Nordic ACC Championship 2007
January 16-31
VSK Nordic
VSK4
SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
1 RULES
1.1 The regatta will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing.
1.2 No national authority prescriptions will apply.
1.3 The VSK4 regatta simulator software (format and umpire decisions), combined with the VSK4 Adopted RRS (SI Appendix A) will apply.
1.4 If there is a conflict between languages, the English text will take precedence.
2 IDENTIFICATION
2.1 While racing, boats shall display boat names not to be mistaken from what they are registered with at VSK Nordic (ref the entry list).
3 NOTICES TO COMPETITORS
Notices to competitors will be posted on the front page of VSK Nordic, in the NC forum or by e-mail. It's the responsibility of the participants to track these sources for information, in addition to the SI.
4 CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
The sailing instructions of the NC may be changed anytime without notice. A change log can be found at the VSK Nordic website, but will not have entries for changes made before the event begins.
5 FORMAT OF RACING
5.1 The regatta will consist of an opening series and a medal race. The opening series will consist of a qualifying series and a final series.
5.2 For the qualifying series boats will be assigned to fleets A, B, C, D, etc., of, as nearly as possible, equal size and ability. The target fleet size is 12. Initial assignments will be made by a seeding, taken from the VSK4 Ladder Ranking. It may be impractical to find the rank for all skippers, but the RC will at least find the correct rank for the 12 highest ranked skippers. The remaining skippers (if any), will be seeded randomly by the Sailwave regatta scoring software.
5.3 (a) In the qualifying series boats will be reassigned to fleets after each day of racing. The reassignment will be on the basis of their ranks in the series, as follows:
Rank in series Fleet assignment
First A
(b) Assignments will be based on the ranking available at 12:00 the following race day, regardless of protests or requests for redress not yet decided.
5.4 (a) Twelve boats will be assigned to Gold final-series, on the basis of their ranks in the qualifying-series. The non-qualified boats are not going into silver fleets etc.
(b) Any recalculation of qualifying-series ranking after boats have been assigned to final-series fleets will not affect the assignments, except that a redress decision may promote a boat to the Gold final-series.
5.5 All the twelve boats in the Gold final-series will be assigned to compete in the medal race.
6 SCHEDULE OF RACES
6.1 Dates of racing:
1. Tuesday January 16th
2. Wednesday January 17th
3. Tuesday January 23rd
4. Wednesday January 24th
5. Tuesday January 30th
6. Wednesday January 31st
6.2 Number of races:
6 race days
2 races per day
12 races in total
The first 8 races (Q1-Q8) are qualifying races
The following 3 races are final-races (F1-F3)
The 12th race is the medal race (M)
6.3 The scheduled time of the VSK pre-start initiation for the first race each day is 21:00 CET. Please be present in advance of the start. The host should normally open the race 10 minutes before start. The second race will be started right after the completion of the first race. The estimated race time for each race day is approximately one hour.
7 THE COURSES
7.1 The courses to be used can be downloaded by by clicking this link. They can also be accessed via the download section of VSK Nordic. The name of the course package is “NC 2007 Courses”.
7.2 The 8 courses are assigned the following codes:
Course 1: Tactical Tropical LaMauve
Course 2: Rio Piratininga
Course 3: Rosetta Stoned
Course 4: Tactical Napoli I
Course 5: Acc Tropical 03
Course 6: Quin Taiping Jiao
Course 7: Val El Saler
Course 8: Undertow
7.3 The courses should be used in the different races as described below:
Day 1, Race 1 (Q1): Course 1.
Day 1, Race 2 (Q2): Course 2.
Day 2, Race 1 (Q3): Course 3.
Day 2, Race 2 (Q4): Course 4.
Day 3, Race 1 (Q5): Course 5.
Day 3, Race 2 (Q6): Course 6.
Day 4, Race 1 (Q7): Course 7.
Day 4, Race 2 (Q8): Course 8.
Day 5, Race 1 (F1): Course 2.
Day 5, Race 2 (F2): Course 4.
Day 6, Race 1 (F3): Course 6.
Day 6, Race 2 (M): Course 8.
8 PENALTY SYSTEM
8.1 The penalties are as follows:
· For penalties assigned by VSK: One-Turn Penalty
· For breaches of rules where VSK did not assign any penalty: One-Turn Penalty
· For breaches of rules where VSK incorrectly assigned a penalty to an innocent boat: Two-Turn Penalty
8.2 Incorrect VSK pens do not have to be taken asap, and do not have to be taken at all if the boat is able to cross the finish line before she is “ghosted”. Though using this option requires a protest hail from this boat. Unless the incorrect pen was for rule 17.1, an officially filed protest is required if the other boat doesn’t take a two-turn penalty. Another boat may file a protest on this if she finds the VSK pen valid, but do not need to hail protest.
