MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE WORLD TOURNAMENT COUNCIL

HELD ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 8TH AND 9TH OCTOBER 1998

AT THE IOC OFFICES, LAUSANNE, SUI


PRESENT

Bob Corson Chairman - Pan Am Region

Helena Kjellander IWSF Athletes Commission

Jeffry Armstrong Pan Am Region

Peter Person Pan Am Region

Bruce Douglas Asia Australasia Region

Ron Fergusson Asia Australasia Region

Stefan Rauchenwald EAME Region

Gillian Hill EAME Region

Alain Amade EAME Region

Adriano Bottinelli EAME Substitute

Apologies

Paul Fong Asia Australasia Region

The Council members were pleased to be in Lausanne at the IOC headquarters, particularly in view of the Greek NOC decision to put forward water skiing as a new sport in the 2004 Olympic Games. We were aware that the final decision on water skiing being included would be made by the IOC in December.

Items for the agenda had been received from several sources. It was agreed to utilise Bob's agenda dated 5th October 1998 as the basis for the meeting, picking up on the written comments from the Athletes Commission and the EAME TC as we progressed.

For ease of reading, the Minutes have been compiled under event / subject headings.

RULE 2 - TOURNAMENT EVENTS

NUMBERS IN FINALS

Suggestion from the athletes to have 12 skiers in each of the word championship finals with no consideration if they were team skiers or not. They do not want to change the team scores being taken from either round as they believe this adds excitement to the competition, but they feel the issue of team skiers in the final irrelevant to each event. The TC discussed this issue carefully and discussed all the implications between individual events, overall, team scoring, etc.

Vote on whether to limit team scores to the first round only - NO CHANGE

Vote on changing numbers in finals to 12 - NO CHANGE

Vote on protecting team skiers (or not) in the finals - NO CHANGE

Helena believed the athletes would be very disappointed with this decision.

RULE 4 - TOURNAMENT ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

AGREED to allow the top 6 male and 6 female skiers from the World Cup Ranking List as at 30 days prior to the first day of the World Championships to enter as individuals.

AGREED to allow reigning World Champions to attend World Championships as of right.

World Record Holder ratified at least 30 days prior to first day of the tournament. AGREED

Take out a) from "provided …..

Proposed wording for Rule 4.01 after paragraph one:-

Skiers not selected for their national teams may qualify to compete in the World Championships as individuals only in the relevant event(s) if they meet one or more of the following criteria:

  1. World record holder. The performance must have been ratified by the Tournament Council and the President of the IWSF 30 days before the first day of the World Championships.
  2. Ranked on the IWSF World Rankings List in the top 8 in any event or ranked in the top 5 in overall. The Rankings List used shall be the most recently published list.
  3. Ranked on the IWSF World Cup Rankings List in the top 6 in any event. The Ranking List used shall be that as at 30 days before the first day of the World Championships.
  4. Reigning World Champion in any event or the overall from the previously held World Championships.

All skiers qualified as individuals must be entered by their Federation.

Skiers entering as individuals shall not have their scores count toward team standings.

RULE 5 - OVERALL

INDIVIDUAL OVERALL SCORING AT A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

World Overall Final - all in favour of bringing it in for Milan. AGREED

Number of skiers in the final - 4 AGREED.

Individual overall ceases after the Elimination round and places 5 downward are settled.

The Overall finals start again from zero.

Scores from the Overall Finals cannot count for the team score.

AGREED - 1000 points scoring system to be used for Individual and Team overall.

Move Overall Event Scoring Base Scores table to Rankings and Records sections.

Refer throughout to Overall Finals

Team event continues into the second round within the three events only.

Noted - a skier who is in all three finals could establish a new world overall record by scoring more than a skier in the overall final.

Suggested rewording for Rule 5 Overall and Team Competition

5.01 Individual Overall Scoring

Each competitor shall be awarded in each event a certain number of overall points according to the relationships of his score in the preliminary round to the best score in the event during the preliminary round by a skier who is an official member of a Federation team.

