New for 2012

In a effort to enhance your experience at the Hooch and to accommodate its on-going growth, here are a few changes for 2012:

1. Registration will open from September 15th at 12:00 am through Sunday, October 14th at 11:59 pm via the Register link.


2. Schedule: The racing schedule has pretty much remained the same, except for the men’s Master’s 8+ event that was moved from Sat 12:05pm to Sat 12:43pm.


3. Limited Entries: Due to the very high number of entries in the past limited daylight, we know that even under perfect conditions we cannot safely race more then 1,200 boats on Saturday. Therefore, we will implement the following restrictions:
1. The total number of entries will be limited to 1,200 boats on Saturday and 800 boats on Sunday, irrespective of the races entered. This means that there is no limit in any specific race, only a limit to the maximum number of boats.
2. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Any entries made on Ronin after the maximum number of boats has been reached will go on a wait list. If accepted entries are scratched, boats on the wait list will be accepted, again on a first-come, first-served basis.
3. Each club or crew can only enter two boats (A+B) in any given event. Any additional entry will be rejected. As you may remember, we accepted C and D entries last year but had to reject them after we realized that we had exceeded the maximum number of boats.
4. The schedule is structured so that it will not be possible for novice/freshmen crews to row both the 8+ and 4+ event on Saturday. As you know, there are several events on Sunday in which these rowers can compete. We realize that the cut in the Novice/Freshmen race on Saturday will disappoint many novice rowers, but we felt that this change had the least overall effect on rowers while significantly easing the pressure on Saturday’s schedule.


4. Scratch fees: in an effort to accommodate all the rowers, the deadline for scratching an entry without occurring a scratch fee has been changed:
1. From Sept 15 through October 19th: Full refund, minus $2 processing fee. No scratch fee.
2. From October 20th through October 31st: No refund, $50 scratch fee
3. From November 1st until November 4th: No refund, $100 scratch fee
4. Please keep in mind that any scratch fee must be paid before any boat of that team can race.


5. Adaptive Rowing
1. To improve the exposure of our adaptive rowers, we will have adaptive races on Saturday, starting at 2:00 PM. A 1500m long parallel course will be set up between the eastern tip of the island and the finish line.
2. Please help us spread the word about our adaptive rowing races. If we receive enough entries, we can add additional events (4+, 4x) and also expand on the different levels based on FISA adaptive classifiers.


6. New Events: Don’t forget, the following events were added last year and have become very popular:
1. Alumni races: We have a Men’s Alumni 8+ as well as a Women’s Alumni 8+. Usual Masters age handicap will apply. Each boat shall have no less then ¾ of rowers who attended the college/university that the boat represents. We are counting on the college and university crews and coaches to spread the word to their Alumni associations and booster groups.
2. Masters lightweight 1x events, with two age categories for both men and women.
3. Mixed Open/Youth Octopede (8x) on Sunday. If we have enough entries we will break up the race into several events with medals for each.


7. Practice session on Friday will be between noon and 6pm, with last launch by 5:30pm. All crews must be off the water by 6PM – No exceptions.


8. Waivers: The Head of the Hooch Regatta, Chattanooga, TN requires an online Release of Liability with rowingwaiver.com or USRowing. For many years RONIN Registration has used a universal waiver to allow its members to use a waiver that can be shared across events and programs without a requirement of association membership. Member programs and athletes however still needed to sign the USRowing waiver for USRowing related programs.
   
   Over the past year, rowingwaiver.com and RONIN Registration has been working with USRowing to come up with ways to simplify waiver attestation for you. RONIN will be moving to a new waiver form developed by USRowing. What does this mean for you?
   • You will not need to do any additional work on your end. RONIN will phase out its old form and adopt the new form provided by USRowing. Going forward, this form will become the new standard for all of our sites.
   • You can also use rowingwaiver.com which will also be using the USRowing form OR you can still use the USRowing site.
   • This service is still completely free and we will not sell, distribute or share any information to parties not directly associated with the waiver program.
   • When registering for an event, you simply need to supply us your team waiver code and we will track down your waivers(whether on rowingwaiver.com or at USrowing).

Important Reminders

Dates and dead lines

• Registration will be open between September 15th and October 14th at 11:59 pm
• Scratch Fee:
1. From Sept 15 through October 19th: Full refund, minus $2 processing fee. No scratch fee.
2. From October 20th through October 31st: No refund, $50 scratch fee
3. From November 1st until November 4th: No refund, $100 scratch fee
4. Please keep in mind that any scratch fee must be paid before any boat of that team can race.

Entry Limits

• Max 1,200 entries on Saturday and 800 entries on Sunday
• All entries will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis
• All Novice / Freshman rowers can only enter in either an 8+ event or 4 + event

Coaches' and Coxswains' Meeting

The Coaches' and Coxswains' meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 2th at 7:30 p.m. Meeting location to be announced shortly. See Coach & Coxwain Meeting for more information.

Bus Parking

There is no team bus parking on site Saturday and Sunday due to trailer parking needs. Instead, travel north on Broad Street, turn left at 2nd and left at Power Alley. Unload & load at Power Alley. See see map or Access & Parking for more information.

Row for the Cure®

An online donation system is available for all team raising money for Row for the Cure®. This system lets your team members and volunteers customize personal fundraising web pages with a personal note and photo, and accept credit card donations. The status of fundraising achievement vs. goal is presented for participants and teams, and email tools are provided to assist with soliciting donations. See Row for the Cure for more information.

Master's Handicaps

The Hooch requires that each masters participant provide age and date of birth when entering the regatta. When the age for one crew member is missing, no age handicap will be assigned for the crew. Check this after your crew has registered and provide any corrections as soon as possible. All handicap related revisions must be submitted to the registrar no later then Friday before 6PM. Any changes past this limit will NOT be considered. See Master Handicap for more information.