Freeride with timeslots
I tried a new format for a competition in Kortgene.
The motivation to do so was the difficult water conditions. In Kortgene we are on open water with boats passing by. Also in the middle of the course the water gets shallow to 1 meter and the wake disappears for about 70 metre.
Following are the rules for that competition. Rules Kortgene Protest Wakeboardbattle.

• 7 minutes freeride for each Men , 5 min for Women
• No LCQ . Finals with 8 riders in pro men.
• Chrono starts at the dock, first trick is after the first turn of the boat into the course.
• Rider can stop the boat or make the boat turn. The best water is before the crowd as further down the course the water is shallow. After a fall the rider tells the driver the direction to go.
• Judges will score only the best 5 tricks on composition, intensity and execution.
• Falls do not count.
• 1 trick can be a double up. (Only 1 will be scored for each rider, its not a double up contest). The trick on the double up can be a repeat trick.
• If very unfair conditions happen the jury can stop the chrono (tsunami waves).

Chief Judge:
Callebert Johan

The competition went well, riders could pick the best water conditions to throw a trick and all of them manage to land at least 5 tricks (there was also a kicker).  Although some riders had better conditions then the others no one complained. We stopped the chrono once for a boat that came into the course. As most of the Riders liked the format ( less stress for them ) I decided to use the same system during the Flanders open. As the water conditions in Izegem are good we used the best 10 tricks performed during the time allocated. This is about the number of tricks most riders have in a normal format.

Rules Flanders Open Izegem

• 7 minutes freeride for each rider in Men . Women 5 minutes.
• No LCQ . Finals with  8.
• Chrono starts when the boat is at the start buoy, first trick can then score.
• Tricks are scored between the starting and finish buoy + 1 trick more
• Boat goes up and down the course, after a fall rider decides the direction the boat has to go.
• After first pass we sink the rider.
• Direction Izegem we turn with the rider after the boats.
• Judges will score only the best 10 tricks on composition, intensity and execution.
• Falls do not count.
• If very unfair conditions happen the jury can stop the chrono (tsunami waves).
• If the rider falls in the last 45 seconds he will not be picked up.

Chief Judge:
Callebert Johan

After this we debriefed and this is what came out.

Negative :

• More difficult to judge, more tricks to write down, you have to make your own selection out off all tricks performed.
• You need a timer. (Can be rope dope)
• You can not benefit from the fall or second fall of a better rider to score higher then him.
• The mental stress factor of the fall and second fall is not there.
• Its not the same format used in Nationals, Europeans and Worlds.
• 7 Minutes is long for some riders, especially when they do not fall.
• Riders take more risks with potential to hurt themselves?
• More falls.

Positive:

• Riders like it to have less stress (stress is not the wakeboarding style).
• The best rider has more chance to win and show everything he can.
• Riders try bigger tricks once they have 10 tricks they try to nail a better one to improve their top 10.
• You see more falls. (Public goes to F1 racing to see the crashes )
• Falls do not have an effect on your timetable.
• You can avoid reruns by stopping the time if unfair conditions happen.
• Timing is flexible, you can do less minutes, time from the dock or the starting buoy.
• The course is flexible, you can do it on a shorter course, a course with a bend, make the course shorter to stay with the public.
• You can take the best 5 – 7 – 10 tricks adapted to the site, timing and level of riding.
• A judge can take the best tricks he liked and this can be different from another judge. You can make the composition you like.

After the Flanders most of the riders liked the format. The public liked it as well as they had seen big tricks and big crashes. Judging it went reasonable well but it is more difficult. Once the rider had its 10 tricks I only wrote down a trick if I thought I could use it to make a better composition. After each rider we tried to get the placing done immediately. Like doing head to head in the finals, it’s a different system. In Kortgene with the bad water conditions it was very useful.
I heard about other competitions using a timeslot for each rider but I have no details on how the judging is done.

You can give your opinion with a blog post.

Greetz everyone,

Callebert Johan

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