Release: June 16 2010
INTERNATIONAL FINN CLASS
MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RULES
Document status:
20100616-025 Masters Rules
v.2010-06-2
INTRODUCTION
The Masters World Championships of the International Finn Class shall be governed by the Rules of the International Finn Class (IFA), the relevant Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) in force at the time of the event and these rules shall be binding on the Organizing Authority (OA) unless varied in writing.
All documents
and messages concerning this event shall be written in the English language and
the language spoken shall be English.
ELIGIBILITY
The Masters World Championship shall be held on an annual basis and is open to all Finn sailors who during the calendar year of the event shall be in their 40th year or older.
The Classifications shall be as
follows:
-
World Master (the overall winner)
-
Master (winner 40-49 years old)
-
Grand Master (winner 50-59)
-
Grand Grand Master (winner 60-69)
-
Legend (winner 70+)
-
Ladies.
ANNUAL MASTERS MEETING
An Annual Masters Meeting (AMM) shall be held during the Masters World Championship Week. The time and place to be fixed by the Masters President and shall be published on the FWM website www.finnworldmaster.com at least one month before the Meeting, with an Agenda which includes:
- Approval of
the Minutes of the last AMM
-
Report of the Masters President
- Finance Report
- Election of new member(s) of the Masters Committee to stand for a period
of four years, in conformity with
the resigning schedule
- Approval of venue and date of Masters World Championships to be held two years
after the current Championships
- (Re-)Election of the Masters President for a
four-year period. This President
shall be elected Vice-President (Masters) of the IFA
Executive Committee by the IFA Annual General Meeting
- Any item presented to the Masters President in writing at least one calendar
months before the Meeting.
Finn Masters may, by a simple majority, decide whether any other business should be added to the Agenda, such to be handed over to the Masters President at the latest 24 hours before the start of the AMM.
CHAMPIONSHIP
VENUES
The Masters World Championship shall be sailed on waters that have a record of stable wind directions and good breezes; variable and very light airs venues shall be avoided.
The course of the Masters World Championship shall be exclusive and separate.
The date and place for the Masters World Championship shall be published on www.finnworldmaster.com by the Masters President no later than 12 months prior to the event.
The Annual Masters Meeting shall decide on the venue of the World Championship to be held in the second year following the current World Championship. Nominations for the venue shall be submitted to the AMM for their consideration and preferably presented during the AMM by the candidate organization. The choice of this venue shall be by a majority show of hands at the AMM.
The venue shall be situated within Europe. The Annual Masters Meeting can decide to accept a candidate outside Europe.
NOMINATIONS FOR A VENUE
Nominations for a venue shall be sent to the Masters President before February 1st two years before the desired year of the Championship. Candidates will receive the Guidelines and will be visited by the Masters President as soon as possible. After the President has approved the venue and an agreement has been made on the Guidelines, an invitation to present their venue and organization during the next AMM will follow.
ADVERTISING
The World Championship will be a Category C event pursuant to the ISAF Advertising code. The OA may require all participating boats to display the event sponsor’s advertising in accordance with RRS.
ORGANIZING
AUTHORITY (OA)
Each Organizing
Authority (OA) has to organize and manage the Championship in close conjunction
with the Masters President.
NOTICE OF RACE (NOR) AND ENTRY FORMS
The Organising Authority shall publish the official NOR and relevant Entry Forms in the English language no later than four months prior to the event. The NOR whilst abiding by the RRS shall be subject to the express agreement of the Masters President.
The entry fee shall be agreed with the Masters President and shall include the cost of the award dinner. Entry dates will normally close four weeks before the start of the regatta. No extra entry fee shall be charged for late entries. In addition there is a fee of €10 for the Masters organizational activities.
INSURANCE,
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION DUES AND IFA DUES
All eligible boats shall provide the current IFA Class sticker for the year of the Championship plus an insurance Certificate showing a minimum indemnity limit of € 1,000,000 or equivalent in another currency.
RACE OFFICER
(PRO)
The PRO shall be ISAF qualified to run an International ISAF event and his appointment shall be subject to the approval of the OA and the Masters President.
SAILING
INSTRUCTIONS (SI)
The SI shall be published by the OA in accordance with the provisions of current RRS, ISAF Race Standards and IFA Class Rules and approved by the Masters President no later than two months prior to the event. The President will, at least three month before, provide standard SI to an OA for next Championship. These standard SI will be adapted on limited items to the local organization.
INTERNATIONAL
JURY
There must be an
International Jury in accordance with RRS Appendix M. It shall include at least
five members (two from the organizing country and
three from other countries) who have
proven experience in on the water judging of RRS 42 (Propulsion).
At least one
should have practical Finn racing experience. The International Jury should meet
with the IFA Representative Masters President before the first race for a policy
briefing. The Jury Chairman should not be of the same Nationality as the
organising country.
RACE OFFICE
Starting from the first measurement day the Race Office should be open daily from 8.30 am until 7 pm. Preliminary race results must be available as soon as possible after each day’s racing and posted onto the Official Notice Board. The Official Notice Board must be in, or close to, the Race Office. The GPS coordinates of the Race Office will be mentioned in the Notice of Race.
