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Effective Date: January 1, 2007

Eastern Surfing Association Rules of Competition

Presented by the ESA Competition Director

I. EVENTS (Easternstm, Regional, and District Events)

A. Age division events, determined as date of birth as of Jan. 1 of the current competition season (PROOF OF AGE REQUIRED)

• Menehune (11 years of age and under, M/F)
• Boys (12-14 years of age)
• Junior Men (15-17 years of age)
• Men (18-24 years of age)
• Masters (25-34 years of age)
• Senior Men (35-44 years of age)
• Grandmasters (45-54 years of age)
• Legends (55-64 and older)
• Grand Legends (65 and older)
• Girls (14 years and younger)
• Junior Women (15-17 years of age)
• Women (18-29 years of age)
• Ladies (30 years and older)
• Menehune Longboard (14 years and under M/F)
• Junior Longboard (15-17 years of age)
• Longboard (18-34 years of age)
• Masters Longboard (35-49)
• Legends Longboard (50 +)
• Women Longboard (under 29)
• Ladies Longboard ( 30 +)
• Menehune Bodyboard (14 years and under M/F)
• Open Bodyboard (all ages, M/F)
• Open Shortboard (all ages, male and female)

SPECIALTY 4 Person Shortboard Tag team

EASTERN SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS, (Referred to herein as ‘ESC’ or ‘Easterns’)

ELIGIBILITY
B. All ages are determined as of January 1st of the year of the ESC. Every contestant must have competed in his or her respective ESA Designated Regional Championship (or been a paid alternate and checked in and on call at the beach marshal) in order to be eligible to try to gain a slot for the ESC. Returning Champions who have not moved ‘up’ a division, and have met local district requirements (competed in at least 50% of a district season and are members in good standing) shall receive an automatic slot to the ESC. Alternates who try for a slot (last position) in this manner shall forfeit their Regional Entry fee. “No-shows’ at a regional event generally forfeit the right to obtain a slot to ESC. Any request for a deviation from these rules must be in the form of writing and sent to the Competition Director for study and review. No review shall be granted otherwise. You may not surf more than one division for each of the following: Longboard, Shortboard. Exceptions - Tag Team, Open, Menehune Bodyboard, Female Menehunes, Female Menehune Longboard (IE: Menehune Bodyboard competitors may surf in Open Bodyboard, Female Menehunes may surf in Girls, and Female Menehune Longboarders may surf in Women’s 29 and under as well)

C. Any contestant arriving late for their heat may compete in the remainder of their heat, if there is an opening. If a contestant misses their 1st round heat, their name will be placed at the bottom of the alternate list for the 1st round. There will be no refunds of entry fees for missed heats. This includes any alternate who did not withdraw by 5 pm the day before the event, and obtained a slot at the beach during the alternate calling process. Any alternate who is not present when their name is called and receives a slot, shall forfeit their entry fee. It is the responsibility of all alternates and contestants, to advise their director or Contest Director of their intention to withdraw. An alternate list will be kept by the Contest Director and shall include the competitor’s name, division and rating. Alternates must have qualified and competed in their respective ESA regional championships, or, as a paid alternate, must have checked in and on call at the beach marshal, paid their Regional entry fee in full and have valid ESA membership through the upcoming
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ESC. Their refundable entry fee must be paid in full for their name to be placed on the alternate list. Beach entries are not permissible. Alternates should be ranked largest region to smallest, as well as, regional ranking on an individual basis. ESA Competition Rules will be made available to all ESA Districts for circulation to their members.

D. Slotting of alternates at ESC is determined by a rotation system of largest membership in the division, followed by the next largest region, followed by the next largest region, etc.

II. EQUIPMENT (All boards are measured from end to end, (deck/top of the board) using a straight edge). If a measurement by the Contest Director is called for, such measurement shall be done in a private and secure area.

A. In Shortboard age division events, surfboards will not exceed 2 ft. longer than the competitor’s height, except GRAND LEGENDS, which has no limit as to equipment used.

