Obituary: Nick Burgin

With sadness I have to report the death of a friend and fellow race official: Nick Burgin.
ISAF published his obituary on 16/03/2012.

I met Nick at my first ISAF Seminar in 2004 in Hamble, UK and worked with him at several events when we were both in the International Jury or Umpire Team.

Like Sally wrote in his obituary, he was always a supportive and steady person in the group, willing to help others. I remember fierce rules discussions during diner at Kiel-week in which he was a calming factor.

I’m very sorry that we will not have his presence in the room or on the water any more.

My sincere condolences to his wife, family and friends.

J.

International Umpire Sub Committee Minutes 2009

Like last Sunday, I would like to go over the IU-Sub Committee minutes from last Novembers Conference with you. To see what is in store for the coming year. I won't repeat the issues that already were on the agenda of the IJSC meeting. The following I found new and/or interesting:

• New damage policy document is being considered, with a regards to the number of hours it takes to repair a damage.The final draft will be considered by the IUSC and then distributed.
• The mentor system does not work very well. The IUSC suggested some changes in that Mentor and Mentee are appointed to the same event by ISAF. And perhaps that the Mentee should be able to choose a Mentor instead of beng appointed one. 
• There are not enough group 1 umpires. The IUSC is considering accelerating the grouping process and developing athletes into umpires.
• We can expect rewritten Match Race & Team Race Manuals by the end of the year.
• Perhaps we are going to wear bibs in the next Medal Races...

That's it actually. Not much new things I'm afraid. You can check by reading the complete minutes: IUSC Minutes November 2009

Extreme 40 Racing in Muskat

I asked Ewan McEwan, the chief umpire for the Extreme 40-event in Muskat, to send me some remarks for LTW about how it is going. He wrote back:

Dear Jos,

Here is some text for you:
The closing speeds are horrendous!  Its very much like umpiring team racing; just when you think the race is settled all the boats concertina together at the marks and its all full-on again!  A couple of mark situations are unusual, we had one yesterday, Thursday; Yellow approaching a windward mark with starboard rounding on lay-line.  
Brown and Grey, overlapped, approaching on collision course on the port lay-line with Blue on the same course some four boat lengths astern.
Yellow crosses in front of Brown and Grey and tacks above them, completing on port tack in the zone.  Blue can easily avoid becoming overlapped inside except that then Yellow bears away to round the mark she creates the overlap on Blue who cannot avoid getting this overlap and is therefore entitled to mark-room under RRS 18.3 as modified by Addendum Q (similar to the change of RRS 18.3 using in match racing RRS Appendix C).
Of course this particular situation is unique to fleet racing, as opposed to match racing, as normally Yellow would tack in the face of Blue and in this case would have been well ahead as they bore-away.

http://www.extremesailingseriesasia.com/

Another fairly unique aspect of Extreme 40 umpiring is that often port tackers will slow down to wait for starboard tackers to pass and then 'pull-the-trigger' - accelerating very quickly from almost stopped to full speed.  We have found some interesting situations result if the waiting port tack boats  'pull-the-trigger' a little too early and cause the tacking (old starboard) boat problems as they complete ahead with RRS 15 - the multi-hulls take so long to tack, and the newly clear- astern boat is on top of them very quickly.
Today, Friday, the wind is very strong and the format of competition will likely be 'speed-sailing' in pairs.  I am sure this will create  another set of unusual aspects!

Hope this is of some interest?
Cheers, Ewan



According to this and the press-releases from the Event-series Website it is certainly going fast with these big Cats. Something we will no doubt also see with the (Even More) Extreme Americas Cup Yachts.
Extreme Sailing Series Asia Mediapage’

Approved

The list of Race Officials successfully approved for ISAF International Race Official status in November 2009 has been published on the ISAF Race Officials microsite:
ISAF International Race Official Renewals And New Appointments For 2009

I had to re-applied for IJ this year and I'm happy to read that I was approved. You will have to bear with me for another four years. My group from the same first year (2005) started with 17 International Judges. Three Two have not re-applied or were not approved. That leaves 14 15 still hanging on. Keep it up!

