3 Eligibility
3.1 JSA Members
Competitors in JSA events must be Junior Sailor Members of the JSA.
3.2 Certification
All participants in JSA events must be certified to participate by the Head Instructor or Chair of their Member Program as competent to sail in the boat in which they are competing, including righting a capsized boat, with the rig they intend to race with, unassisted in the conditions they will be sailing in.
3.3 Age
All participants in JSA events must be younger than 19. A sailor’s age on December 31 shall be considered his/her age for any event during that year, except as provided in Appendix A for Optimist sailors. Each participant must meet the minimum age requirements specified for his or her boat class in Appendix A through F.
4.1 Qualifying for Championships [Note: view the list of qualified skipper names from recent qualifying regattas]
4.1.1 Club 420, ILCA 7, ILCA 6 and ILCA 4 Championship (revised July 2023)
Skippers who finish in the top 50% in any one of the Club 420 and ILCA 6 qualifying regattas qualify to compete in their respective Championship. All sailors in the ILCA 7 who participate in any qualifying regatta and finish at least one race in that event qualify for the ILCA 7 Championship. All sailors in the ILCA 4 who participate in any qualifying regatta and finish at least one race in that event qualify for the ILCA 4 Championship. The following events are designated as qualifiers for the JSA Championship event, which is the Club 420, ILCA 7, ILCA 6 and ILCA 4 Championships:
● Eastern or Western Districts
● Larchmont Race Week
● JSA Race Week (at Cedar Point)
● Shelter Island 420/L/R Regatta
4.1.2 Feva Championship
Feva skippers qualify to compete in the Feva Championship if they compete in at least one qualifying regatta regardless of their finish position. The following events are designated as qualifiers for the RS Feva Championship:
● Eastern or Western Districts
● Pequot Invitational Regatta
● Larchmont Race Week
● RS Feva / O’pen Skiff Race Week (at Manhasset Bay) [except in 2023 when this event is the JSA Feva Champs]
4.1.3 Optimist Championship (revised July 2023)
The age limits are as per JSA A.1.
a) Sailors may qualify only from regattas in their program’s designated area (A-Long Island, B-Bronx, Westchester and Greenwich, or C-Stamford to Stratford). [Note that four regattas in each JSA Area are specified as qualifiers for the Optimist Championship]
b) All sailors in the Red fleet age group who participate in any qualifying event qualify for the Championship.
c) Sailors in the Blue fleet age group who finish in the top 50% of competitors within their division at any qualifying event qualify for the Championship.
d) Sailors in the White fleet age group who finish in the top 30% of competitors within their division at any qualifying event qualify for the Championship.
4.1.4 O’pen Skiff Championship
O’pen Skiff skippers qualify to compete in the O’pen Skiff Championship if they compete in at least one prior regatta regardless of their finish position.
4.1.5 No Races Completed
When a qualifying regatta is scheduled but no races are completed, a skipper shall qualify for a JSA Championship Event provided he or she meets all of the following conditions:
a) The competitor properly registered and was eligible to qualify at the regatta for their class of boat; and
b) The competitor was present at the regatta site or in the race area on the day of the event and was prepared to compete; and
c) The competitor qualified as skipper for the previous year’s JSA Championship Event for the same class of boat.
4.1.6 No representative from a Member Program Qualifies
If no representative from a Member Program qualifies for a championship event the Member Program may enter one representative for each championship event. This representative must have participated in at least one qualifying event. For Optimists, this rule applies separately to Blue and White Fleet representatives.
4.4 Scoring for Qualifying Events
a) At every qualifying event, the number of skippers that qualify for JSA Championship events shall be determined by multiplying the appropriate percentage as set forth in Rule 4.1 by the total number of competitors in each division who did all of the following:
• entered and registered for the regatta;
• started at least one race of the regatta; and
• finished or were scored Time Limit Expired in at least one race of the regatta.
b) For the purposes of this computation, competitors who are not JSA members but who otherwise satisfy the requirements stated above shall be included in the total number of competitors.
c) Fractional skippers shall be rounded to the nearest whole number to the competitor’s advantage.
d) The resulting number shall represent the number of eligible JSA member skippers who qualify for a JSA Championship event and shall be achieved by excluding non-JSA competitors. If two or more competitors have tied for the final qualifying position, they shall all qualify.
e) Scoring shall be accomplished using computer scoring systems that are purpose-built for sail racing. Overall scoring is required whenever boats of the same one-design class race in different divisions at a JSA Sanctioned Event.
View other portions of Rule 4 JSA Championship Events in the complete Rules for JSA Events.