B. Longboards must be a minimum of 9 ft. in length, in Junior, Men, Master, Women, Ladies and Legends divisions. Menehune division will be a minimum of 3 foot over their head.

C. Bodyboards shall not exceed 5 ft. in length, be flexible, and shall include some portion of soft exterior skin. The use of fins is optional.

D. Additional equipment, such as leashes and helmets may be used.

III. JUDGING AND SCORING

A. The subjective judging system will be used (0-10 points using .1 {one-tenth} integrals) and there will be an active judging panel of one head judge and five scoring judges.

B. When judging standup surfing, a ride will begin to be scored when a surfer’s hands leave the rails of their surfboard.
When judging body boarding, there is no limitation as to body position on the board and the ride will be scored after the head judge designates the body boarder has caught the wave and executed a maneuver. All rides must commence within the designated competition area in order to be scored. Competitors that continue a ride beyond the competition area risk that the balance of their ride might not be scored as it is the responsibility of the judges at all times to competitors in the designated competition area and competitors that leave the competition area on a scoreable ride risk not having their ride completely scored.

C. 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.

-Definition of Disc: 3 feet wide, with green on one side, and yellow on the other side.

-Definition of Flags: 3 flags, one green, one yellow and one red.
Use: Green: Heat is in progress. Yellow: Used to show 5 minutes remaining in a heat or heat is inside the 5-minute warning. Red (or “no-flag/disc”): heat has been stopped or end of heat.

D. The judging criteria shall be:
"A surfer must perform radical controlled maneuvers in the critical section of a wave with speed, power and flow to maximize scoring potential. Innovative / progressive surfing as well as variety of repertoire (maneuvers), will be taken into consideration when rewarding points for waves ridden. The surfer who executes this criteria with the maximum degree of difficulty and commitment on the waves shall be rewarded with the higher scores." The individual judge’s scores should be consistent with one another. If a judge is consistently inconsistent, he/she may be replaced. Please refer to ESA Judges Handbook for detailed policy, instructions and guidelines for judging.

E. The HEAD JUDGE shall be responsible for:
• Determining which riders and rides are to be scored
• Determining wave possession & priority
• Maintaining an accurate wave count
• Notifying judges of missed rides
• Assisting judges in making accurate scores for the missed rides.

The Head Judge cannot dictate scores but may give a range to his panel. The Head Judge’s role is not to determine the scoring by judges, but rather to coach, mentor, supervise, control and coordinate. The Head Judge is there to ensure the smooth running of each heat.
The Head Judge cannot call interference or a paddling interference for a panel as a unit but can do so on his own wave count sheet. The Head Judge can call for the panel:

a. up after the commencement of the next heat penalty
b. removal of jersey penalty All missed rides should be indicated by the letter “M” in the appropriate box to be averaged by the Head
Judge according to the individual’s scoring scale (interpolation). This should be done at or before the end of the heat, as time allows. Judges, who are consistently missing rides, may be replaced.

F. Wave counts to be used for tabulation of results will be the best 2 waves for preliminary and final heats. The Contest Director after consultation with the head judge shall determine the number of high waves per heat to be tabulated and this shall be posted and announced prior to the start of the contest.

Note: It is recommended that 2 scoring waves be used for both preliminary and finals unless special circumstances warrant a 3 wave-counting situation in a final.

Maximum waves that can be ridden are 10 in preliminary heats and 12 in a final. (Note: Double elimination heats shall be 15 minutes in duration for each and every heat).