In this post I also want to congratulate specially all those who were approved as an IJ, IU, IRO or IM for the first time this year. And of course to Chris, Adrian, Luigi, Angelo, Vic, Johannes, Jana, Angeline, Alan and Douglas; well done! Instead of worrying about tests and seminars, you can now start worrying about grouping and ISAF-appointments (Evil Grin)

Umpire Seminar GBR 18-22 Nov 2009

One of the judges at this event told me that the Umpire Seminar in November in the UK will be the very first TEAM Race Umpire Seminar. I've published about upcoming seminars a couple of days ago, but had no idea this was such an unique event.

Since one of my goals this winter is to learn more about Team-race umpiring, I'm very tempted to go. I want to see how they do it, across "the pond" in the UK, a team race nation if there ever was one. The reason I have this goal is that the umpire system we use in one of the few team race events we do have here in the Netherlands (Five against five with 'Regenbogen' in Holland-Friesland), is no longer working. The action is getting so tight and fast and the sailors are getting so good in there rules-knowledge, that simply following the boats of one team with five umpire boats is not enough to be in the right places at the right times. We are missing too much. Perhaps I can learn something to use next year.

I'm surprised this wasn't advertised with big letters on the ISAF site. At the moment the entry stands at 6. Not enough.

There are a couple of snags.
First one is that the deciding date is Monday the 21st. If by then enough people have entered (minimal 10 persons) the seminar will be held, if not, it will be cancelled. So I need to decide in a couple of days. I can't check about free days at work before Monday, so that is cutting it close.
I've already send in an Email expressing my interest, so I hope they will give me the time to decide.

Second snag is the costs. I'm already an Umpire - don't need another seminar to become one. But to attend I need to pay 375 pounds for the seminar. Add flights (Schiphol - Heathrow), bus to Oxford, Bed&Breakfast for five days, parking at Schiphol and travelling to the airport by car, the total cost runs up just short of a thousand Euro. That is very expensive for a bit of education.

The seminar instructors will be Jack Lloyd and John Doerr, two of the best Team-race umpires. I'm sure I can get a lot out of those two.
I better start checking flights and B&B's.....
To be decided...

In the meantime: If you want to go yourself? Click on the link:
18 Nov 09 - 22 Nov 09; International Umpire Seminar, Great Britain
Oxford Sailing Club, Great Britain.

Upcoming ISAF Seminars 2009

For International Judge:

21 Sep 09 - 23 Sep 09
International Judges Seminar, Uruguay
Yacht Club Uruguayo

For International Race Officer

25 Sep 09 - 27 Sep 09
Race Management Seminar, Austria
Austrian Sailing Federation, Neusiedl am See, Austria

02 Oct 09 - 04 Oct 09
Race Management Seminar, Argentina
Yacht Club Argentino, Buenos Aires - Argentina
23 Oct 09 - 25 Oct 09

Race Management Seminar, Belgium
Bloso SportsHotel - Ghent - Belgium

23 Nov 09 - 25 Nov 09
Race Management Seminar, Australia
Brisbane QLD, Australia

For International Umpire

07 Oct 09 - 11 Oct 09
International Umpire Seminar, Sweden
GKSS, Talattagatan 10, Langedrag, 426 76 Vastra Frolunda

18 Nov 09 - 22 Nov 09
International Umpire Seminar, Great Britain
Oxford Sailing Club, Great Britain

02 Dec 09 - 06 Dec 09
International Umpire Seminar, Argentina
Yacht Club Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina

iShares Cup 2009 Venice | 01

Tomorrow at this time I'm hoping to have arrived safely and drank a few cold ones on a terrace in Xtreme-40 city of the weekend: Venice!

I'm going to do some addendum Q umpiring for the first iShares-cup regatta there. I've never been to Venice and am looking forward to visiting. The race venue is very near San Marco Square and since in the morning we don't have many obligations, I'm planning to soak up that special city, first hand.

From the official press release:
" Venice to provide a dream backdrop to the opening event of the 2009 iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series to be staged between 15-17 May, during which 10 world-class international teams will battle it out in prime European venues. It's all coming together with less than two days to go to the official kick-off. Between 6-8 races will be held daily on the Bacino San Marco commencing at 14h30 local time. An unprecedented world-class line-up of 40 sailors across 10 Extreme 40 teams racing within meters of the shore with outstanding viewing from the Riva dei Setti. Visit the iShares Cup Venice event microsite at www.isharescup.com/venice - this 'one-stop' site contains all the latest event news at a glance, information for the pubic on timings and best viewing spots, latest photos and video."