The best performance in an event in the preliminary round by a team skier shall be awarded 1000 points. All other performances shall be calculated according to the following formula where the term 'best score' refers to the best score by a team skier in the preliminary round.

It is noted that a non-team skier who has entered on the basis of overall ranking may have an event score that exceeds 1000 points as calculated by the given event formulas.

For tricks: (skier's score x 1000) / best score

For slalom: ((skier's score plus 24) x 1000) / (best score plus 24)

For a skier to receive credit for these extra 24 points, he must have successfully completed his first pass (see Rule 14.11).

For jumping: Men - ((skier's score minus 25) x 1000 / (best score minus 25)

Women - ((skier's score minus 17) x 1000 / (best score minus 17)

A skier's overall score in jumping shall not be reduced below zero.

5.02 Qualification for Individual Overall Scoring

To be considered for overall standings, a contestant must have received points in all three events.

5.03 Round selection for Individual Overall Score

Individual overall points shall be calculated on the Preliminary round results. Scores obtained in running off a tie shall not be counted towards overall.

5.04 Individual Overall Placement

The top 4 placed male and top 4 placed female Individual Overall skiers from the Preliminary round shall go forward to the Overall Finals.

The contestants placed 5th and below in the Preliminary rounds shall maintain that order in the official results for Overall placement.

5.05 Overall Finals

The overall finals shall consist of each qualifying competitor receiving one round in each of the three events, slalom, tricks and jump. Separate men's and women's divisions will be held. The start order in each of the three events shall remain the same which shall be the reverse of the overall placement in the preliminary round.

The contestants shall slalom first according to all the rules of the slalom event. This will be followed by tricks and finally jump. (in the spirit of the rules, the optional lower heights of the jump should be allowed, if requested, which would potentially change the start order of the jump portion. If possible this should be avoided - potentially the top overall skiers will all be using the higher ramp setting).

The contestant with the highest overall score based on performances in this round only shall be the winner. Any tie will be resolved by first using the jump score as a tiebreaker. If they are tied, then the tricks score will be used as a tiebreaker. If there is still a tie, then they must also have tied in slalom and the tie will be resolved by a runoff in the jump event.

The men's and women's events will run together in the order of women's slalom, men's slalom, women's tricks, men's tricks, women's jump, men's jump.

Overall points will be allocated according to the formula in Rule 5.01.

The performance of skiers participating in the Overall Finals shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of the team scores.

5.06 TEAM SCORING

In team competition, the best three overall scores, men or women, in each event (slalom, tricks and jump - in the preliminary or finals) shall be summed up to obtain the team score.

The performance by a skier who is not an official member of his Federation's team shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of the team score.

The performance of skiers participating in the Overall Finals shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of the team score.

RULES 13.12; 14.11,& 15.17

All contain references to individual overall scoring which must be changed. Same wording for each:

The result obtained by a skier in the preliminary round shall count towards overall.

RULE 10.07 - SPEED CONTROL

LIMITATION ON SCORES IF SPEED CONTROL FAILS

There was some feeling that speed control should be mandatory for all events for 1999 with a reversion to normal homologation (i.e. no ranking or records) if it is not working - this was our original intention in Medellin.

However, the TC accepted there were still problems with speed control which would not just disappear and it was finally AGREED we should restrict scores for all events for the 1999 season in the event of speed control failure. It was stressed that it is a requirement to use speed control for all R & L events.

The following wording will be added to the Additional Rules:

In L & R class tournaments if speed control fails scores used for the Ranking list are limited to:-
CategorySlalom FiguresJump Overall
Men3 buoys @ 58/10.75m 8500 points61 metres2200 points
Women6 buoys @ 55/12m 6000 points40 metres2100 points
Junior boys3 buoys @ 58/12m 5000 points41 metres 1500 points
Junior girls3 buoys @ 55/13m 4400 points32 metres 1500 points

A proposal from EAME to have these limitations applied to all skiers in an age/sex category when speed control fails received no support. NOT AGREED.

Considerable discussion on this subject to find a method of actually physically applying these limitations within the rankings lists. A great deal of work and recording needs to be done manually to make sure the correct scores were applied to the Rankings List. It was generally agreed that the limitation on scores must be handled at the competition to ensure the correct scores were put forward to the Rankings Lists.

