Training Courses Available

• Coxswains, Coaches and Competitors—How to Avoid Penalties
• Umpires Basic Course—for first time umpires who have not passed the test
• Umpires Advanced Courses—2 courses—a 90 minute full course done in 2007, and a 2008 interference focused tutorial and quiz based on the Coxswains, Coaches and Competitors tutorials. It's important that all umpires take this.

For Coxswains, Coaches and Competitors

• Tutorial and Quiz: How to Avoid Penalties (PDF)
• No one wins in penalty situations—here's how the umpires apply the rules
• Includes web based tutorial materials and self evaluation quiz to let you see how well you can successfully navigate the typical penalty situations

Umpire Courses 2008—Rule changes from 2007

• The aggressive passing penalty (IP) of 30 seconds has been eliminated. However, if an Umpire observes a crew forcing another crew off the racecourse and or if the action results in a severe collision, they may award an IS (interference penalty) penalty.
• Boats being passed must now begin to yield when the overtaking crew is within 1 full boat length (and closing) rather than 1/2 boat length as in past years. This means that umpires should look for yielding action on the part of overtaken crews much sooner than in the past. If crews fail to yield properly, the 60 IN penalty should be enforced.

We have not updated the 2007 Basic and Advanced courses or companion audios. Instead there is an added slide in each course (replacing one therein so the page numbers are the same) telling which slides are impacted by the new 2008 rules.

Umpire Class Materials

To prepare for the test, you should review the following documents. Once you click on a file, you can print out a hard copy.

The Training Presentations are provided in Powerpoint. There is also a companion audio of the actual webinars given in 2007 to provide more information.

The Regatta 2008 Rules of Rowing and the US Rowing Rules of Racing are your resource materials. We encourage you to review prior to sitting for the exam.

Umpires Basic Course

The Basic Course is new umpires who have not passed the test.

1	What you will be tested on	Basic Training Presentation
		2007 Basic Webinar Audio (10MB MP3)
2	Reference Materials	Regatta 2008 Rules of Racing (pdf)
		Race Course Description (pdf)
		USRowing Rules of Racing 2008 (pdf)

Testing for Umpires Basic Course

There are two ways to take the umpire exam:
1. In conjunction with basic training at Cambridge Boat Club on Saturday, September 27th, 2008;
2. Online, via emailed invitation—In taking the exam online, the situational diagrams for Questions 30–35 can be found by clicking on the Illustrations hyperlink below.

Use for Umpires Online Basic Test:

Illustrations

Umpires Advanced Course, Full Version from 2007

The Advanced course is for Umpires who have taken the Basic Course. It emphasizes new rules, improvements from 2007 and safety procedures.

1	Advanced Training Presentation from 2007	Version 8 (PPT)
2	Audio	2007 Advanced Webinar Audio (10MB MP3)

Advanced Training 2008

Tutorial focused on Interference and new 2008 rules—coming soon.

Umpire Training Course Signups

When you register, you will sign up for a training session. You will receive an email verifying your attendance.

Training Schedule: Mal Watlington, malw1001@hotmail.com, Instructor

Basic Training for first time umpires
• Saturday, September 27th, 9:00–11:30 AM at Cambridge Boat Club, for new umpires local to Boston.
• Online self-study for remote umpires and those who cannot attend the CBC event.

Advanced Training
• Advanced Training on Interference (required for experienced umpires) will be held via self-study and a web-based course. More info to come soon.
• 2008 Advanced Interference training and self evaluation test—an expanded version of the Coxswain, Coaches and Competitors tutorials. More to come soon.