CHAMPIONSHIP REGULATIONS (Last update 03-2008)
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STATUS
(1) These
Regulations cover the annual Championships for which trophies are owned
by the BIFFA, i.e. the Championship of the British Isles, the Inland
Championship, the Northern Championship, the Southern Championship and
the Scottish Championship. The Regulations are for the information and
guidance of the organising clubs. They should be adhered to insofar as
is practicable, but must not be departed from without prior permission
from the Championship Committee.
VENUES
(2)
Championships shall be held by Clubs who are able to
offer necessary keelboat facilities, specialised experience and willing
labour, preferably Clubs with recognised Flying Fifteen fleets. However,
this paragraph does not preclude the Association accepting an invitation
from a Club with no Flying Fifteen fleet, provided the facilities
offered can be shown to be adequate.
(3)
The Championship of the British Isles shall be held:
(a)
on sea
water, and on waters suitable for courses giving a true test on all
points of sailing;
(b)
at venues
proposed by the BIFFA Championship Committee and endorsed by the BIFFA
membership at AGM.
(4)
The Northern Championships shall be held north of a line from the
Wash to the Mersey (or extension thereof) and the Southern Championships
to the south of this line. These Championships may be held in Ireland or
Scotland, notwithstanding the existence of separate Irish and Scottish
Championships.
(5)
The Inland Championships shall be held on inland waters;
DURATION
(6)
The Championships of the British Isles shall normally
be decided over a period of at least four but not more than six days (a
6-day championship) during which a series of 6 races or more races shall
be scheduled (weather conditions permitting). Other Championships shall
be decided over a series of either 4 or 5 races, depending on the period
the organising Club allots to the event.
RESPONSIBILITY AND LIAISON
(7)
Responsibility for organising the Championships rests
with the Host Club (that is, the club which invited BIFFA), not with the
local fleet or any other body. It is recommended that the FF Fleet
Captain of the Host Club be a member of the Club’s Championship
Committee.
(8)
The Club shall state clearly who is responsible for liaising on their
behalf with the BIFFA, on whose part all liaising will be the
responsibility of a nominated member of the championship committee.
SPONSORSHIP
(9)
The BIFFA shall use their best endeavours to obtain sponsorship at
national level and shall inform the Host Club as early as possible how
much money will be available. The Host Club may have full responsibility
for obtaining further sponsorship at local level. It is advisable for
clubs to co-ordinate their efforts with those of the BIFFA
LIMITATION
OF SIZE OF ENTRY
(10)
The BIFFA recognises that any limit on the number of entrants is best
set by the Host Club who knows their own facilities but it is
recommended that the upper limit be 100 boats. In the case of a limit
being in operation, this shall be made clear when the venue is proposed
and publicised when (if possible, before) the Entry Forms are sent to
all BIFFA members; the Host Club shall accept entries in the strict
order in which they are received, except that places shall be held for
the first 10 helmsmen in the preceding year’s Championship of the
British Isles, for the first 3 helmsmen in the preceding year’s
Northern, Southern, Inland and Scottish Championships, and for the
Officers of the BIFFA; one month before the closing date of entries,
these places shall cease to be held open.
SAILING
INSTRUCTIONS
A set of
Standard Sailing Instructions shall be used at all Championships and
shall conform to the following regulations (11 to 17)
OTHER THAN
RACING
(11)
Prior to a boat being launched, the owner (or their representative)
shall produce to the Host Club a valid Measurement Certificate and
current BIFFA Membership Card. A person who is not a member of the BIFFA
cannot enter or steer a boat for any Championship race; but a crew who
is not a member may steer a boat for short periods during such a race.
For the purpose of these Regulations, members of any Association
affiliated to ff International are deemed to be members of the
BIFFA.
(12)
Boats may be spot checked or measured, in addition to the Host Club’s
pre-launch inspection of certain items of equipment and the Race
Committee’s (or Competitor’s) right to have measured any boat apparently
at fault. The following wording is recommended: "The Race Committee
reserves the right to require any yacht or sail to be submitted for
measurement at any time before or during the series".
(13)
Boats may be either moored or slipped depending on the facilities of the
Host Club, but boats shall not be scrubbed or polished while out of the
water between races unless the facility to do so is available to all
competitors.
RACING
(14)
The Sailing Instructions shall make provision for moving any marks of
the course, during or before a race, at the discretion of the Race
Officer.