CALIBRATION

Calibration should take place before the competition starts or the skiers arrive.

Education and certification of drivers needed. Each of the regions will be taking that on board in their officials training programme and requiring drivers to know and understand speed control.

TRICK VERSUS WAKEBOARD MODE

There was a considerable difference between the Wakeboard and Trick modes for Perfect Pass. The TC accepted that tournament should announce in advance which mode will be used for L & R Tournament events. More work and knowledge needed on this issue.

During the session with Nicholas LeForestier he advised that the Wakeboard mode will not hold the speed for runs over 10,000. The trick mode should be used and it should be notified before the event.

SOFTWARE CHANGES

EAME feel software changes should be limited in each year. Bob feels the manufacturers should control their own systems - and must identify the version on each system.

AGREED No change in chips after 1st July in a World Championships year so the Federations can be notified properly.

Re other software changes during the year - general feeling we do not wish to hamper the development of speed control so other than the World Championship requirement agreed above they can keep issuing new versions.

AIMS OF SPEED CONTROL

Bob feels we have to expect that it will take some time to get speed control as we would like it and it is an ongoing project. Whilst the existing speed control systems do not meet the letter of the rules the use of a machine is a great improvement on manual driving. As the speed control mechanisms become more stable and refined then we will begin a process of working with the manufacturers to ensure that the speed variations are minimized.

FALL BUTTON OPERATION

We already have agreed to go with all buoy timing so where this is used the fall button is not needed. USA use the judge to press the fall button, EAME often use the driver. Athletes prefer the judge to do it - but provided it is pushed at the instigation of the judge (not the driver on his own) then it is acceptable.

OTHER ISSUES

Discussion on other speed control issues, such as protected scores, technology. We have to come back to this. The Athletes Commission feel that a malfunction of tournament equipment should give a protected score.

SPEED CONTROL IN JUMP

Request from athletes to mandate the judge must notify the skier if a letter change is being made in speed control. Agreed to implement a requirement to notify the skier of significant speed control setting changes in jump (meaning a change in letter).

RULE 13 - JUMP

SPEED ERRORS V BAD TRIANGLES

In the case where both occur on a single jump (Slow/fast time and a bad triangle) time takes precedence over the bad triangle. The use of video jump measurement meant this would seldom happen in the future.

VIDEO MEASUREMENT

It was felt to be unacceptable for the video judges to be in a position to re-judge previous jumps of skiers. It was agreed the judges plotting the video jump must make their decision on distance for any jump before moving on to the next jump. Once made that decision is final. Skiers were entitled to request to see their jump plot but were unable to request a re-plot as this was already the subject of judgement decision.

Agree to change Rule 13.11

First paragraph, last sentence:

"The distance shall be communicated to the skier after each scoring jump. "

Third paragraph, first sentence:

"…. operating the system who shall jointly make a judgement decision on the impact point. The calculated distance shall not be displayed until the impact point is jointly judged."

RAMP LENGTH AND ANGLE

A request had been received from the Athletes Commission to extend the ramp length out of the water and to keep the same ramp height. This would reduce the angle of the ramp to .271 instead of .275

The TC agreed to agree with the Athlete recommendations for the 1.80 m jump setting..

Ramp length out of water 6.60 - 6.80 with 6.75 - 6.80 recommended.

Ramp length under water minimum 50 cm

Ramp angle 0.271 +/-0.003

All rules relating to the ramp would need to be changed.

OUT OF COURSE SPEED AND PATH VARIATIONS

The Athletes had commented on the re-ride possibilities for path deviation outside the course. The WTC felt this was already covered under general rules.

END COURSE VIDEO FOR JUMP

Suggestion from the athletes to implement this. This will be considered at the next meeting. A test site will be contacted to see if we can experiment with this concept.

RAMP HEIGHT CHANGES

Suggestion from the athletes to allow skiers to change ramp heights between rounds. In general this is not a problem for anyone to accept, however, the time by which they have to nominate this is another issue. Felt that a time designated by the Chief Judge to be announced.

