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Your first responsibility as bank party is to keep the crew safe.
How to be a bank party
How to be a bank party
When you take on the role of bank party or coach for the first time, it's easy to imagine yourself as the next Jürgen Gröbler, eager to share your rowing expertise. In reality, your first responsibility is much simpler: to keep the crew safe.
The cox or steerer is in charge of the crew. However, with a novice or inexperienced cox / steerer you will have a higher duty of care. You should be prepared to intervene, and reverse bad decisions made by the crew. The aim is not to take control unnecessarily, but to step in when safety requires it.
On a narrow, busy river like the Cam, the vast majority of rowing accidents begin with one simple problem: someone does not see a developing hazard early enough. Maintaining an effective lookout is the first line of defence. Once a hazard has been spotted, there is usually time to slow down, change course, or communicate with other crews. If it is spotted too late, the options become increasingly limited.
Points to remember
Points to remember
If in doubt, shout! Look ahead for hazards and warn your crew - and, if necessary, other river users. Shout early, shout clearly and shout loudly enough to be heard.
The best way to avoid a dangerous situation is to take decisive action before it escalates. For instance, if you see a narrow gap ahead, don’t simply press on and hope for the best.
If there is a hazard ahead you may want to give the cox/steerer the opportunity to take action themselves - they might not appreciate you continually giving instructions! However, if they do not act in a timely way you may need to advise the crew to reduce speed or stop - or you might need to forcefully instruct them to take action. Safety always takes priority over allowing someone to learn from their own mistakes.
Be able to keep ahead of the crew during the outing if necessary to look around corners. For an inexperienced crew, this might mean cycling ahead to survey the river and give warnings to your crew.
Know the emergency stop command from the bank which is “STOP, STOP!!” or “X-PRESS STOP, STOP!!”. This is non-rowing jargon which everyone understands.
Before setting off, agree how you will communicate. Decide what types of information the bank party will provide, the words that will be used, and when the bank party should intervene. Clear expectations reduce confusion during the outing.
Know the navigation rules of the river and be able to communicate these clearly.
If you need to talk to the crew, then this is safest when the crew is pulled into the bank. If you stop whilst away from the bank then make sure that someone is watching for oncoming crews.
Be aware of blind spots. There are parts of the river where you need to leave the tow path. There are other parts (e.g., the parked cars by Cantabs boathouse) where the view of the river is obscured.
Remember that beginner rowers often have little understanding of boat handling or equipment care. They may not recognise when a boat is being damaged by poor handling, or appreciate the consequences of seemingly minor mistakes.
If you regularly bank party on the Cam, there will be times when you help prevent a collision by alerting other river users to potential dangers ahead.
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