SUP Series Surf Rules

1) Venues

For 2019 there are currently two competitions that will form the 2019 BSUPA Surf Sup Series:

29^th June Saunton Sands, North Devon (Reserve date 10^th August)
28^th – 29^th Watergate Bay, North Cornwall

2) Entry Fee’s

On-line Entry Fee’s for 2019 are set at £40.00 for Men and Women per event
On-line Entry Fee’s for 2019 are set at £35.00 for Junior U16 Boys and Girls event
Entry Fee’s are payable directly to individual Competition Organizers.
On-line Entry’s with close on the Wednesday before competition
There is no refund, should an individual be unable to attend.
Entry is with the individual and cannot be passed on to another.
There will be no entry offered on the morning of competition.

3a) Cancelation or Postponement

The decision to cancel or postpone individual competition will be made by Competition Director and Head Judge at the very latest on the Thursday before. Those competitors already signed up will be notified by e-mail, message will also posted to BSUPA Facebook page.

3b) Number of Entries

Due to cost of staging competition a minimum of 20 competitors is required to make the competition viable. Less than may result in the cancelation of a competition.
In the Open Men’s maximum entry is set at 32.

4) Eligibility

All Competitors wishing to compete at any of the two events will need to be members of BSUPA before entering their first competition.
All Competitors wishing to compete will need to hold a valid UK passport.
Entry Fee must be paid in full prior to entry competition.
The Four Divisions to competed will be as follows:
– Open Men
– Open Women
– Under 16 Boys
– Under 16 Girls
Sub Divisions (these will scored for overall series position, but individual competitions will not be held)
Senior 28 – 35
Master 35 – 45
Grand Master – 45 plus
Age Categories – Ages are taken from January 1^st in the year of participation. E.g. Under 16. Individuals must be under 16 years of age on January 1^st in the year of competition.

5) Seeding for the 2019 BSUPA Sup Surf Series

For the first competition seeding will be taken from 2018 BSUPA overall seeding. For Watergate Bay the seeding will be taken from the pervious event.
Seeding will be taken from pervious year, if applicable. (Only applies if individual has entered on-line
On the day entries will be non-seeded.

6) Water Safety Management

At each event there will be a dedicated Water Safety Team. The W.S.T will compress of on-water and on shore based members.
Competition cannot start until W.S.T are in place.
A meeting before start of competition will be held between M.S.T, Head Judge and Competition Director to deem conditions suitability and safe.
W.S.T/Head Judge has the right to ‘delay’, ‘put on hold’ or ‘terminate’ competition, should condition become unsafe to continue. E.g fog, high winds, big surf etc.
A Competitor Safety Briefing will be given by W.S.T and Head Judge to all competitors before start of competition.
Should a medical/rescue situation related to competition accrued the competition area will be cleared. Competition will be put on hold as until such time when it has been deemed safe/clear to resume by W.S.T.
Should a medical/rescue situation unrelated to competition accrued in the area of the competition and requires the clearing of water or beach area, the competition area will be cleared. Competition will be put on hold as until such time when it has been deemed safe/clear to resume by W.S.T.
Should a competitor take a fall/collision, which incurs any potential signs head injury or concussion, the W.S.T have the right to withdraw competitor from taking any further in the competition.
If necessary competitor could be taken to hospital for further medical advise.

7) Judging/Scoring

For the 2019 BSUPA will be using the ‘Refresh’ System of Score as used by British Longboard Union and Surf England.
The Refresh system – is a computerised system, which allows for results from heats to be automatically uploaded and generates results for next round and competitions progression through heats.
Refresh is a ‘live’ results system, which can be set up to be view on-line.
Each competitor will be sent a copy of the draw before start of competition.

8) Judging Criteria

N.B. For this year’s SUP Surf Series Competitions, BSUPA will be following the judging Criteria as set out in the current I.S.A Rule book.

