Rule Change - Timed heats to Wave Counted heats

[Sally LaSalle]

The SLSA Director Board has unanimously agreed to try out a Counted Wave, rather than a Timed Heat at the Reaction Longboard Epic Neart on May 24th.

In the SEMI FINALS and FINAL ONLY, these will be run on 4 wave count for each surfer. With the following conditions.

a) If a surfer is called to take the next wave by the Marshall, and the surfer misses the wave, they will lose that wave (and in this example have 3 instead of 4 waves (rationale: Catching waves is part of the skill of surfing)

b) if a surfer crashes out of SLwhen it is their turn to surf, they will lose that wave (if they relog they can resume their place in the color sequence but will not get a "catch up" wave)

This rule will be trialled in the SEMI and FINALs ONLY!! the preliminary heats will remain 15 minutes duration, for the Neart Competition. IF the trial of the process works well in the Semi's and Finals at Neart (ie it doesn't cause too great an extension to the time of the heat), then the rule will be adopted for ALL heats in future compeitions.

We will poll the membership after NEart to get further feedback.

[Abel Halderman]

Okay, as for now the rule says: "3. Preliminary heats will be 10 minutes in duration. Finals will be 15 minutes in duration". Has it been changed already?

[Sally LaSalle]

Okay, as for now the rule says: "3. Preliminary heats will be 10 minutes in duration. Finals will be 15 minutes in duration". Has it been changed already?

Abel, As I am sure you are well aware (because you were there), preliminary heats have been run at 15 minutes for every event this season.

The Rationale? ... With the high number of registrants for events this season, we have many heats with 6 riders competing. When the rules were originally written it was with 4 rider heats in mind which were the norm at that time. However if you think we should try to squeeze 6 riders in to 10 minutes (NEart is current running at one wave per minute) ... In order to comply with the rules ... I'll let you answer the complaints from the surfers ok?

Oh and "has it been changed already?: Thats what we are here for and thats why events rules require a 4/5 majority of direcotrs. But, we are being pragmatic and trialling the rule amendment before a more permanent change.

[Abel Halderman]

I'm sorry Sally. I'm not thinking rationally. I *know* that the best way to change rules is to test how they would work in reality. I guess my only concern was that such a situation isn't in the rulebook. Okay, okay... LOL, I'm not a rules maniac but since we have some maybe in future we should add something about changing them very temporarly for tests. Just an idea. Generally I LOVE the idea of equal number of waves for each surfer.

[Ashleigh Dickins]

Abel, let me make it through this weekend... then I fully intend on combing through those rules with my cat's flea comb =)

[Carolin Gausman]

the rules sound nices. also i never reached the semi... lol
i just wonder about this:

a) If a surfer is called to take the next wave by the Marshall, and the surfer misses the wave, they will lose that wave (and in this example have 3 instead of 4 waves (rationale: Catching waves is part of the skill of surfing)

what happens or how do u judge it. for example... i had the problem yesterday in heat 3. i was in front of the wave but my board just went through it . i didnt dive or did anything else. would this be also a lose of a wave in semi or finals?
i think it wasnt my fault and it was more like lag or bug by sl.

i agree to the rule if a surfer is diving under it at the start or if the surfer misses the wave cuz he/she gets in too late.

[Colleen Brennan]

Hi Carolin,

Whether a surfer missed a wave due to lack of skill will be a judges call. The judges do surf and do understand when there are outside complications. At the Neart comp there was at least one example where a surfer was frozen in place, probably due to one of their friends trying to see then better and accidentally clicking EDIT on their board. The judges realized it was a technical problem and no penalty was given.

An example of where you might lose a wave would be if you dive under it by accident. another might be if you are just not paying attention when Marshall says to get ready. If you do not get in a ready position and end up paddling furiously when your wave does come and you miss it, that would cost you a wave. But the call is the judges ultimately.

We use three and a head judge. They all know surfing and they also all wan t to be fair and make sure everyone has a great competition. There will never be someone judging who does not know what the capabilities of surfers and surfboards are.

We were luck y on Saturday at Neart to have Heather Goodliffe as a judge. Since she invented surfing in SL and is creator of the wave and board scripts, I am sure she would have no trouble differentiating between an SL error and a Surfer error.

The other judges are also seasoned surfers. Combined they have almost certainly surfed thousands of waves and have probably watched many many more.

So the bottom line is that this will by its very nature have to be a judgment call. One of our duties at SLSA Board is to always make sure we have qualified judges so that the comps will be fair and consistent. But rest assured that no one who judges is looking for an excuse to take a wave from you or any other surfer. It is my belief that they would actually hate to have to do it. I know I would.