a) It is a competitor’s responsibility to monitor the number of waves he has ridden. An attempt will be made to inform a competitor who has caught 9th/10th waves and 11th/12th waves (finals). However, The Contest Director is not obligated to inform a competitor that they are nearing, reaching or exceeding their wave limit. Once the wave maximum has been reached, the competitor must leave the water. In addition the surfer who remains in the water after catching the wave maximum will be penalized for interference if:
i) He/she rides an extra wave that clearly deprives another competitor of an available ride
ii) He/she interferes with any other competitor by paddling, positioning or other inappropriate reason.
Protests about no announcement or inability to hear an announcement about the maximum wave call, will NOT be accepted. It is strictly the competitor’s responsibility to monitor their wave count.
Upon receipt of the completed judges sheets, the tabulators will immediately check to see if:
1. All judges’ sheets have been turned in.
2. The correct number of waves has been scored on each sheet.
3. Identify interference or other penalty calls, if any.
If a ride has been missed, an attempt will be made to identify the missing rides by referring to the other judge’s sheets.

If the ride is identified to the satisfaction of the head judge, a score will be given the missed ride by: AVERAGING THE MISSED WAVE ACCORDING TO THE SCORING LEVEL THAT THE JUDGE
IN QUESTION USES (INTERPOLATION).
Upon completion of these formalities, the judge’s sheets may be totaled. The scoring waves shall be circled, totaled, and interference penalties deducted. The total shall be placed in the total column. The heat places are then calculated and entered on the judge’s sheet. The competitor with the highest score will receive one
point, the second highest will receive two points and so on. If a judge ties two or more competitors, the points awarded to each of the tied competitors will be the average of the affected placing points added
together.

EXAMPLE: If 2nd, 3rd and 4th are tied, add 2, 3, and 4 together and divide by 3 = 3 points for each tied competitor.

PLEASE NOTE: The head judge, along with a majority will determine the “official” wave count. When no further calculations are required on the judge’s sheets, the results are transcribed on the tally sheet, which is completed in the following manner:

1. The competitor’s names are entered.
2. The judge’s names are completed
3. Places are copied in a row next to each judge.
4. The high and low scores are crossed out for each competitor.
5. Total the places that remain and enter.
6. The competitor who receives the lowest point total in the final point column places 1st and so on.
If, at this point, a tie situation occurs, the tabulator will proceed to break the tie as follows:
1. Compare the relative position of the tied competitor’s on the tabulator sheet using the plus/minus
system. If not broken, then see #2.
2. Tabulate the one highest wave on the TIED judge’s sheet ONLY.
3. Go to the third, fourth, etc. until all waves are exhausted
If the tie is not broken by these methods, go back to #2 and repeat for ALL judge’s sheets. Go to #3, #4, etc.
In the case of three or more athletes tied, repeat this procedure with the goal of deriving one individual who
will be the highest placing tied athlete. Find the top two surfers and then top one of those. Once the ‘bottom’ individual has therefore been eliminated from the procedure, repeat the formulae for the remaining athletes until a clear order of finish for the heat is obtained.
If the tie is still not broken by these methods, there will be a ten-minute surf off (top 2 waves) if one or more
of the competitors could advance.

G. JUDGES MAJORITY OVERRIDE: If a heat’s final point totals would result in the elimination of a competitor favored by the majority of the judges in the heat, that competitor will advance in place of the
competitor favored by the minority of the judges, regardless of point totals. The tabulator will indicate this situation by placing a circled M next to the point total column of the advancing competitor. NOTE: The
competitor with the “largest” number of advancing scores from judges will advance over a surfer with “less” of a majority. For Example: If Surfer A has 3 judges advancing him but surfer B has 4 judges advancing then Surfer B will advance over Surfer A.

H. Competitors may check the results for errors for each heat up to thirty minutes after those results are made public. This applies to all heats, including finals. If a competitor in a final, suspects that a penalty call has been made and they are involved in same, then he/she may request the contest director review the results of the heat and take the appropriate action. If an error is found, the contest director should be notified to have the error corrected. Unless there is an unresolved protest, all results become final after the thirty-minute time period.

IV. WAVE POSSESSION AND INTERFERENCE

It is the intent of this rule to encourage all competitors to strive toward situations where there is only one
competitor at a time in the wave shoulder. The judges will strictly enforce this rule. Competitors are hereby
alerted to the severity of the penalty and the strictness with which it will be enforced.

