Ballarat Regatta 2023

Location and Schedule:

Lake Wendouree - opposite Loreto College on Wendouree Pde

9 am-4 pm (Provisional)

Parking:

Free along Wendouree Pde or surrounding streets

Toilets:

Public on-site plus hired unisex cubicles (Includes access all abilities)

Club Marquees: 

All club marquees must be weighted - sand bags, weights, or water weights. No pegs are allowed due to irrigation. 

Distances, categories and divisions:

Categories will only run where there is at least three or more crew within that category

1) 200m in Mixed 20's in (Premier, Senior A, B and C) and BCS 20's

2) 1km in Open and Womens 10's. (Premier, Senior A, B and C) and BCS 10's

Race around 200m course

3) 2km in Mixed 20's (Premier, Senior A, B and C) and BCS 20's

Race around 500m course

Boat sizes used:

Standard boats (DBV)

Schedule: (Provisional)

Friday 20 January

• 7 pm - Online optional Zoom briefing and Q&A for Sweeps and Team Managers

Register here

Saturday 21 January

• L2 Sweeps Course at Ballarat
• Optional on-water training sessions for clubs with DBV boats

Sunday 22 Janaury

• Regatta (race draw TBA)

Paddling boats from the bank of the lake for race 1, and then return at the completion of races

• DBV has set up a rotating club pre/post schedule for the next 12 months for clubs bumping in/out of boats at Regattas

  The following clubs are requested to paddle one fully dressed boat 200m from the bank of the lake, ready for race 1 at the start line:

  1. From up on the Bank of the Lake then paddle to race 1: TBA based on the draw

  2. From the last race to up on the bank of the lake: TBA based on the draw

Age Categories

Within the Seniors category, the DBV By-Laws specifically enable clubs to put together crews based on age. To provide some flexibility while maintaining fairness, the rules allow Senior A, B and C age crews to include up to two ‘out of age, i.e. younger paddlers in a Standard Boat and one in a Small Boat.  There is no need to apply for an exemption to do this. Clubs can also enter a specific age category by including up to 4 Junior members of their club Clubs in a Small Boat and up to 8 Juniors in a Standard boat, without this affecting their age category. 

It is important to be aware that there is no barrier to entering a crew with more than two ‘out of age’ paddlers – it is just that the crew entry would need to ‘drop’ to reflect the age grouping of the additional out of age paddlers. The following examples may assist understanding if there are more than 2 under-age paddlers:

Handicapping

The current understanding for DBV Regattas is that a category will not run unless at least three teams are in the category.  In order to provide races for all Senior categories (A, B and C), our Regattas combine the three senior age groups into one senior category.  In an attempt to ‘level the playing field’, we use a handicap system so that the older paddlers are not disadvantaged in any race against younger paddlers. The handicapping system works by providing rounds, not heats and finals. Usually, there are three rounds but sometimes only two, depending on how busy the program is. Times from rounds are added together, and then the handicap is applied. The handicapping system can also be applied where there is a single race, e.g. the 5.5km race at Geelong. The handicapping system does not apply where we have heats and finals.

Before introducing the handicapping system in Victoria, work was undertaken by Chris Alexandrou, Serghei Cucsa and Philippa McLean to examine the race results from Auschamps over a number of years and to look at the patterns in times. This advice was forwarded to DBV and accepted for use over a couple of seasons, then to be reviewed in the light of experience and Victorian results compared to the national trends. In Seniors’ events, where Senior A, B and C age crews might be competing against each other the following formula is used:

• Senior A = 1.00 i.e. the time recorded by a crew is assessed at the actual time recorded
• Senior B = 0.97 i.e. the time is multiplied by 0.97 to get a revised/handicapped time
• Senior C = 0.92 i.e. the time is multiplied by 0.92 to get a revised/handicapped time

DBV used the handicapping system in some regattas last season and will continue to trial implementation during this season. DBV is continually reviewing results to determine if the current formula is appropriate.

Victorian By-Laws and other relevant documents

View here

Volunteers or Officials 

Register here

Chief Official

TBA

Weather

http://www.bom.gov.au/places/vic/ballarat/

Cost:

$21 for juniors/students, $42 for adults, free to watch 

Food and Beverage vendors available

TBA

Trophies/awards

TBA for awards 1st to 3rd place

Crew and entry timelines

Crew entries: Open now

Crew entries close: Sunday 6 January

Crew/paddler modifications close: Sunday 22 January 8am