Beside the official site you, as faithful LTW-readers, will get a first hand briefing on the rules issues and happenings in the umpire team. I'm loading my spare battery for the camera as I type this. There's Wifi at the venue and I'm taking my Lap-top, so stay tuned!

I've studied the SI, and plan to bone up on addendum Q on the plane. So far only rule 18.3, as changed in appendix C (match racing) has been added to this regatta. That's because - however large these cats may be - they still need a long time to tack… and doing that inside the zone while another is screaming up to you, might cause a couple of head to wind luffs.

Now, where did I keep that extra bottle of sunscreen?….
J.

TMC Umpire Platoon

The Middelfart TMC Spring Cup 2009 Open/Woman Umpire group.... with emphasis on GROUP.. is a twelve person Umpire Group made up from 6 IU/IJ and 6 NU.

Probably the biggest "heaviest" umpire group at a Grade 3 event ever. Our chairman is applying to be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records 2009. She - yes the CU is the only woman among this 'platoon' - drives us like a lieutenant should; reveille at 07:00 hours - meetings before breakfast - new calls 15 minutes before we go out and on the water until 18:45, - double penalties, - testing the organisation, - testing the new rules, specially rule 19 for obstructions and asking for feedback on everything. TMC Middelfart will host the European Championship Match Racing later this year and they want to get it right.

I'm having a great time and am sorry it is only two days.

Here's the whole umpire platoon.

I'm typing from the notes I made the first afternoon at 13:43. The sun came out but it took the wind away. We were under AP waiting. With me is a Danish National Umpire who's been doing this for a long time. We've been discussing new wording and calls.

Although everybody is expecting that the changes in the RRS will have an effect on how we umpire, the actual fact is that most calls - if not all - are about the 'usual' row rules. And about rule 15 and/or 16. Mark rounding and obstructions don't seem to be that difficult any more. Inside or Clear ahead gets mark-room. No issue.
Rule 19 has simplified the pre-start manoeuvres round the starting vessel. If you get an overlap, the outside boat must be able to give room, otherwise she doesn't have to. No zone, umpires don't have to say when boats have passed and revert 'back' to row-rules. The row-rules stay in effect and therefore it is simpler and easier to follow.

Also, conditions at this event were very light, so that gave us all - sailors and umpires - a change to catch up with the changes.

On Sunday I ended up on the Woman's course. They were expected to finish earlier and would give us a time to leave a little earlier - the trip back home would take about 8 hours...

I have tried to video a pre-start as promised in a previous post. You can watch the result below:



You will hear us comment on the windward boat getting in between the starting vessel and the leeward boat. Expecting to double penalty her, we watched closely. But leeward never could reach windward! Windward pulled it off and wins the match. Bold, scary, almost breaking rule 11 but legal. As long as she is keeping clear, she can use the room that the leeward boat leaves her.

I want to thank everybody. Being able to participate in such an event, is one of the reasons why I love umpiring....

.

Benelux Race Officials Seminar 2009 | 2

At the seminar last weekend we were given a presentation about the interaction between the different Race Officials and how to gain an advantage with interacting better.

At any (major) event there are several Race official (groups) who need to cooperate to make it a success; Race Officer (committee), Judges and or Umpires and Measurers.

If you are a Judge or Umpire, what do you know of the responsibilities of the Measurer? If you are a Race Officer, when do you ask a Jury member if you have an issue. If you are a Measurer can you disqualify a boat without the Jury?

I must admit that I have a fairly good picture of what a Race Officer can and cannot do, but almost no idea about the obligations or rights of a Measurer. At the seminar we were asked to consider what we would need to know of the others to perform our own task better. Not only arriving at an event but well before. Not what you think "they" should know. But what you think you need from them....

It begins with having respect for each others work.
Then we all need knowledge about the responsibilities and rights of each group and knowledge about procedures the others follow.
Furthermore we need to check that the documents each group prepares don't have contradictions, like in the last Olympics. Each document must also be screened by the other groups to know the impact on each others work.
It is sometimes frustrating for a Race Officer to get a paper from the Jury on the first day amending several rules in the Sailing Instructions. It is equally frustrating to have to do protest after protest because the SI haven't been properly written. Do you always read the Class Rules before you go to an event?

ISAF has/will develop more interaction between the Race Officials using Internet. They already have streamlined and build consistency in the four groups, by making several requirements to become an international Race Official, general applicable. All four have a sub-committee which are guided by the Race Official Committee. All four must follow a code of conduct and all four represent ISAF. It will take some time, but it is on the agenda.