A. WAVE POSSESSION - A competitor may gain wave possession in one of the following ways.
1. By catching a wave and completing a maneuver (turn in chosen direction) before the face of the wave reaches another competitor.
2. If two or more competitors are paddling in the face of the same wave, in the same shoulder, the competitor closest to the curl has possession upon catching the wave and completing a maneuver.
3. Two competitors may go in opposite directions on the same peak, providing they don’t cross paths or hinder one another.
4. If two competitors, at opposite ends of the contest area, catch the same wave and ride toward each
other, both gain wave possession. If they eventually meet, the competitor who gained wave possession first on their respective peak shall have the right of way.

B. INTERFERENCE - A competitor may be called for interference for any of the following reasons.
1. For catching the same wave in the shoulder as the competitor who gains wave possession in RULE A1.
2. For occupying any part of the wave that could simultaneously or eventually be reached by any
possible maneuver of the competitor who gains wave possession as per RULE A2. For breaking down the wave on the competitor with wave possession or infringing on the possible length of the ride of the competitor with wave possession.
3. In the case of RULES A3 and A4, both competitors may be called for interference if no right of way
has been established in the opinion of the judges. Interference must be called on one or both competitors for crossovers or collisions. If one competitor is clearly the aggressor in forcing the crossover or collision, in the opinion of the judges, only he/she will be penalized. All rossovers
are discouraged in all situations.
4. THE HEAD JUDGE, along with the other judges, may rule interference on any competitor for:
a. Blatantly paddling for a wave in a manner so as to intimidate or hassle a competitor who is in position to gain wave possession.
b. Grabbing or touching any part of another competitor or their equipment in a manner that impairs their ability to surf.
c. Paddling out in such a manner as to interfere with the ride of the competitor with wave possession, whether intentional or not.
d. Board caddying is not allowed. This includes losing one’s board and having someone retrieve it for you for the specific reason of helping you in your heat. Saving boards from damage is allowed so long as the board isn’t paddled, handed, carried or pushed to the
competitor. Penalty: DQ (automatic disqualification)
e. Snaking, The surfer who is furthest inside at the initial point of take-off and has established wave possession is entitled to that wave for the duration of their ride, even though another surfer may subsequently take off in the white water behind them. The judges will not penalize the first surfer because they have right of way, even though they are in front.
If the second surfer has not hindered the original surfer with right of way, then the judges may choose not to penalize them and will score both surfers’ rides
A surfer may not take off on the opposite side of a broken wave peak to gain possession of the opposite wave face, when a surfer has already established possession on the inside of the peak. An interference will be called if the majority of the judges feel that the surfer surfing/riding from behind the broken peak has hindered the scoring potential of the surfer who has established possession of the inside of the broken peak.
If in the opinion of the judges, the second surfer has interfered with (snaked) the original surfer with right of way, by causing them to pull out or lose the wave, then interference may be called on the second surfer, even though they are behind the first when the penalty was called.

C. PENALTIES
1. If a judge thinks interference has taken place, the judge shall triangle the ride of the offending
competitor and draw an arrow to the ride of the competitor who was interfered with. In the case of
a paddling interference, the triangle shall be placed on the line between the appropriate rides for
the offending competitor and filled with P. I. (no ride/no score) and the arrow still drawn.
2. Any four of six judges, including the head judge, or 3 of 5 scoring judges can rule interference. Under 2 best waves the interfering surfer will be penalized with a loss of 50% of his second best scoring ride. Under 3 best waves, the interfering surfers will be penalized with a loss of 50% of his 3rd best scoring ride. (Note: In almost all cases, the maximum number of scoring waves for heats and finals should be 2) If there is only 1 ride caught (2 best waves) then that wave shall lose 50% of it’s value. . IE: the lowest scoring wave will count in the final tally as a 50% score for the offending surfer. Further, the wave that the interference was called on by the majority of the judges will count in the final tally as a zero.
In addition, all penalties applicable (paddling interference, etc.) will now follow this rule. IE: loss of half of the lowest scoring wave.
If a surfer incurs another (2nd) interference penalty during the same heat his best wave score will be halved also.
Where any surfer incurs two or more interference penalties they must immediately leave the competition area.

