1.  General
1-1     Any crew who fails to observe the rules and regulations herein will be disqualified.
1-2     Each standard dragon boat crew can be comprised of a maximum of 28 persons, being:
1 Manager, 1 Team Leader,1 Coach, 25 Athletes.
1-3     The Team Manager and the Coach cannot participate the competition.
1-4     If a drummer and steersman is not able to attend the competition, they can be substituted by the reserve paddlers.
1-5     All boats and paddlers used by the athletes shall be provided by the Organizing Committee. Athletes or crews are not permitted to make any modifications or put in additional equipment on the boat.  The Organizing Committee will not be responsible for any equipment failure during the race and each crew is advised to carefully check the boat and paddlers allocated to them before racing.
1-6     All crewmembers must follow the instructions of the Race Officials from the time they are called to the crew assembly Area, until they leave the crew assembly area after the race.
1-7     The coach must accompany the crew to the assembly area for roll call. The team Manager will be responsible for liaising with Race Officials and represent the crew at the prize presentation ceremony.
1-8     The Organizing Committee reserves the right to refuse any crew participating in the race at their discretion.

2.      Safety Precaution
2-1     Each athlete must be able to swim at list 100 meters in light clothing.
2-2     Each athlete shall be solely responsible for his or her own safety during official practice sessions and during the races. The Organizing Committee or any other individual or organization connected directly or indirectly with the races will not be liable to any incident such as death, damage or loss incurred.
2-3     Personal life jacket may be worn by an athlete, but this does not exempt the crew from complying with rule 2-1.

3.      The Crew/Crew Composition
3-1     Each standard dragon boat can carry a maximum of 1 drummer, 1 steersman and eighteen (18) Paddlers.
3-2     Each crew will be entirely responsible for its own conduct and comply with the rules of the race.
3-3     Each crew must wear their uniform/shirt during the races. Should there be any commercial publicity on the uniform/shirt, the design must be submitted upon registration for approval. Only after the design has been approved, may the commercial logo be printed on the uniform, however the sponsor logo cannot be over 15x15cm or bigger than the crew’s name.
3-4     The maximum number of participants in each crew is 20 with the minimum of 18 including 1 drummer and 1 steersman.
3-5     Should any crew violate rule 3-4, the organizing committee reserves the right to disqualify this crew and the enrollment in future races.
3-6a Female can be drummer in the open category.
3-6b Male cannot be drummer in the women’s category.
3-6c Steersperson can be both male in women’s and men’s open
3-7     Paddlers, Steersman and Drummers cannot join in another crew of the same race and must comply with point 9 of the Race Program and Guidelines.

4.     Marshalling
4-1     All crews must assemble in the Crew Assembly Area 20 minutes before the start of the race.
4-2     Crew identity checks will be carried out by Race Officials in the Crew Assembly Area and crew members must be able to produce identification upon request. If the identity card has been lost, a fee of PHp250.00 or USD$5.00 will be charged to the athlete for the re-issuance of the card.
4-3     All crews must embark according to the Crew Marshall’s instructions.
4-4     All crews must use the boat and lane allocated by the Organizing Committee.
4-5     None of the crews will be permitted to choose which boat to use and must race in the lane allocated to their boat.
4-6     Once the crew has embarked, it must leave boarding pontoon immediately and proceed to the starting area, warm-up area or designated area as per judge’s instruction.
4-7     All crews proceeding to the starting area must keep away from the race course, until all the boats which are taking part in the preceeding race have gone past.
4-8     Should any crew violates point 4-6 and 4-7, an additional two seconds will be added in their results of the respective race.

5.     Starting Procedure
5-1     All crews must be positioned at the allocated lane at the start of each race.
5-2     All crews in the starting area must follow the instructions of the Starters.
5-3     Each Steersman of every boat at the starting area has to hold a rope that is fixed to the floating platform. Moreover, the Drummer of each crew will also have to hold a rope in order to ensure the boat is at the right position. When the Aligner has certified that all crews are correctly aligned, the crews must lift their paddlers out of the water while the Drummer cannot hit the drum or make any sound, and the starting verbal signal “READY, ATTENTION, GO” will be given.
5-4     When the starter shouts “GO” and at the same time gives the starting signal with a horn the race officially begins.
5-5     If the Starter considers that any crew has committed a false start or violated any other regulation, a repeated short horn will sound to signal the restart of race, meaning that all crews will return immediately to the starting line.
5-6     If one of the paddles touches the water and if the Drummer hits the drum or makes a sound between the verbal signal “Ready” and the boozing of the horn, , it will be considered as a false start. Any crew who refuses to return immediately for a restart after a false start or violates the regulations on the second false start will be disqualified.
5-7     In case of a false start, on the first time, the Judge will show a yellow card to the respective lane as a warning; and on the second time, any crew who violates the regulation (even if the crew is committing a false start for the first time), the Judge will show a red card to the respective lane and disqualify this crew and the race will continue without conducting a third start.
5-8     It is the responsibility of the Team Manager or the Coach to explain clearly to their crew members the above starting procedure.