Perhaps it would beneficial to do an event helping in the group you are not familiar with? I wouldn't mind helping out a Measurement Team for an event to learn about there responsibilities.

How about you? Do you know enough?

.

AMS-ROMA-MILAN BRINDISI BARI >>Brindisi

Very cryptic title, don't you think? I will explain in a moment.

Just a short update from my hotel room in Brindisi. We had a fine day on the water with nine teams, seven from Italy, one from Austria and one from Croatia. Nice weather, nice wind, good boats, what can one wish for more?
Well, I'll tell you: One can wish for some wet-gear. Airone - the air plane conglomerate I used - has managed to loose my bag! All I have is what I had on and what was in my hand luggage.
AMSTERDAM > to Rome went fine, but then I got stuck in Rome. Waiting for a plane to Milan. The weather in Milan was terrible, so after boarding we waited and waited again, until finally I had no other option but to get of that plane and try to find another direct connection to Brindisi. My bag was - of course - already loaded, but they promised to get it of. But at the carousel nothing came... After an hour I had to try to get on with my connection...

I managed to get another plane to Brindise, leaving 21:50 and guess..... delayed first until 00:15 but finally until 01:00 hours..... And if that was not enough, we were diverted to Bari because Brindisi was closed due to a spill on the runway... Take the bus for an hour and a half in the middle of the night.., thank you very much!
I arrived in my hotel at 04:00 in the morning.

So, before you think about starting a career in International Umpiring.... This is also part of it. I'm not sure I will get my bag back at all, let alone in time for my flight back tomorrow evening.....

.

ISAF International Race Official Renewals And New Appointments For 2008

Race Officials News (From the ISAF web site)

The list of Race Officials who have successfully been approved for ISAF International Race Official status in November 2008 has been published on the ISAF Race Officials microsite.

ISAF has a global network of over 650 ISAF International Race Officials who ensure fair and competitive racing at the world’s top sailing events. At the ISAF Annual Conference in November 2008, 53 applicants have been appointed ISAF International Race Official status for the first time, together with 166 successful applications for reappointment.

ISAF Race Officials fall into four disciplines: International Judges (IJ), International Umpires (IU), International Measurers (IM) and International Race Officers (IRO). ISAF International Race Official status is valid for four years (two years for Race Officials over 70), after which time Race Officials must apply to renew their International status.

On the recommendation from its four Sub-Committees, the ISAF Race Officials Committee makes the decision on renewals and new appointments each year during the ISAF Annual Conference. All the candidates for status must fulfil mandatory criteria and meet the high level of standard of competence for each discipline.

To view the list of renewals and new appointments for 2008 click on the links below:
- International Judges - 
- International Measurers
- International Race Officers
- International Umpires

ISAF Race Officials are the central part of one of the most important roles at ISAF. Without them, fair and competitive racing would not be possible. Right around the world ISAF has a network of over 650 International Race Officials who ensure fair racing at the world’s top sailing events.

In addition to the 53 first appointments and 166 reappointments made in November 2008, other appointments may be under consideration and may be still pending subject to providing additional information.

ISAF Race Officials microsite – www.sailing.org/raceofficials

 

Congratulations to all, specially those who have been appointed for the first time! I know how 'nail biting' the last couple of days can be. Hope to see you at an event.

ISAF Conference 2008 MADRID

The ISAF Conference in Madrid has started since Thursday and although this year all attention is focused on Olympic equipment issues, there are also numerous other issues on the table.

Not in the least the appointment of all but a few committee members in this post Olympic conference. Every four years the committees get a reshuffle. Some of the members will stay on, others leave and new people are invited to join the different committees and working parties.

I've had a look at the agenda's of the IJ Sub Committee, the IU Sub Committee and the Race Officials Committee.

Interesting to note in the IJSC Agenda are:

10. DEVELOPMENT.

(a) Grouping of IJs; To receive and discuss ROC guidance on the grouping of IJs. This must be something similar as the already in place grouping system for IU. In that system IU's are grouped in three groups, with subgroups in group 2, to make sure that appointments by ISAF of Race Officials to events is done with knowledge of the skills of the individual.
(Group one is most experienced, Group two is 'standard' or new IUs and group three are all ungrouped IUs)

(b) Education of IJs; To discuss proposal for “refresher training” of IJs. I've heard rumors about testing all IJ also every four years, to make sure they are up to par with rules and procedures.

