The Trailboaters by The Inland Waterways Association

THE TRAILBOATERS

Inland Waterways Association Festivals

EVENT PLANNING GUIDES

SECTION 3A SECTION 3B

Inland Waterways Association Festivals

EVENT PLANNING GUIDE

THE TRAILBOATERS SECTION 3A – THIS WILL ADVISE ON:ADVANCE INFORMATION SLIPWAY & SLIPWAY ORGANISING PARKING & WATER INFORMATION PACKS MOORINGS ILLUMINATED PROCESSIONS COMPETITIONS & ENTERTAINMENTS AWARDS & WBOC - AGM HEALTH & SAFTETY USEFUL FOR

TRAILBOAT FESTIVALS Amended 15.01.09 byTrailboat Director, Derek Smith. 01244 382058

derek.smith32@virgin.net

Welcome to the Events Planning Guide

Section 3a.

Please ensure that copies of this manual are printed for all of the committee members responsible for helping to organise your festival. It should then be kept handy for reference.

Trailboat Festival Planning :- The Trailboaters Bank Preparation At least 200 Mts of straight edged vertical bank, dredged to 40cm minimum at the sides will be ideal as it is preferable to avoid the need for gangplanks. If there is evidence a bank is habitated by a water vole it cannot be used. Any advance work needed should be done early to allow grassed edges to fully regrow before your festival. A large basin is needed in urban areas. You should anticipate a well planned and promoted event attracting 40 or more boats, especially if there was some new and uncruised water on offer.

Inviting Boaters to Apply An application form for applying can be found in the appendices to the Planning Manuals, along with the conditions for entry, for printing on the reverse side of the form. These can be re-arranged but ask the same questions and add your logos and information relevant to your particular festival. It is expected that you will be organising competitions for the IWA awards (see below) and entrants can record their interest in these on the form. The awards application form itself should be sent to applicants later. The appendices will be sent to you after your Outline Proposal has been approved. It would be a major attraction to many trailboaters if some additional local cruising could be offered cheaply on some other local waterway for a few days after the festival. More would then see it as worth their while making a special effort to take part.

Advance Information Mailing Normally a three-day Festival, it will be held on the last bank holiday weekend in May, the Spring Bank Holiday. Advance information for applicants should be sent about four weeks before the festival and should include the following documents:-. a) A detailed map or maps of the exact locations of the items on the list below. Include post codes if you can obtain them, for use with GPS units: •

The slipway.

•

The vehicle and trailer parking area.

•

The location of the festival site. (Which may be remote from the slipway).

•

The location of the boat moorings. (If they are not on the festival site they should be close to it).

•

The location of the waterspace office or harbourmaster for reporting to on arrival. This can be located at a boat, vehicle tent or caravan and ideally located by the slipway; but could instead be a clearly marked location on the festival site. (A tent or caravan could then be subsequently used for 1st aid or lost children or something else).

b) Any necessary passes and, if you will be appointing a slipway supervisor/assistant, also include his/her mobile phone number. (This would allow contact en-route for discussing times of slipway availability – see ‘Slipway Organising’ below). c) Finally, for everyone, an awards entry application form with the list of judging criteria, requesting anybody wishing to enter should return it to you as soon as possible. (This is in the appendices to the manuals). Allow for forgotten forms and late festival applicants by putting duplicate forms in the ‘Goodies Bag’ for handing out as boaters arrive at your festival.

