JUDGING
5. JUDGING PRINCIPLES & PANEL SELECTION CRITERIA
a. No competitors can officiate. Judges of Surfing Australia sanctioned events cannot
have any perceived vested interests. This includes being a relative, coach or manager.
All judges must be currently accredited and registered with Surfing Australia, with
absolutely, no exceptions.
b. In all computer judged heats there shall be a minimum of 6/7 judges with 4/5 judges
rostered on per heat as well as an approved, accredited and registered Surfing
Australia Head Judge.
In non computer judged events there shall be 7 judges, with 5 judges on per heat
with an approved SA Head Judge. Allowances to this rule can apply for Club events
only. It is recommended that an odd number of judges be used
The Head Judge of each event is to be responsible for assuring that nationally
accredited and registered judges serve on the panel for all sanctioned events.
A database of accredited and registered judges for events is available from the
Surfing Australia Judging Manager upon request
In exceptional circumstances where the chances of finishing an event are in
jeopardy, split 3 person panels can be used
The wave scoring will be done from 0.1 to 10.0, broken into one-tenth increments.
7.2 etc. A judge will score a ride using commonly accepted and taught principles
In the case of a computer malfunction the results will be tabulated for the heat in
which the malfunction took place as per the computer scoring system averaging.
Should the condition carry over to further heats, all tabulation/results will revert to
the manual tabulation system
Judges should be visually separated, and it is the responsibility of the Head Judge
to see that the judges do not discuss scores or interference calls.
Judges may not change their scores or interference calls either on the computer
terminal or on the manual judging sheets. In the event that a mistake has been
made the judge should have the Head Judge make the correction for him.
If a judge misses a wave, or any part of a wave, they should ask the Head Judge
for an average on that particular wave. This wave will be included into the sheet/
scoring system by the Head Judge on the basis of comparison to the scores on the
other judges’ sheets
At times, errors of a special nature occur with respect to judging. This includes
priority, timing and judges’ scores. The Tour Manager/Representative, along with the
vent Director, a surfer representative and the Head Judge, will rule on these special
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