Section 1: Club Rules

1.1 Age/Division categories

• Divisions are based on age with the exception of MENS B Grade which is in an effort to have a division for surfers based on surfing ability.
• The age you turn in any calendar year decides which division you surf in (for example if you are currently 11 turning 12 this year (any stage on or before December 31), then you must surf in the CADETS (Under 15) division, not the MICRO (under 12)

• Age Divisions for are:
  • Micro Boys and Micro Girls: (under 12’s) anyone turning 0-11 this year
  • Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls: (under 15) anyone aged 12,13 or 14 this year
  • Open Mens A and B Grade: Any males aged 15 or over elect to compete in either Open A Grade or Open B Grade
  • Open Womens: ages 15+
  • Grand Masters: ages 46+

• A surfer can only compete in 1 division,
• An exception to the above rule is made for any surfer who in the previous season won their division and wishes in the current season to also surf up a division as follows:

Previous season won (and still eligible for):	Can choose to surf in eligible division plus one of either:
MICRO	Cadets, Juniors or Opens A Grade
CADETS	Juniors or Opens A Grade
JUNIORS	Opens A Grade
OPEN MENS  B GRADE	Opens A Grade
OPEN WOMENS	Juniors (if age eligible) or Opens A Grade
GRAND MASTERS	Opens A Grade, Opens B Grade

• Any surfer in the club can choose to surf in the Open Mens A Grade division
• Surfers can choose to surf ‘up’ a division if they are interested in pushing themselves into a more competitive division. As follows:

Current Division:	Can choose to surf in:
MICRO	Micro, Cadets, juniors or opens
CADETS	Cadets, juniors or opens
JUNIORS	juniors or opens
OPEN MENS  B GRADE	Opens A Grade
OPEN WOMENS	Opens A Grade, Opens B Grade
GRAND MASTERS	Opens A Grade, Opens B Grade

• Overall Winner of MENS B Grade each year is automatically stepped up to A Grade for the following year. An exception to this rule is that if the winner of MENS B Grade in any year is over the age of 40, then they do not have to surf in MENS A Grade in the following year.

1.2 Membership fees

Division	Fee
Micro, Cadet, Junior	$60
Open Women’s	$60
Opens A/B Grade, Grand Masters	$90 ($60 for surfers aged 15,16 or 17)
Family (1 Adult, 2+ Kids)	$170
100 Club Social Member	$100

1.3 Yearly point score

• The yearly winner of each division is the surfer with the highest overall points at the end of the competitive season based on points achieved in competitions as follows:

Number of competitions surfed by a surfer in a season	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Points are taken from a surfer’s best results from this many competitions:	5	5	5	4	3	2	1

• A surfer is awarded points for a competition dependent on the highest round and place achieved as follows:

Round	Place	Points received
Final	1	1200
Final	2	1032
Final	3	876
Final	4	804
Final	5	750
Final	6	732
Semi	3**	666
Semi	4	666
Semi	5	600
Semi	6	540
Quarter	3*	480
Quarter	4	480
Quarter	5	440
Quarter	6	440
Round 1	Any non-advancing place	290

• **In the case of a 5 or 6 person heat, 3rd place will advance to the next round and therefore score points according to the next round
• Points are calculated ‘back from final’, so (for example) if there is only enough surfers for 1 heat in a division, it is considered a straight-out final and points will be awarded according to those of a final

1.4 Club champion calculation

• The calculation of the overall club champion each year takes into consideration the surfer in any division who has scored the most points throughout the year and factors in how competitive that division was to determine which surfer made the most effort to consistently out-surf their competition at each event. The calculation formula used is shown in appendix 1 of these rules
• The calculation applies to both the Senior Club Champion and the Junior Club Champion awards
• The Senior Club Champion is chosen from surfers who competed in Opens A Grade, Opens B Grade, Open Women’s and Grand Masters
• The Junior Club Champion is chosen from surfers who competed in Boys or Girls Micros, Boys or Girls Cadets and Juniors

1.5 Most Improved

• The awarding of most improved surfer each year is at the discretion of the Committee

Section 2: Competition Rules

2.1 Contest directors

• Contest Directors are responsible for making all final decisions and judgements regarding the running of a competition

• At each contest there will be 3 contest directors. Each of the 3 contest directors must be available for the entire duration of the competition.