REMOVE RULE 13.05 FROM THE BOOK.

It is contained in 13.01

RULE 14 - SLALOM

14.09 SCORING BUOYS

The Athletes Commission had recommended some changes to the buoys scoring requirements.

After discussion the TC

AGREED the requirement remains that the SKIER (not the tip of the ski) must cross the various lines.

AGREED to reword 14.09 a) to read:

1/4 points when the skier crosses the line C-D AND the X-Y line in a skiing position (see sketch).

Full point issue - Athletes suggestion is to ski past the line of the gate buoys but not fall as a result of slack line. NO DECISION

14.08 A MISS OR "RIDING OVER"

General agreement that if the skier passes round the outside of the buoy something should be scored. The sinking of the buoy from outside by the leg or binding should be allowed, provided the ski is on the outside.

Hitting with the ski to sink the buoy means a miss.

TIMING TOLERANCES

Athletes recommending tighter slalom timing tolerances. WTC feels they can be left with the speed control doing its best to get actual times. NO CHANGE

TUBE GATE BUOYS

Following tests around the world, the majority of skiers are not in favour of these buoys proposed by Clint Stadlbaur. If change is felt to be needed then the skiers would prefer the entry gates to be larger. Also the gates were being judged differently around the world. Male skiers could ram the buoys, sinking them but still getting credit.

Jeffry proposed the skier be given credit provided he was not outside the buoy - i.e. he can run it over. Only three in favour. NO CHANGE

AGREED Athletes commission will make more research - trying larger gate buoys or other ideas and report back by 1st January.

RULE 14.07

needs rewording to take out "at his discretion"

RULE 10.04

Adjust diagram to include 10.25 (pink) and 9.75 (black).

14.13 OFFICIALS

Final paragraph:

There will always be three people in the boat. These will either be the driver, judge and timer, or if electronic timing is used, the driver, judge and another person designated by the Chief Judge.

ALL BUOY TIMING

There is no doubt that many people feel this is a good system that negates the need for a fall button. We are now in a situation where we can optionally allow this to be used. The all buoy timing table will be put in the rule book.

Placement of the magnets can be an issue, also the field strength of the magnets must be the same throughout the course.

Bob will write to the manufacturers concerning this and asking them to make sure all are the same strength.

END COURSE VIDEO

Rule 14.17 - AGREED to change this to a requirement to film 12 metre passes and shorter.

RULE 15 - TRICKS

10,000 POINT REVIEW JUDGE

The 10,000 point review judge may be any 1st class judge who is NOT one of the five event judges. This could be the Chief Judge, Assistant Chief Judge, Homologator or Calculator if qualified - i.e. 1st Class Judge.

Also there should be a review for women based on 7,000 points or over.

There needs to be a slight change of wording to Rule 15.15 to allow for this. Suggested

Any time there is a 3 - 2 split on the last trick in time on a run of over 10,000 points for men or 7,000 points for women, a designated qualified judge shall be appointed by the Chief Judge to review the video. (The reviewer may be one of the other panel officials provided he/she is suitably qualified as a 1st class judge). If the designated person does not agree with the judges' decision, it will then be reviewed by the Chief Judge if he/she is not already the designated reviewer. If both the video reviewer and the CJ agree their decision will stand. If they disagree or the reviewer is the CJ, then the event judges have to review. The official appointed to review the video shall be assigned for the whole event/series.

ATHLETES COMMISSION - TRICK WORKING GROUP

The meeting welcomed Nicolas LeForestier who was chairing the trick working group.

The group had discussed and agreed some items and asked the WTC to implement them.

ANNOUNCING SCORES

Want to use a different system of announcing scores to the public using 0 - 10 ratings - 10 being the world record level. So a 10.2 would show the world record had been broken.

They would prepare separate charts for men and women that would allocate the points on a scale (e.g. with 6200 being the lowest score of 1 for men). There is a curve in the scale. They have to finalise the scales and will present them to the WTC.

WTC AGREED this does not need a rule written, but we have to help promote the idea by detailing how it will work and encouraging organisers to use it. WTC to circulate the athlete prepared charts for men and women. Nicholas agreed they would devise separate charts for Juniors.

