Hello Skiers,
New 2017 Rule book is now available at www.USAWaterSki.org. Lots of new stuff. Everyone who participates in tournaments should read this!
Rule changes and ZBS summarized.
Zero Based Scoring basically allows anyone, not just juniors this year, more flexibility. This allows a skier to shorten the rope even if they haven't completed their maximum speed. Maybe a boys 3 skier isn't ready for 36 mph… so he can ski 32 or 34 or WHATEVER speed he chooses and be shortening the rope.
Or a Women 3 wants to ski 30 mph and shorten the rope each successful pass staying at 30 mph.
AS long as the speed and rope length are clearly communicated by the boat judge to the scoring and confirmed by scoring that they got it.
The scoring grid is in the 2017 rulebook on page 52.
The scoring details are built into the scoring program.
We want you to be aware before tournaments of all the changes and options.
It is NOT the job of the boat crew to educate each skier of the options during the tournament!!! This will cause confusion and take forever.
The OTHER specific change is MAXIMUM SKIER SPEEDS. pg 51
The LOC may opt to allow higher maximum speeds, up to 58 kph (36 mph) for male divisions and 55 kph (34.2 mph) for female divisions, excluding juniors, in a Class C only tournament, at their discretion.
We decided as a club that we WILL allow this at our CASS Kick Off and CASS Finals - as it's a new rule and why not.
Example: by CASS Finals, after nationals, I move to W5. My W5 max speed is 32 mph. BUT in a Class C tourney, if approved by LOC, I can ski 34 mph if I want. AND the scoring computers are already ready for this. - the boat judge needs to clearly communicate with the scoring to ensure these deviations from the norm are scored correctly. Basically, if I run 28 off at 34 mph, I am scored the same # buoys as if I ran 32 off at 32 mph.
See the grid on page 52.
If you have any questions, let me know and I will find answers for you!