Slalom is a fast and powerful windsurfing discipline. The short races of 3 to 5 minutes can be run in compact areas close to the spectators. The races are at high speed, with short legs and close mark roundings. The format is elimination, which requires an efficient race committee and jury. In some events, 200 starts a day are no exception!

The need for easy rules governing the fast mark rounding became more and more important, since the existing rule 18 was impossible to judge at high-speed events. A 35-year process led in 2021 to the World Sailing Windsurfing Slalom Racing Rules.

The Windsurfing Slalom Racing Rules (WSRR) can be found on the World Sailing website in the Racing Rules section. Click on “Competition Rules Boards” and choose “DR 21-06 Windsurfing Slalom Rules”.

The Notice of Race shall include that the event will be governed by the rules as defined in the Windsurfing Slalom Racing Rules.

This chapter provides guidelines to help judges develop the skills needed to officiate at windsurfing slalom events.

Protests are mostly from the first competitor who is not in the group to advance to the next round (4th – 5th position).

The first mark rounding is the most critical, as the competitors are close together. In the first round there is a big difference in the competitors’ levels.

In the semi-finals and especially in the final, the competitors’ levels are more equal, and the mark roundings will be more critical.

In addition to the standard criteria to apply rule 2, disqualifications are also possible for dangerous or reckless sailing (Windsurfing Slalom Racing rule 2).

It is important for the jury to focus on the 4th and 5th position (depending on the cut-off) at the mark rounding, and to make notes which can be used in case of a protest hearing.

Direct elimination: top 50% advance:

There are some significant modifications to the slalom racing rules compared to the Racing Rules of Sailing. They can be found in the introduction of the WSRR.

Most of the protests are about rule 18 (Mark-room). In WSRR rule 18 is switched on when a board begins to round the mark. (The competitor unhooks the trapeze, steps out of the foot strap, and brings their bodyweight more backward and to leeward and the mast more to leeward.) At high speed you can see the spray behind the board changing.

It is important in these protests to establish if there was an overlap when “a board begins to round a mark.” At mark 1, we find that in only 3-5 % of cases there is an overlap. Most often, boards are clear ahead and clear astern. It is very rare to have a protest about other rules.

On the water during racing:

Slalom racing involves high speeds (15 meter per second; about 30 knots). When you are on the water, be careful where you position your boat

Positioning on the beach during racing:

Looking at the races

Hearing location if races close to the beach:

Hearing location if races are far away:

The protestor shall inform the other party immediately after the incident by hailing, “Protest”. The protestor shall also inform the RC on the finishing line as soon as practicable after she finishes or retires.

The parties and their witnesses shall go to the protest committee as soon as reasonably possible after finishing, to begin the hearing as soon as possible. The protestor is encouraged to bring the protestee and witnesses.

Since the result of a protest is important for the next round, protest hearings should take as little time as possible. The hearings are oral, without a protest form, and are held immediately after the finish of the heat involved.

Hearings usually take no more than 2-3 minutes. The hearing procedure is slightly different from standard practice in a few aspects.

If there was minor contact or if there were no position changes in the incident, there will be no penalty even if a rule was broken.

In the WSRR, the conditions for redress are limited to:

In elimination races, the redress given may be to advance to the next round, resulting in more boards competing in a heat in the next round. Redress in the final and runner-up final is like in fleet racing, although it cannot be worse than her finishing position or the last place in her heat, and not better than the best place in her heat.

To give an advance to the next round the jury must be convinced that the competitor had a reasonable chance to advance to the next round if the incident had not occurred. An incident at the last mark between the boards in 7th and 8th place cannot normally result in redress.

When redress may be given for more than one race due to damage, the principle in World Sailing Case 116 will apply. This limits the number of races in a series for which redress may be granted.

When during a hearing, it becomes apparent that redress may be granted that could affect a whole fleet, the hearing should be adjourned, and the jury should request redress on behalf of the whole fleet in order to make all boards parties to the hearing.