Welcome to the Howard M Smith Diamond State Regatta It will be held on JULY 27, 2008. We look forward to seeing you at one of the best venues for Masters rowing on the East Coast. Here is this year's entry information.

There have been registration changes since last year. Please read this entire page before registering for any events. YOU MUST SUBMIT JUST THE COXSWAIN Name and your average age for all team boats. All other boats require the Names and Dates of Birth of every athlete DURING registration to ensure we are setting up the correct handicaps.

Events: Click the link to the up top for the Order of Event under Event Schedule. The estimated event start times are just that - estimates. The order of events is set. The start times will fluctuate based on the number of heats for each event. It is suggested that no rower should schedule multiple events closer than 45 minutes. Races will start on time and boats will not be allowed to race in a different heat than scheduled.

Entries: This year all entries must go through Ronin Racing. If you have not used Ronin Racing to enter a regatta in the past, please be assured that their support team will assist in any way possible. For those of you with a large roster to be entered, we STRONGLY recommend you login to MY RONIN FIRST and create your roster. Fees are calculated as boats are entered. The fees are:

8+ = $110
4+/4x = $65
2x/2 = $44
Singles = $30.

Entries made via Ronin Racing are considered complete when entry fees and waivers have been received -- by Ronin Racing . No mail in payments or payments on the day of the regatta will be accepted. There will be no exceptions. If payment has not been made by July 14, 2008, the boat will be scratched and will not be placed on the schedule.

Deadline: July 14, 2008 OR when there are approximately 95 heats of races, whichever comes first.

Boats will be accepted and placed on the schedule based upon entry order via Ronin Racing. Boats registered early will get on the schedule before boats registered later. In more detail, regatta entries will be guaranteed a spot if received in complete form (see above) and entered into the system by July 14, 2008 AND if there are 95 or fewer heats AND if the entries meet the Entry Limitations as described below. Entries received after July 14, 2008 will only be accepted at the regatta secretary's discretion and only if the entries do not cause more than 95 heats to form. Entries received once 95 heats have been created will only be accepted if there is a lane available -- a new heat cannot be created. (The regatta is limited by the logistics of setting up and tearing down the venue -- heats cannot start any earlier or finish any later.) If the regatta (or individual events) is over-subscribed, the last in will be the first out. Get your entries in early!

All athletes are required to sign a waiver prior to competing. No boats will be scheduled unless the waivers have been received by Ronin Racing by July 14. Waivers may be signed at:

You can sign a waiver online at www.rowingwaiver.com!

*No waivers will be accepted on the day of the regatta.

Entry Limitations: Ronin Racing will accept all entries before July 14, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. The following restrictions apply:

Only one 1x event may be entered per person.
Only two boats per club per event will be allowed.
Rowers may row in a maximum of 4 events (if one event is a 1x then 5 entries are allowed).
If a 1x event spans more than one age category, then two entries per club per age category will be allowed.

After July 14,, 2008, if there are slots available, additional 1x entries per person and team entries per club per race will be allowed if no additional heats are required. If there is no room for these additional entries, refunds will be made.

Checking your entries: Do you need to adjust your roster, need to change a line-up, add or scratch a boat? Or do you just need to print out your invoice? Coaches and rowers who have registered for this regatta can log-in using the login information they have been provided by RoninRacing via the link below. Check, review, and edit your entries up until the July 14, 2008 deadline by using this link. Check My Registration Remember, you only need to provide the coxswain name and age average for team boats and full roster lineups for singles and doubles.

Refunds: Refunds will be given to boats that do not get accepted into the regatta and to boats withdrawing prior to July 14, 2008 MINUS any fees to REFUND your registration. Any boat withdrawing after July 14, 2008 will not receive a refund. Any boats for which waivers have not been received by July 14, 2008 will not be placed on the schedule and will not receive a refund. Per standard practice at most all other regattas, no refunds will be made for events cancelled due to weather or other similar circumstances. Refunds will be processed after the regatta and will be sent/mailed out by the begining of August.

Acts of Nature: The Regatta organizers make every effort to run all heats on time or with as little delay as possible, but cannot control the weather or other acts of nature. In case of inclement weather or other acts beyond the control of the Regatta organizers, some heats may need to be cancelled to ensure competitor safety and maintain the Regatta schedule. The decision to take this step lies solely with the Regatta organizers. The Howard M.
Smith Diamond State Masters does not and can not have a ran date. Competitors registered for the cancelled heats are not eligible for a refund

Classification by Age: The following rule will be followed for this regatta. Per The United States Rowing Association, Rules of Rowing 2006 Edition: Rule 4-104 (b) Master: A Master is a competitor who has attained or will attain the age of 21 during the current calendar year. A competitor’s age is determined as of December 31 of the current calendar year, rounded down to the highest contained integer. A competitor thus becomes a Master on January 1 of the year of his or her 21th birthday. A Masters crew shall be comprised exclusively of Masters rowers, but the coxswain need not be a Master.

(1) Masters crews shall be classified by age according to the following categories: (AA) 21 to 26 years(must average 27+), (A) 27 to 35 years, (B) 36 to 42 years, (C) 43 to 49 years, (D) 50 to 54 years, (E) 55 to 59 years, (F) 60 to 64 years, (G) 65 to 69 years, (H) 70 to 74 years, (I) 75 to 79 years, (J) 80 and over. The age category of a Masters crew shall be determined by the average age of the rowers in the crew, rounded to the nearest integer. The age of a coxswain shall not be counted. The ages of individual rowers need not fall within the age category, so long as each rower is a Master and so long as the average age of the crew falls within the applicable category.

(2) A Masters crew may compete in a lower (younger) age category, but not in a higher category. A Masters crew competing in the AA category may not compete in any category other than AA or A. If a crew competes in the A category with AA rowers, it must attain an average age such that it is eligible to compete as an A age category crew.

Competitors whose ages fall within the AA category may participate in crews averaging category A and above. There will not be any AA events this year. In other words, no boat may have an average age below 27. Composite Crews: Crews composed of members from different organizations are welcome to race but will not be awarded team trophy points. Please note that each rower may only represent one club for this regatta. If someone in a boat is representing a different club in another race, then the boat will be listed as Composite in this regatta.

Lightweight Events: A lightweight is defined as a woman weighing 130 pounds or less or a man weighing 160 pounds or less as established at the regatta site on the day of the regatta. A lightweight crew is defined as a crew where all members are below the lightweight limit for their gender with no average weight requirement.

Trophies: Four trophies will be awarded:

Dead Poets Trophy for the greatest overall team points.
Howard Smith Trophy for the most team points in sweep events.
Ron McConnell trophy for the most team points in sculling events.
Larry Isakoff trophy will be award to the winners of the Mixed C-J 8+

Points for these trophies will be awarded to the top placing boat from each club in each event based upon the number of boats defeated. Only one boat per club per event will score points.

Heat Medals: will be award to the fastest boat in each heat after handicaps (if any) have been applied.

Event Trophies: will be award to the fastest boat in each event after handicaps (if any) have been applied.