V. HEAT PREPARATION AND STRUCTURE
A. All contestants must report to the ready area 15 minutes prior to the start of their heat to be checked in
and receive their instructions. When possible, the competition area will be defined by the use of flags,
barriers, points, piers, jetty’s and/or buoys. If, in the event a competitor does not check in by the 5-minute
warning, they will be replaced by the next highest ranked alternate. The “late” surfer goes to the bottom of
the alternate list.
B. All heats, except finals, will run 15 minutes. Finals will run 20 minutes except in 10 heat, man on man
double elimination configuration where all 10 heats are finals and all are to be 15 minutes each.

Administration’s time clock will be deemed the “official time,” regardless. A ‘buffer’ delay between heats
ending and heats starting of no more than 5 seconds is highly recommended. This helps alleviate the
possibility of an ’up after’ penalty.
C. WATER STARTS (preferred)- All heats will begin with the blast of the horn and/or the raising of the green flag or change of color of the competition ‘disc or sign’ to green.. The raising of the yellow flag, or change to yellow on the disc/sign will indicate the five-minute warning and an announcement shall be made to the contest area. At the five-minute warning, the next heat of competitors may start paddling to the designated standby area, being careful not to interfere with the heat in progress. When the horn sounds ending the heat in progress, the standby heat may paddle into the take off zone, but not catch any waves until the horn sounds starting their heat.
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 to stand, his hands having left the rails (rail grabs excluded) for the wave to be scored.
Surfers up before or after the start of their heat or the next heat will be penalized.
BEACH STARTS - All competitors in the “on deck” heat will gather at the waters edge anytime between the
five minute warning for the “heat in progress” (raising of the yellow flag/change to yellow on the disc) and the start of their heat. The “heat in progress” will end with one horn blast. The “on deck” heat will begin with one horn blast and/or the raising of the green flag/change to green on the disc.
BUOY START - In the instance of exceptionally large surf or an extremely long or difficult paddle to the line
up, a buoy technique may be employed with the competitors “on deck” using a marker buoy, located some
distance from the line up, instead of the water’s edge for a starting point for their heat. The flag, horn and
timing system are the same used in other types of starts.
All heats require competitors to paddle, ride prone, or on their knees, (WITH NO MANEUVERS), to the
beach when the signal is given that their heat has ended. All heats end with a blast from the horn and the change of the flag to red/no color or ‘no color’ (disc), or to green to start the next heat when heats are run back to back with no interval between heats. In Regional, ESC, and major specialty events, the announcer shall give a countdown from 5 to zero to end the heat, and a countdown from 5 to zero to commence the next heat. The foregoing procedure is also strongly recommended for all district events, but it is not mandatory.
In the event of danger or a situation where the contest director determines the event must be stopped immediately, there shall be a blast from the horn and/or the red flag (or change in disc to ‘no color’) will be raised. All competitors must leave the water immediately under this condition. If a competitor starts a scoreable ride after their heat ends, they must return to the non-scoreable position before the start of the next heat or risk being penalized. If a heat is interrupted for any reason it will be stopped by the Head Judge and Contest Director. It will be resumed at the time it was stopped, and will run for its original period. The only exception will be if the Head Judge, in consultation with other qualified officials, feels that the entire heat should be rerun because no surfer had a clear advantage at the time of cancellation, or if altered conditions make it impossible for judges to keep to the same scale.
Competitors must wear the competition jersey provided by the beach marshal from time of issue until returned to the beach marshal at the completion of the heat, and if appropriate, during the awards presentation, or a penalty may be imposed. Competition jerseys must be returned in a sportsmanlike manner to the beach marshal Failure to do so, may result in a penalty being assessed. . All jerseys must be worn with the imprint clearly showing. (must not be worn inside out) Any competitor, who removes their competition jersey while in the water or before returning to the beach marshal, may be subject to a penalty of loss of 50% of his/her lowest scoring wave.
D. The Contest Director, or their Acting Contest Director in their temporary absence, is the only person who
can give an exact schedule of events. There will be no protest against incorrect information received from
any other person at the contest. If however the Contest Director gives incorrect information and a surfer
subsequently misses a heat then a re-surf of that heat may take place.
E. Any competitor who starts surfing after the flag/disc is presented to start the following heat, will suffer an interference penalty on all judge’s sheets if a majority of the judges or the head judge individually calls it. Any competitor removing their competition jersey while still in the water may be subject to an interference penalty.
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Each wave surfed in a heat beyond the wave limit will suffer an interference penalty.
F: A minimum of 50% of the surfers in a heat and round shall advance to the next round. In any “six man’ format, a minimum of 3 athletes shall advance in any heat that has at least 4 athletes in a heat. The exception to this would be a format where the final rounds are 4-man format.
G. Any competitors practicing in the competition area or demonstrating unsportsmanlike conduct will be
disqualified from the event, loss of points/standing in the event and a possible ‘set-down’ for the next ESA event.

