Competition Rules and Regulations Page

1) Our North Shore Tow-In 2009/2010 contest format consists of 32 tow-in surf teams, with 64 tow-in surfers in all (4 PWC per 30 minute heat of 2-man tow-in teams per each of 8 preliminary heats). 1st and 2nd team from each heat advances to Round 2. The overall contest format will consist of approximately 480 minutes (8 hours) of elapsed time from start to finish. There will be 8 preliminary heats, each 30 minutes in duration, with a 5 minute break in between each round and a 10 minute break after the last heat before the finals. The 16 highest scoring scoring teams overall in the preliminary eight heats will go thru making 4 quarterfinal heats of 4 tow-in teams each. Two teams will go thru from each heat. The remaining 8 teams will become four teams in the next round with 2 semifinal heats of 4 teams each. There will be a 5 minute break. Two team will go through from each semifinal heat to the finals. There will be a 10 minute break before the finals. Then there will be one final 40 minute heat of 4 teams which will decide the winning tow-in team of the event. The event should last exactly 8 hours (480 minutes). Realistically, from 8AM-4PM. With a little under an hour of extra time to spare for a 50 minute paddle-in exhibition.. If the day calls for Big Avalanche, we will have a 50 minute or more paddle-in exhibition heat between the semifinals and the finals of the tow-in division, or we may run 3 -4 or more paddle-in heats at Avalanche concurrently with the tow-in at Puaena Point. Many surfers have eexpressed an interest in competing in the paddle-in exhibition. "If you tow it, you should be able to paddle it too!" ( The concept worked and was a hardcore addition to the Nelscott Reef Tow-In Classic in Oregon on Nov, 29th of 2008 and in the follwing year's Nelscott Reef Classic in October of 2009). Ten Big Wave Paddle surfers from the field of 32 invited tow-in surfers and elsewhwere paddled in for 50 minutes. Their tow partners or other PWC were their jet-ski assists. In our event, if the tow-in division is held at Puaena Point, we would not have a paddle-in exhibition at Puaena for obvious safety reasons. If there is also Big Avalanche Surf that dat the Paddle -In Exhibition will be at Avalanche. We have 7 paddlers from the Nelscott Reef Tow-In Classic 2008 and 2009 in Oregon and 7 paddlers from Hawaii and Beyond and four Wildcards making three heats of six paddlers so far. Do I hear anybody else saying "I WANT TO PADDLE-IN"? Better let us know real soon! Cowabunga!

In the possibility that certain tow-in teams do not show up for the event...we do have a list of now up to 32 alternate invited teams to fill in the empty slots. So sign up well in advance, check in by phone 48 hours in advance and show up early on pre-event day (5PM) and really early on Event Day (6AM)! Alternate teams will fill in empty slots in order of where they are on the alternate list AND/OR also in order of when they signed up, when they paid and when they checked in, particularly during the 48 hours before dawn on the day of the event. Alternates will have their entry fees refunded at the completion of the event if they do not get to surf. Alternates must be available on the morning of the event and be signed up, paid up, Hawaii State Tow-In Licensed Up and ready to launch at a moment's notice. We at "Tow-In Surfers, LLC" have agreed with promoters of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing to not begin our waiting period until after the Pipeline Masters is finished in mid-December. We have also agreed with Quiksilver and the promoters of the "Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Memorial Big Wave Invitational Event" to not run our event on the same day as "The Eddie". That is not a factor this year. We MAY run the same day as the "Mormaii Peahi Event" on Maui. Many of our competitors are seeded or alternates in both events. We will try to coordinate the 2009/2010 North Shore Tow-In Event with the 2009/2010 Peahi Event so as not to have both Big Wave Hawaiian Tow-In Competitons run the same day! However, there are no guarantees. If you're in both Events you may have to choose between Maui and Oahu!