(c) Rule 42 Education Programme.; To receive a report from Bill O’Hara on the Rule 42 workshops held in 2008 and to review the plans for 2009. Maybe a subgroup for rule 42 Judges?

Also on the agenda the IJ manual:

12. INTERNATIONAL JUDGES MANUAL
(a) Updates; To note the updates to the International Judges Manual
(b) New Sections; To discuss the need to include sections on:
- CAS (Court of Arbitration in Sports)
- dealing with minors (more and more an issue in current sports events)
- define the tasks of a protest committee scribe

This last agenda issue I find interesting. Up until now the scribe was a more or less random choice in panels. Anybody could be asked to do it. As if anybody had the necessary skill to do it correctly all the time. Being a good scribe takes practice and advice from experts. You need to learn how to do it. So including it in the manual is in my opinion a given.

The IU Sub Committee agenda has also a few interesting items:

In 10 DEVELOPMENT the IUSC will discuss the progress in: Support to Ungrouped and Group 2 IUs; To receive a report from Kirk Brown on the progress of the mentor project offered to ungrouped IUs and Group 2 IUs.

I've been part of that program for a couple of months, but haven't been able to get much out of it - part due to the fact I haven't been at an event with my mentor, part because I have not taken the time to discuss issues with him. It is not always easy to put in writing .... Also because there's no program, no syllabus, no specific goals other than the ones you formulate yourself and not much guidance from ISAF. For both me and the mentor.

In the ROC agenda this item drew my attention:

13. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; (a) Guidelines for the assessments
To discuss the draft guidelines to assess conflicts of interest.

Perhaps you've glanced at RRS 63.4? The new rule is:

63.4 Interested Party.
A member of a protest committee who is an interested party shall not take any further part in the hearing but may appear as a witness.
Protest committee members must declare any possible self-interest as soon as they are aware of it. A party to the hearing who believes a member of the protest committee is an interested party shall object as soon as possible.
(my emphasis)

An issue which has certainly been put in the spotlight by this year's FARR 40 protest in the World Championship.

In all three committee meetings the appointment and re-appointment of Race Officials will be discussed:
- To consider the lists of nominations for appointment as International Judge, International Umpire, International Race Officer and International Measurer.

I'm due next year for my IJ-status, so no nail biting for me this year. But I wish those who are up the best of luck!

If you want to read the full Agendas here are the links:

International Judges Sub-Committee Agenda, meeting today,
International Umpires Sub-Committee Agenda, meeting also today,
Race Officials Committee Agenda. meeting on Monday November 10th.

.

LTW Readers Q&A | 11

A couple of questions from Andraz from Slovenia about umpired Match Racing:

In a match race, in the prestart a boat gets two separate penalties.
Q1:
Just before the starting signal, there is a contact between boats and umpires decide that it should be a twin penalty. Is this the third penalty and a base for the black flag (under C7.3(f)) or not?
Q2:
Just seconds after the starting signal, a boat with two penalties gets a red flag penalty. Same question: is this the third penalty and a base for the black flag (under C7.3(f)) or not?

There was a lively discussion about it recently, by non-umpires but judges and I couldnt believe how many opinions were produced in a short matter of time. :)

Regards from Slovenia, Andraz


I had to think about these questions Andraz, and still am not sure. In my opinion, for the situation in the first question, a black flag is not warranted. RRS C7.2(e) takes precedent over RRS C7.2(f), so with a twin penalty, one is canceled immediately and the boat still has only two outstanding penalties of which one must be taken directly after starting.

In the second situation I think the black flag is appropriate, provided that the infringement is not for C2.8
In that case the second of the two outstanding penalties has been taken, but the boat gets an additional penalty (with or without red) for not keeping clear while taking a penalty.

If the (third) red flag penalty is for something else, the total number of penalties becomes three and a black flag should be given.

I'm however open for other opinions. Please don't hesitate to comment.

Duisport Cup 2008

Returned yesterday from Duisburg where I was participating as an Umpire in the Duisport Cup 2008. Unfortunately the wind abandoned us the whole weekend. No sailing!

