World Rankings - Rules & Events for 2007/2008 Season

Rob, could you explain why Cape Point, NZ King of the Habour, USA Champs & HK Dragon Boat should only carry 10 point whilst the others offer 15? Surely this will have an effect on the ranking tabulations as one paddler may win all the 10 pointers whilst another paddler may only post a 4th or 5th in all the 15 pointers and still have a better chance at winning a WC Crown!
Would it not be fairer to use a percentage based tabulation, such as we use in mosts series where the conditions on the day & difficultly of the race create for a ture reflection of the padddlers ability combined, rather than the size of the sponsors purse being offered!
I don't think this current point allocation will give a fair reflection of a World Cup Ranking, regardless of who wins it there will be a *disclaimer given with the title.

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Hi Rob,

I dont want to be critical, but i have a few points which i would like to throw out to the readers and fellow competitors????????

1. Personally i feel it would be better to calculate the points over four races rather then five, reason being most competitors bar 3 or 4 wouldnt be able to travel to 4 or 5 races. Its not a professional sport some... "most" still need to hold down a full time job...and that doesnt include the pressure the "war office puts in" Wife for those non married!!

2. I believe the system of having a major race (15 pointer) in each major paddling country fits the bill. Races like Dubai are fitting the bill in other ways ie $$, yes its not a perfect down wind race but it adds a different aspect. ARB Durban fits the bill in all aspects, Molokai & Perth are perfect ocean races with a good history, ok both have been lacking $$ but have the potential to grow massively. This means we have 1 x 15 pointer in the USA, 1 x 15 in SA & 1 x 15 in AUS....maybe NZ needs one??

3. Maybe Molokai should be left as a stand alone becuase of its distance?? And we have a race on mainland USA?? But i guess variety is also a key part to a good series!! And that can be an awesome race which adds a new aspect.

4. As the above reader Jammii wrote, maybe a solution to the above is you can only include 1 x 10 and 3 x 15 pointers in score?? Guys or girls that do more races will be able to drop or retain races giving them a better chance on the championship?? ie had Dawid done more races like Perth would he have beaten Oscar??

5. I would be interested to see the structure of the world Surfing Tour, does anyone know how it works??

Whats your veiws??

Cheers Ash Nesbit

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Rob, great job, you will never satisfy everyone. Naturally individuals will have a bias towards their favourite events, I reckon you are on the right track! 4 Premier events on 4 continents with a value of 15 points for 1st place and 4 events on 4 continents with a value of 10 points for first place... a great spread. A page you might find useful when you are streamlining the system further in the future... http://www.buffskyrunner.com/rules/

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I like what Ash suggested about starting off with counting only four races as five is a big stretch for most. Even though I am a pilot and can fly around the world for free it's the reality check with three little girls etc that makes it nearly impossible. I can only think of a very limited number of guys that will be able to make five races....

Hah maybe thats the goal here.....

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Just to answer Ash?s question???pro surfing under the Association of Surfing Professionals has come along way in its 31 years since infancy and the World Title Crown is decided via a well structured system which fortunately has gain massive sponsorship largely due to TV broadcasting and the lifestyle appeal of the sport.

Briefly summarized the ASP World Surfing Tour is contested by and divided into two series the World Crown Title WCT for elite 45 surfers and the World Qualifying Series WQS, open to any of the 1000 registered ASP surfers, with each event restricted to a 192 entries and priority given in the order of the highest seeded surfers entered to that event.
Note to simplify the discussion I exclude the representation of female quota that runs with same principles, but with lower numbers etc.

The WCT is comprised of 10 events held in 8 countries that offers equal prize US$ 300 000 with points allocation (1st is 1200, 2nd is 1032, 3rd is 876, etc) per event and the World Champ is determined by the combine tabulation of their results with an allowance given for a throw-away results.

The WQS is comprised of approximately 45 events around the world, each carrying a 1-6 star rating according to the prize money offered which also determines the amount of ranking points awarded.

The WQS series allows for the top 15 seeds to qualify for the WCT and the bottom WCT15 surfers will need to ensure they compete in enough WQS events to ensure a high seeding and their chance of re-qualification into the WCT.

The Super Series WQS events held in the European leg carry higher points/prize money with limited entry of 145 surfers per contest and generally attract the talent pool of WCT and WQS who need to boost their leader points to re/qualify for the elite WCT tour as the World Title penultimate events are narrowed down to the Hawaiian leg with the Pipeline event the final decider for the Champion Title.

For more insight http://www.aspworldtour.com/2007/faq.asp

Whistle the above may provide a general guide to how the Surfski World Ranking could be formatted and contested; even if the current format is not totally refined and open to debate, the healthy start will at least pave the way for the future of the sport?..keep up the good work.

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The Molokai race is very different and very far from the US champs race in San Fran, so you can't really lump them together as being near one another. To mainland US paddlers, Hawaii is nearly as exotic a locale as Tahiti or Australia. Remember that half the US paddlers are a 3-6 hr flight from San Fran and that Hawaii is another 5-6 hrs flight further. Two very different races, very different field of paddlers and essentially in two different areas of the world.

Good start so far on the series, Rob. I'm sure you are looking to to see what to include in Europe for 2009?

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Long time reader forst time subscriber....., Congratulations on the website. Something that paddling really needed. The concept of a world series is fantastic. But as a website and informant about paddling surfski.info has no authority to determine who is the world champ. Now that that the ICF has taken ocean under their wing many rules and regulations need to be followed for each and every event and they are the ones to determine which is the world champ or the world cup series leader. Has the ICF sanctioed these events??? Rules are in place for many reasons tow of which are an equal playing field for everyone and safety. During the first World Cup sanctioned by the ICF recently held in South Africa the first 4 or 5 competitors would of been disqualified. the reason: The ICF states " The minimum weight for a ski is 13kg"........
I am merely outling what needs to be done. How many people of the top Athletes can afford a ski that is 7 - 10 kg?? That is not an even plaing field.
I agree with Ash (G'day Ash) there are not many people who could afford to fund themselves to go on the world tour. maybe 2 or 3 could afford it and would have jump in the points that wold be unable to be pegged back. Maybe a system like the ATP Tennis circut (again as long as the rules are followed),
We as paddlers need to keep in mind that ocean padling is just not "downwind", it is whatever mother nature throws at us. So waiting period for events so that there is a tailwind. That is wasting peoples valuable time and money and cutting down the chances of many other paddlers who on flat days, headwinds or side chop are close to being the best in the world.

Rob, these are my thoughts. Great work on the site.

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Mark Sandvold just offered to fly all paddlers overseas for free!!!!!!!! shot mark!

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