Tournament layout and equipment
The competition area requires a suitable waterway of about 55 by 175 yards. In most tournaments a slalom judging tower is erected, a braced structure supporting a platform with railings 20 feet or more above the water surface. Guide buoys painted fluorescent red or yellow are placed to mark the trick and jumping courses and the slalom run.
Both inboard and outboard craft are used in tournaments, and the tournament committee provides boats of each type
at the entrant’s choice. The regulations call for boats 17 to 20 feet in length with a beam of not less than 6 nor more than 8 feet, equipped with a towing pylon on the centerline of the boat between 3 and 5 feet above the water level. The boats are usually equipped with water-speed measuring devices and usually with two-way radios.
Contestants must provide their own skis which must be no more than 8 inches wide, and not less than 4 feet in length, except that in the junior division the ski length must not be less than 3 feet. Any type of binding may be used, and any type of fixed fin. With the bindings, fins, etc. installed, the ski must float.
Safety
The chief judge of every tournament appoints a safety director who is responsible for the safe condition of all equipment, facilities and operation of the tournament. He may take whatever action is necessary, including stopping the tournament whenever he observes a condition that he believes is unsafe. The flotation devices used by contestants must be approved by this official. Approved devices include life belts, life jackets, life vests and wet suits. For use under competitive conditions, this equipment must be smooth, soft and free from attachments or material likely to cause injury in a fall, and constructed and fastened to take the impact of a hard fall in the water. Also, it should float the skier, preferably head up. Approved life vests must be constructed so as to provide adequate protection from impact damage to the ribs and internal organs.
Boat speeds
In order to provide fair competition, the judges at tournaments follow extremely rigid rules for boat speeds. All speeds are “speeds over the bottom” with compensation made for any water currents in the skiing area. The tolerance allowed is only plus or minus one-half mph. During a meet, the judges use “actual time” tables to determine the average speeds in the slalom course. In the slalom, speeds range from 22 to 35 mph. In jumping, the maximum speeds are: men, 35 mph; women, senior women, senior men, boys and girls, 28 mph; and junior boys and girls, 26 mph.
In trick skiing, the contestant receives his choice of a constant speed throughout the course, except that where a backward start is used it must be at the beginning of the course and the boat must then accelerate to a constant speed. The second pass may be at a different constant speed. In the mixed-doubles event, the only speed restriction is the “safety” maximum which may be set by the safety director of the tournament.
Tags: water sports
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