WEIGHTING THE BOAT

Weighting of the boat between 20 - 50 kg to be available to use to adjust the wake pattern - not to increase the wake size. Also to determine where it will be put in the boat. The officials decide how much weight is applied according to who and what is riding in the boat. The skier has the choice of where to place the weight - side to side at the feet of the pin man or to remove it. AGREED

TRICK TIMING

Video trick timing system very much liked by the skiers - this would resolve many issues and they would like it to be mandatory for major tournaments.

Computer devices for timing trick runs. All in favour of using video techniques to determine the exact 20 seconds of the skiers run. Which is the first trick at the start and all five judges to determine the last trick in time.

Rule 15.12 to be amended to allow use of automatic video trick timing devices.

For record review Bob is already counting frames which is effectively checking the start and finish of the runs.

Felt it is too early to make it mandatory to use timing video for L & R events this year. Make it a strong recommendation for 1999. Most sites which have video jump measurement will be able to add this extra service for minimal cost.

The 10,000 (7,000) point review judge can take on the role of start stop judge. Depending on the system being used he may or may not work with the timer to control the start and stop. Changes need to the Additional Rule chart and Rule 15.15.

TRICK VIDEO FROM THE BOAT

The Athletes believe video should be taken from the boat and transmitted live to the the judges on the tower. This would give the judges the opportunity to review it between passes at normal speed and actually do the judging from the TV screen. Would require transmission from the boat to the tower. Felt we should trial this at some events and see how it works and if it is feasible.

AGREED we should allow "live" video from the boat as an experimental session for the season.

ADDING EXCITEMENT TO THE TRICK EVENT

The skiers have discussed what the future of tricks could be. They believe we should encourage -

multiple rotations of 720 degrees and more

new flips which are spectacular.

To encourage ski lines and multiple rotations we must increase the points values.

For flips the way to encourage them is to have more variety of flips, but limit the number a skier can do from the list to a maximum of 6 flips in total.

Increasing points for 12 multiple turns

In principle the TC agreed this idea and agreed to ask the trick group to come up with some ideas. The athletes feel there is a need to do something quite quickly here and after discussion it was felt that provided they can demonstrate they have consulted a representative sample the TC would be willing to vote by post to accept their proposals. The representative sample was agreed in general as the top 20 men and top 10 women from the rankings list. But there has to be proof of a response from each.

Limiting number of flips and putting under different trick numbers

Same research to be done by the trick group to get a consensus to present a new flip section of the trick table.

Also to survey the same number of top skiers to monitor the tricks they are doing - not doing - and change the points value up or down to encourage or discourage different tricks.

All to be done by 1st Janaury.

Helena asked the TC to accept a full review from the Trick committee at our next formal meeting and for them to monitor which tricks are not used, which are, etc. as part of their review. She was pleased to feel that progress was being made with tricks.

TIES 13.13; 14.12 AND 15.18

The Athletes Commission were concerned that ties were being handled differently at various events, particularly at World Cup events. The TC agreed that:

For a World Championships ties for 2nd and 3rd places would be decided as per the existing rules.

For World Cup or Masters events the organisers should announce in advance what they will do, including splitting (or not) the cash prize.

ELECTRONIC DOSSIERS

Bob has received none from EAME or AA. The Lion programme could provide most of the information required and it will take only ten minutes for the homologator to complete. All agreed this must be done, but are concerned about the workload for the homologator. Keep it simple but keep it active. The publication of this dossier information on the web pages would help alleviate suspicion from the athletes.

RULE EXCEPTIONS

Majority in favour of no rules exceptions, however, requests cannot be ignored. As a rule of thumb the proposed amendments should be more stringent than the existing rule. They have to be handled on a case by case basis.

All skiers are advised to look for the Homologation notice which is meant to be published before the competition starts. Also skiers to ask if they have a problem with anything - at the time not after.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Athletes Commission feel very strongly that the Conflict of Interest rule should be made into a rule, rather than a recommendation, at major cash prize events. It was accepted that at World Championships the officials panels were sufficiently large to ensure no conflict of interest within an event.

