The WBR Competition Rules

World Base Race Competition Rules and Regulations 2019

  1. Mission
    • The following rules have been created in the interest of safety, fairness, competition and the future of our sport, with the goal to lower the risk of injury and to protect the participants, staff and spectators from situations that could cause personal harm. It is the desire to complete these competitions without incident or accident and with the fairest result possible. It is our mutual responsibility to act professionally and safely throughout.
  2. Definitions of Words and Phrases used in these rules
    • Course:The designated path that competitors must navigate as indicated by a series of course markers or course outline.
    • Body: All or any parts of the human anatomical structure, including normal prosthetic appendages, that make up a competitor’s physical being.
    • LZ:The designated landing area.
    • Ramp: The wooden, stone, concrete or metal platform that competitors stand on before exit.
    • Start signal:The signal will be given by the official starter and will consist of a 5 sec countdown followed by an audible “beep” or verbal “Go” at which time the timing system will start.
    • Exit:The moment when the competitor is no longer in contact with the ramp.
    • Course Markers:Objects used to mark and indicate the boundaries of the course.
    • Lanes:The lanes are defined by the course markers, which indicate the inner and outer boundaries of the lanes.
    • Finish line: The line used by the judges to score the completion of the race
    • Freefall:The time between exit and deployment of the pilot chute.
    • Opening:Is initiated at the time when the pilot chute has been deployed and is no longer in the competitors’ hand.
    • Landing:The moment when the jumper contacts the surface again after opening.
    • Equipment:The parachute, lines, container, harness, risers, toggles, slider, bridle, pilot chute.
    • Wingsuit:A suit consisting of inflatable surfaces spanning the spaces between the arms and legs of the competitor.
    • Tracking suit:An inflatable suit that does not have panels spanning the spaces between the arms and legs of the competitor.
    • Penalties: Are assessed when a competitor exits from the ramp before the beep, cuts inside the course marker on a racecourse with a turn marker or has a canopy time above the defined maximum canopy time in a distance competition.
    • Disqualification:Occurs when a competitor commits a safety violation or at the digression of the organizer.
    • Surface Contact: The point at which any part of the competitor’s body or equipment (except the pilot-chute) comes in contact with any part of the earth’s surface, including grass, ground, trees, water, etc.
    • Closing the course: For any reason, such as excessive wind speeds or an accident, the course will be closed by a means mentioned during the pre-event competitors’ briefing (smoke, flags, radio). Generally the official starter will instruct competitors on how to proceed. In this case, competitors are not allowed to navigate the course. A competitor who chooses to jump should stay outside the competition course and designated LZ.
  3. Event Description
    • Qualifying Rounds
    • A scored race from exit to the finish line in which the competitor must display the required skills to navigate the course safely.
    • Competition Events
    • In a solospeedcompetition a round will consist of a timed individual race from the exit to the finish line.
    • In a head to headspeedcompetition a heat will consist of a two-person race from exit to the finish line.
    • In a distancecompetition a round will consist of a race from exit to the first point of contact with the surface.
  4. Determination of the Winners
    • Solo Speed Event: The competitor with the fastest time at the completion of the round is the winner
    • Head to Head Speed Event:The competitor with the fastest time in the heat is the winner.
    • Distance Event: The competitor with the longest total distance at the completion of the round is the winner.
    • Combined Champion: The Combined Champion will be the competitor with the highest total number of points of all valid events.
    • The minimum number of rounds required for an event is one round.
    • The qualification rounds can be used to determine the winners.
    • Incomplete Competition: In the event of an incomplete competition only the rounds in which all registered competitors have received a score will be used to determine competition results
    • In the Event of a Tie
    • If two or more competitors receive the same score in a speed round and both competitors times have been recorded to the millisecond then the millisecond data will be used to determine placing.
