Canoe Wales is the national governing body for paddle sport in Wales. We:

  • Manage the National White Water Centre which is located on the river Tryweryn in Bala, North Wales
  • Represent the interests of our club and individual members
  • Advocate on behalf of the interests of the sport in Wales
  • Provide coaching and development programmes from local to international level
  • Stage national and international competitions.

Competition Organisation

Competition Entry

Competition categories are as follows:

  • International Open Kayak
  • Ladies Kayak
  • Junior Kayak
  • Novice Kayak
  • Masters Kayak
  • Plastic Class
  • High Performance Class
  • In Scotland and Ireland a Ski Event is also run.

A junior will be under 18 years on January 1 of the year of the competition.

A Master will be 35 years or older on January 1st of the year of the competition.

A Novice will remain so until they:

  1. Are capped as a National competitor.
  2. Reach the quarter finals of a competition with more than 40 entrants.
  3. Come 1st or 2nd in separate Novice competitions.

Novices may enter the International Open in any craft that complies to the safety regulations, or they may enter a Plastic craft in the Plastic Class.

Ladies and Juniors entering their own class, get free entry into either the International Open or Plastic Class.

Masters must pay the appropriate fees to enter additional classes.

Entries to the International Open and to the Plastic class are not permitted.

Entries into the High Performance Class in 1998 may be limited at the organisers discretion.

Entry Fee

The entry fee for members of their National Canoeing Association is £4 per event, if received by the contest organiser no later than 14 days before the competition. Late Entries will be charged £8. Non members may purchase an event ticket for 1 event only.

Cheques should be made payable to the Event Organiser.

Postponement/Cancellation

In the event of hazardous / poor conditions arising, the organiser shall decide whether or not to proceed. Any decision on change of venue will be at the organisers discretion.

Once competitors are gathered at the venue, attempts are normally made to start the competition. At Chief judges discretion, start times may be delayed and competitors may be given additional time on the water.

Competition Format

Current BCU (or affiliated association) membership is required for entry and proof will be request at the signing on.

Entries should reach the organiser not later than 14 days before the competition date.

Following close of entries, heats are drawn up by the organiser. The heats which are seeded (dependant on entry numbers) consist of 4 paddlers, each of which is allocated a bib colour to aid judging. The competitor must collect and return the bib to the allocated control point.

Before the contest commences, a briefing will be given by the organiser, passing on any relevant information. It is vital that all competitors attend, as failure to comply with directions could lead to disqualification.

Manoeuvres

A good surf run can be considered to be a series of linked manoeuvres which are appropriate to the size of the wave and the surfer's position on that wave. The steepest part of the wave (next to the shoulder) should be used to gain the speed necessary to perform manoeuvres which should be carried out with style and flair. New manoeuvres should be given credit if they are performed in a controlled manner but not if they are just a miraculous recovery from a near wipe-out. A surf run which consists of a series of individual stunts which are performed with no regard to the surfers position on the wave should not be marked highly.

Flag System

The state of play during a contest is indicated by a system of coloured flags. A gas horn is also used if possible. Experienced paddlers often gain the upper hand by using this system to their advantage with an early or late "charge".

  • Red Flag: No surfing to take place.
  • Green Flag: Hoisted at the start of a heat to indicate to competitors that the clock has been started and judges are scoring rides.
  • Green and Yellow Flags: These are flown for the last 5 minutes of a heat to indicate that time is running out. Competitors in the following heat may now take to the water, staying well clear of the competition area and on NO account should attempt to surf.
  • Black Flag: This indicates an emergency, normally a fellow competitor is in trouble. Unless you can render assistance you should leave the water and report to the beach marshal, failure to do so may result in disqualification. The heat, or time remaining may be rescheduled at the organisers discretion.
  • Area Flags: May be flown to indicate the contest area. Surfing outside of these will mean you are not being scored. The exception to this is if you begin your run inside the are you may continue to surf that wave to conclusion.

Judging Teams

Ideally the judging team should consist of one chief judge, three pairs of judges and three scribes. In practise this should be a minimum of three judges and three scribes.

  • Chief Judge: The primary function of the Chief Judge is to maintain consistency among the scores given by the judging panel. They should ensure all rides are correctly scored. They should ensure time keeping and flag changes are made. They should ensure that scoring is fair, consistent and unbiased. The Chief Judge has the final decision on any penalty waves given.
  • Judges: Each judge will, in the course of a heat, score a number of runs by different competitors. They should be seen to do this fairly and consistently, based on the latest judging criteria. All competitors will be expected to be available to assist in judging if required.

