Conditions
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1. ORGANIZING AUTHORITY 1.1 US SAILING is the Organizing Authority (OA) for all levels of the U.S. Match Racing Championship (hereafter referred to as the Championship). 1.2 The U.S. Match Racing Championship Committee (hereafter referred to as the USMRCC) is delegated the responsibility and authority to organize all levels of the Championship.
2. CHAMPIONSHIP DOCUMENTS 2.1 These Conditions shall apply at all levels of the Championship. 2.2 There shall be no departure from these Conditions without the approval of the USMRCC Chairman. 2.3 A Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions based on the current ISAF templates shall be used at all levels of the Championship. 2.4 The Conditions, Notice of Race, and Entry procedure for the Championship finals will be posted on the US SAILING web page for this Championship: www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmrc/
3. US SAILING REGULATIONS US Sailing Regulations 2.02, 2.03, and 10, as amended 4/24/07, apply at all levels of the Championship and provide as follows:
2.02 MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS Membership in US SAILING is required: A. for all US citizens who compete in US SAILING championships at the Regional Sailing Association level (quarter-finals) and higher. B. for athletes selected by US SAILING for international events or competing at US SAILING organized events. C. for an organization to participate in the US SAILING insurance program. D. for an organization offering US SAILING Keelboat Certifications, whether commercial or not-for-profit. E. for Regional Sailing Associations, host clubs, and participating classes at qualifiers for US SAILING championships at the Area level (semi-finals) or higher. The Championships Committee may approve exceptions. F. for Board and House members, for volunteers serving on US SAILING committees and councils, and for US SAILING certified officials.
2.03 INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS When US SAILING membership is required at an event, participants from other countries shall either be members of US SAILING or be members of their ISAF recognized national authority for sailing.
10 CHAMPIONSHIPS AND OTHER US SAILING EVENTS 10.01 US SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS A. ADMINISTRATION 1. Guidelines for sailing instructions, notices of race and conditions adopted by the Championships Committee shall be used for all US SAILING championships at all levels. Exceptions shall be approved in advance by the relevant championship chair and organizing committee, and the Chair of the Championships Committee. 2. Race officers, judges, and umpires at US SAILING championships shall be appointed in accordance with published guidelines approved by the Championship Committee and the Race Administration Committee. 3. Championship conditions shall be maintained and approved by the sponsoring committee and the Championship Committee. The current version of the championship conditions shall be available on the US SAILING website. As documented below, some conditions may require permission of the Board. 4. Event organizing committees shall communicate, coordinate, and consult with US SAILING committees and councils that support and promote the event’s sailing discipline or constituency.
B. NON-USA RESIDENT PARTICIPATION 1. Unless the notice of race for a particular championship requires US citizenship or resident alien status, participation in US SAILING championships is open to non-US citizens (including resident and non-resident aliens), provided all other requirements of the Championship are met. Specific championships may require US citizenship or resident alien status by stating the requirements in the notice of race and in the championship conditions. Non-resident aliens may request a waiver. Creating a new requirement of US citizenship for a championship requires approval of the Board. 2. When the Championship is a qualifier for international or any other competition the top finisher(s) qualified to represent the US will qualify. The OSC may make exceptions to this regulation for entry in the US Olympic Trials – Sailing or the associated pre-Trials. 3. The venues for US SAILING championships shall be located in the U.S. unless an exception is approved by the Board. An RSA, club or LSO outside the United States may host qualifiers for US SAILING championships, provided the host club or LSO is a member of US SAILING. 4. Non-US citizens may serve on juries or as race officials for US SAILING championships. 5. Chairs of individual championship committees may establish special rules for trophies won by foreign participants. Perpetual trophies may not be taken outside of the U.S.
C. PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES 1. For adult US SAILING championship events, no competitor shall use, either on or off the water: marijuana or any other controlled substance (as defined in 21 U.S. Code 802) the possession of which is unlawful under 21 U.S. Code 841. 2. For Junior and Youth events or for junior or youth competitors in any US SAILING championship, no participant or competitor shall use, either on or off the water: marijuana or any other controlled substance (as defined in 21 U.S. Code 802) the possession of which is unlawful under 21 U.S. Code 841, or alcoholic beverages (distilled spirits, wine and beer, each as defined in chapter 51 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and intended for beverage use). 3. An alleged breach of one of these regulations shall not be grounds for a protest. However, when the protest committee believes that a competitor may have breached one of these regulations, it shall follow the process described in racing rule 69.1, and a competitor found to have breached one of these regulations shall be excluded from the remaining races of the series and, where practicable, removed from the regatta venue and sent home. The competitor’s boat shall be disqualified from all races of the series. 4. Either Regulation 10.01.A or 10.01.B, as appropriate, and Regulation 10.01.C shall be included in the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions for every US SAILING championship.
