Notice of race

World Championship Formula 18 Catamaran
11-17 July 2009

ORGANISING AUTHORITY:

The World Championship Formula 18 Catamaran 2009 will be organised by:
the Royal Belgian Sailing Club vzw on behalf of the International Formula 18 Catamaran Association, under the authority of KBYV and the Isaf.

VENUE:

Royal Belgian Sailing Club, Beachclub Duinbergen
Zeedijk 430A
8301 Knokke-Heist (Duinbergen)
Belgium

1 RULES

1.1. The regatta will be governed by the rules as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012 (RRS) and any amendments. 1.2. The rules as defined in the Equipment rules of Sailing 2001-2004 (ERS) and his amendments.
1.3. The Formula 18 class Measurement rules, except as any of these are altered by this Notice of Race or the Sailing Instructions.
1.4. This Notice of Race.
1.5. The Sailing Instructions.

2 ADVERTISING

2.1. Advertising will be a Category "C", in accordance with ISAF Regulation 20.
2.2. Competitors may be required to carry advertising for event sponsors.

3 ELIGIBILITY

3.1. All competitors shall meet the requirements of ISAF Regulation 19.
3.2. All competitors shall be members of their National F18 association, and their current year membership fees shall have been fully paid and verified.
3.3. All competitors shall have their entry endorsed by the their National Association, or National Authority
3.4. Any competitor under the age of 18 yrs will be required to obtain parental/guardian consent prior to commencement of Championship

4 ENTRY

4.1. The regatta is open to eligible boats of the International Formula 18 Catamaran Association.
4.2. Eligible boats may enter by completing the Official Entry Form available on the website http://www.f18worlds2009.com. Your entry will be official and confirmed after we received your payment.
Entries will only be accepted after confirmation of their National Formula 18 association and the payment of their entry fee.

The quotas per country are as follow:

Argentina 2
Australia 9
Belgium 30
Bolivia 1
Canada 2
France 25
Germany 13
Hungary 4
Poland 4
The Netherlands 35
Italy 7
North America 3
Spain 3
Sweden 8
United Kingdom 20
Open Entries 14

Due to a massive demand of registration, the number of entries has been upgraded to 180 boats.

4.3. An eligible boat’s completed Entry Form and Entry Fee shall be received by the Organising Authority no later than the 15th of April 2009. After the 15th April 2009, the unused quotas will be filled by other entries on a first come first served basis.

5 FEES

5.1. The Entry Fee is 250€ and must be paid before the 15th of May 2009. The payment of the entry fee can only be made online on our website by secure banking after acceptance of your entry by your National Association.
5.2. The Entry Fee is non-refundable.

6 COMPETITION FORMAT

6.1. If there are less than 80 boats then all boats will compete in one fleet for all races.
6.2. If there are more than 80 boats then the fleet will be split for the qualifying series and the final series of races.
6.2.1. Qualifying Series: The fleet will be split into 4 groups which will be selected by a seeding committee. The 4 groups will form 2 rotating starting groups. Each group will sail a minimum of 6 qualifying races. The qualifying races are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. If at the end of any day 6 qualifying races have not been completed, the qualifying series will continue the following day.
6.2.2. Final Series: Once the qualifying series is over boats will be split into the Gold Fleet and the Silver Fleet. The top half of the fleet will race in the Gold Fleet and the bottom half of the fleet will race in the Silver Fleet. In the event of an uneven number of boats there will be one extra boat in the Gold Fleet.

7 SCHEDULE

7.1. Registration, Equipment Inspection and Practice Race:

World Championship F18 Catamaran 2009

Friday, July 10
09:00-17:00 Registration and equipment inspection.

Saturday, July 11
09:00-17:00 Registration and equipment inspection.
13:00           Warning Signal Practice race.

Sunday, July 12
09:00-17:00 Registration and equipment inspection. 
13:00 Spare day Practice race in case of none on Saturday.
17:00  Opening Ceremony. 

7.2. Racing: 
World Championship F18 Catamaran 2009
Date Time Event

Monday, July 13
10:55 Warning Signal 1st race of the day. The warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.

Tuesday, July 14
10:55 Warning Signal 1st race of the day. The warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.

Wednesday, July 15
10.55 Warning Signal 1st race of the day. The warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.