We were suppose to do some match racing in one of the side channels of the Rhine, practically under the Friedrick-Ebert bridge. The Rhine itself cannot be used because of a strong current, I'm guessing 4 knots at least.
We did one start (on Saturday) but had to abandon after a couple of minutes after entry, because of an approaching thunderstorm. So we all spent both days on shore, talking, drinking coffee and water, occasionally taking cover because of the rain. There were some diversions with the fair, some nice water skiing from the local promotion team and lots and lots of boats. I even managed to scare up a mermaid for David from Never Sea Land, but no sailing.
Disappointing for all, sailors - coming from six nations - organizers and public, nevertheless I met some very nice people and had a good time!

ISAF Race Officials Newsletter 2008 | 2

A couple of days ago all International Race Officials received a newsletter. You can read it on the ISAF web site: ISAF Race Officials Newsletter.

In it John Doerr, chairman of the Race Officials Committee, writes about a number of subjects which will have an impact on how International Race Officials will have to do things in the future.

The professionalism of sailors in the high-end regatta's is growing and we will have to be up to the task of officiating at that level as well.

The on-line application system will be tested this year and - if successful - will be operational for all next year.

He also writes about conflicts of interest, an issue which has surfaced recently very prominently on the websites and forums. I quote:
"This is an issue that we are working on and plan to bring the fruits of our work to the November conference. It is a thorny subject as we are more often than not dealing with perception rather than reality, but we must tackle the problem none the less."

Finally he brings to our attention the possibility to participate in work for the ISAF.

Jury of Kieler Woche 2006

When ISAF changes course in these areas, does things differently then before, it will eventually have an impact on how your MNA will treat you as a national official. People who serve on the committees figuring out these things, also have influence in their own country. Also, if you want to become international you have to confirm to it, and what better start then using that same principles for national levels as well.

There's a lively discussion on Scuttleblog about Certification for US-Judges. All who are so opposed to it - for credible and legitimate reasons - should also look at the developments on this level, before shooting that idea down.

Helping Hands

When starting to umpire beyond National level, you need experience and skill to get invited for International events. But you need invitations to events to get that skill and experience. A viscous circle. You need a helping hand to break it.

Unfortunately in 2005 there weren't that many local events for me, so I tried to use any and all contacts to get a place abroad. During Kiel-week I talked to some of the German judges and they told me about Match-Racing in Hamburg, in the heart of the city, on lake Alster. Hamburg is about 4 hours by car from my hometown. Perfect.

I contacted Manuel Hünsch, the guy in charge and offered to pay my own travel expenses, so they could gain an International Judge and an National Umpire for the "price" of a local National Umpire. And he said yes!
I could attend my very first International Match Race Event, the International German Championship for Woman on October 1-3, 2005

On the Aussen-Alster the Hamburger Sailing Club has a well run clubhouse and facilities and, most important for Match Racing, several Streamline boats to sail.
The event was very well organized and I learned how to operate in English and to Umpire with people I met for the first time. All were very helpful and I was invited back for a next event in November: Ladies Only Match Racing.
Since then I've been back there many times and feel right at home in HH.

HH stands for Hansestadt Hamburg.
For me it will always be the ‘helping hands’, who broke the circle and gave me my first opportunity.
But also ‘helping hands’, because I learned a valuable lesson on one of those occasions:

For match racing boats enter the race area, 4 minutes before the starting signal, by crossing a line perpendicular to the starting line, each on her own side. The Blue boat on the pin-end side and the Yellow boat at the committee-boat side.

After they have crossed, they have to "dip the starting line". That means they have to cross the starting line, from the course side to the pre-start side, between four minutes and two minutes before the start. Normally boats time this entry exactly, so they can engage in the pre-start maneuvers.
They must dip in that time!
If they are late and the other boat can prevent them from dipping, they get a penalty.
So timing - as with a start - is crucial. That means that both boats will sail pretty close to the marks, entering.


In one of these events the Blue boat entered so close, that her keel caught the anchor line of the pin-end mark. Hopelessly entangled!

In my enthusiasm and eagerness to get things going, I started motoring over to help them untangle it, so the race could get started.

Immediately the Chief umpire (Manuel) called on the radio, asking what I was doing? Helping?
No, no! I shouldn't help anyone!
The match had already started and it was the responsibility of the boat to get free.
She had already earned a penalty for touching the mark!

I felt like a beginner....
Of course! How could I forget! How stupid of me….