D. USE OF PERSONAL FLOTATION Competitors in US SAILING championships or qualifiers for US SAILING championships shall wear a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) approved personal floatation device (PFD) while on the water, other than for brief periods while adding or removing clothing. Where the ORC regulations apply, they replace this requirement. Competitors from outside the U.S. may wear a PFD approved by their nations’ certification authority to the extent permitted by international treaty.
10.02 POWER LINE HAZARDS All US SAILING events and championships, at all levels, shall be held at sites free of power line hazards.
4. ELIGIBILITY 4.1 For quarter final events and higher, the skipper and each crew member of an entrant must A. be a member of US SAILING (Regulation 2.02) unless Regulation 2.03 applies, and B. be a member of a club or association that is a member of US SAILING (the club or association represented is that of which the skipper is a member). 4.2 For qualifying events, an entrant shall only sail in events of the USMRC Group in which the club or association which the skipper represents is located.
5. USMRC GROUPS 5.1 For purposes of the Championship, US SAILING Areas are grouped as follows: B/A/C; D/F; J/G/L/H; and E/K. 5.2 Each Group may host qualifying events. 5.3 The Area first named in each Group mentioned in 4.1 above is the Group leader responsible for coordinating all qualifying events hosted within the Group.
6. QUALIFYING EVENTS 6.1 To be a qualifying event, an event shall i. have a minimum of four (4) entrants, and ii. be umpired by at least one US SAILING or ISAF certified umpire, and iii. comply with the US SAILING Race Officials Policy for US SAILING Championships: ussailing.org/Championships/championshipmanagement/Race%20Mgt/RaceOfficialsRequirements.pdf 6.2 The Group leader shall post a Notice of Race and entry procedure for each qualifying event on the USMRC web page and otherwise distribute the Notice of Race and entry procedure to potential entrants. 6.3 A Group Semi Final event, a qualifying event, shall be completed at least four (4) weeks prior to the Championship finals. 6.4 Each Group, with the approval of the USMRCC Chairman, shall have the authority to develop qualifying events within the Group to best develop and serve the USMRC Championship and its sailors. 6.5 The Group leader shall communicate the Group’s schedule of qualifying events to the USMRCC Chair no later than twelve (12) weeks prior to the Championship finals.
7. INVITATIONS TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS 7.1 Participation in the Championship finals is only by invitation issued by the USMRCC Entry Committee as follows:
a. Group Semi Final Events: i. If a Group has a single semi final event with at least six (6) entrants, invitations will be issued to the top two finishers; if the event has a minimum of four (4) entrants but less than six (6) entrants, an invitation will be issued to the winner of the event. ii. If a Group has two semi final events with at least six (6) entrants in each event, an invitation will be issued to the winner of each event; otherwise, one (1) invitation will be issued to the Group and the Group leader shall decide who receives it. iii. In the event that a Group semi final event will be held less than 45 days prior to the Championship Finals, a Group may hold its “spot” by sending a non refundable deposit to the Championship host club.
b. Resume: Skippers wishing to receive an invitation to participate in the Championship finals may submit their resume to Bruce A Cook at bacook@optonline.net at least eight (8) weeks prior to the Championship finals for consideration by the USMRCC Entry Committee. Invitations will be issued to any skippers selected by the Entry Committee in its sole discretion.
c. Committee Choice: Invitations to participate in the Championship finals may be issued by the USMRCC Entry Committee to any skipper of its choosing.
The USMRCC Entry Committee may fill any open slot in the Championship finals by any means it sees fit, in its sole discretion, based upon criteria of its choice including, but not limited to, resume, placement in a qualifying event or other event, or ranking.
7.2 Invited skippers shall confirm acceptance of their invitation within the time period stated in the invitation and they shall post a non-refundable deposit (in the amount stated in the invitation) as a condition of their acceptance of the invitation. 7.3 All invitations will include the following statement: “Should you accept this invitation and later withdraw within 60 days of the Championship final, a report will be forwarded to ISAF where it is possible for a zero score to be applied to your ISAF Ranking for that event by ISAF”. 7.4 ATHLETE SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR THE NATIONS CUP a. Selection SystemThe International Sailing Federation (IF) requires that US SAILING select teams of athletes to represent the USA in the Regional Nations Cup eliminations. One team for the Open Series, and one team for the Women’s Series.
