That what i've done in the past Chris, now it seem the rowers are sticking religiously to the side of the river going up one side and then down the other side on their return, in past years they have been considerate and moved to the centre of the river when they saw an angler [boat traffic permitting] and as you say with the rod tips set low or even sunk there was not a problem. This year however I have had a few problem with them and have had them nearly smash into my rods and stripping line from my reels, luckily I have not had any of my lines break and have managed to rerieve my rigs and bait back intact. After speaking to their coach who generally follows in the motorised boat behind them his attitude is that they are not breaking any rules so tough luck. Maybe I should report them to the enviroment agency and back it up with some photo's as evidence, As a boat user myself and I know you use one as well Chris, if I see an angler on the bankside I stay well clear of him so not to ruin his swim or damage his equipment, if there is boat traffic coming down the river I generally let it pass before continuing pass the angler giving him a wide berth, common sense really. I was thinking of trying to use the fox captive backleads that have a gate on them so if i got a take the line would pull from the back lead which would cause an indication similar to a dropback when the line went slack as it pulled free of the back lead, what do you think.