Copyright on this rulebook is owned by STACK; Sport, Team And Competitive Kiting, and AKA; American Kite Association
Publishing is only allowed (after approval of STACK) under the following conditions:
[ please take note of the latest amendments (april 1996) !]
Requests for changes to this rules book go through these steps:
1. Anyone with corrections, additions, or updates sends detailed descriptions of them to:
Sport Kite Competition Committee
American Kitefliers Association
1559 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
U.S.A.
[NOTE: this is the original text of Rule Book III. STACK-members and any otherone interested could send their remarks, critics, additions etc. to either STARRC or SIEC. Addresses ? Click here!]
2. Proposed changes are reviewed and debated.
3. If a proposal results in a change to the rule book, the Committee determines when the change should be implemented. An effort will be made to insure that any changes implemented will not negatively impact competitors, established competitions or leagues/circuits.
4. When a complete revised rule book is not deemed necessary, approved changes shall be formalized into a numbered memorandum (with the year indexed on the year the rule book was last published in its complete form).
5. The rule book will be reprinted on an as-needed basis. In the interim, the most recent rule book plus all numbered memorandums [amendments] shall be considered to be the official rule book. Where there is conflicting information, the most recent memorandum [amendment] shall take precedence over all information provided in the rule book.
1. There are four classes of competition:
At the first competition in which they compete each season, competitors should decide in which class to compete. After that point, they may continue in the same class or move up to the next class; however, they may not move down in class within a given season.
Moving up: If, during a season, an individual or team places in the top three spots in three different competition events in the same class, that individual or team is required to move up to at least the next higher class at the beginning of the next season (Competitors in the Master class are the very bast and as such cannot move any higher).
Moving down: If a competitor does not finish in the top three places at any competitions in which she/he competes, after a year of competing in that class, he/she may then move down a class for the coming competition year.
The classes are:
2. Individual vs. Pairs/Team - Classes for teams and pairs events are considered to be distinctly different from individual events in that they require different skills, knowledge and abilities. As a result, an individual competitor may fly in a different class for individual vs team/pairs (e.g., masters individual precision and experienced team precision).
There are no restrictions placed on competitors who wish to compete in multiple pairs/team events at a single competition.
Pairs are comprised of only two competitors. Teams must be comprised of three or more members. Large teams with many members may configure and re-configure themselves for any competition event (see C. below) with whomever and as many members as they choose. Once a competition event begins, there can be no changes in personnel; this includes finals when heats are used. As it relates to seeded events, invitational events or ranking (standings), the team, by name, not by members, is awarded, invited or ranked.
The 50% rule: Whenever 50% of the membership of a pairs/team changes, that team is considered a new grouping (even if the name is the same).
C. Competition Events
1. As this sport grows, additional events may continue to be created and added. There are currently three elements that make up a Competition Event, as follows:
2. When these elements are combined, "Competition Events" are created. Organizers decide which competition events to hold at their competition, based on the theme or focus selected for their event, the number of fly fields, the number of days of competition, ect.
D. Required Personnel
The following is a list of the officials required to hold a sport kite competition and a brief description of each role:
:
3. Announcer: The Announcer keeps the spectators informed about what is happening on the competition fields. Announcers also monitor communications between the Field Director and Sound Engineer regarding the cuing of audio tapes for events requiring music. The Announcer may assist the Pit Boss by paging and instructing competitors to report the Stage-In Area; hoever, reporting on time is the sole responsibility of competitors.
4. Field Director: The Field Director is in charge of directing the activity on the Competition field. The Field Director informs competitors when the judges are ready to view their p[erformance, initiates the starting of tapes for events with music, keeps track of elapsed time, times any crashed, performs wind speed chaecks, and monitors the general movements of competitors while they are on the Competition field.
5. Sound Engineer: The Sound Engineer sets up and operates the sound equipment, supports the Announcer, and plays competitor audio tapes for music events.
6. Judges: The Judges are responsible for determining the raw scores for each competitor as he or she competes. Judges record their scores on individual score sheets, then pass their score sheets to the Scorers for final tabulation.
7. Scorers: The Scorers tabulate each competitor's score, including any calculations necessary where weighting factors are used (Note: Automated scoring systems may be used to verify and/or replace the traditional manual scoring process. In this instance, on-site computer equipment assures the efficient and timely calculation and posting of competitor scores).
8. Pit Boss: The Pit Boss is in charge of the Stage-In Area, the place competitors report prior to competing. He/she coordinates activities in this area including safety, paging requests for competitors who are late or missing, etc. The Pit Boss assures a steady flow of competitors to the Competition field, so there is no delay in their reporting when requested to do so by the Field Director.
9. Line Judges: The Line Judges are responsible for determining if a competitor has flown outside the boundaries of the Competition field.
10. Safety Crew: The Safety Marshall and Crew are responsible for the safety of the competitors and spectators. They keep spectators from walking onto the fields and they warn competitors who are flying improperly (e.g., flying over spectators).
11. Event Organizer: The individual sponsor or promotor for the competition, this person is responsible for planning and developing the competition format, requesting sanctioning from the AKA, publicising the event, recruiting sponsors, organizing registration, developing the program and designing field layout.