Rules may get a complete overhaul

ROWING:THE DAYS of smoke-filled rooms are gone, but some of the delegates to tomorrow's egm of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (IARU) in Dublin may emerge bleary eyed all the same.

The programme for the day involves a revamp of virtually the entire rule book. The one saving grace is that each proposed change has to be accepted or not at all – “all duck or no dinner”, as chief organiser Kieran Kerr puts it. There must be a two-thirds majority for a rule to be changed.

Controversial changes would split the intermediate class in two, and formally adopt the experimental restriction on the novice class. The limiting of competitors to two seasons as novices has generally been seen as good for the sport. However, delegates will have four options, including one from Queen’s University, which would allow novices to stay in the grade for three seasons.

Big-ticket items include the removal of the coxed four as a championship event and the introduction of the double scull for men and women. Another hot-button issue is the proposal to extend the ban on junior composites beyond the National Championships to the entire regatta season.

A proposal to remove the outgoing president’s automatic right to two more years on the board seems topical: Frank Durkin, who stepped down as IARU president, has now also stepped aside from the board. He is heavily involved in running Offaly rowing club.

Parallel to the introduction of specific rule changes is a move to strengthen certain parts of the ruling structure, particularly the Domestic Events Committee and the Championship Committee, which runs the National Championships. Motions in these areas have prompted counter proposals from Galway Rowing Club.

There is also a new, more detailed, set of rules on discipline and the disciplinary system, with a Disciplinary Officer taking on a big role.

The proposed change to the rules on university rowing are multi-pronged. Virtually every year there are controversies over eligibility, and Queen’s have proposed a much tighter definition of who can row, borrowing from Cusai, the Council of University Sports Administrators of Ireland.

Delegates can formally adopt provisions that allow limited membership of the union for coastal clubs and some schools and colleges. These would not have voting rights.

Other interesting proposals include: a limit of four years for a sub-committee chair – and four years of a break before he/she could resume in the position; only one board member be an ex-officio member of sub-committees, rather than the whole board; funding of branches to depend of the number of members of clubs rather than the number of clubs; a provision that individual sponsorship must not conflict with the interests of the sponsor of the team or the sport; the international levy be replaced by an event licence fee to help finance domestic events.

There is also a specific rule on offer to sanction rowers who use language or act “in any way that could be found objectionable to other rowers, officials, or members of the public” – which seems a rather all-embracing category!

Meanwhile, La Mondiale, with five Irishmen on board, has been dealing with high winds, big seas and a broken rudder during its Atlantic crossing. The 14-man crew found the first days tough, but they were making great progress recently only to see their rudder sheared off by an underwater object.

The aim of the crew is to cross from the Canaries to Barbados in less than a month.