Slipway A sound, solid, concrete based slipway at least 3 Mts wide must be available in good condition, and the canal width at this point needs to be at least 6 Mtrs water edge to water edge (8 Mtrs for a Sea Otter). Many of the boats can weight over 2½ tons and a Sea Otter is over 3½ tons so the slipway MUST be capable of easily handling a large number of boats at these weights. The largest boat is the 30’ Sea Otter. This boat and towing vehicle have a combined length of about 49’ and the turning circle required to align the boat with the slipway is quite big so 75’ would not be excessive. An alternative ‘T’ shaped, wide junction, by the slipway would also be a good arrangement for all boats. It is often not possible to accommodate a Sea Otter as the reverse onto the slipway it needs a constant gradient no steeper than 1 meter in 8 meters right up to the water line to avoid the trailer chassis grounding. It can be 1 in 4 under the water but needs to extend to provide a water depth of 1 meter at the end. (A Wilderness only needs 70cm water at the end). There can be severe slipway congestion if many boats arrive closely together on the same day. If you wish to encourage a high number of trail boater attendances be sure to make the slipway availability extensive, and encourage retired boaters to slip on the Wednesday or Thursday before the festival to ease the pressure, and leave a day or so later afterwards. Allow for those who may wish to slip during the early evening after a long journey, and for those who have day jobs - late in the evening.

Slipway Organising You may need to improve the access to your slipway and organise and supervise its use:•

Where there is limited slipway queuing space. If less than 3 units can queue usage should be supervised to avoid congestion. Advise boaters to wait at a nearby lay-by or some other vehicle park from where they can phone the slipway supervisor to arrange a usage time. Some BW areas require usage to be under supervision at all times.

•

If manoeuvring is difficult. The largest boat you may have to accommodate is the 27’ Sea Otter. The boat and towing vehicle have a combined a length of about 45’. The turning circle required to align the boat with the slipway is quite big and 65’ would not be excessive. An alternative ‘T’ shaped, wide junction, by the slipway would also be a good arrangement.

Parking & Water The parking area can be any secure or isolated space either close to the slipway or the event site, or even within the event site. Vehicles and trailers can be separated if necessary and remember that you may have to accommodate 40 or more units. One important point to consider is that the driver of the car also normally sails the boat. You need to ensure that car drivers who have just launched their boats can get back to them quickly after parking, otherwise a congestion of boats could block up the wet end of the slipway. If the distance is more than a10 minute walk you may need to provide a free transit link. The same issue will need addressing in reverse after the festival is over. If early slipway use will not be possible, as an alternative it would be helpful if the parking area could be made available a day or two earlier than the main launching day. This would enable early arrivals to use their boats as a caravan. Preferably two water points to be available. Trailboats normally travel with tanks empty and they will need to fill up soon after launch.

Electric Boats, Steam Boats, & Camping Electric boats don’t need power points as they come fully charged. Steam boats only need water to be available. However they are mainly day boats, and entrants will need a list of local bed & breakfast and similar accommodations so they can book in somewhere nearby. Some may want to bring a tent instead so camping space will need to be found and organised. If you have a large field available for this you could actively publicise your festival among the Caravan and Campervan clubs as a way of increasing your income for use of the site, and at the same time boost the attendance at the Festival.

Details of where the boat is to be moored. (See ‘Mooring’ below).

A programme of the festival events. The cost of this is included in the boat entry fee.

A detailed map showing the route of the canal, indications of its state of repair, location of all structures and any special features or cruising hazards.

Details of the location point for chemical toilet & refuse disposal.

Details, preferably a map, showing the location of the nearest shops & take-aways etc.

Contact details for local services – doctor, churches, 1st aid, and on-site emergencies etc.

Information giving the route and assembly location and time for the boats taking part in the illuminated procession, and asking them to keep about 50Mts apart. Also include the boat procession identification numbers/letters. (See below)

h) i)

Another copy of the boater’s awards entry form. Be prepared for late entries and have spare sets of letters available for the illuminated procession. List of boaters booked in & their boat names (optional).

The location and time of an awards ceremony on the Monday morning.

The commemorative brass plaque. The cost of this is normally included in the boat entry fee. (The phrase ‘IWA National Trailboat Festival 20xx’ must form part of the wording).

Finally it is customary (if possible), for some goodies scrounged from local businesses to be included in the bag.

