International Water Ski Federation 2001 Edition Homologation Dossier IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is not the intent of this form to add hours of extra work to the homologator's job, but rather to provide a quick checklist that gives visibility of the technical effort to the general skiing public. START OF HOMOLOGATION FORM code of competition:02C086 name of competition:2002 Nationals Date:13/08/2002 17/08/2002 Venue:Lago Sante Fe Organizing Country:USA Type of competition (International Calendar ) Were cash prizes or merchandise awarded (Yes/No) (No ) Homologator's and Chief Judge recommendation to Tournament Council (Fill in R-Record, L-Standing List, N-Not list capable) Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Slalom ( R) ( R) ( R) ( ) Tricks ( R) ( R) ( R) ( ) Jump ( R) ( R) ( R) ( ) OBLIGATORY COMPOSITION OF DOSSIER: 1 copy of this document including the homologation notice HOMOLOGATOR'S CHECKLIST If checked and all according to rules put OK in brackets. If checked and any variation to the rules put an X in the brackets and explain in "Remarks" section on last page. Not applicable is NA. 1. Boats and equipment (W 10.01) (OK) 2. Speed Control (W 10.07) ( ) Maunfacturer:Perfect Pass Software Version:Xy6.3 slalom (OK) tricks (OK) jump (OK) 3. Arrangement for checking skis (W 10.03) (OK) 4. Measure lines and handles (W 10.04) ( ) slalom (OK) jump (OK) handles (OK) 5. Arrangement for checking of skier supplied handles (W 10.06) (OK) 6. Timing devices (W 11.03) (OK) 7. Homologation notice posted before start (OK) 8. Automatic timing-jump (OK) Optional Timing Method (OK) 9. Jump distance indication (W 13.11) (OK) 10.Video Jump Distance measurement (W 13.11)(OK) Backup - video tape or standard meters (Video ) 11.Automatic timing-slalom Dual Segment (NA) All Buoys (OK) 12.Position and height of slalom towers (OK) (W 14.05 and W diagram 6) 12a. 2 Towers x 2 Judges (NA) 2 Central Tower Judges (OK) Boat Video (NA) 13.Slalom buoys (W 14.06) (OK) 14.VHS video slalom endcourse (W 14.17) (OK) 15.Trick course checked (W diagram 3) (OK) 16.Position and height of trick towers (OK) (W 15.11) 16a. 5 Judges (OK) 1 x 3 Judges with video (NA) 2x 3 Judges with video (NA) 17.Semi-automatic timing-20sec (W 15.12) (OK) automatic median start (NA) 17a. Video Tricks Timing (OK) with Additional judge (OK) Chief Judge (NA) 18.VHS video tricks (W15.15) (OK) 19.7,000/10,000 points review judge (OK) (W 15.15) 17a.Video Tricks Timing system manufacturer (Corson VTT version P ) SLALOM COURSE TYPE :Single anchor buoys JUMP COURSE JUMP MEASUREMENT SETUP VIDEO JUMP 40m Test buoy Survey x (45.75 ) y (1.28 ) Video system x (45.8 ) y (XXX.XX) 60m Test buoy Survey x (66.01 ) y (1.69 ) Video system x (66.0 ) y (XXX.XX) JUMP RAMP Width at top (W 13.02a) 4.24 m Width at bottom 4.24 m Top edge to 6.4m line left side (W 13.02b,h) 6.4 m Top edge to 6.4m line right side (W 13.02b.h) 6.4 m Top edge to 6.7m line left side (W 13.02b,h) 6.7 m Top edge to 6.7m line right side (W 13.02b.h) 6.7 m Length underwater from 6.7m line (W 13.02c) .55 m Maximum Deviation from plane Diagonal string measurement (W 13.02f) 1.2 cm Center string measurement (W 13.02f) 1.2 cm (OK/X) Apron under water (W 13.02g) (OK) Apron full length (W 13.02g) (OK) Sighting line (W 13.02i) (OK) Secure anchoring (W 13.02i) (OK) Apron Angle (W 13.02k) jump height 1.83 m (a) length of edge of apron from top corner to water 2.74 m (b) ratio of b/a (0.668) ( ) minimum 0.883 maximum 0.643 RAMP SETTING Right Side Left Side Setting Height Length Ratio Height Length Ratio 1.50 1.59 6.75 0.236 1.59 6.75 0.236 1.65 1.73 6.75 0.256 1.73 6.75 0.256 1.80 XXX.X XXX.X XXX.X XXX.X XXX.X XXX.X NON-VIDEO JUMP Note: The following section is only to be completed if the jumps were measured by protractors rather than video. Automatic meter system used (Yes/No) ( ) Protractor reading units (Degrees/Grades) ( ) METER SETUP Distance (T1 - T2/A - B) (XXX.XX meters) Distance (T2 - T3/B - C) (XXX.XX meters) if not a straight line Distance (T1 - T3/A - C) (XXX.XX meters) Inter-meter angles (if not a straight line) T1/A T2/B T3/C Meter T1/A XXXXX 180.0 180.0 Meter T2/B 0.0 XXXXX 180.0 Meter T3/C 0.0 0.0 XXXXX (note shown numbers are examples - fill in with actual numbers) SET UP SIGHTINGS Angle Ramp 15ET T1/A upper XXX.X XXX.X T1/A lower XXX.X XXX.X T2/B upper XXX.X XXX.X T2/B lower XXX.X XXX.X T3/C upper XXX.X XXX.X T3/C lower XXX.X XXX.X Using average of upper and lower readings (max difference 0.1 degrees) list the error triangles with an inscribed circle diameter (max 0.15) inscribed circle diameter at ramp X.XX meters inscribed circle diameter at 15ET X.XX meters Jump system survey results (X-Y coordinates) X Y Ramp XXX.XX XXX.XX Table 1/A XXX.XX XXX.XX Table 2/B XXX.XX XXX.XX Table 3/C XXX.XX XXX.XX Buoy 15ET XXX.XX XXX.XX Attach the computer printout file at the end after the Homologation Notice Computer program checked against (OK/X) "Computer Benchmark for Computed Distances" ( ) METER