8.3 If a boat is crossing the finish line with pending pens under the condition in instruction 8.2, the host should carefully take note of her actual finishing position, and make a remark about the situation when sending the results to the race committee.
9 TIME LIMIT
9.1 Boats failing to finish within 5 minutes after the first boat sails the course and finishes will be scored Did Not Finish. This changes rules 35, A4 and A5.
10 PROTESTS AND REQUESTS FOR REDRESS
10.1 For each fleet, the protest time limit is 60 minutes after the last boat has finished the last race of the day.
10.2 Protests should be communicated to the protest committee as described in SI Appendix A.
10.3 A protest on the water is addressed to a particular skipper. If this skipper broke a rule as a result of a 3rd boat breaking a rule, then the 3rd boat will be DSQ’ed by the protest committee
10.4 The protest committee has the option to survey replays for repeated breach of rules by a boat, or abuse of the VSK umpire, or situations where a boat has got a significant advantage from breaking a rule, after allowing for the penalty. Such behaviour will lead to disqualification from the race or exclusion from the championship. Frequent unnecessary protest hails on the water will also result in exclusion.
10.5 Decisions of the protest committee will be posted in the forum.
10.6 Decisions of the protest committee will be final.
Note: It’s strongly recommended to avoid situations which can lead to a wrong VSK pen. You may be able to force the other boat to make 2 penalty turns, or win a protest if he does not take turns, but you will not be able to get any compensation from the protest committee. So there is nothing to win from taking unnecessary risks.
11 SCORING
11.1 The opening races are counted for the final series.
11.2 For the qualifying series, rule A4.2 is changed so that the scores are based on the number of boats assigned to the largest fleet. A4.2 is generally changed so that points for DNF equals the number of boats starting in a fleet, and the points for DNS equals the number of boats in a fleet coming to the starting area.
11.3 (a) Except for race scores excluded under instruction 11.4, a boat’s series score for the regatta will be the total of her race scores from the opening series and the medal race.
(b) For the medal race, rule A4.1 is changed so that the points are doubled.
11.4 (a) When fewer than 3 qualifying races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores.
(b) When from 4 to 7 qualifying races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.
(c) When 8 or more qualifying races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her two worst scores.
(d) No scores from the final races or the medal race will be excluded.
11.5 For boats assigned to compete in the medal race, ties in the regatta score are broken by the medal-race score. If this does not solve the tie due to a medal race tie, then the score in the finals should be used to break the ties. This changes rule A8.
11.6 The boats assigned to compete in the medal race will be ranked highest in the regatta.
11.7 The boats assigned to compete in the medal race will be ranked highest in the regatta.
11.8 A boat assigned to compete in the medal race shall make a genuine effort to start, sail the course and finish. A breach of this instruction will not be grounds for a protest by a boat. This changes rule 60.1(a). The penalty for this breach will be ranking the boat twelfth in the regatta. If there are two such boats, they will be ranked eleventh and twelfth, in order of their opening-series ranks, etc.
12 PRIZES
Helly Hansen and Seilas will be offering prizes to a selection of the finalists.
Prize list:
1st : Helly Hansen light jacket + One year subscription to the Norwegian sailing magazine “Seilas”.
2nd : Helly Hansen inflatable lifejacket + 3 months subscription to “Seilas”.
3rd -12th : 3 months subscription to “Seilas”.
APPENDIX A - VSK4 Adopted RRS
A1. Modifications and additions to the RRS
A1.1. The right-of-way boat does not have to follow ISAF rule 14 (avoiding contact).
A1.2. Room is the space a boat needs in the existing conditions while manoeuvring promptly in a seamanlike way without getting a VSK pen.
A1.3. If a pen was given by the VSK umpire, one or both boats were not keeping clear, with rule 17.1 as an exception.
A1.4. The sails and boom of the boats should not be taken into account with regards to issues about keeping clear, overlap etc.
