classes of slalom tourney question

6balls

OK, willing to look stupid here. You may think a guy with a score into 39 would know all this stuff but in reality I don't ski that many tourneys and all have been class C.

What are the cliff's notes version of the differences between classes C, E, L, R? I understand R to be record and that measurements, video (of skier and boat path), number of judges etc are all very strict.

The reason I ask is a tourney I typically ski year over year has been class C. This year they are running record. When I go to sign up on USA waterski online it gives me the option of L or R.

THX in advance.

Bruce_Butterfield

C is the most common and easiest to run. Performances count toward USAWS ranking list and can qualify you for Regionals and Nationals. IWSF does not recognize C, its only USAWS

E was invented some years ago by USAWS as a higher class of "record" tournament without the additional hassles of IWSF L and R tournaments (Pan Am judge, etc). You can set a National record at E. Boat path video is required. Again, IWSF does not recognize E.

L stands for "List" as in World Ranking List. Only performances at L or R count for IWSF world ranking list. The only skiers who benefit from this are those who want to see how they stand relative to others across the world and entry criteria for many high end tournaments (Masters, Jr US Open, International tournaments, etc). If you don't care about how you stand in the world, class L has no benefit, but does entail extra requirements for the tournament host and uses IWSF rules.

R stands for "Record" and is the only class of tournament you can set a world record at. Also much more hassle and is run under IWSF rules. If you don't have a chance at setting a world record, R provides no benefit vs L.