STATIONS Stability and horizontal level ( ) Protractors on same vertical line ( ) Protractor graduations (max 0.2 degrees) ( ) Radius of protractors (min 0.25 m) ( ) Accuracy of sighting arms ( ) END OF HOMOLOGATION FORM It is important to leave the above section in the exact format as it will be processed automatically. The following section is where free form comments are added and attachments are made. HOMOLOGATOR'S REMARKS 2002 Nationals - What a trip. A moment of silence in gratitude of those TC types that helped make me look reasonably good. Rich Borga, Carl Truesdale, Merle Vasbinder and Dave Clark were the Assistants, but Jim Thompson, Elgin Faulkner, Tom Dusin, Steve Tyler, Dee Johnson, Tim and Carolyn Robinson and Hugh Nichols were the muscle behind everything that was happening. As a precursor to the full technical report, please go to www.awsawest.net/__02nationals to see the extent of my photo-journalism efforts. It will help set the stage. So you probably know by now that it rained as hard and as long as it has ever rained for a water ski tournament before. We already knew that the US Nationals is the largest tournament on the planet, so just add a foot or so of rain water and you can really have an event! In the aftermath, there were a few equipment casualties like an end course lens and two vcr/tv combos, but we have broken this kind of stuff even when the sun is shining. The fact that the tournament was never shut down because of faulty technical equipment is a miracle. We just kept going. Even though the tournament wasn't in Galveston, it was close enough to use the Galveston weather as an indication of what was happening. 18 or so miles. Plus, we heard a story of a W2 tricker that missed her ride by 10 minutes because her hotel was in Galveston and the roads were flooded bad. Reride denied. It rained the first 3 days of the tournament. We stumbled along, keeping things running, and continually saying to ourselves, "This is the hardest it's rained yet….". Ever time we said it we laughed that it really kept getting harder and harder. Finally on the 3rd day of the tournament, Thursday August 15, we got hammered. From a local newspaper: GALVESTON'S AUGUST 15TH RAINFALL TOTAL (11.46 INCHES) SHATTERED THE RECORD RAINFALL FOR THE DATE (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 3.53 INCHES SET 108 YEARS AGO IN 1894). THE 11.46 INCHES WAS THE HIGHEST 24-HOUR TOTAL FOR ANY AUGUST DAY EVER (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 10.86 INCHES ON AUGUST 31 1981). THIS TOTAL ALSO RANKS AS THE 4TH HIGHEST 24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL EVER RECORDED IN GALVESTON. THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE HIGHEST 24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTALS: GALVESTON'S 24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL..DATE 1. 13.93 INCHES.....................OCTOBER 8 1901 2. 13.63 INCHES.....................JULY 13 1900 3. 12.19 INCHES.....................OCTOBER 22 1913 4. 11.46 INCHES.....................AUGUST 15 2002 5. 10.93 INCHES.....................JULY 25 1979 (T.S. CLAUDETTE) 6. 10.86 INCHES.....................AUGUST 31 1981 7. 10.44 INCHES.....................JUNE 18 1961 8. 10.27 INCHES.....................JUNE 12 1925 Now that I have bragged about the amount of rain we endured, trust me when I say that our waterproofing methods were pretty darn good. Tournament Details I usually like details, but there were too many to keep track of so I sort of went into overload mode. As an example, I stopped updating the site plan when I realized that updating it was more painful than dealing with an updated plan. Not that too much changed, but I just didn't want to admit we were actually going to use less than the 8175 feet of coax I had computed. Take a look at the not-so accurate siteplan image, because I will refer to it regularly in describing things. www.awsawest.net/__02nationals/photos/siteplan.jpg ** SLALOM The biggest change to the plan was that we decided to put the end course vcr and tv much closer to the camera, instead of sending a signal to the judges tower. That saved a bunch of coax, but required us to find a decent spot for each of the 4 lakes where the equipment would be protected. The famous tent picture at www.awsawest.net/headline-photos/lake4flood.jpg is an example of a self contained end course habitat. One of the vcr/tvs that was trashed was sitting in here. Incidentally, we opted away from any slalom wireless transmissions because we would only have 4 channels to work with, and there is never ending paranoia about cordless phone or line of site interference. We did, however, use wireless for video from the boat during the US Open Trick event that worked flawlessly. Each of the four lakes would have slalom run on it some time during the week. We used gate cameras with video sent to a central judges tower. On two of the lakes we used A/B switches so there was only one TV needed, but the concern was the