Key elements for competitors to be fully aware of prior to competitions

Stand Up Paddle Surf -SUP performance uses the normal judging criteria of the ISA rulebook.
Judges however will reward as higher level manoeuvres, those that are done with the obvious use of the paddle to give greater degrees of leverage and thus the creation of increasingly radical moves.
SUP surfing is unique and can be done many ways but for competition it is important to set criteria’s that set it apart from just long boarding.
Only a single blade paddle is to be used in SUP. The paddle is a tool and a big part of the sport therefore it is not just used to help catch a wave, but is necessary as a tool [aid] for riding the waves [similar to a Ski pole when skiing].
Entry into the wave must be by paddling in the standing position to enable the maximum score.
Paddling out and whilst waiting or choosing a wave should be done standing up. Prone position paddling to get out through waves or shore break will only be permitted if it is dangerous not to do the fore mentions. Competition Director/Head Judge will make decision and clearly make competitors aware.
Surfing – average scores for all manoeuvres will be allocated unless the paddle is used as a pivot or tool in manoeuvres, then power, radical moves, critical sections and degree of difficulty are the deciding factors.
“Using the paddle”: The paddle is correctly used in SUP surfing to do three main things: it is used in turns as a brace, a pivot, and a force multiplier.
A surfer will be scored higher when he uses the paddle in some or all of these three ways to achieve sharper or more powerful turns.
N.B Tricks such as twirling or otherwise using the paddle in a non-functional manner will earn little or no extra score for the surfer.
Traditional long board surfing compared to progressive SUP surfing techniques: Because the paddle allows large SUP boards to be turned with high rates of speed and power, stand-up paddle surfing is deemed to be, at the competition level, a performance-centered branch of surfing, much like conventional short boarding. Footwork, nose riding and style points will be scored, but this will be done in their relationship to the criteria of degree of difficulty and critical nature of wave positioning to ensure all competitors develop a standard approach and understanding of what is expected from an elite performer in SUP.

8a) SUP Surfing

Judging Criteria: A surfer must demonstrate board-handling skills in the transition phase [description below] and the surfing phase [description below] of their performance, for it to be considered complete.
A surfer must perform radical controlled manoeuvres, using the paddle as a key tool, in the critical sections of a wave with speed, power and flow to maximize scoring potential. Innovative / progressive surfing as well as variety of repertoire [manoeuvres], wave negotiation and use of the paddle to increase the intensity of the manoeuvres, will all be taken into account when awarding points for SUPsurfing.
The SUP surfer who executes these criteria with the maximum degree of difficulty and commitment on the waves will be rewarded with the higher scores.
For Stand Up Paddle Surfing [SUP], a wave is deemed to begin when in the opinion of the judges; the rider is no longer solely under paddle power but rather has harnessed and begun to be carried along by the power of the wave.

9) Scoring:

Length of Heat – each Heat will be a minimum length of 10 minutes and not excess 20 minimum. (Unless conditions deem otherwise).
Each competitor with will have a maximum of 10 scoring waves per heat, with the top two waves forming the bases of their overall heat score.
Any competitor that exceeds 10 waves in their heats will have their second highest score halved.
The judging scale will be 10 points with normal ISA contest rules applying.
The aggregate of the best rides will decide the final score for each surfer and interferences adjudicated according to the ISA Surfing Rulebook.

10) Board Length

SUP Design for Surfing: No length or aggregate dimensions apply. In the spirit of traditional surfing, no structural device to maintain foot contact with the board is allowed.

11) Heat Timing

The Head Judge will do by the Commentator, or in the absence of a Commentator, official timing of all heats.
A five minute visual and PA warning will be given when 5 minutes remain in a heat.
Siren or horn blasts must be used to start and finish heats. One blast to start and two blasts to finish. The Head Judge will indicate when a heat is to commence.
A large disc system at least 1 meter square must also be used. Green to start and yellow for the last 5 minutes.
The commentator must give a five second countdown at the beginning and end of each heat, and when he reaches zero the heat must start or end immediately.
The first of the two sirens must blow immediately when the commentator reaches zero. The official end of the heat is when the siren is first audible to the Head Judge, who will indicate to the judges that no more rides are to be scored for that heat. The siren takes precedence over the disc.
The coloured disc must be in the neutral position with no colour showing when the commentator reaches zero in the countdown. The disc must remain in the neutral position between heats.
In the event of siren failure the coloured disc will be the indicator for heat timing.
During and at the end of any heat the surfer must be clearly in possession of the wave on the wave face, making a movement, for the wave to be scored.
If the Contest Director wishes to use the minimum time delay between heats (of 10 seconds) they must provide a marshalling area in the water outside of the line up.
In the case of a water start the maximum time between heats shall be 5 minutes, unless unforeseen circumstances arise.

