for the George D. O'Day Trophy

CONDITIONS

1.1        These Conditions shall apply to all levels of the ladder Championships, and otherwise when appropriate. The Championship Chairman shall approve any departure from these Conditions after consulting with the local Area Representative(s).

2.         SELECTION PROCESS FOR AREA ELIMINATIONS

2.1        The selection process shall be by sailing elimination ladder events progressing from the local sailing organization through the Sailing Association, Area and to the National level.  Each competitor's SC/SO or CSP shall be located within the geographical borders of the Area conducting the elimination.

2.2        The elimination ladder event shall be conducted using these Conditions.

2.3        The number of entries selected to progress to each succeeding level of the event will be determined by the Committee Chairman in consultation with the Area Representative(s) and will be published in the Notice of Race for each event. Only one competitor from each Area will progress to the National Finals, except as otherwise provided in 6.4 paragraph of the Notice of Race for the National Finals.

2.4        The Semi-final event for each area shall be scheduled for at least two weeks prior to the beginning date of the National Finals to facilitate on-line registration for the National Finals.

2.5        The provisions of the Notice of Race and Conditions that apply only to ladder events held by the Areas may be ignored by the ICSA, ISSA, Military Services, U.S. Junior Women's Sailing and Youth events, unless otherwise applicable.

3.         CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF RESUME BERTHS:

3.1        The following criteria will be used in filling the eight Resume berths:

a.         Within the past five years, the applicant has placed in the top three of an East or West Coast, Midwinter, National or higher ranking event in one of the following classes: Laser, Finn, Sunfish, Force 5 or other recognized singlehanded one-design class or participated in the finals of this event.

b.         Individuals finishing in top three of the Finals of U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship, ICSA Women's and ISSA Cressy Radial Rig events will be given preference for the remaining berths.

3.2        Any berths that are unfilled or become available at the close of on-line registration will be offered to individuals in the group above.

3.3        If there are any berths remaining, they will be offered to individuals finishing second or third in their Area Elimination one week after the close of on-line registration, in order of their finishing position and their geographical location relative to the site of the finals.

4.         EVENT FORMATS/NUMBER OF RACES FOR AREA ELIMINATIONS

4.1        Events will be based on one of the following formats, with the National Finals format determined by the US SingIehanded Sailing Championship Committee.

a.         Round Robin - Each entry sails each boat once, with a minimum of five races.

b.         Boat Drawn -The number of races sailed equals the number of competitors entered, times two, with boats drawn for each race, with a maximum of nine races.

c.          Bring and Sail your Own Boat - The number of races sailed equals the number of boats entered times two, with a maximum of nine races in the event.

4.2        Guidelines for Course length - The length of the courses to be used for the Eliminations and Championship shall require approximately 45 minutes for the first boat to finish. Courses where the first boat finishes in less than 30 minutes or in excess of 60 minutes should be avoided.

4.3        Should conditions or circumstances make it impossible or impractical to complete an event in accordance with a chosen format, the event will be determined on the number of completed races.

5.         HELMSPERSON, ALTERNATES, SUBSTITUTES - The helmsperson of an advancing entry must remain the same at all levels.

6. BOATS AND EQUIPMENT

6.1        Boats - A competitor using a provided boat may substitute equipment, except for hull and spars.  Any substituted equipment must conform to the current Class Rules. Also no changes, additions, or alterations to the hull, and fittings shall be made except as follows: A compass, wind indicator, and sail tell tales supplied by the competitor may be used provided that they can be fitted without piercing or otherwise marking the hull, spars or sail.

6.2        The following conditions for provided boats, including their spars, and blades, shall also apply: Wet or dry sanding of the hulls or any other equipment is prohibited; the use of waxes, polishing compounds or similar products is prohibited; plastic tape or similar tape may be used in accordance with Class Rules; no fitting may be removed, even if it is subsequently replaced, and no repairs may be undertaken without the permission of the Organizing Committee.

6.3        The Organizing Authority may require before the start of the event that any equipment on a non-provided boat which will give an advantage to a competitor to be removed or otherwise rendered useless for the event, such as mainsheet cleats.

