Conditions
1. CONDITIONS/Organizing Authority/Organizing Committee
1.1 These Conditions shall apply to the national level of the Championship, and otherwise when appropriate. The Championship Chairman shall approve any departure from these Conditions after consulting with Championship Committee.
1.2 The Organizing Authority (OA) shall be US Sailing.
1.3 The Organizing Committee (OC) shall be the host club or association.
2. CLASS DIVISIONS OF BOATS
2.1 This event shall be held in at least one (or as many as three) division(s) of current Paralympic equipment and a development division in a boat of the Organizing Committee’s (OC) choice that is suitable for sailors with a disability (pending approval of the Championship Committee).
2.2 The OC shall make available at least 10 boats in the development class.
2.3 The development class will not be a championship class and sailors who wish to sail for the championship title should not apply to compete in the development class.
3. ENTRY CRITERIA
3.1 Entry in the Paralympic equipment division(s) shall be open by standard entry to sailors (both US and International) with a current IFDS classification rating and shall follow the Paralympic requirements of that division.
3.2 Entry in the Development division shall be by resume application, and sailors (both US and International) shall meet minimum disability criteria requirements of the US Disabled Sailing Championship Committee as posted on-line.
3.3 US citizens and resident aliens must be members of US Sailing.
3.4 For International competitors when US Sailing membership is required, participants from other countries shall either be members of US Sailing or be members of their ISAF recognized national authority for sailing. Proof of membership must be provided at registration.
4. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF RESUME BERTHS:
4.1 The following criteria will be used in filling the Resume berths: Either open registration or by resume.
4.2 Any berths that are unfilled or become available at the close of on-line registration will be offered to individuals in the resume application group above at the discretion of the Committee Chair(s).
5. EVENT FORMAT
5.1 A one day clinic shall be held prior to competition and open to all competitors.
5.2 Event will be based on minimum 3 race/maximum 12 race series.
5.3 Divisions may be raced on the same course concurrently or with staggered starting times.
5.4 Guidelines for Course length - The length of the courses to be used for the Championship shall be approximately 45 minutes for the first boat to finish. Courses on which the first boat finishes in less than 30 minutes or in excess of 60 minutes should be avoided.
5.5 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.
6. HELMSPERSON, ALTERNATES, SUBSTITUTES - The helmsperson must remain the same. Crew may be substituted in a case of extreme circumstances and only with the approval of the Jury.
6. BOATS AND EQUIPMENT
6.1 The Paralympic equipment classes will be a bring-your-own-boat or charter division. The
Organizing Committee shall make available contact information for borrowed or charter boats to competitors.
6.2 Development Division Boats - A competitor using a provided boat may substitute personal adaptive equipment like tiller extension or cushions as stated in NOR and SIs. 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.
6.3 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.
6.4 The Organizing Authority and/or Organizing Committee 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 or one approved by their international authority.
7. REGISTRATION - Registration for the Event can be made on-line using the US Sailing web site at www.ussailing.org
8. FEES
8.1 ENTRY
National Level Event – Fee shall be as listed in the Notice of Race and Entry Form.
8.2 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.
8.3 HOST ORGANIZING COMMITTEE - Fees may be assessed and are the responsibility of the entrant. The Host OC 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 Chief Judge of the protest committee is appointed by the Championship Committee Chair 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
Selection of the additional members of the jury shall be at the recommendation of the Chief
Judge and shall be approved by the US National Disabled Sailing Championship Committee
Chairman.
10. RACE COMMITTEE
10.1 The race committee shall be appointed by the host sailing committee.
10.2 The principal race office (PRO) at the Nationals must be US Sailing certified, and the name shall be approved by the US National Disabled 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 less one throw out/discard after 8 races.
13. PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES - All competitors in US Sailing Championships shall follow US Sailing Regulation 10.03. These Regulations must be stated in both the NOR and Sailing Instructions for the event.
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 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 –
14.1 The winners in each division will be presented with US Sailing keeper medals. The Judd Goldman Trophy will be presented to the singlehanded class, the Chandler Hovey Trophy presented to doublehanded class and the Gene Hinkle for the triplehanded class at the National Event. The Event Chairman may determine any other awards including the number and style of awards in concurrence with the committee.
14.2 An international competitor may win the championship but may not be named “US National Disabled Champion” in any division of this Championship. The first US team, including resident aliens, will be named “National Champion” in each division.
15. CONDITIONS RELATED TO THE U.S. NATIONAL DISABLED CHAMPIONSHIP
15.1. The use of the Two-Turns penalty rule may be reduced to a One-Turn penalty including one tack and one jibe if the Sailing Instructions so provide in one or all divisions.
2/24/12