Introduction

The ‘freewave’ Structure has changed with a new mix of ‘one-off’ national championship events and challenging ‘series’ of events.

A Notice of Event will be published on the UKWA website for each and every event.
These Championship Rules, where appropriate, cannot be amended by Sailing Instructions.
Attached to these Rules, as appendices, you will find information all competitors should understand and accept before entering a freewave event- Definitions and Misconduct.

Event Organisation

An Event Committee (EC), approved by the UKWA, shall conduct an event as required by the rules. The EC will usually comprise of, but not be limited to: Event Organiser, Head Judge and UKWA Representative.

Elligiblity and Age Groups

UKWA events are “open” events – entry is open to competitors from outside the organising country. A competitor must be a member of their relevant national organization and be in possession of adequate 3rd party insurance (£2,000,000 or equivalent in foreign currency)

• Age categories: Junior - competitor aged under 17 on 31st December 2008;
• Youth - competitors aged under 20 on 31st December 2008;
• Master - competitors aged 35 and over on 31st December 2007.

Entries

No entry will be accepted after the closing date as indicated in the Notice of Event or on the Entry Form except in exceptional circumstances which are at the discretion of the event committee.

The fleets may be defined as: Pro; Amateur; Youth; Junior; Master; Women.
The maximum fleet size is 32

Advertising

Category C of the ISAF Advertising Code-Regulation 20-applies.

Competitors may be required to display official stickers on their sails and wear an advertising vest, provided by the organizer at registration, while competing and training at or near the event site.

Equipment

There are no restrictions on the type or amount of equipment a sailor may use in an event or series

Heat size, Elimination and Seeding Procedure

IFCA Championship may apply; the following is the preferred system.

Repechage heat system

An event shall consist of one, or more, elimination series of heats/rounds. The schedule of heats will be based upon the repechage system and shall be posted at the ONB. Competitors in the 1st round will advance to the next stage of the elimination ladder when judged the best in the heat. The top 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 seeded sailors start competing after the repechage round. The unsuccessful sailors from the 1st round proceed to the repechage round depending upon the elimination schedule used. The winners of the repechage heats proceed to round 2. After round 2 there will be a simple knock out system.

Various heat ladders will be used depending on time available and numbers competing which all adhere to this system. The principle is that any sailor other than a top 8 seed will sail at least twice in any given elimination series, and the top seeds start in round 2.

Seeding

Seeding at events will take place if there are a sufficient number of entrants to make it beneficial in reducing the running time of an elimination series.

Judging system

Wave

1. A panel of THREE judges shall score each heat, one of which will be the Head Judge.
2. Each judge may award each competitor for each manoeuvre with points on a scale of 1 to 10
   according to the spectacle, variety and quality of performance.
   Only the highest scored manoeuvres in each category (waveriding / jumping) shall be taken into
   account to determine the winner.
3. The event committee or head judge will decide on how many wave rides or jumps will count
   depending on the conditions.
   Each judges points from a sailors best rides and jumps shall be added together to form his/her
   score. For instance if it was decided 3 jumps and 2 rides to score the maximum score would be
   50 per judge.
4. The sailor with the highest points on each judge’s sheet is each judge’s winner, the next
   highest second and so on. The positions arrived at on all three judges score sheets shall be
   added together to determine the heat winner and the other sailors positions.
5. When there is a tie in positions the position and then the points awarded by the head judge will be the deciding factor. If the head judge has sailors tied, a short tie-break heat will be run at earliest opportunity.
6. Competitors may only see their score sheets at the Head Judge’s discretion after the end of
   the round.
7. Requests for redress concerning the scoring and the decisions of the judges shall not be
   accepted.
8. All judges score sheets for each heat shall bear the full name of the judge judging the heat. Scoring of maneouvres will be based on current UKWA and PWA guidelines.

Freestyle

1. A panel of THREE judges shall score each heat, one of which will be appointed Head Judge.
2. FREESTYLE will be judged on a SUBJECTIVE basis, (Overall Impression), each judge may
   mark sailors placing directly on his sheet or quantify his assessment of a sailors performance
   with marks out of 10 in difficulty, diversity and fluidity. Heat winners and positions will be
   decided in the same way as waves.
3. Ties will be decided in the same way as wave.

Scoring and Prizes

Minimum number of rounds in ‘Championship’ event:
For an event to declare a valid title one round must be completed –including the final.
Minimum number of rounds in ‘Series’ event:
When one round has been completed up to the point where 8 sailors remain, the result is deemed valid if it cannot be completed.
Details of awards and prize money, if offered, will be published in the Notice of Event.