    • If two or more competitors receive the same score in a round the competitor with the single highest scoring run in any of the previous rounds will have the higher placing.
    • In an event where only one round has been completed and two or more competitors receive the same score it will be considered a tie.
    • In an event where two or more competitors receive the same combined total number of points the competitor with the single highest scoring run in the speed event will receive the higher placing.
  5. General Rules
    • Minimum Experience: 100 BASE jumps, 80 wingsuit BASE jumps, or 80 BASE tracking jumps for tracking events. Meeting the minimum jump numbers does not guarantee participation in the event; Qualification requirements and demonstration of the ability to complete the course objectives in a safe manner must also be met.
    • Wingsuits and tracking suits used by competitors must be manufactured to meet current industry standards. The Chief Judge shall be the one to determine this. Multiple wingsuits can be used during qualifying rounds but the same wingsuit must be used for all competition rounds.
    • All competitors must wear a hard-shell protective helmet.
    • All competitors must wear appropriate footwear.
    • Failure to wear hard-shell protective helmet or appropriate footwear while navigating a competition course will result in the minimum score for that round.
    • Protective body equipment may be worn and is strongly This must be of the type that will not hinder the competitor’s parachute equipment or compromise safety.
    • Wearing additional weight is not allowed.
    • All competitors shall have the opportunity on the Official Practice Day to make at least one jump on the official course, weather permitting. The Official Panel of Judges shall judge all practice jumps, or Judges in Training under direct supervision of the Chief Judge.
  6. Safety Violations
    • The first safety violation by a competitor will result in a yellow card warning from the Chief Judge to that competitor. Yellow cards will be issued for unsafe actions such as (but not limited to): unsafe exits, flights or landing approaches, crowding or cutting off other competitors or erratic canopy control, flying below 150 m without an open canopy (with respect to the designated landing area).
    • A second safety violation, resulting in a second yellow card, is the equivalent of the issuance of a red card.
    • The issuance of a red card by the Chief Judge will result in the disqualification of the competitor from the competition. Disqualification includes the disregard of any competition results during this competition, and in the elimination of the competitor from further jumping in the competition.
    • The Chief Judge can issue a red card without a prior yellow card warning for any action that presents immediate danger to the competitors or others on the ground. Examples of this include: crossing into another competitors lane, low openings and or dangerous flight over the crowd, flying or landing in an uncontrolled manner, flying below 100 m without an open canopy (with respect to the designated landing area).
    • Notwithstanding and in addition to the above, a competitor may be disqualified from any event, at any time, by mutual agreement of the Meet Director and the Chief Judge, if it is determined by them that the competitor is performing in an unsafe manner. Safety violations observed during official practice jumps may also result in the issuance of yellow or red cards.
    • The minimum parachute flight time between opening and landing for Wingsuit competitors will be 35 sec. Any competitor with less than this time will receive a red card and be disqualified from the competition. Competitors receiving a time between 30 and 35 sec will be given a yellow card.
    • The minimum parachute flight time between opening and landing for Tracking competitors will be 30 sec. Any competitor with less than this time will receive a red card and be disqualified from the competition. Competitors receiving a time between 25 and 30 sec will be given a yellow card.
  7. Exit Order
    • For qualifying rounds exit order will not be decided before the start of each round. Exit order will be decided by the official starter and will be primarily based on arrival order at the exit point.
    • For competition rounds each competitor will be informed of exit order before the start of each round.
    • The exit delay between competitors must be such so as to ensure safe separation and time to allow for any judging.
    • Approximate exit start times will be posted before the start of each round.
    • Competitors are expected to closely monitor exit progress.
    • Competitors who are not present and prepared to exit at the time of their round will receive a minimum score for that round. Exit order will not be altered due to jumpers not being present and prepared at the time of their round.