MEASUREMENT
- All eligible
boats shall present a current valid IFA Measurement Certificate.
- The measurement
procedure will be considered between the OA and the Masters President.
- Boats will be
measured in accordance with the latest Class Rules and amendments thereto.
- All eligible
boats shall be measured before racing in accordance with the prescribed
measurements shown below.
The measurer may check any measurements within the class rules at any time during the event. At the measurement the following items shall be scrutinised:
Hull
- Weight,
including check of amount and location of weight correctors.
- Arrangements to
prevent the mast and rudder from becoming detached in a capsize.
Masts
- Max. two per boat.
Weight, centre of gravity and mast limit marks.
Booms
- Boom limit
marks. and limiting stop with the boom attached to the mast.
Centreboard
-
Maximum
projection from the keel.
Sails
-
Max. two per boat.
Only Sails that have been certified according the Finn Class Rules shall be
presented. It is incumbent on each
competitor to ensure that all sails are
measured and the OA shall make no provision for sails to be measured, which will
be
entirely the responsibility of each participant
SKIPPERS
MEETING
A briefing meeting (volgens mij mag "briefing" weg) for the sailors should be held before the start of the practice race, or the first race if no practice race is scheduled. The Race Officer has to be present. Sailing Instructions should be available well in advance so sailors can ask questions.
Additional skippers meetings may be requested by the Masters President and/or his committee.
COURSES
- The Olympic triangular course or the trapezoid course with inner- and outer loops will be sailed.
- There shall be a
maximum number of eight races to be sailed over
five days or as stipulated by the PRO
in accordance with
weather conditions.
- No more than two races shall be sailed in one day.
- Races should be approximately 90 minutes in duration as a maximum.
GROUPS
The scheduled series will consist of maximum eight Heats. Depending on Entries, each Heat will be divided into two, three or four Colour Groups of similar size, which will change each day. The decision about the amount of groups will be with the Masters President.
COURSE DIRECTION
The Starting vessel should display the approximate magnetic compass bearing from the leeward mark to the windward mark in clear, large numbers.
BLACK FLAGGED
RACES
The Committee boat shall ensure that it is able to post all boats numbers that have been black-flagged in a manner that is legible from a reasonable distance.
STARTING
LINE
The starting line shall be equivalent to 1.5 times the length of the Finn times the number of starting boats. Where there are more than 60 boats on any one start there should be a middle mark placed in the centre of the line. Such mark shall not constitute a mark of the course for the purpose of the “round the ends rule”
In addition to the Committee Boat there shall be a pin end boat that shall repeat all flag and sound signals made by the Committee Boat.
WINDWARD MARK
BOAT
Wherever possible there should be a mark boat at the windward mark displaying a clearly visible shape or flag in such a manner as to assist identification of the windward mark. This is particularly important in poor visibility.
MINIMUM/MAXIMUM WIND STRENGTH AND TIME LIMIT
These shall be as prescribed in the SI but no race shall be started in less than five knots of wind measured on the Committee Boat at deck level.
No race shall be started in more than 20 knots of wind measured on the Committee Boat at deck level.
The decision whether to start a race or not, regarding wind speed, will be taken by the Race Committee.
The time limit must be specified in the SI.
SCORING
The Masters World Championship shall be awarded to the winner of a series of maximum eight races, of which four shall be completed to constitute a series. The Sailing Instructions shall state that the Low Point Scoring System be used, modified so that if five races are sailed, the result of each boat’s worst race shall be discarded.
The scoring for the age groups (Masters, Grand Masters, Grand Grand Masters and Legends) uses the points the competitors got in the overall results.
RESCUE BOATS
There must be at least one RIB rescue boat per 20 competitors.
PRIZES
The Organizing Authority shall provide prizes for the first ten competitors in the overall result.
There are
additional prizes (Medals) from the Masters organization for the first
three
competitors in the following categories:
Master (Winner
40-49 years old)
- Grand Master (winner 50-59)
- Grand Grand Master (winner 60-69)
- Legend (winner 70+)
- First Lady.
All legends will receive a participation prize from the Masters President.
Perpetual prizes
will be awarded to:
- 1st Master
- 1st Grand Master
- 1st Grand Grand Master
The ”Golden Crutch” will be awarded to the first sailor outside the prizes in the overall result.
The prize giving
ceremony should be held as soon as possible after the end of the last race.
FINAL DECISIONS
The final decisions on any matters not covered by the RRS and the International Jury shall rest with IFA.
ON SHORE
FACILITIES RECOMMENDATIONS
Competitors’ Accommodation
Competitors’ accommodation must be as close together as possible and every effort should be made for accommodation to be within walking or biking distance from the boat park.
Accommodation and Transport for Class Officers
The Organizing Authority shall pay for the Class Measurer as well as the Jury
Other facilities
The following
facilities should be available:
- Free parking
- Campsites with special rates, including sanitary facilities and electric power
supply. These sites must be in walking or biking
distance
- Communication services for competitors and press
- Fresh water in the dinghy park
- Launching facilities sufficient to launch the fleet in due time
- Emergency medical facilities
- Security in camping sites and boat park.
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