• The contest directors will be made up of:

• President
• Club Captain
• 1 current/past committee member (nominated on the day before heat 1)

• In the absence of the President and/or Club Captain, the 3 contest directors will be made up of any 3 current or past committee members (all nominated on the day before heat 1)

• Contest Directors will be announced on the PA system and their names will be displayed at the judges table

• If a contest director is involved directly in a dispute or temporarily unavailable when a decision has to be made then the remaining 2 contest directors will be responsible for reaching a decision. If 2 of the contest Directors are directly involved in a dispute or temporarily unavailable when a decision has to be made then the remaining contest director will be responsible for reaching a decision.

• The Contest Directors are the arbitrators of all decisions in relation to the application of competition and club rules on the day

• The Contest Directors decisions are final

2.2 Check in

• Specific check in times for each division will be announced to members via email prior to each competition. In general check in happens between 7am and 7:45am on the day of the competition for surfers in the following divisions:

• Cadet Boys
• Open Men’s A/B grade (including Junior Boys)
• Grand Masters

• Check in happens between 10am and 11am on the day of the competition for surfers in the following divisions:

• Micro Boys and Girls
• Cadet Girls
• Open Women’s

• Each surfer must be present to check themselves in – checking other people in is not allowed – (however parents are allowed to check their kids in)

• Special events and competitions may have different check-in times

2.3 Heat Draws (deciding who surfs against who)

• Responsibility and final decisions regarding heat draws will always be at the discretion of the contest directors.

• Where possible computer based seeding will determine the composition of surfers in heats to ensure that top seeded surfers do not surf against each other until later rounds

• Heat draws for the first comp of the year and any competition where computer based seeding is not available will be at the discretion of the contest directors. All efforts will be made to align these manually created heat draws to an approximation of the seeding for that comp.

• Heats will be comprised of no more than 6 surfers

2.4 Seeding

• Where possible, all surfers will be seeded for each competition based on the total points accrued for competitions surfed during the year

2.5 Judging

• Each heat is judged by 3 judges

• Efforts will be made to ensure that no judge has a vested interest in the heat they are judging (this includes not judging family members or heats from the same division a judge surfs in)

• Judges will remain judging for the entire duration of a heat

• Judges will score each surfer’s waves on a scale of 0.1 to 10, broken into one-tenth increments (e.g 7.3).

2.6 Judging Criteria

• Surfers must perform to the judging key elements to maximize their scoring potential. Judges analyse the following major elements when scoring waves.
  • Commitment and degree of difficulty
  • Innovative and progressive manoeuvres
  • Combination of major manoeuvres
  • Variety of manoeuvres
  • Speed, power and flow

• NOTE: It’s important to note that the emphasis of certain elements is contingent upon the location and the conditions on the day, as well as changes of conditions during the day.

• NOTE: The following scale will be used to describe a Ride that is scored:
  • 0–1.9 = Poor;
  • 2.0–3.9 = Fair;
  • 4.0–5.9 = Average;
  • 6.0–7.9 = Good;
  • 8.0–10.0 = Excellent

• A wave will only be scored by judges when both of the following conditions are met for a wave to be considered ridden:
  1. The surfer’s hands leave the rail in an attempt to stand up (including grab rail) AND
  2. The surfer is propelled forward by the wave

2.7 Interference

• NOTE: interference rules and penalties are currently under review, so the following is a guide only
• Wave possession or right of way in these situations will vary slightly under the following categories as determined by the nature of the contest venue. Basically it is the responsibility of the judge to determine which Surfer has the inside position based on whether the wave is a superior right or left, but never on which Surfer is first to their feet.