I motored away, and together with my fellow umpire, blew a whistle and showed the blue flag, indicating a penalty for Blue.

It felt like totally ridiculous, waiting some dozen meters away, seeing the sailors struggle to get that bloody line off their keel, doing nothing to help them.

Backward and forward, head to wind, heeling over, pushing the mark around the boat, nothing worked! That line was glued to the boat!

Minutes ticked away.
And yes, after two minutes because Blue hadn't crossed the line, we gave a second penalty.

Finally when the starting signal had gone and the other boat had sailed halfway up the beat, Blue indicated that they gave up. They lowered their sails and the support boat came over to help them to get unstuck.

We discussed the incident with the sailors afterwards. They were pretty casual about it, knew this was all in the game and it had happened before. Next time a little more distance from the mark, that was all.

I was a little more impressed by the incident.
I will forever remember when NOT to give a ‘helping hand’ in a Match Race.

Thank you, Manuel!

International Umpire Seminar Part 2

To catch up, you can read part one here.

The on-the-water part of the seminar was done during a actual match race event, in my case the Lugano Match Race act 2, a Grade 3 event.
This means that all the participants together with a chairman and two instructors, are the complete umpire team. All task normally performed at an event, are to be done by this group. Starting from an initial meeting going over the SI, getting specific tasks assigned (I had to keep track off and look after Umpire Boats) to preparing schedules and speaking at debriefs with the sailors. Because of the 'seminar' situation a couple of things were added to this; assignments with an assessor and time for debriefing and stuff like that. Otherwise a normal event with sailors who came for the event and wanted to win. The boats were Streamline, a very fast and quick turning keel boat, with spinnaker. Not the most ideal match race boat for a seminar, but certainly one which is used in more match race events around the world.

The wind was very light the first day but we could get a couple of flights in, that first afternoon. The second day was even worse, and we had to wait a long time before we could do some racing. Everybody was fearing we would not be amble to complete the assessments nor the match racing, but luckily the final day there was a good breeze and we could get things finished. If the wind wouldn't have come, the assessments would not have been completed, which meant that we needed another one at a different event.

It felt like your every move was watched and scrutinize. That may be an exaggeration, but the umpire assessment is definitely more than those ten minutes umpiring on the water. It also is based on your teamwork, attitude and general performance during the whole event. Leave it to yours truly, to go and pick a fight with one of the instructors about - you guessed it - boat assignments. And doing it in public in a group session, was not a good idea. I had a valid bone to pick, but should have done so in private with the instructor. Certainly a learning experience. We talked about it and I'm glad it didn't eventually influenced the decision to let me pass.

So umpiring at a seminar is different from 'normal' umpiring, that there is this third person aboard watching you. In order to perform as best as I could, I prepped myself to concentrate solely on the umpiring, try to forget about the assessor. "Relax, Jos, you can do this, relax, do what you do, the assessment will come later, relax." I repeated in my mind. Fortunately we were the second match umpires. So we started shadow-umpiring for the first match.

Let me explain: 'shadow umpiring' is doing all the things umpires do, but without following the boats and - of course - not answering any calls. It is a great way to get your mind into 'gear', concentrating on the umpiring, getting used to your fellow umpire. Because we were with 11 participants and only 8 of us had a job in any flight, some of us had to wait on the starting vessel in between. We were encouraged to do shadow-umpiring from there. Because of this, I soon was able to 'forget' about the assessor and concentrate on the match. In all my matches I was able to perform adequately, phew....


One of the things which was "forgotten" at this seminar was anything to do with "winging". No feedback on how the wing boat operated, no clues on where to be or what to say. More like, that is something you should know already, and we don't want to waste time. I think that is a mistake. A good wing can be very valuable for umpires and sometimes is crucial in making the right decision. A missed opportunity as far as I'm concerned.

As to the results; from the eleven participants nine managed to pass the written test, but only three passed the Umpire 'on the water' assessment. Seems like a very meager result, doesn't it? With that much effort by everybody, not to mention costs involved... only three?
I didn't have the opportunity to umpire with everyone and my own assessments have only gone as far as looking at National level umpires, but with one exception, I agreed with the result. Even with a good knowledge of the rules, sufficient skill to do the umpiring and keep on top of teamwork, I still felt like a beginner on the International level, and in need of learning a lot more.