(15)
The 720-degree turns penalty as provided in Rule 44, Penalties for
infringement of a Rule of part 2 of the Racing Rules of Sailing 2005 -
2008, shall apply.
(16)
The time limit for each race shall be as
shown in the table below, if any boat completes the whole course
within the time limit shown, there shall be an extension of the time
limit as shown.
|
Races per Day |
Target Time |
Time Limit |
Extension |
|
1 |
2 hrs |
3 hrs |
60 mins |
|
2 |
1.25 hrs |
2 hrs |
40 mins |
|
3 or more |
1 hr |
1.5 hrs |
30 mins |
The
target time is for the mid-fleet position and is provided for guidance.
Boats
failing to finish within the extension period after the first boat sails
the course will be scored Did Not Finish. This changes rules 35 and A4
SCORING
(17)
The Low Point System shall be used and all races shall be
sailed in numeric order. The Championship shall be won by the yacht with
the lowest aggregate points after discarding one of its races, if 3 or
more races are sailed. If 7 or more races are sailed, then a second
discard shall be allowed. Fewer than 3 races are sailed then all shall
count. In the event of a tie this shall be broken in accordance with
appendix A 8 of the Racing Rules of Sailing;. (No discard is allowed for
the Owners Association Trophy.)
ANNUAL
CHALLENGE TROPHIES
(18)
Trophies owned by the BIFFA (of which a list is appended)
shall:
(a)
be awarded
only to members of the BIFFA (or other Association affiliated to FFI,
but these trophies shall not be taken outside the British Isles);
(b)
be insured
by the BIFFA (this is the responsibility of the Secretary);
(c)
be engraved
by the winners, who shall send the account for engraving to the
Secretary for payment from the BIFFA’s funds (owners may chose to make
this a donation to association if they wish).
(d)
have
photographs taken as awarded to each recipient, and passed to the
General secretary of the association after the championship
(19)
The Championship Trophy shall be awarded to the winner of the series.
(20)
The Owners` Association (lately the John Player Gold
Leaf) Trophy shall be awarded to the yacht registered not later than
31st December, 7 years prior to the year in which the event is held,
with the lowest aggregate points in the Championship of the British
Isles, using the Low Point system. The number of the newest yacht
eligible shall be shown in the notice of race.
(21) Scoring
System; for this Trophy no discard shall be allowed, and a tie shall be
broken as described in Appendix A, Rule A8 of the Racing Rules of
Sailing 2005-2008.
PRIZES
(KEEPERS)
(22)
Equal prizes shall be given to the helm and crew of the
prize winning yachts.
(23)
All other prizes are the responsibility of the organising Club; as a
guideline it is suggested that prizes are awarded to the top 12.5%
overall in the final results, and to the winning yacht (if possible the
first three) in each race. Except where there are the BIFFA Challenge
Trophies for Classic Competitors the organising club should offer prizes
to Classic Boats as for the open fleet above, (though a lower percentage
may be required given the lower number of starters in this fleet). A
similar system may be adopted for BIFFA designated “silver” fleet
boats. A small souvenir to each competitor has also proved extremely
popular in the past. We draw the host clubs attention to the guidance
below.
(24)
The BIFFA Year Book shall list the winners of all the trophies owned by
BIFFA of which the following are competed for annually in
Championships. The race day trophies shall be awarded for all racing
undertaken on the indicated day of the championships, where more than
one race is sailed the winning boat shall be the lowest aggregate scores
for the racing on that day. In the event of a “short” National
Championship these trophies will be awarded for the individual races in
the order they are sailed; in the event of less than six races being
sailed the race day prizes will be awarded for the races which are
sailed in numeric order races, trophies not awarded shall be returned to
the secretary for safe keeping.
THE
CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE BRITISH ISLES
Championship Trophy
Owners` Association Trophy (Stolen)
Ulster Cup (1st Race Day)
Calypso Cup (2nd Race Day)
John Clark Trophy (3rd Race Day)
Restronguet Bowl (4th Race Day) (Missing)
Laing Viking Warrior (5th Race Day)
City of Plymouth Cup (last Race Day)
Dimple (Ladies' Prize)
Island Sailing Trophy (combined ages of helm and crew 80 - 99 yrs)
Kempner Trophy (combined ages of helm and crew at least 100 yrs)
Royal Torbay Silver Trophy
Royal Motor Yacht Club Classic trophy (1st boat with sail no. 3000 or
below)
Youth Prize 1st under 21
