Regattas
Regattas, Competition and Specialty Races
If you came here looking for the annual Bei Loon 8km Scotland Island race please click on the following.
Regatta Overview
There are usually 5 main DBNSW Regattas each season, plus State and Australian Championships. These domestic Regattas are typically held 1 per month from October through to February followed by the Championship events.
Regattas can be full days (typ 1-3) or partial i.e. morning or afternoon. Complete race programs are between 45-50 events with Bei Loon usually competing in as many divisions as can be supported by the paddlers attending.
The club normally takes Gazebo shelters to Regattas for most Sydney based events. Many paddlers choose to take a collapsible chair and a backpack with extra water, snacks/fruit, a lunch or more meals, sunscreen and possibly a towel and change of dry clothes.
When Regattas are held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (Penrith) a bus is sometimes, depending of level of interest, arranged for our paddlers. The bus typically leaves from Rowland reserve adjacent to where we train.
Bei Loon crews also compete in Overseas, Inter-State and regional NSW regattas. A most notable recent example was the Club Crew World Champtionships 2024 held in Raveena Italy, where roughly 40 Bei Loon paddlers attended.
How are crews selected?
First of all you need to signal your interest to attend and compete at specific event; typically done via TeamApp right on your SmartPhone.
Our club selectors determine a viable selection of races to enter, based on a number of factors including draft racing schedules potential number of paddlers, their age, sex and capability.
At the inidiviual level, a number of factors are considered ranging from Ergometer tests (ERG) and Water trials through to qualitative criteria such as Technique, Teamwork, Attitude and Attendance.
Typical Races and Categories
Boats competing within a regatta are provided by the regatta organsier, and fall into one of 2 size classes:
- Standard boat - 20 paddlers maximum, plus a drummer and sweep.
- Small boat (aka 10's)- 10 paddlers maximum, plus a drummer and sweep.
For each boat class, races are typically categorised into one of the following:
- Womens - all paddlers are female
- Mixed - half the boat is female, the other half male
- Open - any mixture of female and male paddlers is allowed.
Further, events are then based on age:
- Junior - Bei Loon does not currently compete in the Junior/Youth category
- Premier - Open age
- Senior A - 40 years and over
- Senior B - 50 years and over
- Senior C - 60 years and over
Most regattas wil not offer all possible permututions of the above, and it is common that a full size boat is used for a 10 paddler event.