• EXCEPTION: If at the initial point of take-off neither the right nor left can be deemed superior, then the right of way will go to the first Surfer who makes a definite turn in their chosen direction

• With two peaks, there will be cases where one swell will have two separate, defined peaks far apart that eventually meet at some point. Although two Surfers may each have inside position on those respective peaks, the Surfer who is first to their feet shall be deemed to have wave possession and the second Surfer must give way by cutting back or kicking out before hindering the right of way Surfer.

• If two Surfers stand at the same time on two separate peaks that eventually meet, then:

• (i) If they both give way by cutting back or kicking out, so that neither is hindered, there will be no penalty.

• (ii) If they collide or hinder one another, a Surfer will be penalized by the judges if either or both indicate aggression at the point of hindrance.

• (iii) If neither Surfer gives way by exiting the Ride and both share responsibility for the confrontation, then a double interference will be called. Both Surfers will score a zero for that wave, and each of their second scoring waves are halved.

• Interference can be called for drop-ins, intentional paddling interferences and snaking if a judge feels that the interfering surfer has hindered the scoring potential for the surfer deemed to have right of way.

• On the judges score sheet (paper based), interference is marked as a triangle around the score of the interfering surfer (the surfer who dropped in) with an arrow pointing to the surfer’s score who was interfered on.

• If the interference was for a paddling or snaking (where the interfering surfer may not register a score for the wave), then the triangle is placed after the last score currently recorded for the surfer with an arrow pointing to the surfer’s score who was interfered on.

• An interference penalty will apply if at least 2 of 3 judges call interference; the penalty will then apply to all 3 judges sheets.

• The interfering surfer will lose 50% of their 2nd highest wave score. The wave that the interference was called on by the majority of the judges will count in the final tally as a zero.

• If this Surfer incurs another interference penalty during the same heat, their best wave score will be halved also.

2.8 Tallying heat results (manually)

• Initial heat results are calculated on each judges scoresheet by adding the two highest wave scores for each surfer to determine the ranking (i.e. the surfer with the highest wave score total will be ranked 1)

• The ranking of each surfer across all three judges score sheets is then added together to determine the final heat placings (i.e. the lowest total of all three ranks is the heat winner)

• At least 50% of surfers in each heat will progress on to the next round based on the final heat placings

Number of competitors in a heat	6	5	4	3
Number of competitors advancing to next heat	3	3	2	2

2.9 Tallying heat results (computer based system)

• A score for each of a surfer’s waves is entered by each of the three judges based on the judging criteria. These three waves scores are combined and averaged by the computer system to give a final wave score. The best two wave scores for any surfer in a heat combine to give the total heat result for that surfer. The highest two wave score (heat result) wins the heat.

2.10 Ties

• Count backs on any tied score sheets go to the highest single wave score. If still unbroken, then best 3/4/5/6 waves will be counted up until the tie is broken.

2.11 Missing heats: No-shows & Not-Availables

• Any surfer who doesn’t turn up for their heat or does turn up but doesn’t enter the water and ride a wave is regarded as a NO-SHOW

• Any surfer who doesn’t turn up for their heat but HAS INFORMED THE CONTEST DIRECTORS of their unavailability is regarded as a NOT-AVAILABLE

• A surfer who surfs in round 1 or further but then does a NO-SHOW for a subsequent heat will receive points for the competition equal to the lowest scoring non-advancing place of the round they have completed only; no points will be awarded for any heats missed

• A surfer who surfs in round 1 or further but then indicates to the contest directors that they are NOT-AVAILABLE for a subsequent heat will receive points for the competition equal to the lowest scoring non-advancing place of the next round (i.e. of the heat they will miss)

• A surfer who checks in but does a NO-SHOW for their first round heat will receive no points for the competition

