Conditions
1. CONDITIONS
1.1. These Conditions shall apply to all levels of the ladder Championships, and any non-ladder events which qualify an entrant into one of the final events and otherwise when appropriate. The Championship Chairman shall approve any departure from these Conditions after consulting with the local Area Representative(s).
2. MODIFICATIONS TO THE RACING RULES, USE OF NOR AND SIs
2.1. The Chair of the event is responsible for creating and distributing the NOR after consulting with the Host, Chief Judge and PRO. The PRO shall create the Sailing Instructions for the event which shall be approved by the Chair of the event and the Chief Judge.
2.2. The Chair of the event, the Principle Race Officer and the Chief Judge will agree to the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions.
2.3. Any changes to the NOR or SIs after the event has commenced shall be approved by the Chief Judge in consultation with the Chair of the event and the PRO.
3. SELECTION PROCESS FOR AREA QUALIFIERS
3.1. The selection process shall be by sailing elimination ladder events progressing from the Area to the National level. Each competitor’s SC/SO or CSP shall be located within the geographical borders of the Area conducting the elimination.
3.2. The elimination ladder event shall be conducted using these Conditions.
3.3. 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 paragraph 6.4 of the Notice of Race for the National Finals.
3.4. 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, and other selection events.
4. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF INVITATIONAL BERTHS:
4.1. The process described in the document “Procedure for Selecting Berths for U.S. Singlehanded Sailing Championships” shall be used.
4.2. Invitational berths shall be awarded as soon as possible following the following the event completion.
4.3. If there are any berths remaining, they will be offered to individuals finishing second or third in their Area Elimination or selected event, in order of their finishing position and their geographical location relative to the site of the finals.
4.4. If there are any berths remaining the Chairman may offer them to other qualified individuals.
5. EVENT FORMATS/NUMBER OF RACES FOR AREA QUALIFIERS
5.1. Events will be based on one of the following formats, with the National Finals format determined by the U.S. Singlehanded 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.
5.2. Guidelines for Course length - The length of the courses to be used for the Qualifiers 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.
5.3. 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.
6. HELMSPERSON, ALTERNATES, SUBSTITUTES
6.1. The helmsperson of an advancing entry must remain the same at all levels.
7. BOATS AND EQUIPMENT
7.1. Boats – At all levels of competition, all boats must conform to the current Class Rules.
7.2. The following conditions for provided boats (hulls & spars only at the National Finals), 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. Also, no changes, additions, or alterations to the hull, and fittings shall be made except as follows: A compass and wind indicator supplied by the competitor may be used provided that they can be fitted without piercing or otherwise marking the hull or spars.
7.3. 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 mounted to the deck.
7.4. Optional equipment items may be used - Compass, flags, sponge, bailer, bucket, normally equipped ditty bag, and personal effects.
7.5. The Organizing Committee may require the application of unique sail numbers to each side of the sail. Advertizing stickers may be placed on the hull of each boat. This will be made in compliance with ISAF Regulation 20 (Advertising Code).
8. SAFETY
8.1. 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. Competitors from outside the U.S. may wear a PFD approved by their nations’ certification authority to the extent permitted by international treaty
8.2. US Sailing Regulation 10.02 requires that US Sailing Championships at all levels be held at sites free of power line hazards in any area.
9. REGISTRATION
9.1. Registration for the Finals will be made online using the US Sailing web site at http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/USSinglehandedChampionship.htm
10. FEES
10.1. ENTRY
10.1.1. Area Level Events - Shall not exceed the fee indicated for the National Event.
10.1.2. National Level Event - Shall be as listed in the Notice of Race and Entry Form.
10.2. 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 http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/USSinglehandedChampionship.htm
10.3. BORROWED BOAT INSURANCE, DAMAGE DEPOSITS AND LIABILITY INSURANCE - – Fees, when called for in the NOR, are in addition to entry fee(s) and are the responsibilities of the entrant. 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.
10.4. 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.
11. PROTEST COMMITTEE (AUTHORITY AND SELECTION)
11.1. 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.
11.2. SELECTION
a) Area level events - The Area Representatives, after conferring with any Area coordinating group shall be responsible for selecting the protest committee. Area level events will be in compliance with the US Sailing General Policy Memo adopted, March 2004 (See 12.3 Below).
b) National Finals - Chair will appoint the Chief Judge in compliance with the US Sailing General Policy Memo adopted, March 2004. (The Chief Judge will be a US Sailing Certified Senior Judge.) Additional members of the Protest Committee shall be jointly selected by the Chair after consultation with the Chief Judge.
12. RACE COMMITTEE AUTHORITY AND SELECTION
12.1. 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. The Principal Race Officer (PRO) of the Area events should be a minimum of a US Sailing Certified Club Race Officer, a Regional Race Officer is preferred.
12.2 A US Sailing Senior Judge should be the protest committee chairman, but a US Sailing Judge can be accepted.
12.3. The Principal Race Office (PRO) for the National Finals must have Regional or National US Sailing certification and shall be approved by the U.S. Singlehanded Sailing Championship Committee Chairman prior to the start of the event.
12.4. Area & National level events will be in compliance with the US Sailing General Policy Memo adopted, March 2004. http://championships.ussailing.org/Championships_Home/ChampMngt/Race_Official_Requirements.htm
13. 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 (no races will be excluded) modified as follows: Ties which affect advancement to a succeeding level shall be decided by a single sail-off race 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.
14. PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES - All competitors in US Sailing Championships shall follow US Sailing Regulation 10.01 C. These Regulations need to be stated in both the NOR and Sailing Instructions for the events at all levels.
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 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.
15. PRIZES –
15.1. The George D. O’Day Trophy, with US Sailing keeper medals are awarded at the U.S. Singlehanded Championship Men’s Division.
15.2. The Peter J. Barrett Sportsmanship trophy will be awarded to the male or female sailor who exemplifies the sportsmanship conditions as noted on the Deed of Gift.
15.3. The Helen W. Hanley Trophy, with US Sailing keeper medals are awarded at the U.S. Singlehanded Championship Women’s Division.
15.4. The Event Chairman will determine at all other event levels, the number and style of awards in concurrence with the Area Representative.
Revised December 2012