2) Safety and fairness are our ultimate concerns in this Event. Team #1 (BRITE RED) will catch the first wave of the heat and Team #2 (NAVY BLUE) will catch the second wave and Team #3 (NEON ORANGE) will catch the 3rd wave in the prelims and team #4 (LIME GREEN) will catch the 4th wave… and so on. RED, BLUE, ORANGE, GREEN and then again Red, Blue Orange, Green will repeat in priority throughout the heat unless a team "goes down" or "wipes out" and loses their place in line! That team will have to go around the priority buoy and await to take their place in line again according to the color order. If, upon rounding the priority buoy and returning to the line-up it turns out that no-one has caught a wave yet, they are still last up. This continues ntil their color order priority comes around again. (No cherry picking, don't be too choosy with wave choice or you won't make your wave count! ) You are judged on performance as well as wave size and criticalness. So grab the in-between sets! There should be no jostling for priority. If a surfer goes down on a wave, that team's driver must retrieve the surfer, and if that surfer is injured, that team must return to the committee boat briefly and check in with the Event Doctor just to make sure that the surfer is O.K. In that case, the downed team has lost priority and they must wait for the other teams to catch waves first. In some cases, because of positioning or other factors, the team with priority may wave to the next team in line to go, giving the other team priority and giving up their priority to next iin line! There must be a clear and obvious over head hand-raise with both hands held high in the air for several seconds by the driver of the team and one hand by the surfer of that team for a several seconds count so that all may see the priority switch. It must be a very obvious and final decision by the 1st up team. No last minute snaking, no dropping in and no jockeying for position! Interference calls will cause the interfering team to have the total of their best scoring wave dropped in half. Each team must attempt to have at least one wave scored per team-mate. Your heat total is your highest scoring three waves with at least one wave scored by eacy team-mate. This REQUIRES "a switch" betwen driver and surfer at least once during the heat! No exceptions. InterferenceiInfractions will cause the best wave of the three wave team score to be cut in half and minused off the three wave total. You MUST switch surfers and drivers at least once, and you really should NOT interfere if you hope to advance into the next round. At no time whatsoever may two teams attempt to catch the same wave. The team with priority must always go first. If they miss a wave and get caught inside and get out of position long enough to miss their turn in line, they must relinquish their priority to the other teams in the color order. The most important point here is the "one jet-ski per wave rule"! If a 2nd (unprioritized) team "races" the 1st team (that has priority) for a wave, and both surfers actually release the rope and ride the wave, the team "without priority" that has "interfered" could be disqualified and eliminated from the contest entirely if it is TRULY BLATANT interference, but they will SURELY have their best wave score cut in half (even if it apparently is "unintended interference"). The "Event Security Patrol" (NOT the Water Patrol) will be informed that the offending team has had their best wave score of the heat cut in half. If the interference is blatant and/or dangerous it could be grounds for DISQUALIFICATION from the event entirely. So be careful! There will be spotters on the committee boat to make sure these rules of fairness and safety are upheld. There will also be spotters to make sure which "colored" team is riding and to aid the judges in things they might not see, like the at least one-time per heat required team driver/surfer "switch" (each tow-in team-mate must attempt to ride at least one wave each). Best three waves will be scored per team per heat. Spotters will also be watching out in case of a lost surfer, surfboard and/or even jet-ski or driver or some other similar situation which might occur in a big wave event of this nature. All support boats and support PWC are to assist the Water Patrol in keeping the event safe and organized. Photographer skis, boats and other vehicles must remain well away from the line-up or even the "shoulder" of waves in the Event Competition Area. Infracting Photographer Craft will be barred fom the Contest Surf Break Area by several hundred yards or more! STAY OUT OF THE LINE-UP. If you are a photogra[pher and you infract the line-up, you will be REMOVED. If you are a competitor and you get in the way of the team with priority by blocking their way in the line-up you may get an interference call and possible DISQUALIFICATION for blatant, dangerous interference!

3) There will be one horn blown to start each heat and a GREEN flag will be raised on the Support Boat. The heats will be run back-to-back in each round.There will be one horn blown when the heat starts and two horns will blow and a YELLOW flag will be raised when 5 minutes remain in the heat. A RED flag will be raised on the Support boat and three horns will blow when the heat is over. The red flag will remain flying until the start of the next heat. All heats will be run essentially back to back in each round. Within 10 seconds after the Red Flag is raised, one horn will blow and the GREEN Flag will be raised again. There will be 5 minutes in between the prelims, quarters and semis. There will be a 10 minute break before the finals, whether we run the paddle-in exhibition or not. One long horn blast and a green flag signifies the start of the next heat. Two horns signifies a yellow flag and 5 minutes remaining in the heat. Three horn blasts and a red flag will signify the end of each heat. The red flag will remain up until the start of the next heat. There will be a 5 minute break between the prelims and the quarters, and a 5 minute break between the quarters and the semis.There will be a 10 minute break before the final heat and the final heat shall be 40 minutes in length. Total competition time = 480 minutes or 8 hours. If the Event is at Avalanche we will have a 50 minute paddle-in exhibition between the semis and the finals. If the tow-in is at Puaena Point, we may be able to run several heats of paddle-in surfing at Avalanche throughout the day! No team shall catch any waves before the start of each heat or after the end of any heat. Those waves will not be counted. If a team is "committed" to a wave and already "on the face" of that wave at the final horn, but the rider has not yet released the rope, that wave will be counted if it is ridden. There is no maximum # of waves per heat, but only the best 3 waves for each team will count toward that team's final heat score. One wave must be ridden by each team-mate. If there is a tie, the judges will factor in the 4th best scoring wave per team. Each tow-in team member must try to catch "at least" one wave per heat. Tow-In team-mates MUST switch positions between driver and surfer at least one time during each heat, and each team-mate must try to ride at least one wave each. The switch is required! As long as it is a "quick switch". If the switching team does it quickly, their priority remains the same. If they lollygag during the switch and the next in line of priority by color ordr snags a wave, the switching team assumes the next place in the line of priority by color order. In case of wipe-outs or other "downed" situations, it will be at the judges' discretion to judge all the waves that are caught by each team and tally the scores of the best 3 waves for each team, which must include the best single ride per team-mate. Interference will cost a team half of the score of their best of three waves. Interference will cost you half the score of your best of three waves, or even worse penalties all the way to DISQUALIFICATION. Do not interfere in this competition. It could cost you a ZERO for your best wave score. It's also very dangerous to yourselves, your tow partners, your fellow competitors, the water patrol, the security patrol and ultimately your PWC, towboards and equipment as well as those of your fellow competitors that you interfered on!