Thursday, July 16
10:55 Warning Signal 1st race of the day. The warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.

Friday, July 17
10:55 Warning Signal 1st race of the day. The warning signal for each succeeding race will be made as soon as practicable.
No first warning signal will be made after 15:00 unless a general recall as been made.
18:00  Prize giving ceremony.

7.3. A total of 15 races with 3 races per day are scheduled. Except when races have been postponed on previous days, a maximum of 5 races per day are scheduled.

8 EQUIPMENT Inspection

8.1. Equipment Inspection shall be conducted in accordance with the International Formula 18 Catamaran Association.
8.2. Each boat shall present a valid measurement certificate at Equipment Inspection and registration.
8.3. There will be not certification of the new equipments during the registration.
8.4. On the express condition make an appointment with measurer, news equipments can be certified on July 9th an 10th 2009.

9 SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

The Sailing Instructions will be available during registration (see 6. schedule) at the Registration Desk.

10 VENUE

10.1. The Boat Park will be located at
Royal Belgian Sailing Club
Zeedijk 430 A
8301 Knokke-Heist
Belgium

10.2. Racing area will be held at the North Sea, in front of the Beach Club Duinbergen / Knokke-Heist Belgium.

11 COURSE

The Championship shall use inner – outer loop courses or a traditional sausage course.

12 PENALTY SYSTEM

12.1. Rules 44.1 and 44.2 will be changed so that only one turn, including one tack and one gybe, is required.
12.2. Racing rule 44.3 will not apply.

13 SCORING

13.1. The Low Point System of Appendix A will apply.
13.2. 6 races must be completed to validate the Championship.
13.3. Up to 80 boats, when 6 races have been completed, a boat’s worst race score will be
excluded, when 10 or more races have been completed, the two worst scores will be excluded
13.4. Over 80 boats, when each group completes 4 or more qualifying races, a boat’s words score in the qualifying races will be excluded. The score of all qualifying races except those excluded will be valid. When 4 final races have been completed, a boat’s worst score in the final races will be excluded. The final score of every boat will be the sum of scores, except those excluded in the qualifying and final races.

14 SUPPORT BOATS

Team leaders, coaches and support personnel shall register during the registration (see 7. schedule) at the registration office; and shall comply with the requirements in the Sailing Instructions.

 15 RADIO COMMUNICATION

A boat shall neither make radio transmissions while racing nor receive radio communications not available to all boats. This restriction also applies to mobile telephones.

16 PRIZES

16.1. Trophies will be awarded to helmsman and crew of the Top 10 finishing boats in Gold and Silver Fleet.
16.2. Special prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishing “Female” boats – both skipper and crew shall be female.
16.3. Special prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishing “Masters” boats – the skipper shall be 50 years of age or over at the first day of the event.
16.4. Special prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishing “Junior” boats – both skipper and crew shall be under 23 years of age at the first day of the event.
16.5. PRIZES WILL BE REWARDED ONLY TO TEAMS WHO ATTEND THE PRIZE GIVING REPRESENTED BY THEMSELVES.

17 DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

Competitors will sail at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. The organising authority, International Formula 18 Catamaran Association and all parties involved in the regatta organisation will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the World Championship Formula 18 Catamaran 2009.

18 INSURANCE

Each boat shall have a current Public Liability and Third Party Property Insurance policy, including coverage when racing at the venue of the Championship, of not less than 1.500.000,00€ (or the equivalent).

19 RIGHT TO USE NAMES AND LIKENESS

By sailing this event a competitor automatically grants to the Organising Authority and the sponsors of the event the right in perpetuity to make, use and show from time to time and at their discretion, any motion or still pictures, and live, taped or film television and any other reproductions of him/her during the period of The World Championship F18 Catamaran 2009 in witch the competitor competes and in all material related to The World Championship F18 Catamaran 2009 without any compensation.

20 FURTHER INFORMATION

For any other information please contact the Royal Belgian Sailing Club at info@f18worlds2009.com
Or visit our website www.f18worlds2009.com

Competitors shall make their own housing arrangements. A list of recommended hotels and apartments can be found on our website.
It is forbidden by Belgian law to sleep in tents or camp with Mobil homes on beaches or public roads. A list of recommended camping’s can be found on our website.

We wish you a pleasant World Championship F18 Catamaran 2009!