After considerable discussion it was agreed that World Cup events must have no conflict of interest on the panel for an event.

The present understanding of conflict of interest is family lines and spouses. However, there are other conflicts such as girlfriends, past girlfriends, commercial interests, etc which are not taken into account. Bob would put a definition of Conflict of Interest rules into the book.

JUNIOR AGES

The Asia Australasia Region had sent in a proposal to change the junior age limit to 18 rather than 17. It was agreed that no decision could be made and that this proposal should be discussed at Regional level and brought back to the next WTC meeting.

WORLD CUP ITEMS.

Bob said the World Cup commission is a loose grouping of the Sponsors, IWSF and cup organisers. As such it was not in a position to decide technical issues concerning the World Cup, but had a definite input on some issues, for example points scoring.

Basically the IWSF has a contract with CDC that we will supply 16 World Cup stops around the world. At this time it is not easy to guarantee these 16 and we are therefore not in a position to impose strict rules on the organisers.

The TC regretted that womens events were not held on an equal basis with mens events either in number of events or in prize money.. Also the trick event was not included in the World Cup.

Certain items should be a recommendation to the World Cup stops to use. Any stops deviating from these guidelines should notify skiers of the change in advance.

SKI FLYING

A request had come via the athletes commission to set some loose rules for Ski Flying. However, they wanted the rules to remain vague and to allow the skiers to set the rules. They did not want rules that would hold them back.

There was a feeling within the TC that at present this is an event for a very few skiers from amongst the very few top jumpers - highly elitist and not happening in any other country in the world other than the USA. The TC did not wish to stop the development of ski flying, neither did it wish to hinder the skiers in working up some rules. The majority of the TC have no problem to let ski flying develop as it will.

However, this was a separate and new event. It was not water ski jumping. Not all water ski jumpers wished to be, or were part of ski flying. The TC felt unable to establish rules at this time and agreed it was best to let the skiers continue to develop this in their own way.

At this time the TC wished to maintain the status quo of ski flying.

If Ski Flying were held at any World Cup stop in place of the jump event there would be no points used for World Cup Jump standings or rankings.

ELITE SKIER CONCERNS

Unfortunately the athletes were still concerned that not all competitions were run under equal conditions. There were rumours of course adjustments after homologation, boat speeds not checked by the judge, etc. All of this led to concerns over the validity of scores set at rankings list competitions.

The TC felt very clearly that if athletes had concerns at an event these should be addressed to the Chief Judge at the time and not after the event was over, by which time nothing could be done. It was the Chief Judge's responsibility to take such concerns seriously and to make sure that the competition was properly run and fair to all skiers at the event and those not at the event.

Part of the problem was that it is important for scores to be accurate because of the rankings list.

RANKINGS LIST

OVERALL RANKINGS

Overall scores for rankings and records - from which rounds?

Athletes Commission have proposed utilising only scores from a single round of a competition. EAME have proposed utilising the best score from any round in a competition - limited to 3 rounds.

The possibility of establishing the World Overall event at the 1999 Worlds influenced the decision - and after discussion favour was found for overall scores to come from one round of a competition only. The TC noted there was a possibility of 3 overall scores for any skier from one tournament. AGREED

Change required to World Ranking List Description and Schedule last paragraph to make it clear that an overall score can come only from a single round of a tournament. The rounds of a tournament shall be set by the organisers and are NOT based on the first time a skier skis in a multi round tournament.

Insert the chart from Rule 5.06 and retitle Overall Rankings & Record Scoring Base Scores.

NUMBER OF SCORES REQUIRED FOR INCLUSION IN RANKINGS

The Athletes Commission had suggested that in order to be included in the ranking list a skier must have two scores to count. (Anyone with one score would not be included). Bob explained that he does not agree with this idea because skiers with a single score are those just qualifying for the list and have no real impact. Currently, he adjusts the single score to a lower value and keeps the skier on the list. NO CHANGE agreed.

SAFETY ISSUES

The Athletes commission were concerned over safety when skiers were being "forced" to ski in dangerous conditions.

