ICSA Team Race Conditions

3/28/2003

SCHEDULING:

This event shall be scheduled by the assigned District Association for the period between May 15 and June 30. Whenever possible, this regatta shall be scheduled at the site of the Dinghy Championship, or at a site less than a day's travel by car. The event shall be three (3) days in length. The morning of the first day may be used for a Skippers' Meeting and practice. The first race of the event shall be scheduled not later than 10 a.m. on the first day. No race shall be started after 5: 00 p .m. on the last day unless the Judges have made special arrangements for a reduced number of teams to stay, if that is necessary and practical to declare a wInner.

ENTRANTS:

The number of entrants awarded to each Regular Member District shall be based on the number of eligible schools reported by each Member District in its Annual Report to the Secretary. The number of berths per District shall be calculated using the following formula, rounding off the answer to the nearest whole number (.5 shall be rounded up):

Should the application of the formula result in the awarding of more than 14 berths, the President shall reallocate the berths. In the event of reallocation, each Regular Member District shall receive at least one berth. However, no District may receive more than three (3) berths.

ELIGIBILITY:

(Refer to the General Conditions for North American Intercollegiate Championships).

PARTICIPANTS:

Each contesting college is required to have a minimum of six(6) team members--three skippers and three crews.

BOATS:

The event shall be sailed in two-person dinghies of not less than 11 feet, nor more than 15 feet in length. The boats may be either sloop or cat rigged.

Regatta Format:

Each team shall sail three boats in each race.

The eligible teams shall be seeded* into two groups of seven. A round robin of each group shall be sailed. The records for the teams in these round robins will not be carried forward.

The top four of the seven teams in each group shall qualify for a "Winners" round robin of 8 teams. The remaining six teams shall sail in a "Consolation" round robin.

The top four teams of the "Winners" round robin shall sail a double round robin to determine the overall champion of the event and the winner of the Walter C. Wood Trophy.

*Seedings will be reviewed each year after the number of berths for each District have been determined.

Race Courses:

The Race courses shall be an "N" with an offset mark at the first mark, and/or port right triangle with an upwind finish.

Special Conditions:

Requirements to display or remove a red flag in RRS Appendix D 2.1(a) and (c) and D 2.2 are deleted.

A Modified Observer System** using RRS D2.3 will be used.

Any ties involving qualification for the next round will be resolved by using PR 20(a)(1) (Sail off). If the number of teams tied exceeds the number of remaining qualifying places, a round robin of those teams will be held. The tied teams will be ranked in order using all their wins under PR 20(a)(2) (Who beat whom). If this necessary does not resolve the tie, the tie shall be broken using PR 20(a) (3) (Total Point Difference) using all races sailed, including the first round if necessary. If the foregoing does not resolve the tie, a second sail off round robin may be sailed to resolve the remaining qualifying positions. The records for any sail off races shall not be carried forward after the ties have been broken.

Trophies:

The winning team's name and college shall be engraved on the Walter C. Wood Trophy.

Keeper Trophies, trophies, provided by ICSA, shall be awarded to the members of the top three teams.

**Modified Observer System

1. A boat (skipper or crew) intending to protest shall hail "protest" and if there is any doubt as to the boat being protested, her sail number.
2. The boat being protested may as soon as reasonably possible take one 360 degree penalty turn, or continue to race.
3. If the boat being protested decides not to take a penalty turn in a reasonable length of time, the protesting boat may ask the Observers for an opinion by raising an arm overhead (Modifies RRS D2.2(a)) and hailing "Umpire", or report her intent protest to the finish boat and request a hearing.
   

4. If asked, the Observers will give a sound signal and hail a boat's sail number followed by one of the following:
   

   a. Raise a green flag: "no penalty imposed".
   b. Raise a red flag: "a penalty of two 360 degree
   

   turns" has been imposed.
   

   c. Raise a yellow flag: "no opinion".
   d. Raise a black flag: "reckless sailing" will be
   

   reported to the Protest Committee.
   

5. If neither the protesting or protested boats do not accept the opinion of the Observers, any protest must comply with RRS Part 5 as changed by Appendix D, the ICSA Procedural Rules the Sailing Instructions, and these conditions.
6. An expedited protest hearing process will be used. When possible Observers will conduct the hearings on the water in an area near the finishing line. "Guidelines for Observers" posted on the ICSA Website gives the general parameters to be used in the process.