A1.5. Overlap calls of VSK will be trusted. In some fractions of a second, VSK may show opposite overlaps on the two PC's, which for example result in situations where there is contact and no VSK pens are issued. In these situations, the informations the skippers got from their own screens will be decicive for the calls regarding them. For instance, one boat will be regarded as being clear ahead at the 2L zone, while the other will be regarded as being overlapped. Please note that the statement to "trust overlap calls in the isaf panel", does not take away the responsibility of the skippers to keep clear. This article is only relevant with regards to overlap status at the 2L zone around marks, and with regards to luffing rights.
A1.6. Disconnections:
· Disconnections until 1 minute before start may qualify for a restart, though no more than 1 restart for each skipper. If a boat disconnect before the one minute signal, she is entitled to a restart, but only if she returns to the race within 3 minutes after the start. If she disconnects after the one minute signal or returns after 3 minutes after the start, the host may request a restart, but all racers are allowed to veto against this. This veto must be given within 30 seconds after the request. Breaches of this rule lead to DSQ of the host and DNS/DNF to the boat that got disconnected.
· A client or host is disconnecting after 1 minute before start should initially be scored as DNF, though she may request redress.
· If the host completely disconnects after 1 minute before start, the race should be restarted with a new host. The old host will not take part in that race, but may be a spectator.
A2. Protest procedure
A2.1 The protesting boat should:
1. Write “Protest <boatname>” (replace <boatname> with the name of the boat your are protesting on)
2. Take a screen shot as soon as reasonably possible, as documentation of the hail for protest (this is an absolute requirement)
3. Keep an eye on the other boat in case she takes a one-turn penalty or a two-turn penalty
4. After finishing, inform the protested boat that you actually will file the protest (this will speed up the process)
5. After leaving water, examine the replay and make sure that you still are convinced that the protest is justified
6. E-mail the protest to the protest committee within 60 minutes after the last race of the day:
To: protest-2007@vsk-nordic.com
Subject: Protest race <#>, Fleet <A-F>, <your boat name> and <opponent boat name> (change the fields between < and >)
Body: Describe exactly at what time in the replay the situation occurs, and if any pens were assigned by the VSK umpire
Attachments: Include the screenshot showing the protest hail and include the replay
(The protest committee will forward a copy of the protest to the protested boat)
A2.2 The protested boat should
- if she agrees with the protest on the water:
Take a penalty as described in instruction 8.
- if she agrees with the protest after watching the replay and/or communicating with other resources:
Send an email to the protest committee (protest-2007@vsk-nordic.com) informing them that she Retire After Finish
- if she disagrees with the protest and the protest is not withdrawn by the other skipper:
Send an email to the protest committee as soon as possible, with the replay of the race as attachment. (If you don’t send your replay, the protest decision will be based on the replay of the other skipper.)
Appendix B: Instructions to all
B1. Try to use locator files for skins, to reduce lag to a minimum.
Ref: The loc-file guide made by Sandy/Camster.
B2. All participants should save replays of all races. The RC or PC may request a copy.
B3. E-mail of group assignments will be sent prior to each race day, with indication of race hosts. In case of an overloaded server, it is not necessary for all to login to the website prior to racing.
B4. Verify that the results published by the RC are correct.
Appendix C: Hosting instructions:
C1. Check the fleet assignments for the day
The boat listed on top of a fleet list is the primary host. The boat listed 2nd is the secondary host, and so on. If the race is not up at 21:00, then the secondary host should open the race.
C2. Set up the race approximately at 20:50
Game name: NC2007 Fleet <A-F> (Enter the code of your fleet)
Password: nc2007
Password for spectator: nc2007
Max Players: <11/12> (Should be exactly like the number of boats assigned to this fleet)
Max Spectators: 1 (Do not allow any spectators unless the RC dictates so. Use the ban button if necessary.)
Rules: Fleet Race
Game Type: Tactical
Ladder mode: Forced
Allow race download: Yes
Course selection: In accordance with instruction 7. Leave all settings to default, except for course 2 and course 4 in the finals. In the finals, course 2 and course 6 should have wind shift parameter adjusted to 10°.
C3. Start the race
Start as soon as all boats have entered the race, but make sure to they are fully loaded before launch. If boats are missing, wait 5 minutes before the race is started.
C4. After each race
· Save the replay of the race
· Take a screenshot of each page of the scoreboard
· Take note of events not showing on the scoreboard
C5. After a complete race day
As soon as possible, send an e-mail to the race committee
The email should include screenshots of the scoreboards.
Specify
DNC – skippers not showing up at all
DNS – skippers showing up, but not racing (due to disconnect before start or any other reason)
DNF – skippers disconnecting or leaving during the race
RAF – skipper retiring after finishing
Include any other relevant info about the race