As kiteboard course racing is now an Olympic event for 2016, the world ranking system will change with the beginning of the new Olympic quadrennium. The ISAF will manage the ranking system for the Olympic Events, and therefore the IKA ranking system will cease to apply. The ranking principle however remains unchanged: every riders best 5 scores from events in the past 12 months are combined into the overall score. Major events are planned for 2013 in China, Italy, USA, Oman, Egypt, Thailand and Brazil.
Unfortunately, as a new Olympic event, the ranking for kite racing will start with 0 points on September 19, and the first points for the new world ranking can be collected on the following events (points to be finally confirmed by ISAF):
• European Championships, La Baule (France), September 26-30: 100 points
• World Championships, Cagliari (Italy), October 2-7: 100 points
• South American Championships, Buzios (Brazil), November 15-18: 50 points
• Sailing World Cup, Melbourne (Australia), December 2-8: 200 points
The new world ranking system will also be used as qualification system for the 2013 major events, with an event quota as follows:
• 200 point events (Kite Racing World Championships, Sailing World Cups): 120 men, 120 women
• 100 point events (Kite Racing Continental Championships): 80 men, 80 women
• 50 point events (other events): TBC
If the quota for an event is exceeded, selection of riders will be made purely based on the world ranking as of close of registration:
• From every country, the best ranked rider as of close of registration
• 10 local wildcards for regional riders, to be approved by the class
• 5 "injury wildcards" to be approved by the class
• Remaining places strictly by world ranking position as of close of registration
Note, that points to qualify for upcoming major events can only be collected at ISAF graded events. A complete list will be published soon on the IKA website.
G New
18 September 2012 6:37