask us for a Dispensation (when you register). We’ll try to accommodate this in the draw but can’t make any promises. If the draw shows a clash, or the same Sweep is scheduled to race in consecutive races, you’ll need to arrange for a substitute Sweep to stand in for them. This is a great venue and opportunity to allow the newly qualified Level 2 sweeps some racing experience. Note, this event will also serve as the practical assessment for developing Sweeps. Rick Smith will be 'observing and assessing'.
Pack-in/set-up assistance for the event will be provided by Ridge Riders and Paddlateers. We’d like assistance from all teams in the pack-up, so that we can get prize-giving underway expeditiously. The event will be supplied with food and a coffee vendor as usual.
And remember, we have a fire ban, so don't bring a BBQ.
The Regional Sweep Coordinators have reviewed the NZ sweep accreditation guidelines. One of the requirements for Level Three is that L2 sweeps must steer in a Turns Race to be accredited. The only way for us to do this up to 2023 is for the trainee to sweep the 2k race at the South Island Champs. Incumbent/experienced Sweeps can be reluctant to hand over their boat to a trainee for one of the most important races of the year, so the trainee gets stuck on level 2 for several seasons.
So when the Aoraki Open is at Lake Ruger, we will have 1,000m Turns Racing, in the familiar oval track (but shorter). The straight runs will be approx 220m, not 440m (that we have at Lake Hood or Karapiro).
This is a better test than the Lake Rua triangular course. The extra space at Ruger allows us to have a decent 1k race with three turns as first run at schools in 2023. This provides more interesting racing, and gives the teams a chance to get their trainees accredited without jeopardising their crew's chances of winning a 2k medal at the South Island Championships.