3) The "Aloha Surf-Lifesaving Water Patrol" has the ultimate authority regarding emergency safety situations in this event! Any and all "First Aid", "EMS", "CPR" or other life-saving techniques will ONLY be performed by the "Water Patrol". There will be at least five "Aloha Surf-Lifesaving Water Patrol" Jet-Ski Teams on hand at all times during the event. Each "Aloha Surf-Lifesaving Water Patrol" Jet-Ski Team will have two expert "Water Patrol" persons on each jet-ski at all times. There will also be a number of EVENT Jet-Ski "Security Patrol" PWC in addition to the "Aloha Surf Life-Saving Water Patrol" which will be posted at the edge of the surfing area to make sure that ONLY the 4 competing teams in each of the heats in the 1st round and subsequent rounds GET ANYWHERE NEAR THE LINE-UP! The "SECURITY PATROL"will make sure to seperate competitors from the contest area and keep them side-lined near the Committee Boat and Support Boat at all times during the event. Even more important than that is that all photographers, spectators and Event staff stay WELL AWAY from the Event Venue Surf Line-Up! All watercraft operators (PWC, Jet boats, Jet-skis, etc) must register and sign a waiver and a photographer's agreement provided by an official positioned on land at the Administration Tent near the boat ramps before even thinking about launching if they are planning to approach anywhere near the contest site. In order to avoid having a large number of watercraft lingering near the contest area, spectator and/or freelance photographer watercraft may be limited to a certain time period at or near the contest site, and they will be REQUIRED to stay far away from the Event's chosen Surf Break or Breaks. Any unregistered watercraft whose driver has not signed both an event waiver and a photographer's agreement that approaches the contest zone from elsewhere (for instance, having launched off the beach at Backyards or somewhere besides Haleiwa Harbor) will be required by the "Tow-In Surfers Event Security Patrol" to go into the harbor and register by signing a waiver and a photographer's agreement with the event officials at the Administration Tent before being allowed back out to the venue at the chosen Outside Haleiwa Harbor Event Surf Break Area! If unregistered watercraft operators refuse to comply with "Event Water Security" they will be escorted several hundred yards from the event area! Similar compliance will be required by "Land Security" of any watercraft operators who attempt to launch without registering with Event Officials at the Administration Tent. All Media will be required to wear a certain colored wrist band, Staff will wear another and Competitors wil wear a third colored wrist-band. All watercraft riders launching into the designated Event Surf Break Area will bw REQUIRED to have the appropriate colored wrist bands on and maintain themselves the required distance from the line-up of the chosen Event Surf Breaks. Photographers, staff, water patrol, security patrol and any one else who will be approaching the event competition area must sign a participant/photographer waiver (see Event waiver on sign-up page) and a Photographer's Agreement. Whether they they are planning to do any kind of photography of the eventor not! Anybody can pull a camera out of their bag and get the best shot of the day. Therefore, the waiver and photo agreement applies to everyone in the water near the competition venue! This rule will be strictly enforced at all times throughout the day of the event. Everyone who signs the waiver and photo agreement must be briefed and must read all of these rules as well as the the waiver and photo agreement themselves! The Event Officials and Event Land and Water Security reserve the right to refuse anyone admittance to the harbor contest staging area and particularly to anywhere near the contest waters and event surfing area even if they sign a waiver and a photographer's agreement. Event Security may also require individuals to be removed from the Event Land and/or Water Areas if they feel it is warranted or necessary for the overall safety of the event and it's participants, officials, media, spectators, security and crew. Mahalo For Your Kokua! Let's all Play Fair and Be Careful. Water Safety, Communication, Cooperation and completely professional and sportsnman-like Big Wave Water-Man conduct are of primary importance during the running of this Extreme Big Wave Tow-In Surfing Event. The Annual North Shore Tow-In sets the bar on safety and puts the spotlight on the competitors, staff, media, water and security patrols and other participants in this event under the watchful eyes of DLNR/DOBOR, the HarborMaster, the Lifeguards, the Coast Guard, the Fire Department, Civil Defense, the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawaii, the world-wide media audience, the community at large and most importantly of all the tow-in surfers themselves including ourselves, our team-mates and our fellow competitors. PLEASE BE SAFE! MAHALO!