The top eligible finishing team at the U.S. Match Racing Championship will be the USA Representative for the Open Nations Cup Series. This selection event may be entered via regional qualification or via invitation based on resume. Please see above.
This Championship will utilize an invitation committee [the USMRCC Entry Committee] made up of US SAILING Members with expertise in Match Racing including at least 20% of the members who shall be A- or B-Level Athletes with at least half of the athletes A-level athletes. b. Replacement – (this section is in effect once the U.S. Selection Trials have been completed, and not before) No more than 40% of a team may be replaced via this provision. If more than 40% of a team must be replaced, then the entire team will be replaced by the next highest placing finishing team at the applicable selection event that meet these Selection Procedures and those of the Nations Cup.
Reasons for replacement that will be acceptable include and are limited to illness, injury or scheduling conflict. Citizenship shall not be a reason for replacement of a crew member. In this event, a replacement athlete will be selected as follows:
In these triple handed (or more athletes) events, A team will replace an athlete with an athlete who has participated in the Selection Trials - Sailing. The selection committee(*) will be required to approve the ultimate replacement and will be comprised of the following five individuals:
1. U.S. Match Racing Task Force Chair, 2. USA member of the ISAF Match Racing Committee; 3. US SAILING High Performance Director; 4. Chair of either the U.S. Match Racing Championships Committee or the US Women’s Match Racing Championships Committee as appropriate; 5. One member of the selected team.
* At least one of the above 5 individuals shall be an A-Level Athlete – or A-Level Athletes will be added to make up at least 20% of the committee.
If the Nations Cup Regional or Final event requires a different number of athletes on the team than were originally selected, or a weight limit is imposed that was not in place for the US SAILING Selection Event, then the selected team may petition the above committee for permission to substitute, add or remove athletes as appropriate and without the application of the above 40% limit. c. Eligibility All athletes who are selected to represent the USA in either of the Nations Cup series must be Passport Holders of the USA, must not be currently representing an alternate MNA, and must be members of US SAILING.
8. ALTERNATES AND SUBSTITUTES With the permission of the OA representative, a designated alternate may replace any member of an entrant before any race of a given flight, but only in the event of an emergency affecting a regular member of the entrant. If an entrant does not bring a designated alternate to an event, the OA representative may allow a substitute alternate.
9. BOATS & CLOTHING 9.1 The boats used in most levels of this US SAILING championship are supplied to competitors for the event. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the boats be treated with care at all times, as the future of this event, and other US SAILING events, depends upon the future availability of boats. See the paragraphs below with regard to insurance provisions. 9.2 Mandatory Use of PFDs: see regulation 10.01(D) quoted in 3.1 above. 9.3 RRS 43 will apply at all levels of this Championship. In addition, clothes worn for additional warmth must be worn inside of foul weather gear.
10. INSURANCE, LIABILITY AND DAMAGE 10.1 Host clubs shall have insurance coverage for the events hosted to include insurance coverage for the club, for the boats used, and for the race officials participating in the event. Umpires shall be covered in the minimum amount of US $1 million. The USMRCC recommends the insurance programs available from Gowrie Barden & Brett [see ussailing.org/membership/insurance/ for more information]. 10.2 Competitors (and their parents/guardians where minors are involved) are encouraged to consult their insurance advisors regarding personal liability coverage for themselves. 10.3 Damage, no matter how slight, or loss of any equipment must be reported to the host club at the completion of the race in which it occurs. Failure to do so may result in disqualification from the race or the event (at the discretion of the protest committee). Only the Race Committee or Umpires may protest for such an infraction. 10.4 Responsibility for damage to boats or other property will be determined by the protest committee and all entrants will be bound its decision. 10.5 Damage deposits from each entrant shall be required. Usually, an amount equal to the insurance deductible is used. That amount is to be noted in the Notice of Race as is the manner of payment: check, cash, credit card. When damage occurs, the cost will be paid from the deposit of the entrant causing the damage when so noted by the umpires and/or protest committee. Damage not attributable to a single team will be deducted proportionally from all of the entrants’ damage deposits before returning the balances. A detailed accounting of charges to an entrant’s damage deposit will be supplied to each entrant that did not receive the full amount of its deposit back. Sailing Instructions will also mention damage deposit requirements. 10.6 US SAILING does not require the use of liability waiver forms and prescribes against the use of ‘hold harmless’ and ‘indemnification’ agreements. US SAILING strongly recommends that host clubs seek local legal advice on the question and carry adequate insurance coverage. See RRS 75.3 and the discussion at ussailing.org/racemgt/documents/IndemnityWaiverClauses0205-v1.pdf.