Again, an Umpire assessment is a lot more then that part you do on the water. If you look at the assessment form, you are graded also on all other aspects of being an umpire at an international event. Who knows, perhaps standing up to the instructor wasn't such a bad thing after all?


To all future participants of IU Seminars my advice is to use any and all opportunities to practice. Whenever you are on the water, even just watching a fleet race, start shadow umpiring. Follow a boat for a couple of minutes while they round a mark and say what you would say if umpiring. Of course you should read the manual, study the call book and the rules, but foremost practice! Use video found on the Internet, watch television, anything. You can even do it in the classroom: Two people do blue and yellow with the models on the board, and two umpires speak and decide.

Once you've mastered the rules and communication automatically, you can concentrate on anticipation - what will happen next - and be in the right position for the next call.

Oh, if at all possible, do some match racing yourself!

This concludes my notes on my IU Seminar. Please don't hesitate to mail me, if you have specific questions.

International Umpire Seminar Part 1

I went to Lugano in 2007, from 14th till the 18th of March together with another IJ from the Netherlands. Because the decision to go was made (beginning of February), after I was sure I could not go to Denmark in September, I didn't have much time to prepare. The IUSC insisted on fulfilling all requirements for applications, before the first of September cut-off date. Going to the Denmark Seminar in September - which I would have preferred - would mean another year waiting to apply. Something I wasn't prepared to do. So short end sweat: Lugano in March!
I managed to cram a lot of study in that final month. And I needed it. Like an IJ-Seminar the pace is very high in the classroom and the test is hard. The umpire skill needed on the water is fast and furious!

In this post and a following post, I will tell you about my experiences at that seminar, the mistakes I made and the people I encountered. I realize that each Seminar is different in location and event, but some of the features I experienced, will be also in any other IU Seminar. Oh, this year so far, only one seminar is planned, from 4 till 8 June in Poland.

To start, IU Seminars are basically the same as IJ Seminars with an event added, for on the water umpiring. Unlike for IJ the IU sub committee wants potential umpires to be assessed by specific people. They appoint them on a yearly basis, a group of 10 very experienced Umpires. Six of them are also Seminar-Instructors. Recently ISAF is actively looking for new people to train as seminar instructors and assessors.


To apply for IU you need at least one positive assessment by one of those 10 umpires. At a seminar there are two and they assess everybody. If you've fail, you can then ask ISAF for another assessment, at an event you are already assigned to and someone from the assessors is also present. If you can get a positive assessment at a seminar you don't need another. One is enough!

Back to Lugano. It's a beautiful place with a brand spanking new club accommodation. Run by friendly people and great enthusiasm for the event. Our hotel was a five minute walk from the club and everything was set to go. Go? Stay put, you mean. Two day's in the classroom going over the manual, calls, rules and what not. Beautiful weather outside and we end up cooped up inside. This is unavoidable I suppose. In the classroom many subjects are reviewed, most of them not in the manual. It is expected that you have already studied that in detail. More about conduct and behavior, how to communicate and teamwork. All presentations and exercises are done in English with paperwork to do individually and in groups.

After these sessions we did the test on the second day around four in the afternoon. Multiple choice questions about rules of part 2 and everything else. If you didn't understand the question or had remarks, you could add those. They were then to be discussed in the debrief. To avoid misunderstandings if you didn't 'get' what the question was about. Making good questions is very difficult, and I had a lot of remarks, but none that influenced my answers.

Time alloted for the test is 1:30 hours. People with English as their mother tongue had 15 minutes shorter than everybody else. I finished with time to spare, but not much. You need to practice how to do test-questions in English, otherwise you will not be able to do them in the time alloted. My fellow IJ ran out of time and couldn't finish, so he didn't pass, while I know he has a better RRS knowledge than me.

With 11 candidates some of us had to wait before we were called for that debrief, and I was one of the last. This meant a night agonizing about my answers, because I was only debriefed the next day in the afternoon. Coming out of the classroom I was full of confidence, after a sleepless night and a day on the water, I was not. Thinking back, I shouldn't have doubted my first impression, but there you go. That is what happens after an exam. I passed with a 90% score with only five wrong of fifty answers. Of those, two were just stupid mistakes, because I didn't read the question or forgot to tick another box. Overall good enough though, a passing score is 80%. My advice - easily given, but hard to follow, I know - is to stop worrying once you've done it. It doesn't change the outcome one iota.

Next time: The water part of the seminar.