Mooring Boaters normally display information boards about their boats for public interest. These can be A3 size up to A1 and some may be on ‘A’ stands. The public need to be able to get close to the boats to be able to read them properly. If possible boats should therefore be moored singly, in a line against the bank, without the need to use gang planks; they will then be moored at about the correct distance. You can either leave boaters to find their own mooring place, or you can organise them by pegging or marking mooring slots on the bank, or appoint a marshal. If you choose to organise them, try to moor boats of the same type together: - Steam boats; Electric boats; Sailing boats; Wilderness boats; Rowing boats; Sea Otters etc. When you have a complete list of boats and their sizes you can work out what you will have to do to get them moored up in the space available. Draw out a plan of the available mooring slots and allocate a boat to each slot, and include information about this in the goodies bag.

Illuminated Processions The illuminated boats procession normally starts deep into dusk on the Sunday. It is now split into two sections with a separate trophy for each; one for boats using a generator to power their illuminations – and another for those who are not. If the available length of canal is very short a procession may not be possible, in which case boaters will illuminate their boats while moored. Otherwise a lock free passage of at least half a mile one way and half a mile back should be found, and this should be longer if passing through large urban areas, or if more than 20 boats will be taking part. Winding holes are not required but the canal will need to be at least 30’ wide at the appointed turning locations. Boaters respond best to a big crowd and as it is often quite spectacular, extensive advance advertising is recommended particularly with the local radio. As boats travel at very low speeds there are no major safety issues. If there is going to be a shore based commentary on the procession make sure that commentators at the site have the details about each boat that are on the slips issued by the Awards Officer for public address use.

Organising the procession:a) The Awards Officer will produce large identifying Numbers in black on A4 size paper or card to boaters who have declared they will be using a generator. They should be displayed on port and starboard sides to enable judges and commentators to identify boats in the dark. b) Similar Letters to those seeking the alternative trophy for those who will not be using a generator. c) If the flotilla will be processing through urban areas, during the day identify an entrant who will be playing music or making an alternative loud noise. Ask this boat to lead in order to alert spectators who may be indoors waiting the processions arrival, advise all entrants which boat will be leading. The Starting Marshal should be the Waterspace Officer, who must wear a hi-visibility jacket, and have a powerful torch, whistle or compressed air horn. Ask everyone to wait for his signals. d) Advise boaters that the Starting Marshal will give one blast to start the Numbered boats which will start first, and two blasts to start the Lettered boats which should follow. Ask them to keep about 50 mtrs apart from each other. e) Ensure entrants have been given the starting point, time and route and tell them to look out for your marshals at the start and along the route. Have your procession assembling at the starting point before dusk, displaying their numbers or letters. This is particularly important in order to allow for some organising time. f)

It will be difficult to establish any detailed procession order since boats arrive at the assembly point at differing times, may be well spaced out, many will have noisy generators running and juggling for position in narrow canals is not easy. Prepare a large sign declaring ‘THE END’ and arrange for its attachment to a suitable ‘lettered’ boat, and ask the helmsman of it to be last in the parade.

g) Deploy marshals in high visibility jackets to mark the end of the route where boats need to turn round, and at any branch that needs navigating into. Tell all boaters to look out for them.

Competitions & Entertainment It is normal for some entertainment to be available in the evenings for boat crews. In the past trips to inspect derelict parts of the canal that have special features have been offered as daytime vehicle trips or walks, and warmly welcomed by boaters.