11. CONDUCT OF SERIES 11.1 Each event shall use one or more of the following systems:
A: Round-Robins: In cases where complete round-robins cannot be completed, the series will be scored in accordance with Appendix C. In the Sailing Instructions, C11.1 shall be changed to read, “A round-robin series means a grouping of competitors who are scheduled to sail against each other one or more times.”
B: Knock-out Series: After a single or double round-robin, the top four finishers are placed into a knock-out series. The first place finisher selects their competitor in the semi-finals. The other two competitors meet in the other bracket. Semi-finals should be first to win two points and finals first to win three points where time allows.
C: Groups: Especially when there are more competitors than boats, competitors may be divided into groups. Each group will conduct a double or single round-robin, after which competitors will be placed into a knock-out series or into championship and consolation groups, which then may hold further round-robin(s) to determine the champion. The USMRC chairman for the event will determine the number of rounds and the system to be used to complete the regatta within the time available for the event.
11.2 Should wind, weather or other conditions make it unlikely to complete the scheduled number of races within the time schedule, the event format may be terminated, shortened or altered in order to declare a Champion. The Organizing Authority in conjunction with the Race Committee shall determine actions and decisions to be taken regarding results when not resolved by Appendix C. 11.3 Courses at all levels of the Championship will be windward / leeward courses with starboard roundings. Two laps are preferred, but the course may shortened as needed. Courses will be diagrammed in the Sailing Instructions.
12. PRACTICE SAILING Boats may be available for practice sailing on the day prior to the first race and shall not be used during the regatta for practice sailing.
13. BOATS & EQUIPMENT 13.1 The boats used in qualifying events should, when possible, be similar to those to be used in the Championship finals. However, it must be understood that the U.S. Match Racing Championship is a test of teamwork and tactical racing skills regardless of the type of boat sailed. 13.2 Unless the protest committee otherwise prescribes, equalization of boats shall be carried out as follows: A. The host club will take all reasonable steps to equalize the boats to be used in the regatta. B. Entrants will draw boats for the boats to be sailed in the first race. 13.3 RRS 62 will be modified in the event documents to provide that variations between boats will not be grounds for redress. 13.4 The host club shall familiarize all competitors with the waters in which the races are to be held with emphasis on obstructions, if any, tidal conditions and probable location of marks. 13.5 The host club shall supply each entrant with a Code Flag "Y", a red protest flag, a breakdown flag, a yellow flag and a blue flag.
14. ENTRY FORMS AND FEES 14.1 The entry fee for the qualifying events shall be mutually agreed upon by the USMRCC representative and the host club. 14.2 Teams/skippers receiving invitations to participate in the Championship finals will be asked to complete entry forms on line through the US SAILING web site. 14.3 The entry fee for the Championship finals will be stated in the Notice of Race and paid to US SAILING on line through its web site. Additional fees may be assessed to cover the damage deposit, insurance, meals and other expenses. 14.4 Teams receiving invitations to the Championship finals by Resume or Committee Choice will be charged a special invitation fee of $25/team payable to US SAILING in accordance with the letter of invitation.
15. RACE OFFICIALS 15.1 Umpiring will be used at all levels and shall be appointed as follows: A. For qualifying events, the appropriate Area or Group USMRCC Representative shall be responsible for appointing the umpires. B. The umpires for the Championship finals shall be appointed by the USMRCC Chairman. 15.2 The Chief Umpire for each event and the USMRCC representative for the event shall determine all matters not covered by these Conditions and the Sailing Instructions.
16. PRIZES 16.1 Prizes for qualifying events may be selected by the host club. 16.2 For the Championship finals, US SAILING medals will be presented to the entrants placing first through third and a prize for fourth place may be given; in addition, the Prince Of Wales Bowl, a perpetual trophy, will be awarded to the winner of the event to be held and returned in accordance with the terms of an agreement the winner will sign at the event.
Date of Issue: March 1, 2008, USMRC Conditions version 5
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