Slalom 1 - Starboard/Severne - Marazion
Sat 19th - Sun 20th April
The 2014 BSA Slalom season is set to kick off in style over the Easter weekend with a return to one of Cornwall's idyllic windsurfing locations: Marazion, near Penzance.
This year major sail brand Severne have stepped up to support the event in conjunction with Starboard. Demo kit will be available from both brands, as will rigging & tuning advice from "Revolutionary" riders such as National Champion James Dinsmore and "Mr NWF" himself Allan Cross.
With three fleets looking after all levels of windsurfer and plenty of light wind alternatives provided by the sponsors, there's no better way to blow away the cobwebs off the slalom or freerace kit and hit the water for action in one of the UK's finest windsurfing locations.
More about the slalom series.
Venue
It is our first time back to Marazion for a while, the Station pub is still there and active, however the waste land next door were some used to pitch their tents has long gone.
There is a camp site called the Dove Meadow which is 500m as the crow flies away from the venue. Others will be parking up next to the pub in the public parking area with toilets and cafe nearby.
Other options:
Series Scoring 2015
Following the sailors meeting at Tenby towards the end of 2014 it was decided by popular request to change the series scoring for 2015. Of course as usual you should study the Sailing Instructions and The Notice Of Race, however briefly this is how it works.
This applies only to events when there is no wind for championship racing for any given fleet. If you choose not to attend and there is Championship racing the normal accumulated points apply.
In the event of insufficient wind for championship racing, therefore no racing has taken place for a particular fleet; competitors will be awarded series points as follows.
(a) If the event does not qualify as a valid series event then each absent competitor will incur 1 "non-attendance" point.
(b) If the event does not qualify as a valid series event then each attending competitor will incur 0 "non-attendance" point.
(b) Non-attendance points cannot be discarded and will be added to the series score to give an overall score.
So now study the attached hypothetical set of results as an example. Click here. You will see event 1 had no Championship Racing therefore the above applies.
In conclusion
The previous system was very unforgiving to sailors who could not make all events. It was a bit all or nothing. The new system will potentially allow a sailor to miss an event or two and yet still put in a very decent overall series score. Hopefully this will mean a greater number of sailors will be motivated to turn up to events and will still be fighting it out near the end of the season.
The changes will mean that discards will now be used to discard a poor result(s) at a counting event(s) as opposed to discard (high value) attendance points. One benefit might be to mitigate the impact an event decided on the basis of a single final in 'iffy' conditions which in seasons past could potentially have had a huge effect on the overall season scores.
There will continue to be a reward for attendance at events that turn out to be windless. The penalty for not attending will be smaller numerically but non-discardable which was not the case previously. Any zero point scores for attendance will be also included in count-back calculations in case of a draw on points at the end of the season. In that situation they will be the initial score looked at and so become particularly valuable.
Terms of attendance
The UKWA reserves the right to exclude or expel any member / non member / family / group or individual from its event site should it be considered that they may by their actions or the perception of such bring the UKWA, its hosts other parties or individuals into disrepute. The UKWA Committee, in part or in it’s entirety, shall be the sole judge of such action, and their decision is deemed final.
Persons expelled shall leave the event site within 30 minutes of any verbal notice and shall not return. Exclusion may be deemed temporary (this event) or permanent (all events). Permanent expulsion shall be the decision of the elected committee and shall be confirmed in writing within 21 days of any temporary expulsion, however any excluded individual may not attend any UKWA events during this period of consideration.