(a) The course shall be as detailed in the diagram.
(b) The boat turning buoys and the gate buoys should be of distinctive colours in the following order from left to right:
| No. 1 | red and yellow |
| No. 2 | black |
| No. 3 | green with a white horizontal stripe |
| No. 4 | red |
| No. 5 | blue with a horizontal white stripe |
| No. 6 | yellow |
| No. 7 | white with a black |
(c) The turning buoys should be set at a minimum of 350m rowing distance from the end of knee depth water at the low tide mark depending on prevailing surf conditions and should be set in such a position to allow the boats to clear other course buoys by taking a straight course to and from their respective turning buoys.
(d) The turning buoys should be set so as to provide a course which is as fair as possible and which will give all crews the same distance to row, regardless of which position they are allocated.
(e) The gate buoys, which are optional at the Referee’s discretion for usage on the return journey, should be:
- (i) Set in line with the turning buoys on the seaward side of the break area and inshore from the turning buoys.
- (ii) Negotiated as directed by the Referee or Sectional Referee.
(f) The finishing line shall be a line of sight drawn between two orange and blue diagonal flags (or area colour(s) as determined by the Referee) on poles positioned far enough apart to correspond with the number of buoys laid (see diagram) and to allow all boats to finish afloat.
As an alternative to the above, there is also an option for dry starts and finishes in any combination with wet starts and wet finishes.
(g) Large elevated markers in the corresponding buoy colours may be positioned on the beach behind each position to assist Sweeps returning to the beach to determine their position relative to their position.
(h) When it is not possible to provide a fair course over the full number of positions, the Referee at their discretion may reduce the number of crews in each race, including the finals to improve the fairness of racing.
(i) If it is clearly evident that the turning buoys are not parallel to the beach and therefore not fair for all crews, the buoys may be adjusted immediately at the discretion of the Referee.