• If a surfer is a NO-SHOW for a heat and the contest directors DO NOT KNOW where they are, their place will not be filled by a repechage surfer in case the surfer does turn up to enter the heat late

• If a surfer is NOT-AVAILABLE for a heat and the contest directors DO KNOW where they are (i.e. they have been informed by the surfer about the absence), their place may be filled by a repechage surfer at the contest directors discretion

• For the purposes of progression of other surfers in a heat, a NO-SHOW surfer is considered to have competed (i.e. 3 surfers would advance to the next round of a 5 person heat with a no-show even though only 4 surfers competed)

• If you miss a heat because of an administrative error, time miscalculation, a broken down car, alien abduction or anything else, the repechage rules apply to any available places in heats yet to be surfed

2.12 Repechage

• The contest directors may choose to open up repechage places for surfers if

1. They are informed by an advancing surfer that he/she will be NOT-AVAILABLE for subsequent rounds OR
2. Any round 2 or subsequent heat has less than four surfers and another non-advancing surfer(s) in the same division is available to surf up until there are no more than 4 surfers in the heat

• No repechage places are available in any final

• At the discretion of the contest directors, any NOT-AVAILABLE surfer’s place can be available for repechage unless it is in a final

• If a surfer is a NO-SHOW for a heat and the contest directors DO NOT KNOW where they are, their place will not be filled by a repechage surfer in case the surfer does turn up to enter the heat late

• Repechage places will be granted by way of the old random wildcard ‘draw the name out of a hat’ system – Any available and eligible surfers present can add their name to the hat

• To be eligible for a repechage spot you must:

1. Be a current and financial member
2. Surf in the same division as the repechage place
3. Have checked-in to surf for that day

2.13 Heat duration, start and finish

• Standard duration of a heat is 15 minutes

• Heat durations may be varied at the discretion of Contest Directors based on factors such as prevailing conditions, available light and numbers of competitors

• At the start and end of each heat, a siren will sound. No waves will be scored prior to the start of the first siren and after the siren starts at the end of the heat

• If the siren is not present or does not sound, the red flag will indicate that the heat has stopped.

• During a heat, a green flag will be flown near the judge’s tent to indicate that the heat is on.

• For the last 5 minutes of a heat, a yellow flag is flown

• A red flag indicates that the last heat has stopped and the next heat has not yet started

• There is 30 second change over period between each heat

• At the end of the heat, Surfers must return to the beach in a prone position (lying down). If at the discretion of Contest Directors a Surfer is deemed to ride a wave during the next heat or remains in the Competition Area during the next heat and does not make every effort to return to the beach, then an interference penalty will be applied

2.14 Heat interruptions

• If the 10 minute mark of any heat is reached and no one has caught a wave then the heat maybe cancelled and re-run

• In the Event of any heat having to be stopped by extreme danger as decided by the Contest Directors continuous horn blasts will be sounded and the red flag will be flown.

• If a Surfer feels they are in danger due to a shark attack and they leave the water, the contest directors and judges must stop the heat immediately and use the above procedure to warn fellow heat Surfers even if the contest directors cannot see the danger.

• When deemed safe, the heat will be restarted using the same judging sheets with the same amount of time remaining unless the contest directors feel that no surfer in the heat had a distinct advantage when the heat was stopped, in which case the heat may be re-run

2.14 Wave limits

• The maximum number of waves allowed to be ridden in a heat by a surfer is 12

• If a surfer reaches this maximum, they are to be advised by an announcement on the PA system and instructed to return to shore

• If more than the maximum number of waves is ridden within this time limit, the Surfer shall be penalized with an interference penalty for every extra wave ridden

2.15 Protests

• A judging scoring decision once made is irrevocable no matter what proof is available to show otherwise.

• The Contest Directors decisions are final

• A Surfer may request an appeal hearing against any decision reached by the Contest Directors at the next available Southend Committee meeting.

2.16 Announcements

• Announcers must understand the basic rules and criteria and can never announce approaching sets.

