The following ten statements summarise the CUCBC Rules of the River. These must be followed by all University and College Crews rowing on the Cam between Jesus and Baitsbite Locks. Failure to obey these rules will result in clubs being fined and/or banned from using the river.
- No College crew may be on the water during the 'Hours of Darkness' and no boat may be on the water without lights in the 15 minutes before lighting up or the fifteen minutes after lighting down.
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- No boat is allowed on the water when the CUCBC flag is red.
- When the flag is yellow, only the following boats are allowed on the water:
- University Crews, first boats and tub pairs.
- during Lent Term, in addition to the crews allowed by 2.b.i, any other crews in the first and second divisions of the Lent Bumps.
- during Easter Term, in addition to the crews allowed by 2.b.i, any other crews in the first and second divisions of the May Bumps.
- Only University Crews, first boats, and any other boats in the top two divisions of the May Bumps may row below Baitsbite Lock.
- No novice crew may be on the water before 7.30am or within fifteen minutes of lighting down, which ever is later, and all novice crews must be accompanied. In addition, the first outing of a novice eight must be with an experienced cox.
- Loud hailers must not be used anywhere on the towpath, and coaching from the bank, and the use of cox boxes, should be kept to a minimum anywhere on the river before 7.30am. Coaching from the bank is not permitted at all above the railway bridge before this time.
- No College crew may be on the water before 11am on a Saturday or Sunday, save when participating in a CRA, BR or CUCBC race, unless the Executive Committee has made an announcement to the contrary.
- All coxless boats must have a steerer on the bank except for single sculls at any time and experienced pairs and doubles between the hours of 9am and 4pm in Full Term.
- Boats going downstream must keep to the non-towpath side of the river until after Ditton Corner when they cross over to the towpath side. At the sign after Grassy Corner, they must cross back to the non-towpath side, and stay on that side until Baitsbite Lock.
Boats going upstream must keep to the towpath side until the middle of the Gut when they must cross to the non-towpath side, taking the inside of the corner. At the top of the Plough Reach, they must cross back to the towpath side, and stay on that side until they reach the boathouses.
- Boats going downstream must give way to boats going upstream, and slower boats must give way to allow faster boats to pass. In addition, whenever a boat easies it must draw in close to the bank to allow other boats to pass unimpeded. Boats must not easy on corners.
- Unless required for safety reasons, or acting on the instructions of an umpire during a race, boats may only spin at Jesus Lock, the Penny Ferry, between the two posts at the bottom of Long Reach and by the sign in Baitsbite Reach. When necessary, boats must queue to spin, and should only spin when it is clear that no boat is approaching that is likely to be impeded. Once spun, boats must move off immediately or, if pulling in on the Long Reach or Baitsbite, may only do so above the spinning area. At the Baitsbite Spinning area and in green flag conditions only, two crews may spin in tandem, providing they do not impede other crews and move off promptly.