The Point of the Racing Status changes

As well as a new system of points coming into effect from April 2009 two other main changes to the Rules of Racing are

  • the introduction of a new Junior 17 category
  • the extension of the top-up rules for international competitors

Below are some key points from Chris Llewellyn’s article which were published in full in the February 2009 issue of Rowing & Regatta magazine:

‘Under the present scheme there are 14 levels of adult competitors (novice and then 0-12 points), yet half are novices, and 90% have less than five points.  After three years of trying to address the imbalance in the distribution of points we wanted simple, effective remedies, and the April 2009 changes are just that.

They mean that when you go racing, you’re more likely to meet evenly matched competition, and that as you move up the points table, you’ll continue to get some decent racing.

So every win is a qualifying win. This change alone will double the number of points won each year at ARA regattas. Qualifying races disappear and if you win a pot, you’ll win a point.

The new scheme will also top up the points of winners at Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta which means that Henley medallists will be placed correctly in the upper half of the points table.

The points table shows that progression is clearer at the lower end – when you ‘win your novices’ you’ll get one point, and become an intermediate.

For every two wins after that you’ll move up an intermediate category (instead of after three wins at present), and become a senior competitor when you’re halfway up the table.

This removes one level at the lower end so every competitor will have one point added to their rowing and sculling points’ totals on April 1, 2009. This will be updated automatically on OARA, and will be recorded on your racing licence when it’s renewed after that.

We see the changes as the first step in a series of adjustments to the way competitors progress in our sport. Once we’ve addressed the basic imbalance in the scheme and have a better distribution of competitors up the table, we can consider more subtle adjustments.’

For more information, including the Rules of Racing 2009 and a Guide for Event Organisers, please see the 2009 Rule Changes Page.

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