IWA Awards Officer It is required that annual Trophies and certificates (provided by the IWA), will be awarded at Trailboat Festivals. The available awards are listed below. Your committee will need to appoint a temporary Festival Awards Officer at an early stage to act on behalf of the IWA and advertise the awards & criteria. The person appointed should therefore be an IWA member. The officer will also ensure that boat handling and procession events are programmed, appoint and instruct independent judges and attend to all the awards paperwork. Full details of the post are in the general appendix. Judging & other necessary forms that the Awards Officer will need are in a separate awards appendix, which will be sent directly to him. •

The Pewsey Wharf Boat Club Trophy (Best fitted out boat)

•

The Oxford and South Bucks IWA Branch Rose Bowl (Illuminated boats using generators)

•

Ashby Shield (Illuminated boats not using generators)

•

The John Heap Rose Bowl (Enterprising and Meritorious cruising)

•

The BWB Trailboat Rally Cup (Men’s boat handling

•

The Grand Western Trophy (Lady’s boat handling)

•

The John Ogley Cup (Highest number of journey points)

•

The Grace Bell (Best story board)

Health, Safety & Security Some general advice can be found in Event Planning Guide 2, and some sample risk assessments can be found in the Planning Guide Appendices. Additionally you could go along to an event, identify the steward who made the risk assessment for it, and ask him what he had to consider in making his assessment, and minimising the identified risks. It is really just a matter of taking a hard look at what is going to happen, what people are going to be exposed to, list everything that could possibly go wrong to cause an accident, and write down what needs to be done to minimise the chances of one happening. If your site is within easy walking distance of a town or village there will groups of your people curious to have a close look at something new in their locality. In most cases they will cause no security issues but in the past some boaters at festivals have been very worried about the behaviour and intentions of groups of troublesome teenagers. You will no doubt be employing one or two security guards with radios overnight to keep a general eye on everything â&#x20AC;&#x201C; boats included, and it will be reassuring if a radio could be allocated for loan to one of the boaters so that these guards can be directly contacted if necessary.

Licences and Certificates It is presumed that you will already have agreed with the owner of the water, or its controlling authority, your hosting of an IWA Festival at a particular location and of your intention to invite visiting trailboats. You will also need to ascertain whether or not visiting boats will need to have a licence to sail their boats on the water for the purpose of attending your festival. If a licence will be required, supply information to applicants about the cost of the licence and an address from which it may be purchased if they do not already have one. It is the boater's responsibility to purchase and display any necessary licence. If the water is locally owned you might be able to arrange a specially discounted short-period price. The owner of the water, or its controlling authority, may also require the boats to be 3rd party insured and to have a valid Boat Safety Certificate, as is required by BW. If this is the case ask for the numbers of these to be written on your boaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s festival entry application form. Unless the owner of the water or its controlling authority specifically requests it, you do not have to require a boats documents to be presented to you for inspection.

WBOC Meeting The Wilderness Boat Owners Club will be grateful if marquee space can be made available, normally on the Saturday evening from about 6.00 p.m. for an hour or so, for 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 60 people to attend the WBOC annual general meeting. Their chairman will probably be enquiring about it on the Friday or Saturday morning.

Inland Waterways Association Festivals

EVENT PLANNING GUIDE

THE TRAILBOATERS SECTION 3B – THIS WILL ADVISE ON:ADVANCE INFORMATION SLIPWAY & SLIPWAY ORGANISING PARKING & WATER INFORMATION PACKS MOORINGS ILLUMINATED PROCESSIONS COMPETITIONS & ENTERTAINMENTS AWARDS or PRIZES HEALTH & SAFTETY USEFUL FOR

CAMPAIGN FESTIVALS WITH TRAILBOATS Amended 15.01.09 by the Trailboat Director, Derek Smith. 01244 382058

derek.smith32@virgin.net

Welcome to the Events Planning Guide Section 3b.

Please ensure that copies of this manual are printed for all of the committee members responsible for helping to organise your festival. It should then be kept handy for reference.

Campaign Festival Planning :- The Trailboaters Bank Preparation At least 100 Mts of straight edged vertical bank, dredged to 40cm minimum at the sides will be ideal as it is preferable to avoid the need for gangplanks. If there is evidence a bank is habitated by a water vole it cannot be used. Any advance work needed should be done early to allow grassed edges to fully regrow before your festival. A large basin is needed in urban areas. You should anticipate a well planned and promoted event attracting 15 or more boats, especially if there was some new and uncruised water on offer.