judges wouldn't figure it out. They did fine. We learned an important lesson with the video gate towers. You can see a typical tower in this picture featuring Carl Truesdale: www.awsawest.net\__02nationals\photos\Dsc00048.jpg . The towers were 2 inch tube steel supported by guy wires. The day before the tournament, one of the towers that had been standing since the June warm-up tournament had it's guy wires hit by a lawn mower. The tower came crashing down on a young teen's head and shoulders. There was lots of blood and a bruised shoulder blade, but everyone was eventually ok. The moral of the story is to have a socket in the ground to stand the pole, and only use the guy wires to stabilize it. Do not balance steel with polypropylene. One major revelation, compliments of Merle, was a tiny little TV monitor used for aiming cameras. You can see Rich holding it in this picture, while Carl is in awe. http://www.awsawest.net/__02nationals/photos/Dsc00155.jpg In the upper left, you can see one of the Tupperware containers we mounted the camera in. You can also see that the TC's just recently came from a Dress for Success seminar. Slalom Murphy's Law Incidents 1. Gate tower that fell over 2. Cameras left on to eliminate overnight lens fogging. Once camera unplugged by some jerk that needed to plug in his golf cart. Lens was fogged badly for about 20 minutes. 3. During rain storms, high magnification end course lenses are susceptible to fogging due to large air pockets. Once lens collected so much water it was trashed. Another lens was 'demoisturized' by placing it on my dashboard once the sun came out on Friday. 4. The amount of rain played havoc on buoy heights. Jim Thompson led several buoy crews with Steve Tyler and Hugh Nichols to adjust the buoys. This was the hardest part of the excessive rain. There were a few skier complaints, but the tournament went on after a few adjustment sessions. 5. Two of the vcr/tv combos stopped working from the high humidity. It was the mechanical tape transport that stopped working, not the electronics. One unit eventually dried out and started sort-of working, the other was a casualty. 6. The TCs tried a little too hard to be efficient. On the Lake 4 starting dock, the slalom ropes were hung on one of the dock posts during trick by Merle, and Tom picked them up to keep them from getting stolen. When Merle went to look for the ropes, they were missing and he called 911. 7. During the US Open Slalom event, we got a frantic call for company handles on the starting dock. I said no company handles were needed because these skiers were too good to use just any handle. Turns out that many of them like to use company handles because if they break, they get a reride because it is tournament provided equipment. ** JUMP What is there to say about jump? It is the one event that seems to run itself these days, because so many people are well-versed in operating it. I think there is a huge misconception among judges that hitting Alt then hitting enter is all there is to it, but once things are set up and operating, I guess that is true. Our setup consisted of 2 4" tube steel poles that had 26' out of the ground, and sliding camera mounts. We put the short and middle grid cameras on one pole, and the long grid camera on the other pole. Jump Murphy's Law Incidents 1. During a test lift of one of the camera tower mounts, the up-haul ropes got tangled and the platform became stuck. Merle lassoed it with a 30 foot extension cord, and pulled it down. Lesson learned is to always have a down-haul rope. 2. Elgin had a heck of a time figuring out why one of the check buoys was off by 2 meters. We all had our incorrect theories, but he finally discovered he was looking at the picture of a different grid. 3. At one point during the rain, one of the lenses was getting some condensation on it. A recommendation came in from the peanut gallery to put some Rain-X on the lens. This turned out to be a mistake. 4. During the US Open, we figured we could take the VCR from the short grid to use for US Open Slalom. After all, what US Open jumper would land in the short grid? We neglected to consider the Junior US Open. Turns out the first jump of Morgan Pavur landed in the short grid. We scrambled to get it set up, but in the meantime, her second jump landed in the middle grid so we were safe. ** TRICK Trick was the absolute pinnacle of the whole tournament, from my perspective. This is where I spent most of my time, because we were using the Corson Video Trick Timer (VTT) and I wanted to take video review to a whole new level. VTT is a lot like Video Jump was in the early days. People didn't know enough about it to run it, and it took a TC that was intimate with the software and had his own personal hardware to keep it running. That was how jump used to be, so hopefully VTT will soon be ready for prime time. We decided months before that we would not do video from the boat for Nationals, but would for the US Open. I just have