12) Contestable Surf Conditions

There must be a minimum of 18 inches (0,5m) of wave height before surf can be deemed contestable. A special allowance may be made on the final scheduled day of an event, if the surf is ride able. This will be determined by the Contest Director, Head Judge and Senior Competitors.

13) Interference Situations and Rulings

Basic Interference Rule The surfer deemed to have the inside position for a wave has unconditional right of way for the entire duration of that ride. Interference will be called if during a ride a majority of judges feel that a fellow competitor has hindered the scoring potential of that surfer deemed to have right of way on the wave.
Anyone who takes of in front of a surfer with right of way has the chance to ride or kick out of the wave without being called interference, unless they hinder the scoring potential of the surfer with right of way by any means. This includes excessive hassling, leash pulling or breaking down a wave section.
When interference has been called, the hindered surfer has the right to take the option to keep the score of the hindered ride or be eligible for an additional wave within the heat time limit. The announcer will say the score and the surfer will signal if he wants to keep the ride [by raising both arms vertically] or not [by raising and crossing arms].
The Right of Way [ROW] Criteria
The choice of right of way criteria for each of the above possible situations is the responsibility of the Head Judge or the available Senior Judge in that order.

Right Of Way (ROW) Priority Wave possession or right of way will vary slightly under the following categories as determined by the nature of the contest venue. It is the responsibility of the judge to determine which surfer has the inside position based on whether the wave is a superior right or left (Exception): If at the initial point of take-off neither the right nor left can be deemed superior, then the right of way will go to the first surfer who makes a definite turn in their chosen direction (by making an obvious right or left turn).

14) Medical Exclusion from Competition

Should a competitor require medical assistance during any stage of the competition having received a blow to head or face from contact with board or paddle or fellow competitor, and symptoms of concussion are shown. The Medical Advisor & Competition Director reserve the right to withdraw individual from the remainder of competition or the grounds of personal safety such as drowning or secondary drowning.

15) Registration

It is the responsibility of the individual competitor that they attend registration between set times as posted by Competition Director. Failure to do so could result in the individual being disqualified from competition.

16) Prize Giving

All competitors are expected to attend Official Prize Giving Ceremony.

17) Doping, Drug & Alcohol Policy

Competitors must inform Competition Director if they are on or taking any prescribed medicine or drugs.
Any Competitors seen to be taken any none prescribe drugs by officials will be disqualified from competition, and possibly banned from future BSUPA competitions.
Any Competitor seen to be taken any performance enhancing drugs, will be disqualified from competition, and possibly banned from future BSUPA competitions.
Competitors seen to be drinking alcohol excessively during competitive heats by officials will be disqualified from the reminder of competition.

17a) Points Scoring For National Overall Titles

Points will be awarding to competitors based on their final place at each individual events. E.G 1^st Place – 1000 points (see points table).
The awarded points from each event competed in will be added together to give a combined score and in overall ranking position at the end of the two events
The competitor with the highest combined score from events competed in will be award BSUPA National Surf Sup Series Champion.

Overall Position	Points Awarded
1st	1000
2nd	860
3rd	730
4th	670
5th	610
6th	583
7th	555
8th	528
9th	500
10th	488
11th	475
12th	462
13th	450
14th	438
15th	425
16th	413
17th	400
18th	395
19th	390
20th	385
21st	380
22nd	375
23rd	370
24th	365
25th	360
26th	355
27th	350
28th	345
29th	340
30th	335
31st	330

British Stand Up Paddle Association