H. SPORTSMANSHIP CLAUSE: No official of an event, in any capacity, shall at any time be submitted to
unsportsmanlike conduct in either word or deed. Any display of poor sportsmanship by either a competitor
or, in the case of a minor, the competitor’s parent, shall be cause for automatic dismissal from the contest. This also applies to unsportsmanlike conduct directed to another competitor by any ESA competitor.
I. Premier Post-Season, Major Specialty events-Judging
The Head Judge will post judging schedule each morning with heat schedule. Failure of any judge to fulfill his/her obligation will lead to immediate dismissal and forfeiture of any payment due. This would include, but not be limited to: tardiness, excessive low percentages, inability to score accurately, failure to consistently call interference calls, discussion outside panel of competitor’s scores, interference calls, quality of administration and performance of the event. At a district contest judges represent the members equally as to age and equipment, on a Regional or Championship level they represent the members of the ESA as a whole, not individual districts or regions. Each judge may be required to submit a reference sheet, a letter of
recommendation, and sign a contract with the competition director and/or judging coordinator (head judge). It is recommended that judges selected to premier and post season competitions be the highest qualified experienced individuals that can be obtained by utilizing performance formulae based on previous experience, deportment, and adherence to the ESA judge’s course, without regard to geographical location. Head Judge Position of the ESA: Acts, when at all possible as Head Judge to all premier and post season events and this position is filled by the Competition Director of the ESA.

VI. OTHER EVENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS
A. IRON SURFER - To be eligible for the iron surfer award and individual must enter and compete in a
minimum of three individual events. Tag Team does not count toward the Iron Surfer award. All other
results will count toward total points. Regional and individual points will be awarded to all finalists in each
division point values will be equal to the number of entries in the division. (i.e. first place in field of 36 would
receive 36 points, second place 35 points, and so on).
VII. AWARDS
ESC, Regionals, ESA Specialty Events: All finalists shall receive awards/trophies
ESA District Contests: While 50 percent of any finalist must receive awards, it shall be at the discretion of the contest director, and advertised to the membership prior to the event, whether each finalist shall receive a trophy/award.
VIII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A. Complaints and protests by competitors shall be in writing and handed to the ESA Competition
Director or Contest Director. as the case may be, before action can be taken. All written protests will be handled by the ESA Competition Director or Contest Director as the case may be and/or The HEAD JUDGE AND THEIR DECISION WILL BE FINAL.
No judges are to be approached over a call or results or a penalty may be imposed on the individual concerned. Further, videotape or other recording medium presented by a competitor, their parent, spouse or guardian or any other party, WILL NOT be reviewed or otherwise taken into consideration in connection with any protest.
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