RULES GOVERNING ALL LIGHTNING CLASS DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
ARTICLE I - PURPOSE
1. These Rules shall govern I.L.C.A. District Championship Regattas in
accordance with Article XI of the By-Laws.
2. These Rules shall be supplemented by written
Sailing Instructions that shall rank as Rules and may alter a Rule by
specific reference to it.
3. The Sailing Instructions shall not alter: ( i)
Articles I through VII (ii) Article VIII, Paragraphs 2, 4, 5, and 9
of these Rules.
ARTICLE II - ORGANIZING AUTHORITY
1. District Lightning Class Championships shall be organized by one of
the Fleets or Districts, either with the approval of a National
Authority or in conjunction with a Club or Regatta Committee
affiliated with a National Authority.
2. The responsibility of arranging for proper
facilities, entertainment, awards, etc. shall rest with the Fleet in
whose waters the series is held, but in no case can the series be held
in a facility where the presence of overhead power lines could
constitute a danger to participants.
ARTICLE III - PERPETUAL TROPHY
1. A perpetual award should be provided for each Championship and
should be inscribed to include the words "International Lightning
Class" before the name of the Championship.
2. The perpetual award shall be held by the Fleet of
the winner until the next Championship.
3. Right, title, and interest in and to perpetual
trophies shall always be in the name of the governing authority or the
donor of the trophy, who may impose any conditions necessary to
safeguard same.
ARTICLE IV - TIME AND PLACE
1. District Championships shall be contested annually.
ARTICLE V - ENTRIES
1. Approved Measurement Certificate must be on file in the I.L.C.A.
Office for each boat entered. No entry shall be accepted which does
not meet all the eligibility requirements.
ARTICLE Vl - ELIGIBILITY
(Note: Consult carefully the I.L.C.A. Constitution
and By-Laws on membership and measurement qualifications and other
details affecting eligibility.)
1. Each boat must be certified eligible by the
Measurement Committee before it can be entered in any sanctioned
Championship. Boat, sails, spars, and equipment must be made available
for measurement and inspections before any District Championship; and
any or all boats or portions thereof may be ordered remeasured by the
Measurement or Executive Committees.
2. Boats must hold valid Measurement Certificates,
including Mast Certifications, and must display valid membership decal
and mast decal. Measurement Certificates must be presented at time of
Measurement.
Each boat shall carry a fluke-type anchor weighing
at least 4 pounds (1.8 kg) with 50' of line attached for anchoring a
Lightning, a compass, a minimum one gallon bucket, a paddle, an
approved wearable life preserver for each person on board, a throwable
life preserver (cushion), and a whistle, unless modified with the
approval of the Measurement Committee. Modifications should be
included in the Notice of Race. Each boat must be equipped with a
centerboard preventer.
3. (a) All sails shall bear an Official Royalty
Label as provided for in the I.L.C.A. Specifications, and Mainsail and
Spinnaker numbers shall be the same. When sail measurement is
required, each sail shall be stamped with an approval stamp by a
representative of the Measurement Committee prior to the first race.
(b) Sail Measurement - Only five sails shall be
approved for use, consisting of one main, two jibs, and two
spinnakers. All sails being measured shall be dry and at room
temperature. Sails which do not measure may be returned to the owner
for correction if such correction can be made within a reasonable time
before the Sail Measurement Committee terminates its measuring of
contestants' sails. When said sails are remeasured, the committee may
or may not, at their option, recheck all measurement points.
4. The Skipper (Helmsman) must be a Life, Active or
Associate Member who meets the requirements as defined in the I.L.C.A.
Constitution.
5. Crew must be Active, Life, Crew, or Associate
Members of the I.L.C.A. and shall be designated distinctly as Crew.
They shall serve as such, only touching the tiller for brief temporary
relief. Such periods may include the time required to set, jibe, or
douse a spinnaker or repair damage to rigging, but no longer.
6. When a JUNIOR or WOMAN has qualified in the District
they must go to the N.A.'s via that route (instead of waiting and
qualifying via the Juniors' or Women's Championships). (incorporated
into Rules April 2003)
7. When a JUNIOR or WOMAN has not qualified in the
District they may go to the N.A.'s via the Juniors or Women's (even
though they raced in their District Championship). (incorporated
into Rules April 2003)
ARTICLE Vll - SUBSTITUTION
1. There will be no substitution of Skipper.
2. Once the District Championship has begun, boat
and crew must sail throughout, except in the case of proven accident
or illness. Prior to the series permission may be granted for the use
if a specified alternate crew for a specified race or races.
Permission for substitution in such cases may be obtained from the
District Officers directly responsible for the series. Such permission
must be denied if unfair advantage is gained thereby or if not
absolutely necessary.
3. If a sail is damaged substantially during the
championship, the sail may be replaced with a sail which shall be
measured, and which shall be of the same brand, if possible, and with
no less use than the damaged sail. Any substitution shall be done with
approval from a member of the District Measurement Committee or by the
Race Committee Chairman.
ARTICLE VIII - RACING CONDITIONS
1. Whenever possible the number of scheduled races shall be no less
than five. Provision shall be included for disposition of scheduled
races which are made impossible or unsafe by weather conditions. In no
case shall a Championship, a qualifier for an area Championship, have
less than three (3) races count unless it is clearly stated in the
Sailing Instructions prior to the first race of the series. If fewer
than three races are sailed, it shall be up to the Organizing
Authority of the regatta to determine when, or if, the regatta can be
resailed in order to get a fair test of skill to determine the
appropriate representatives. Only those eligible to qualify in the
first series shall be allowed to qualify from the second series.
Further that the second series shall count the one or two previous
races that were held as part of the races for the second series. The
above stipulation will only be for the part of the regatta that is
used for a qualification and will not affect the awarding of a
championship trophy or such title unless specifically mentioned in the
Sailing Instructions.