    All competitors who have 2 years competing experience should attend a judging seminar. Failure to do so may result in a refusal of entry to competitions.
  • Scribes: The Scribe is responsible for keeping a record of the competitors' scores, as given by their allotted judge. All information is recorded on a score sheet.

Judging and scribing rotas will be posted at the control point, alongside the event time table.

Although judging is a condition of entry, newcomers will not be allowed to judge but should take an interest in the duties of a scribe, as this is where your training will benefit most.

Judging

The scoring is subjective, with each ride being scored to a maximum of 20 points. Within the prevailing conditions of a heat the full range or marks should be seen to be used.

The judges will look for a style that shows a good understanding of the way a wave breaks. After a good take off, various moves should be clearly seen to have been attempted in an effort to remain close to the shoulder, and therefore in a high scoring position.

Manoeuvres should be skilfully executed with style and flair. The size of the wave being surfed will also be reflected in the score given, so that a surfer working a smaller wave will not score as highly as a surfer working a larger wave to the same standard.

REVERSE RUNS ARE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS AND WILL NOT BE SCORED.

Scoring

The first ten waves will be scored to a maximum of 20 points each. This depends on wave choice, grace, judgement and skill. A ride commences and is judged from the time the kayak is seen to take off and plane down the face of a wave.

The best 3 waves for each competitor are totalled on each judges sheet and a position is awarded. These positions are then transferred onto a master sheet, and the competitor with lowest position points is the winner etc.

The top 2 from each heat go through to the next round whilst the remainder are eliminated. In the first round the top 2 go through with the others normally getting a second chance via the repecharge. In later rounds only the top 2 go through.

Organisation of Heats

Competitors should be placed into heats of 4.

When placing paddlers in the 1st round heats, it is useful to use the ranking list to ensure an even distribution of the Top ranked paddlers, throughout the heats. Where possible, at least half the competitors in a heat should win through to the next round. Repecharge heats must be used to give 1st round losers a 2nd chance.

It is possible to allow the highest scoring loser through, to complete numbers in the next round. It is important, that when successful competitors are placed in the next round, that there should be, as far as possible, the same number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed competitors in each of the heats. The method of achieving this is to place the competitors in order from each heat, starting one heat down for 1st place each time.

Example of An Entry of 24

Protests

Any competitor who wishes to protest about any aspect of an event, must make it in writing within half an hour of that aspect. A protest fee of £5 will be deposited with the event organiser, which will be refunded if the protest is upheld.

Protests will be heard by the event protest committee whose decision is final.

No protest will be heard or accepted from any person other than a signed on competitor of that event.

Professional Judging

At selected events during the 1998 season, professional judges will be employed to aid in competition organisation. At these events competitors will not be required to judge or script.

There may however be other duties for which volunteers are needed. The competition organiser may see fit to draw up a rota from the available competitors to cover these duties.

Surf Competition Organisation

An association's competition list for the season will first be ratified and approved by the BCU Surf Committee. Only events organised under the following regulations will be considered for ranking status.

  1. All competitors must be current members of their National Canoeing body. On arrival, all competitors will be asked to produce their present membership card, read the safety rules and sign the start list to this effect.
  2. Strict safety precautions as defined in the yearbook, are to be enforce.
  3. Permission to hold the event should be obtained from pertinent Authority or Landowner. Coastguards, Police and Lifeguards should also be informed of the event. Consideration should be given to any changes, such as postponement or re-run being schedules.
  4. Ranking competitions have to run before 31 December of that year in order to compile that years ranking list.
  5. A fixed entry fee of £4 or £8 (for late entries) is charged.
  6. Signing on time at all competitions is set at 8 am on Saturday. Friday night sign on facilities are normally available.
  7. All cheques should be made payable to the relevant organiser. All profits are to be paid to the relevant Surf Committee.
  8. The organising committee has the power to move or suspend a competition at their discretion.
  9. Ladies and Juniors are given a free entry into the International Open Class or Plastic Class when entering their own discipline.
  10. All completed result sheets should be forwarded to the ranking list compiler within seven days of the event. Ladies, Juniors and Novices should be clearly defined.
  11. The judging system must conform to the current regulations defined in the current BCU Surf Yearbook.

See Also:

Competition Rules