Gordo Bagley wrote:
1. Effective immediately, the age limitation for H16 Youth Championships within the Hobie Class Association has been raised to reflect the current age limit of the IHCA.
That age limit is stated as "turning 21 after December 31st of the event year". This means that participants in this year's H16 Youth North American Championships who are 20 years of age and whose birthday falls after December 31st, 2009 are eligible to attend the Youth H16 NAC's in Kingston, Ontario (CORK).
A modest correction to that, Gordo:
The full text of IHCA General Class Rule 17 is:
Quote:
17.7 For the purpose of Youth and/or Junior Events,
the following apply unless otherwise prescribed
in the Notice of Race or Sailing Instructions:
a) Competitors for Youth series shall be under
the age of 21 years of age on 31 December
of the year of the event.
b) Competitors for Junior series shall be under
the age of 16 years of age on 31 December
of the year of the event.
c) For ISAF Events and qualification series up
to ISAF Events (or events using the ISAF
age definition) all competitors shall be under
the age of 19 years on 31 December of the
year of the event.
(the emphasis is mine)
The
NOR for Kingston changes this rule to allow anyone who is under the age of 21
by the start of the event to be eligible. We noticed the discrepancy last week in the NOR that was revised for the new rule and I approved the change as the HCA Race Director since it would be the most lenient and inclusive interpretation.
Since people have already made plans to attend (the event starts in two days), we did not want to disqualify anyone who was already registered pursuant to the NOR as revised.