6.     Race Conduct
6-1     The proper course for each boat is a straight line from its starting position to a corresponding point at the finish line. Each boat must race on its designated lane that is distinguished by signaling buoys.
6-2     On each race, judge boats will follow the racing boats to monitor. Any boat that fails to remain in its course will be warned by the Judge. If any boat crosses to the other lane and disturb the race, or leads to collision with other boat(s), the Chief Judge, after discussion with the Course Judge, has the right to disqualify the crew at fault.
6-3     During the race, if any accident affects the progress of the race, the Race Controller has the right to stop the race by waving a red flag. The organizing Committee has the right to decide whether or not the restart of the race will be conducted. The crew at fault will be disqualified for the race.
6-4     After each race, the crews must return immediately to the embarking area and return all equipment to the Organizing Committee. A fine of 5,000 (five thousand pesos) will be imposed on the offender or the crew who intentionally damages the boat or the equipment. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to request the offenders to pay for the cost of the repairs.
6-5     If the Race Controller of the Judge discovers the crew has deliberately swamped or capsized a boat, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to imposed a penalty of 2,000 (two thousand pesos) and disqualify this crew in this race.
6-6     Should the crew violate 6-4 and 6-5, besides penalty, the respective crew member will be suspended for 2 years in this race or depending on the gravity, from 1 year suspension to indefinite suspension.
6-7     Should any crew member, use violence or threatens the judge or staff, will be disqualified from participating in any dragon boat race sanctioned by the Organizer.
6-8     Crews should finish the race in 5 minutes; the Organizing Committee has the right to demand the crew who cannot finish the race within its time to leave the course, to avoid affecting the following race from starting.
6-9     For safety reasons, all dragon boat races’ crews can only race in a sit down position.

7.     The Finish
7-1     The finishing line is defined by a proper sign “F.”
7-2     The ranking of each race and its respective timing will be determined by the Official Judge whose decision shall be final.
7-3     Each crew must return immediately to the Crew Assembly Area and disembark.
7-4     When there is more than one boat crossing the finish line at the same time and a winner cannot be determined, the concerned teams in the Heat will have to repeat the race, for the race in the Semi-final will be according to the result obtained in the Heat, whereas for the Final will be according to the result obtained in the Semi-final to determine the winner.
7-5     If a photo finish occurs, the distance of the “Repeat Race” will only be half of the distance raced.

8.     Appeals
8-1     All appeals concerning the result of the race should be presented to the Technical and Appeals Committee by the Team Manager of the respective crew.
8-2     All appeals must be made in writing and presented by the Team Manager not later than 15 minutes upon posting the results.
8-3     An appeal fee of equivalent to US$200 (two hundred dollars) must be paid. The appeal fee will be refunded to the participant should the appeal be granted.
8-4     Other appeals will not be considered aside from the race.
8-5     In case of uncertainty of result on the race, verification of photo finish or disqualification has to be considered, the respective crew’s Team Manager will be duly notified before any decision is announced.
8-6     During the process of an appeal, all members of the crew in question must follow the directions of the Officials. Otherwise, the related crew will be disqualified even if the appeal is accepted by the Judges.
8-7     The decision taken by the Judges shall be final.

9.     Equipment/Accessories
9-1     All boats (including stern rudder) provided by the Organizing Committee. The allocation of boats to individual crew shall be at the sole discretion of the Organizing Committee. The Organizing Committee will not be responsible for any equipment failure during a race and each crew is advised to carefully check the boat and paddles allocated to them before racing.
9-2     All crews are not permitted to make any modification or put in additional equipment on the race boat. In particular:
(a)     Any sitting pad or device for the Paddlers must be made of soft material.  It should not be thicker than 2cm, longer than 50cm, wider than 30cm and should be foldable.
(b)     A plastic container will be provided by the Organizing Committee to remove water from the boat, other additional pump or device of any kind is not permitted.
(c)      No electronic devices, mechanical devices, loudspeaker and telecommunication devices such as mobile phone will be permitted on the boat.
(d)     Should any accident occur during the race, and the boat cannot be used, the reserved boats shall be used.

10.     Crews Conduct
10.1 Conduct of Crews and Teams: Crews must follow the directions of the Race Officials at all times during the race. All Team Leaders shall monitor the behaviour of their team members to observe this rule.
10.2    Conduct of Crew: Any crew or competitor who attempts to win a race by other than honorable means, or who deliberately breaks the racing rules, or who disregards the honorable nature of the rules shall face disqualification from the race.
10.3 Abusive Language: Any athletes shall not use abusive language towards any Race Officials or paddlers of other team/s. Any proven case may result in warning or disqualification from attending the race.
10.4 Race Control Area:  All crews and competitors must not enter Race Office area without permission.
10.5 Attitude of Race Officials: The Racing Committee will also constantly remind all Race Officials to remain sincere, fair and cooperative towards all Crews and Competitors.