For further information on safety please contact our safety officer

Principles


Canoeing is an ADVENTURE SPORT and a challenge. Capsizing is part of the sport, and the endurance or marathon racing part of it can involve (and has done in this event) exhaustion, dehydration, frost bite, cold , hypothermia and injury.

Canoeing is a dangerous sport, but has a good safety record; but occasionally accidents do occur.

This event is an endurance event and is not a training exercise. It should not be attempted by those who are not ready for it

All of the risks are reduced by experience and training

People taking part in sports do not expect to be safe at all times. The nature of the risk depends on the type of sport; the experience of the competitor and the environment, which includes the safety provision

Safety provision on water is more limited than on land. The competitor should be aware of the safety systems in place and should determine whether or not the possible risks are acceptable. For competitors under 18, this assessment has to be made by the parents or guardians.

Both the organisers and the competitors want the event to be as safe as possible, without losing the element of challenge. There has to be a balance between what safety systems can be justifiably required of the organisers and those which have to be accepted by the competitors and their supporters.

A canoeing event which involves a tidal river cannot be a fully supervised event. This event does not purport to be a supervised event. The crew is master of their vessel and primarily responsible for their own safety.

Specifics


The Rule Book contains specific safety measures and requirements; also advice.

There is an Emergency Plan to enable the Organisers and emergency services to respond as quickly as possible

The DW Information Centre has a range of communications facilities to enable Race Officials to respond

The Thames tideway from Teddington is regarded as the part of the course which poses the most safety problems; which are least capable of full solution. The DW Information Centre monitors boats through a series of Check Points, mainly linked by computer. Crews going "missing" begin to show as overdue on ETA and the system flags those over 2 hours overdue. In particular, the Info Centre places greater emphasis on ensuring that boats are reported through Teddington Lock onto the tideway. On Easter Monday boats are logged on leaving Thames Young Mariners at Ham. A limited number of rescue craft are involved at Westminster on Saturday and in front of and behind the Stages boats on Monday morning. In addition, the Organisers will request the Port of London Authority and Thames Div., river Police to stand by to assist with launches if the situation demands. There is at least one capsize each year on the tideway. In 1994, within the space of 10 minutes, the wind shifted 180 degrees and gusted up to force 9. There were about 20 capsizes. This was very unusual, but the response and rescues were effective and showed that our system was adequate.

All emergency services are provided with a safety brief document prior to the event. We have very good arrangements with the Police and the PLA and we can call on their assistance very quickly.

Easter Monday Stage - Ham to Westminster

The safety precautions taken over the years have been consistently successful in coping with problems, even in the violent wind-shift of 1994 . These comprise a Sea Cadet safety boat downstream of the Juniors; one between them and the second segment and one at the rear. There are also rescue canoes on the water at Ham up to the start. They then re-appear to await boats at Westminster, to deal with capsizes.

In addition, our Safety office at Westminster has direct and indirect communications with the Sea Cadet boats, the Port of London Authority and the Thames Police, in addition to other communications facilities.

The purpose of the crew gate at Ham is to record all boats which go on to the river. This is cross checked at Westminster against arrivals.

It should be emphasised that there is no way in which rescue facilities can be on hand immediately over all parts of the course, given the length and nature of the tideway. Training and support is essential. The possibilities for this are :

  1. A training run on the tideway in daylight or dusk, or as an accompanied group at night.
  2. Take your crews on a boat trip. There are tourist craft available.
  3. We do have available a very basic, silent video of the Thames from Kew Bridge, as seen from a boat in daylight. This is available for £ 6, payable to DW Organisation Ltd at 11 Devonshire Place, Melksham, Wilts SN2 7DW
  4. Support crews should be fully aware of the course and , given the ability of their crews, the times at which they should be in sight at bridges. Keeping track of them should not be a problem with binoculars and the increase in use of mobile phones. Requests for rescue from supporters should be made by phone to our emergency number
  5. Crews which disembark before the finish should phone Westminster at once and should carry 20p coins for this purpose, in a sachet worn around the neck. This should be done before the possibility of a "portage" to the finish is considered.
  6. Crews should dress on the assumption that they are going to capsize in very cold water in the dark. For this purpose, it would be adviseable for lifejackets to carry lights and whistles attached. Also, cyclist reflective tape should be wrapped around the buoyancy aid on the shoulders.
  7. Crews are required under PLA byelaws to comply with their boat lighting regulations.

There is a higher level of risk on the tideway and that there is no way in which absolute safety , or even comparable land based safety can be guaranteed. We expect a few capsizes on the tideway each year. Although it has not happened yet, it is possible that the 'tail end' Sea Cadet boat could miss a boat, but we believe that the response from our Safety system will be effective.

Finally, parents of entrants under 18 should be made aware of the risks and that the safety cover is limited by the environment. They will have to decide if that risk and the safety cover which we offer is acceptable.

This information is provided on the basis that it does not bind the Organisers in respect of the safety provisions they consider necessary for any particular year or part of the course. In particular competitors should, having read the rules and inspected and trained on the course, assess the risks for themselves.