The official rules of competition at Kona events. Any event that wishes to be considered an official Kona event must abide by these rules and refer to them in its Notice of Race.

1. General

2. Class World Championships shall be held within 200km of an international airport, and easily reached by motor vehicle.

3. Rules

3.1. General Rules

3.1.1. In general the Racing Rules of Sailing (RR) including Appendix B (Windsurfing Competition Rules) shall apply.

3.2. Pumping

RR 42 and RR 67 shall apply (App B42 shall not apply).

3.2.1. Repeated rig movements (pumping) to increase or maintain speed are prohibited.

3.2.2. Penalties: As provided under the Racing Rules of Sailing, the no-pumping rule shall be enforced either by a protest filed by the race committee against a sailor in violation of Rule 42, or by sound signals and/or flags as follows. A competitor performing repeated rig movements shall be warned by the on-water umpires by means of a sound signal and/or a yellow flag and penalized with a 360 turn with immediate effect. If the offense is repeated within the same race, the competitor shall be disqualified. If repeated in any subsequent races within the same event, the competitor shall be notified by the means of a sound signal and/or a red flag and be disqualified.

4. Starting Races

4.1. The sailing instructions shall specify the starting system according to App. 3.3. (a), which means that RR 26 shall apply (5/4/1 minutes starting procedure).

5. Class Representative

5.1. A Class Representative (CR) will be appointed for every international championship. The CR shall be consulted on all matters pertaining to these Championship Rules and approve changes to the Sailing Instructions.

6. Divisions

6.1. General

6.1.1. Kona Class Rules C.2.3 shall apply.

6.1.2. Scoring shall be according to RRS Windsurfing Competition Rules, using the Low Points Scoring system.

6.1.3. A Race shall consist of one course race, or one marathon.

6.2. Titles: Overall Scoring

6.2.1. Unless the total number of competitors is less than 80, all divisions except the cadets shall start simultaneously. Only the overall winner shall be awarded “Overall -World/Continental/National- Champion”.

6.3. Titles: Scoring of Divisions

6.3.1. The winner of each division (Light weight/light medium weight, medium weight, light-heavy, heavy weight, ladies, and cadets) shall be awarded champions of his/her division.

6.3.2. When/if the divisions are starting simultaneously, the competitors in each division shall be scored according to their individual over-all placing. It means that a competitor finishing 2nd in his/her division, but 15th over-all shall still be scored as 15th.

6.4. Cadets (U15)

6.4.1. A cadet is a boy or a girl who has not reached and will not reach the age of 15 as of December 31 of the current calendar year.

6.5. Controlling the weight groups

6.5.1. The race organizer has to control the weight of the competitors before the first start in order to separate the weight groups.

6.5.2. Applicable to all World and Continental Championships, each weight division shall be defined within its respectively stated numerical limits (i.e, "scratch weight"). Only National Championships and below may permit a 2 kg+/- allowance beyond (above or below) the numerical limits of each respective weight division.

6.5.3. The weight of the competitors shall comply with his or her division until the finish of the last race. Therefore the race organizer may control the weight of the competitors at any time, and may disqualify them as the case may be.

6.6. Sail sizes

6.6.1. A competitor of any division may choose one sail size down, but still compete in the competitor's respective weight class. Such choice must be submitted prior to registration for the sailor's first race associated with a Kona Cup series and cannot be altered during the calendar year in which the choice of smaller size was made.

6.6.2. Notwithstanding rule 6.6.1, female competitors weighing less than 75 kg may select any sail size up to and including 7.4 sqm. Female competitors weighing at least 75 kg shall compete in the standard weight divisions subject to the ability to select one sail size down for the season as identical to the male counterparts'.

6.6.3. The sail sizes for Cadets are optional, but limited to 5.8 sqm.

7. Maximum Number of Races; Time Limits; Target Times; Rest Periods

7.1. General

7.1.1. The maximum of races that can be scheduled in a series is 12.

7.1.2. A minimum of 4 races shall be completed by a class/division to validate a championship or event for that class/division.

7.2. Time limit & target times

7.2.1. The time limit for the first finisher in a course race is 50 minutes.

7.2.2. The time limit for the first board in each race to reach the first mark is 20 minutes.

7.2.3. A race that exceeds the time limit (either under 7.2.1 or 7.2.2) shall be abandoned.

7.2.5. The target elapsed time for a course race is 40 - 45 minutes for the winner.

7.4. No more than four races per day shall be scheduled or raced.

7.5. Rest periods and consecutive races

7.5.1. After back-to-back races there shall be a rest period of a minimum of 60 minutes ashore for the final finisher in the last race.

7.5.2. No more than 3 races shall be sailed back to back, which may be reduced to 2 in marginal planing conditions.

8. Wind Minimums

8.1. The race shall start at the scheduled time if the wind conditions are within the set criteria at the starting line.

8.2. A course race should not be started in less than 4 knots of wind established in the starting area. This lower limit may actually be higher if there is strong current in the racing area.

8.3. A course race should not be started in more than 20 knots of wind for the Cadets and 28 knots of wind for the weight groups and women’s division - established in the starting area.

8.4. A marathon race should not be started in less than 6 knots of wind measured over the majority of the race area.

9. Equipment Inspections

9.1. The Official Equipment inspector shall mark the equipment a competitor intends to use during the regatta before the start of the first race and at the occasion of any replacement equipment as may be permitted in the Class Rules.

9.2. The equipment inspectors may conduct checks & inspections of equipment, at any time during the regatta. Identified competitors, at sea, shall sail their boards to the 'equipment inspector's boat,' which will be flying a white flag with the word 'M' up on it, immediately after finishing the race. Any competitor, notified of the requirement to be inspected shall follow the instructions of the equipment inspector's and proceed directly to the equipment inspection area ashore. Until permission is given by the equipment inspector, a selected competitor shall have no contact with a coach or support personnel. A competitor, so notified, shall not leave the equipment inspection area, without the permission of the equipment inspectors. Failure to comply may result in disqualification.

10. Courses & Course Areas

10.1. Courses will be as described in the Sailing Instructions.

10.2. The course area in a course race is defined as an area not exceeding 100 meters beyond the course including the 'starting line' and the 'finishing line' and its extensions, which would normally be taken by a racer when racing.

10.3. Access to the course area during a race is restricted to competitors racing and official boats - as defined in the Sailing Instructions.

11. Safety Systems

11.1. The Safety System may be as specified in the championship Sailing Instructions, and could be either “Sign In /Sign Out” system or “Tally” system.