• Surfers will have no form of protest if an announcement is made on the PA system that is wrong

2.17 Event cancellation due to force majeure

• If an Event is cancelled due to Force Majeure (Nuclear attack, sharknado, Justin Beiber concert etc) and the event has started, then:

1. Advancing Surfers shall receive points applicable to the last non-advancing place in the uncompleted round.
2. Non-advancing Surfers who have already lost shall receive points applicable to that round.
3. Surfers who have not competed shall receive points for the last non-advancing place in the uncompleted round

2.18 Free-surfing in the competition area

• Any competing surfer caught surfing in the competition area outside of their designated heat times may be penalized at the Contest Directors discretion with a loss of 10% of their competition points for that day

• For any surfer in a heat, waves ridden outside of the flagged competition area will not be judged or scored

2.19 Physical assault

• Physical abuse of any judge, committee member, competitor, sponsor or spectator may result in the loss of all competition points and automatic disqualification at the Contest Directors discretion

2.20 Appeals and arbitration

• A Surfer may request an appeal hearing against any decision reached by the Contest Directors at the next available Southend Committee meeting.

 

Appendix1: Determining Club Champion

This method that takes highest point scorer in each division and takes into account the number of surfers in that division to determine which point score was the hardest to get.

STEP 1: Take the highest point scorer from all 7 comps (or however many were surfed that year) in each division (opens, B grade, GM and women’s) as it is going to be one of these surfers who will be the club champion. Place the points in column A

	A	B	C	D	E
Division	Highest points	# of surfers	Average	Competitive factor	Weighted Highest score
Opens	6026
B Grade	7250
G Masters	7220
Women	6216

STEP 2: determine how many surfers surfed in each comp in that division

division	Comp1	Comp2	Comp3	Comp4	Comp5	Comp6	Comp7	Average surfers per comp
opens	19	17	19	21	16	22	19	133/7 = 19
B Grade	15	4	5	6	5	2	2	39/7 = 6
Etc etc

You end up with an average number of surfers for that division as shown in column B below

	A	B	C	D	E
Division	Highest points	# of surfers	Average	Competitive factor	Weighted Highest score
Opens	6026	19
Snr Men	7250	6
G Masters	7220	20
Women	6216	14

STEP 3:  divide each division’s highest point’s scorer (step 1) by the number of surfers in the division (step2). This gives you the average per surfer in that division. (Column C = A divided by B)

	A	B	C	D	E
Division	Highest points	# of surfers	Average	Competitive factor	Weighted Highest score
Opens	6026	19	317
B grade	7250	6	1208
G Masters	7220	20	361
Women	6216	14	444

The lowest average of the 4 divisions represents the hardest division, and then the relative easiness of each other division can be represented by the ‘competitive factor’ (next step)

STEP 4: to determine the competitive factor, the averages for each division are divided by the lowest average (giving us a number higher than 1 that represents how much easier that division was)

(Column D = Column C divided by the lowest average [317 in the example below])

	A	B	C	D	E
Division	Highest points	# of surfers	Average	Competitive factor	Weighted Highest score
Opens	6026	19	317	1
Snr Men	7250	6	1208	3.8
G Masters	7220	20	361	1.14
Women	6216	14	444	1.4

STEP 5: now take the original highest point score and divide it by the competitive factor to determine which point score represents the best effort – obviously the hardest division has a competitive factor of 1 (its average divided by its average), so its final score will be equal to the original highest point score

(Column E = Column A divided by Column D)

The highest weighted point score (Column E) is the club champion; so in this example the Club Champion would be the winner of the Grand Masters division

	A	B	C	D	E
Division	Highest points	# of surfers	Average	Competitive factor	Weighted Highest score
Opens	6026	19	317	1	6026
Snr Men	7250	6	1208	3.8	1907
G Masters	7220	20	361	1.14	6333
Women	6216	14	444	1.4	4440