2. The International Lightning Class Association
adopts Category C in accordance with RRS Appendix 1, Regulation 20,
with the restriction that
advertising is permitted on hulls only. However, club or invitational
events may be restricted to Category A, as provided under Regulation
20.4.4 of the Advertising Code, with the approval of the National
Authority of the organizing club. (April 2003)
3. Time limit shall be three and one-half (3-1/2)
hours. If one yacht finishes within this limit, all must be timed. If
no yacht completed four legs (three legs in the case of a
windward-leeward course) within two hours and ten minutes (2:10), the
race shall be abandoned and, if possible, resailed.
4. Scoring -
(a) Abbreviations for scoring shall be in
accordance with RRS or Racing Rules of Sailing.
(b) Each boat finishing in a race and not
thereafter retiring or being disqualified will be scored points
equal to her finishing place, as follows: first boat scores 1 point,
second boat scores 2 points, and so on. "DNC",
"DNS", "DNF", and "RAF" score points
equal to one more, and "OCS", "DNE", "BFD,",
and "DSQ" score points equal to two more than the greatest
number of boats eligible to start in any race of the series. "RDG"
scores points equal to the finishing position awarded her after a
hearing for request for redress.
(c) Each boat's total score will be the sum of her
scores for all races, excluding her worst score if so provided in
the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions. The boat with the
lowest total scores wins.
(d) The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions
shall include paragraphs 4 a, b, and c, the last paragraph modified
to note the provision for exclusion of the worst score, if
applicable.
5. Ties -
(a) Boats which tie in a single race shall score
points equal to the best position involved. The position(s)
immediately after shall remain vacant (if two boats tie for first
place, both are scored I point, and the next boat to finish scores 3
points). This paragraph modifies RRS or Racing Rules of Sailing.
(b) When there is a tie on total points between
two or more boats at the end of a series, the tie will be broken in
favor of the boat or boats with the most first places, and, when a
tie remains, the most second places, and so on. When a tie still
remains, it shall be broken in favor of the boat which beats the
other(s) in the last untied race of the series. All races, including
those possibly excluded in calculating total scores in accordance
with paragraph 4 c shall be considered for the purpose of breaking
ties. This paragraph modifies RRS or Racing Rules of Sailing.
(c) The Notice of Race shall reference and Sailing
Instructions shall include paragraphs 5 (a) and (b).
6. The total of those races comprising the
championship must be started or abandoned by the day and hour set
forth in the Sailing Instructions. In case a race or races are
abandoned, the final scoring shall be based upon all the completed
races.
7. For purposes of qualifying competitors for an
area championship, the right of appeal shall be denied and the Notice
of Race and Sailing Instructions shall so state.
8. The act of deliberately sacrificing one's own
chances of position in a race or series, thereby materially affecting
the position of other competitors, is prohibited and shall be grounds
for disqualification. Covering or luffing, providing the yacht is
sailing within the racing rules and in a manner consistent with
maintaining or bettering her position in the race or series, shall not
be deemed team racing tactics. In flagrant cases affecting the point
score of the leaders the Race Committee shall have the power, with or
without protest, to order the race resailed, bar the offender from the
resailed and remaining races and recommend his or her suspension from
the Association to the Board of Governors.
9. The two-turns penalty as provided in RRS or
Racing Rules of Sailing will apply with the additional provision that when
an infringing boat has its spinnaker drawing at the time of the
infringement, drops it completely while taking her penalty, and resets
it and has it drawing after the penalty, the penalty is a one turn
penalty as provided in RRS or Racing Rules of Sailing. The Notice of Race and Sailing
Instructions shall include this provision.
10. Starting. The Executive Committee shall approve
the starting sequence.
11. Propulsion.
Modifying RRS or Racing Rules of Sailing (1), "On a free leg of the course, when surfing (rapid
accelerating down the leeward side of a wave) or planing is possible, the
boat's crew may, in order to initiate surfing or planing, pump the sheet, but
not the guy controlling any sail, but only once for each wave or gust of
wind. When the mainsail is pumped, only that part of the sheet between
the crew member handling the sheet and the first block on the boom shall
be used."
12. PROTEST TIME LIMIT - The question of legality of
sailors or equipment must be challenged within the time limit (for
filing protests) prescribed in the race circular for the regatta in
question. (Oct. 66) (Executive Committee Ruling, ratified by Governing
Board). (incorporated into Rules April 2003)
13. DRY SAILING - In the absence of any limitations
imposed by the local committee due to inadequate facilities, boats at
all sanctioned regattas may moor in the water or haul out between
races according to the wishes of the skipper. (May 67) (Executive
& Measurement Committee Ruling). (incorporated into Rules April
2003)
14. SUPPORT BOATS: Team leaders, coaches, and
other support personnel shall stay outside the racing area (defined as
100 meters outside the lay lines of the course including the start
area) from the start of the first race to the finish of the last race
of the regatta unless otherwise designated in the Sailing
Instructions. Individual competitors may not use support boats at any
time during the regatta unless such support is available to all
competitors or is authorized by the organizing authority. The penalty
for failure to comply with any of these requirements may be
disqualification of all yachts associated with the infringing support
personnel. (incorporated into Rules April 2003)
ARTICLES IX - NOTICES
1. Official notices of hearings, decisions, procedures, and
instructions shall be served upon all parties by posting on a
designated "official bulletin board." Such notices would
apply particularly to changes in the Sailing Instructions, time and
place of races and such other important details as may be required.
Responsibility for seeing such notices rests with each
contestant.
(1) RRS 42.3C
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Includes all Amendments approved through April 2003
Updated MAY19-2003
Updated JAN 2008
