Add CURCs Events
Adding CURC Events PROS and CONS
Pro: Mark Laidlaw, Don LeClair, Chantelle Hanley
Con: Mike Pearce, Vince Amodeo, Iain Wilson
Pro
· For teams that send a full roster, there are 6 athletes who only race one event. We could get more racing opportunities without adding to the team travel costs.
· More events could deepen the competition by allowing more opportunities to small/developing programs.
· More racing opportunities supports LTAD
· This could provide further opportunities for heavyweight sculling.
· More events would test the depth of programs, changing the competition for the Championship banners.
· Rowing Canada supports more events at CURC
· There is some time in the current schedule to add events
· Athletes prefer to race in two events if they are going to put that much time, effort, and money into rowing
· From Chantelle: a 4- or 4x for the heavyweights is the missing event for the development of programs and athletes and should be added sooner rather than later. Heavyweight 2x and 4x/4- should be added first, and then the Para events
· Adding a 2x and or 4-/x/+ supports the development of small and mid-sized programs
Con
· Requires more shells to be transported
· This compresses timing for the regatta, making it less flexible to accommodate inclement weather (see 2015 CURC)
· This changes the balance of heavyweight/lightweight competition with consequences for the Championship banners
· Training safety due to speed of a quad has been cited as a concern
· Concern expressed that adding events would diminish the competitiveness of existing events
· Adding events adds to cost for programs (both coaching costs and equipment costs)
General thoughts/suggestions:
· Mike: Any event added must not take away from the competitiveness of the existing events
· Mike: Most athletes at the CURC cannot row two races per day at a championship level. CUs is a national championship not a development regatta
· Mike: scheduling can certainly accommodate the addition of events BUT in the event of the schedule becoming compressed, we need to ensure that the Championship can still crown a National Champion
· Don: Schedule restrictions probably means picking between the 2x and 4x. I think the larger boat ticks more boxes and is the better choice.
· Don: perhaps we add a 4-/x/+ with a restriction that only small to mid-size teams (small rosters) can enter
· Mark: Too big of a jump from a 2- to an 8+, hard for small to mid-sized teams to bridge that gap
· Proposal to add Para events has an impact on any able-bodied events that we may add
· Are there fewer officials at CURC than other regattas (e.g. OUA)? If so, why? If not, there is likely an opportunity to compress the time between events
· 10 minutes between races (current CURC schedule) is a lot of time. Many regattas operate with less time between races.
· If we added both a 4-/x/+ and a 2x, it could ensure a full roster of having two races each (a lightweight would have to row in one of the heavyweight boats thereby helping to balance the mentioned lightweight/heavyweight bias in points)
· Implications for trailering equipment must be considered
· 4-/+/x would be more beneficial than a 2x in terms of small program development
· Currently the CURC operates with limited rosters, but the question was raised “why do we limit the roster size?”
· Comment from Donna Atkinson at Rowing Canada regarding adding events:
"I like the idea [of adding events to CURC] - even from an umpiring perspective - It's such a short program and it cost us $12,000 to support the event in Lochaber with umpires but it was such a light schedule”
Scheduling notes:
CURC
Daylight: 8:10 am - 5:30 pm
Racing hours: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm (6 hours), no breaks
Number of races: 36 maximum races (A/B/C finals) 2015 had 27 races
Time between races: 10 minutes
Time between events: 10 minutes
OUA
Racing hours: 8:30 am - 1:15 pm (4.75 hours), no breaks
Number of races: 2015 had 33 races
Time between races: 5 minutes
Time between events: 10 minutes
NRCs
Racing hours: 9:00 am - 4:06 pm (7 hours)
Number of races: 53 races, one 2-hour break
Time between races: 6 minutes
Time between events: 6 minutes
CURC Schedule using NRC format
CURC Schedule using NRC format with new events
Time
Event
Time
Event
09:00:00 AM
W1x
09:00:00 AM
W8+
09:18:00 AM
LM2x
09:18:00 AM
LM4+
09:36:00 AM
LW1x
09:36:00 AM
LW1x
09:54:00 AM
M2-
09:54:00 AM
M2-
10:12:00 AM
W8+
10:12:00 AM
M1x
10:30:00 AM
LM4+
10:30:00 AM
W2x
10:48:00 AM
M1x
10:48:00 AM
W4-/+/x
11:06:00 AM
LW2x
11:06:00 AM
LM2x
11:24:00 AM
W2-
11:24:00 AM
LW2x
11:42:00 AM
LM1x
11:42:00 AM
M4-/+/x
12:00:00 PM
LW4+
Break
12:18:00 PM
M8+
01:00:00 PM
M2x
01:18:00 PM
W1x
01:36:00 PM
W2-
01:54:00 PM
LM1x
02:12:00 PM
LW4+
02:30:00 PM
M8+