Inviting Boaters to Apply A an application form for applying can be found in the appendices to the Planning Manuals, along with the conditions for entry, for printing on the reverse side of the form. These can be re-arranged but ask the same questions and add your logos and information relevant to your particular festival. If you are organising any competitions (see below) or an illuminated procession entrants can record their interest on this form. The appendices will be sent after your Outline Proposal has been approved. It would be a major attraction to many trailboaters if some additional local cruising could be offered cheaply on some other local waterway for a few days after the festival. More would then see it as worth their while making a special effort to take part.

Advance Information Mailing Campaign Festivals will be held on a date agreed by the Festivals Committee. Advance information for applicants should be sent about four weeks before the festival. a) It should include a detailed map or maps of the exact locations of the following. Include post codes if you can obtain them, for use with GPS units: •

The slipway.

•

The vehicle and trailer parking area.

•

The location of the festival site. (Which may be remote from the slipway).

•

The location of the boat moorings. (If they are not on the festival site they should be close to it).

•

b) Any necessary passes and, if you will be appointing a slipway supervisor/assistant, also include his/her mobile phone number. (This would allow contact en-route for discussing times of slipway availability – see ‘Slipway Organising’ below). c) Finally if you are organizing competitions, an entry application form requesting anybody wishing to enter should return it to you as soon as possible. Allow for forgotten forms and late festival applicants by putting duplicate forms in the ‘Goodies Bag’ for handing out as boaters arrive at your festival.

Slipway Organising You may need to improve the access to your slipway and organise and supervise its use:•

•

If manoeuvring is difficult due to a smaller turning circle or obstacles.

Parking & Water The parking area can be any secure or isolated space either close to the slipway or the event site, or even within the event site. Vehicles and trailers can be separated if necessary and remember that you may have to accommodate 15 or more units. One important point to consider is that the driver of the car also normally sails the boat. You need to ensure that car drivers who have just launched their boats can get back to them quickly after parking, otherwise a congestion of boats could block up the wet end of the slipway. If the distance is more than a 10 minute walk you may need to provide a free transit link. The same issue will need addressing in reverse after the festival is over. If early slipway use will not be possible, as an alternative it would be helpful if the parking area could be made available a day or two earlier than the main launching day. This would enable early arrivals to use their boats as a caravan. Preferably two water points to be available. Trailboats normally travel with tanks empty and they will need to fill up soon after launch.

Boaters’ Information Packs A boater’s pack should be issued from the clearly marked waterspace office or harbourmasters tent when booking in on arrival at the festival. The following information should be included: a) Details of where and how the boat is to be moored. (See ‘Mooring’ below). b) A programme of the festival events.

The cost of this is normally included in the boat entry fee.

c) A detailed map showing the route of the canal, indications of its state of repair, location of all structures and any special features or cruising hazards. d) Details of the location point for chemical toilet & refuse disposal. e) Details, preferably a map, showing the location of the nearest shops & take-aways etc. f)

Contact details for local services – doctor, chemist, churches, 1st aid, police, vet and on-site emergencies etc.

g) If you are intending to hold a boat procession supply information giving the route and assembly location and time for the boats taking part, and ask them to keep about 50Mts apart. Also include the boat procession identification letters. (See below). h) Another copy of the competitions entry form. available for the illuminated procession.

Be prepared for late entries and have spare sets of letters

List of boaters booked in & their boat names (optional).

The location and time of any prize giving ceremony on the Sunday morning.

k) The commemorative brass plaque. The cost of this is normally included in the boat entry fee. ‘IWA National Campaign Festival 20xx’ must form part of the wording. l)

The phrase

Finally it is customary (if possible), for some goodies scrounged from local businesses to be included in the bag.