two trick windshield mounts and cameras, and it would be too difficult all week to have someone stationed at the trick dock swapping from boat to boat. Plus, you would need three mounts to facilitate the way they were staging boats. One boat in the course, one boat at the end of the lake with the next skier in the water and another boat at the dock loading up. Three mounts and cameras are needed. Anyway, for video review we had two camcorders on shore, with one of them hooked into coax going to the trick trailer a few hundred feet away. You can see the trailer in this picture http://www.awsawest.net/__02nationals/photos/Dsc00034.jpg, and the trick judging tower is just out of view behind the trailer. In the trailer, we were running through a vcr, and then into two computers running VTT. This allowed us to have continual training sessions on one of the computers, with the prim ary timing function on the other. I networked my laptop to the primary VTT computer so that I could facilitate video review on the laptop without interrupting the event. Having another networked computer in the trick trailer is a way to make video review infinitely easier than it has been in the past using VHS. An observation from using VTT is the rules interpretations of when a trick starts and when a trick ends. Wake tricks in particular. Even the best pros execute up to 90 degrees of preturn before even hitting the crest of the wake. We agreed to start the trick when the front ankle is at the top of the wake. As far as landing the tricks, what constitutes skiing position? I tended to count the trick if the ski was touching the water at all, assuming the skier eventually skied away - even if it was after the 20 seconds were up. It is only possible to be consistent if the same person is always operating the gear. That, however, is unrealistic. Even if not absolutely consistent, it is way better than the old horn method. With VTT, you quickly become aware of how inaccurate the horn is. I was always about 5-10 frames slow with the enter key and needed to click backwards to find the true start frame. I found it very important to have a backup horn up on the judges tower so the judges could call the run the way they normally have. Not only is it a convenience to the judges, but a few times we found a problem with the horn locations from VTT and the tower not matching. We traced it to VTT operator error. Trick Murphy's Law Incidents 1. Several times we missed runs and had to get it off of backup.. If the skier stands up their first pass, the boat needs to drop the skier. Otherwise there is just not enough time when there are multiple people in the room scrutinizing the pass. 2. When sending a signal from the camcorder back to the trailer, I kept getting surprised when the camcorder did an auto-shutoff. This happened all week, and I kept hallucinating that someone sliced the coax. I never got over it. I suppose a fix for this would be to take the tape out of the camcorder to keep it from shutting off - if it had that feature. Then you would not have as many backups in the event it is really needed. The tape in the shore camera is a good idea just in case you forget to hit record on the vcr in the trailer after a video review. 3. US Open video from the boat was flawless except for a single glitch during Rhoni Barton's 2nd pass in the preliminaries. I couldn't figure out why we got a glitch, so I asked Tom Dusin to go check out the receiver on the dock. Turns out someone ignored the barriers and parked their foot right on top of the receiver. Tom said it was Jaret Llewelyn's wife! Moral is don't think people will stay away from equipment even with chains and flags protecting it! 4. During the US Open Trick Finals, I was overwhelmed by National TV. We used the Outdoor Life Cameraman's video signal instead of the windshield mounted camera and after later review, realized there was no way to see the ski behind the rooster tail. I along with all the judges thought it was fine at the time. It is, however, much better than any view you can get from a shore camera. Homologator: Phil Yastrow 6080 Trevino Court Fort Collins, CO 80528 Chief Judge: Jeffry Armstrong This homologation record has been emailed to bcorson@home.com for EAME: email also to abottinelli@bluewin.ch ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- To be posted before the tournament starts HOMOLOGATION NOTICE Tournament Name:Lago Sante Fe Nationals Warmup Date:13/08/2002 17/08/2002 We recommend to the IWSF Tournament Council the following class of homologation: Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Slalom (R) (R) (R) ( ) Tricks (R) (R) (R) ( ) Jump (R) (R) (R) ( ) Speed Control Manufacturer:Perfect Pass Software Version:Xy6.3 Mode for tricks (if applicable):Classic Date _________ ________ _______ Time _________ ________ _______ Chief Judge Homologator ____________________ ________________ Note: These recomendations may change during the competition. Remarks: End of Document