 

  1. Landings
    • The meet director or chief judge prior to the start of the competition will define the LZ.
    • The LZ should be a controlled area and only authorised persons should have access to this area.
    • All competitors landing outside the landing area will receive a red card.
  2. Malfunctions
    • A competitor experiencing a control problem or malfunction requiring the use of an alternate landing area or resulting in a canopy time below the required minimum will be evaluated. A competitor will be granted only one malfunction during the competition.
    • If a landing outside of the LZ or insufficient canopy time is caused by an equipment malfunction, environmental factor or other factors that can clearly be separated from human error, the chief judge may choose to not penalize the competitor. This will be decided on an individual and safely related basis.
  3. Weather Conditions
    • The maximum allowable wind speed in BASE races, measured by an anemometer, is 5 m/s in any direction on Exit Ramps or LZ. On the Exit Ramp and in the LZ, there shall be anemometers that shall be checked regularly. If the winds exceed 5 meters per second they shall be monitored constantly until the winds have remained below 5 meters per second for at least 15 minutes.
    • A windsock shall be positioned within the LZ and must be fully visible for competitors approaching the LZ. The windsock must be capable of responding to winds of at least 2 m/s and shall be acceptable to the Chief Judge.
    • The Chief Judge will decide the positions of the wind indicating devices.
    • If a competitor chooses not to jump due to personal reasons or opinion and the Chief Judge deems the weather to be within the safety parameters outlined above, they will forfeit their round and receive the minimum score for that round.
  4. Rules Specific to Solo Speed Events
    • Competitors will exit individually.
    • The finish line will be indicated and clearly visible to all competitors.
    • The time – measured to hundredths of a second – starts when the official start signal is given.
    • The time stops when any part of the competitor’s body crosses the finish line.
    • Early exits will result in a penalty of 3 seconds with 3 additional seconds for each additional second before the official start signal was given. Penalties will be added to a competitor’s time for that round.
    • For courses utilizing turn markers, a 5 sec penalty will be issued to competitors that fail to navigate the turn marker correctly. Competitors that fail to navigate the turn marker correctly and do not remain within the frame of a camera being used to judge the turn will receive the minimum score for that round.
    • For courses utilizing lane markers, a 5 sec penalty will be issued to competitors that do not remain within the boundaries of the lane.
    • A competitor’s result for a round is recorded as the time taken to navigate the course in seconds. The ranking in each round is calculated from the lowest time to the highest time. Competitors with no recorded time are scored accordingly and ranked after those competitors with a recorded time.
    • For courses utilizing lane markers that enable two competitors to perform solo speed jumps in pairs, competitors must stay within the boundaries of their lane when doing solo speed jumps in pairs. If a competitor crosses over the centre line indicating the boundary between left and right lanes that competitor will be disqualified regardless of whether or not it affect the other jumper.
    • If solo speed jumps are performed in pairs, after opening the lower of the two competitors will have the right of way for landing.
  5. Rules Specific to Head to Head Speed Events
    • Competitors will exit in pairs.
    • The competitor with the fastest time recorded from the previous round or qualifying round will have lane choice.
    • The finish line will be indicated and clearly visible to all competitors.
    • The winner is the competitor who crosses the finish line first. Crossing the finish line is considered to be when any part of the competitor’s body crosses the finish line.
    • Early exits will result in the competitor that exited early being considered the looser of that heat regardless of who crosses the finish line first. In the event that both competitors exit early the winner will be the competitor that crosses the finish line first.  If a competitor exits early and the second jumper in the heat is disqualified for any reason the competitor that exited early will be the winner of that heat.
    • Competitors must stay within the boundaries of their lane. If a competitor crosses over the centre line indicating the boundary between left and right lanes that competitor will be disqualified regardless of whether or not it affect the other jumper.
    • After opening the lower of the two competitors will have the right of way for landing.
  6. Rules Specific to Distance Events
    • Competitors will exit individually for distance rounds.
    • Distance will be calculated as the total horizontal distance flown from exit to landing.
    • Competitors will be allowed a maximum of 40 sec of canopy time from opening to landing. Competitors will be penalized -10m for each additional second of canopy time above the 40sec maximum.
  7. Judging
    • Judging staff shall consist of a minimum of, Chief Judge, Official Starter and Turn Marker Judges when necessary. Each competition shall be assessed by at least 2 qualified BASE Race Judges.
    • The Chief Judge should be selected as someone who is experienced in BASE and has the knowledge related to BASE and can make responsible decisions in the best interest of all persons involved.
    • Video Review
    • At the request of a judge, or if a recording sheet has been noted as requiring a video review, the Chief Judge or Turn Judge, if possible the judge that requested the review, at the earliest opportunity, shall review the jump in question and render a decision. If needed, the score sheet shall be adjusted and the new adjusted score will then be entered on the master score sheet. A review cycle is comprised of a maximum three viewings of the jump in question – reduced speed playback (slow motion) may be used. At any time during the review process, and without discussion, the judges may render their decision, otherwise the result shall be in favor of the competitor.
    • Judging the Events
    • The Judges must note if the competitor flies outside of the course or violates other rules. This shall be noted and recorded on the score sheets.
    • The scores will not be final until the data and/or recording media have been reviewed, if needed. The Chief Judge shall be responsible for determining a competitor’s final result and placing.
    • Judging Speed
    • An electronic scoring system will be used in speed events. Malfunctions of the electronic scoring system will result in a review of footage if available or the use of times obtained from a manual back-up if available. In the event of an electronic scoring system malfunction where no back-up footage or manually obtained times are available this will result in a re-jump to those competitors affected.
    • In the lack of an electronic timing system a manual or footage based timing system will be used.
  8. Rules Specific to The Competition
    • Aims of the WBR 2019 competition:
    • To have an accident and incident free event.
    • To conduct a fair competition that determines the winner of the WBR wingsuit racing competition.
    • To allow participants to share and exchange experience, knowledge, and information.
    • To provide spectators, media and members of the public with an event that is professional, interesting and informative.
    • To strengthen friendly relations between competitors, organisers, volunteers, and supporters from all nations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Signing

I ____________________________ (name) hereby confirm that I fully understand and accept the rules and guidelines of the WBR 2019 competition including the locations of relevant course markers and landing areas. By signing this form I agree to the terms of safety and responsibility that come with participating in this competition and will respect the decisions made by judges and organisers. If I disagree with a decision I will bring forward an official complaint to the meet director, and not directly to a judge.

I also ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE EVENT(S) ARE VERY DANGEROUS and involve the risk of serious injury and/or death. I HEREBY RELEASE, WAIVE, DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE the World BASE Race organization or any other participant involved with the race.

 

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Name and date