Hey Ed,
So here's the final scoop.
As we mostly suspected, if you row in USCG Federal waterways, federal law preempts state/local laws. This means that the new CT state laws do NOT affect rowing teams in federal water. If you are in the state of CT and you are rowing on non-USCG Federal waterways, you must follow state/local laws. Thank you to USRowing for their help in this matter along with several other rowers.
http://usrowing.org/Safety/SafetyInformationLinks/index.aspx http://usrowing.org/uploads/docs/PFDandthelaw.pdf I think that it is good to recognize that no matter whose laws you must abide by, it is prudent to wear a life jacket if you are to be on water in which the temperature can disable you in a few minutes and you are in a single or inexperienced double without a coach nearby. Even Olympians flip over once in a while :-).
Thanks for your help in getting the word out,
Charles Huthmaker,
NRRA