The TC believed there was no way of setting firm guidelines for when an event should go ahead or not - the skiers will have concerns and will voice them. The tournament needs to be safe and be seen to be safe, The host Federation has to make sure the site is safe in its usual state.

The TC and Athletes Commission are very concerned about safety issues and would like to make sure Chief Judges do take good account of skiers safety.

It was AGREED to change Rule 2.04 to say if a final cannot be completed the results from the Preliminary round will prevail.

Also AGREED to change paragraph two of 2.04 to read "if by 2/3rd majority, the appointed judges decide it is impossible……….

SAFETY NETS FOR BOATS

EAME feel some protection should be provided for the driver but realise that nets are not feasible.

AGREED to add a rule for slalom that a commercially available shock tube must be used in slalom. Use AWSA rule book wording.

Also felt the manufacturers should be asked to provide some kind of protection behind the drivers head. Bob would write to them about this.

CHANGING CONDITIONS

The second element of the athletes concerns was to do with weather conditions which affect a tournament as it is running.

Unfair weather conditions changing between skiers in a series is a separate issue and is not necessarily to do with safety. We are very concerned about these very unfair situations which have arisen this year. Remind officials at events that they have to do their very best to be fair to all skiers.

RULE 16 RECORDS

The TC AGREED speed control is a requirement for any World record to be set.

JUMP

For approval of a Jump record - visual proof of what actually happened is required. This must include video tape of the jump landing, the measurement set up, etc.

If there was a computer breakdown, but the cameras were still capturing film of each jump and the Johnson system showed a possible new jump record the tapes could be submitted for verification

Additional Rules chart to be amended to name video jump measurement as required for R tournaments. Also change the asterisk symbols to make each refer to the correct note.

TRICKS

The changes in record procedure agreed at the Medellin meeting to be included in the rule book.

RE-RIDES

EAME had suggested alterations to Rule 8.02 which would cover the situation should a time not be acquired in the Slalom and Jump events. This suggestion was AGREED,

However, the suggestion that when a skier is disadvantaged and is given an optional re-ride that the score be protected was NOT AGREED. It was agreed, however, that the principle of this idea was sound and postal communication would be held to see if the wording from the AWSA rule book on this issue could be used. (Note there was no AWSA rule book available at the meeting).

8.02: Reride Criteria

When unfair conditions or a malfunction of the tournament committee-supplied equipment occurs, which, in the opinion of a majority of the Event Judges, adversely affects a contestant, he shall be granted the option of a reride only on the passes affected.

When a skier receives an unfair advantage, the reride is mandatory. When taken, the mandatory reride is scored.

Failure to establish a time through the course in slalom or jump is considered a malfunction of equipment and a reride will be given. The score is not protected.

ADDITIONAL RULES

EAME suggestions for change ACCEPTED

Under Record Capability:

Protractors - none needed - video jump required.

Difference on a fixed point - no longer applicable.

Under Ranking List

Protractors - no minimum and video can be used.

RATIONALISATION OF OFFICIALS QUALIFICATION

We need to think ahead to find a central body who will administer the officials standards for the future. We should all have similar exams and qualifications at each level. Bob asked Stefan to create a questionnaire about qualifications, experience needed, exams, etc which we can all complete and analyse.

HOMOLOGATION GUIDELINES

Arising from concerns over the jump ramp at Lacanau (FRA) and a misunderstanding of the meaning of the rule, the TC agreed the deviation from the plane must be clarified in the rules more clearly. Also the homologation guidelines to be clarified as to how that plane will be checked.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

JUDGES NOMINATIONS

Nominations for officials for the 1999 World Championships in Italy to be submitted to Bob by 5th February 1999.

WORLD SENIOR TROPHY

All World Senior rules need including in the World Rules. - including the number of medals that can be awarded according to entry.





The Chairman, in closing the meeting, summarised by stating that a number of issues were still unresolved. In so far as possible these would be handled by postal ballot.

Meeting sessions:-

Thursday 8th October 1300 to 1900 hours

Friday 9th October 0900 to 1730 hours