South American Championship

OBJECTIVES

1. The aim of the South American Championship is to promote youth sailing worldwide and particularly in the relevant continent.
2. The prime objective of the Championship is to ensure the highest quality racing is provided for young sailors from the relevant continent in the Optimist Dinghy.
3. The Championship shall also provide the environment necessary to ensure that individual friendships may develop among competitors, and goodwill among all participating nations.

FORMAT

The format of the Optimist South American Championship (ISAM) will be published in the Notice of Race.  A minimum of 3 races shall be sailed to constitute a series.

The format for the Optimist South American Team Racing Championship (TRSAM) is organised for up to 16 teams. The qualification system is as follows:

1. After a total number of completed races sailed before the team racing event(s),the total points of the 4 competitors with the best cumulative results from each Member will be added to give a total score for the first team of each Member. The total points of the following 4 sailors with the best cumulative results from each member will be added to give a total score for the second team of each Member, and the total points of the following 4 sailors with the best cumulative results from each Member will be added to give a total score for the third team of each member.
2. The first team from each South American Member shall qualify except that, if there are more than 16 such teams, the team of the host Member and the 15 Members with the best total first team score will qualify.
3. If places remain after (b) the first teams of other Members shall qualify in the order of their total first team score.
4. If places remain after (c) the second and third teams from each South American Member shall qualify in the order of the total score of that team.
5. If places remain after (d) the second and third teams of other Members shall qualify in the order of the total score of that team.
6. No country shall enter more than three teams.

The Optimist Nations Cup (NC) is organized for up to 16 teams from (in order of precedence):

1. IODA Members from outside South America;
2. Teams of South American Members that have not qualified to participate in the TRSAM.

Teams shall qualify on the basis of points scored in the ISAM

EVENTS

The following events shall be included in the official programme for the championship:

1. Two Measurement days
2. Team Leaders’ Meeting
3. Opening Ceremony
4. Championship Series:

1. Optimist South American Championship – 4 race days
2. Optimist South American Team Racing Championship – 1 race day

5. Prize Giving Ceremony

ENTRY

1. Entries for a Continental Championship shall only be open to IODA Member countries who have paid their subscription on or before the official arrival day.
2. Each South American Member of IODA may enter up to 15 sailors. The host member may enter up to 30 sailors.
3. Each North American (NAM) Member of IODA may enter a maximum number of sailors equal to the number of sailors that participated in the Optimist North American Championship of the previous year, except that:
   1. The host Member of the said NAM Championship may only enter the number of sailors it would have been entitled to enter in that year if it had not been the host
   2. Each NAM Member may enter at least 5 sailors and
   3. No NAM Member may enter more than 15 sailors
4. Additional entries but not more than 15 in total per Member, may be admitted for those NAM Members that have requested them and that according to (b) above may have not been allocated the maximum of 15 sailors. These entries will be allocated at the discretion of the IODA Executive Committee.
5. Non-American Members may enter at the discretion of the IODA Executive Committee.
6. The defending South American (closed) champion may participate, if eligible, in addition to the number of sailors allocated to his country. This sailor will not count for the gender quota requirements.
7. South American members are defined as those so listed on the IODA website. Countries geographically partly in South America but politically in Europe shall be considered to be South American in respect of sailors resident in South America.
8. If by the first registration payment deadline, the total entries effectively

registered are less than the maximum entries agreed with the organizers, The IODA Executive Committee may allocate additional entries for Members that may have requested them.

PRIZES

Prizes for the Optimist South American Championship shall be awarded at least to:

1. The 15 best placed sailors, without gender distinction, regardless of their continent of residence;
2. The 3 best placed sailors, without gender distinction, whose IODA member is South American. The first of these 3 sailors will become the South American Champion and will be awarded the permanent trophy.
3. The 5 best placed girls regardless of their continent of residence;
4. The best placed boy regardless of his continent of residence;
5. The best placed girl whose IODA member is South American;
6. The best placed boy whose IODA member is South American.
7. When the fleet has been divided into divisions, medals or small tokens should be awarded to the top three sailors in Silver and Bronze fleets where applicable.

Prizes for the team racing events shall be awarded at least to:

8. The 3 best placed teams in the South American Team Racing Championship. The first of these teams will be the South American Team Champions of the corresponding year.
9. The three best placed teams in the Optimist Nations Cup (NC). It is desirable that prizes for the team racing events include a trophy or a medal for each team member.
10. More prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the organiser