6.4        The Organizing Authority may require the application of unique sail numbers to each side of the sail and advertising stickers on the hull of each boat.

6.5        Optional equipment items – Compass, flags, sponge, bailer, bucket, normally equipped ditty bag, and personal effects.

6.6        Mandatory Use of PFDs - US SAILING Regulation 10.4 requires that all competitors in US SAILING Championships at all levels, shall wear, while on the water, other than for brief periods while adding or removing clothing, a U.S. Coast Guard (or Canadian) approved PFD, except where ORC regulations apply.

7.         REGISTRATION - Registration for the Area Eliminations and the Finals can be made on-line using the US SAILING web site at www.ussailing.org

8.         FEES

8.1        ENTRY

a.         Local Level Event - Shall be detennined by each host sailing organization.

b.         Association and Area Level Events - Shall not exceed the fee indicated for the National Event.

c.          National Level Event - Shall be as listed in the Notice of Race and Entry Form.

8.2        FEES TO NATIONAL EVENT -The Entry Fee for an entrant going to the National Event may be paid from the monies collected at the Area Event unless otherwise determined by the Area Representative and paid by credit card upon entry at www.ussailing.org/championships/adultl/ussc/

8.3        BORROWED BOAT INSURANCE, DAMAGE DEPOSITS AND LIABILITY INSURANCE - Fees, when called for, are in addition to entry fee(s) and are the responsibility of the entrant.

8.4        HOST SAILING ORGANIZATION - Fees may be assessed at any event level and are the responsibility of the entrant. The Host SC/SO Fee shall be listed in the Notice of Race of the event to which it will apply.

9.         PROTEST COMMITTEE (AUTHORITY AND SELECTION)

9.1        AUTHORITY - The protest committee is appointed to advise and assist with the running of the event. One or more US SAILING certified judges should be present at all races of an event.

9.2        SELECTION

a.         SC/SO and SA level events -The SC/SA and SA shall be responsible for selecting the protest committee.

b.         Area level events -The Area Representatives, after conferring with any Area coordinating group shall be responsible for selecting the protest committee.

c.          National Finals -Shall be approved by the US Singlehanded Sailing Championship Committee Chairman.

10.       RACE COMMITTEE

10.1      The race committee at all event levels shall be appointed by the SC/SO or SA hosting the event, submitted to the Area/Constituency representative prior to the start of those events.

10.2      The principal race office (PRO) at the National Finals must be US SAILING certified, and the name shall be approved by the US Singlehanded Sailing Championship Committee Chairman prior to the start of that event.

11.        POWER LINE HAZARDS - US SAILING Regulation 10.05 requires that US SAILING Championships at all levels be held at sites free of power line hazards in any area.

12.        SCORING - The Scoring System in Appendix A will apply except that each boat's score will be the sum of the scores of all races modified as follows: Ties which affect advancement to a succeeding level shall be decided by a single sail- offrace between tied entries. The winner will advance to the next level. If the protest committee decides that conditions will not permit a sail-off race, the tie will be decided in favor of the entry that beat the other(s) in the last completed race of the event.

13.        PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES - All competitors in US SAILING Championships shall follow US SAILING Regulation 10.03. These Regulations need to be stated in both the NOR and Sailing Instructions for the events at all levels.

10.03 A.     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.

10.03 B.     For Junior and Youth events or for junior or youth competitors in any US SAlLING 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 ofwhich 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).

10.03 C.     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 in 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.

14.        PRIZES - The George D. O'Day Trophy, with US SAILING keeper medals, and the Peter J. Barrett Sportsmanship Trophy are awarded at the National Event. The Event Chairman will determine at all other event levels, the number and style of awards in concurrence with the Area Representative.

15.        CONDITIONS RELATED TO THE U.S. SINGLEHANDED SAILING CHAMPIONSHIP AREA ELIMINATIONS

15.1.     At all levels of competition, other than the National Finals, the use of the Two-Turns penalty rule may be eliminated if the Sailing Instructions so provide.

15.2      In a bring-your-own-boat event, at all levels including the National Finals, the damage deposit and borrowed boat insurance provision will not apply.

10/16/07