Mooring Boaters normally display information boards about their boats for public interest. These can be A3 size up to A1 and some may be on ‘A’ stands. The public need to be able to get close to the boats to be able to read them properly. If possible boats should therefore be moored singly, in a line against the bank, without the need to use gang planks; they will then be moored at about the correct distance. However if you are very short of space you may need to moor some bows to the bank or breasted up and those boats would be unable to display storyboards, (in which case it would be unfair to have a story board competition). You can either leave boaters to find their own mooring place, or you can organise them, perhaps by pegging or marking mooring slots on the bank, or appoint a marshal. If you choose to organise them, try to moor boats of the same type together: - Steam boats; Electric boats; Sailing boats; Wilderness boats; Rowing boats; Sea Otters etc. When you have a complete list of boats and their sizes you can work out what you will have to do to get them moored up in the space available. Draw out a plan of the available mooring slots and allocate a boat to each slot, and include information about this in the goodies bag.

Illuminated Procession The illuminated boats procession normally starts deep into dusk on the Sunday. If the available length of canal is very short a procession may not be possible, in which case boaters will illuminate their boats while moored. Otherwise a lock free passage of at least half a mile one way and half a mile back should be found, and this should be longer if passing through large urban areas, or if more than 20 boats will be taking part. Winding holes are not required but the canal will need to be at least 30’ wide at the appointed turning locations. Boaters respond best to a big crowd and as it is often quite spectacular, extensive advance advertising is recommended particularly with the local radio. As boats travel at very low speeds there are no major safety issues. If there is going to be a shore based commentary on the procession make sure that commentators at the site have the details about each boat that are on slips issued by the Waterspace Officer for public address use.

Organising the procession:a) The Waterspace Officer will produce large identifying Numbers in black on A4 size paper or card to boaters for them to display. They should be displayed on port and starboard sides to enable judges and commentators to identify boats in the dark. b) If the flotilla will be processing through urban areas, during the day identify an entrant who will be playing music or making an alternative loud noise. Ask this boat to lead in order to alert spectators who may be indoors waiting the processions arrival, advise all entrants which boat will be leading. The Starting Marshal should be the Waterspace Officer, who must wear a hi-visibility jacket, and have a powerful torch, whistle or compressed air horn. Ask everyone to wait for his signals. c) Advise boaters that the Starting Marshal will give one blast to start the boats, which should then keep about 50 mtrs apart from each other. d) Ensure entrants have been given the starting point, time and route and tell them to look out for your marshals at the start and along the route. Have your procession assembling at the starting point before dusk, displaying their numbers or letters. This is particularly important in order to allow for some organising time. e) It will be difficult to establish any detailed procession order since boats arrive at the assembly point at differing times, may be well spaced out, many will have noisy generators running and juggling for position in narrow canals is not easy. Prepare a large sign declaring â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;THE ENDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and arrange for its attachment to a suitable boat, and ask the helmsman of it to be last in the parade. f)

Deploy marshals in high visibility jackets to mark the end of the route where boats need to turn round, and at any branch that needs navigating into. Tell all boaters to look out for them.

Competitions & Entertainment Several competitions could be organised if you have keen volunteers to organise and judge them. You could engage young people to judge some of them. It is expected that awards or prizes would be presented if you choose to organise competitions. These can be quite small, such as a box of sweets or a book on the local waterway etc. Suggested competition categories are listed below:a)

The trailboat travelling the longest distance to attend the festival.

The best fitted out boat.

The best illuminated boat.

The best boat storyboard.

The best decorated moored boat.

The most enterprising and meritorious cruising in the previous 12 months.

The best boat handler (Providing you have enough water space).

Please ask the Trailboat Director for suggested judging criteria if you would find it helpful helpful. It is normal for some entertainment to be available in the evenings for boat crews. In the past trips to inspect derelict parts of the canal that have special features have been offered as daytime vehicle trips or walks, and warmly welcomed by boaters.