WORLD SKINDIVING SPEARFISHING CHAMPIONSHIP /MUNDIAL FIPSA RULES

Art. 1
This competition shall be known as World Skindiving Spearfishing Championship, henceforth known as Mundial FIPSA, and will be held between April 3rd and 9th 2006, at Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the meet’s end, the winners shall be proclaimed the FIPSA Individual World Champion, and the FIPSA Team’s World Champion.

Art. 2
The championship organization shall be done by Confederação Brasileira de Caça Submarina (CBCS) and Federação de Caça Submarina do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FCERJ), and sanctioned by the International Skindiving Spearfishing Association (FIPSA, in its French acronym), with support from the City of Cabo Frio. The two official languages of this Mundial FIPSA shall be Portuguese and English.

Art. 3
1. One team per country, indicated by FIPSA, may take part in this competition.
2. Besides the indicated countries, CBCS may invite highly-skilled athletes from non-indicated
countries. Those athletes will take part in the individual division only.
3. All participants must be at least 18 years old. Those between 18 and 21 must present a
parent’s or guardian’s authorization.
4. All participants must present on the registration their Brazilian Sportfishing License, underwater fishing category, issued by Ibama

Art. 4
Teams will be composed by three athletes plus one alternate. Two athletes is the minimum
number of members required to take part in the team’s division.

Art. 5
Registration will end on April 6th, at the captain’s meeting, when each team must indicate its competing divers and the alternate (if there’s one), as well as the team’s captain. The alternate can only replace a diver until two (2) hours before the beginning of each competition day, after advising the meet director. The captain can be the alternate.

Art. 6
1. The meet control will be made by the Competition Committee, formed by the jury president (read below), the meet director, who’ll be the chairman, and the person in charge of medical services. Any rule infraction must be informed to the meet director, who will be circulating in a fast boat at the competition zone.
2. The jury will be composed by a judge indicated by FIPSA managing board, who acts as jury president, a CBCS representative and three (3) members elected by the guest countries. Besides those, there will be another two (2) substitute members also elected by the foreign countries invited to the meet.

Art. 7
Each competition zone will be chosen by the meet director, with approval from the jury president, at
at 7PM on the eve of each day. Area 1 includes Dois Irmãos Islands, Comprida Island and Redonda Island. Area 2 includes Capões Island, Pargos Island and Breu Island; according to the map and boundaries expressed on the Anexo 2. There’s no reserve zone.

Art. 8
From April 3rd onwards, it’s forbidden to participants and delegations members the use of spearguns, artificial breathing apparatus (scuba or otherwise) and underwater scooters in both competition zones. They may, however, scout the zones without those equipments.

Art. 9
1. Each competition day shall last six (6) hours.
2. Only the meet director may shorten the duration of a competition day. If interrupted by the meet director, a competition day shall be considered valid if three (3) hours or more have already passed since its start.
3. When the end of a competition day is announced, only fish already in the boat or in the float stringer shall be valid.
4. After the end of a competition day, competitors are allowed to stay in the water only to recover their gear that may have been left in the bottom. However, those competitors could only stay in the water if competitors from another team or the meet director are nearby watching.

Art. 10
It’s allowed the participants the use of the following gear:
• One or more pneumatic or rubber spearguns, loaded only by the competitor own muscular strength, without any foreign help;
• Isothermal suits, fins, masks, gloves, snorkels, weight belts, spearshafts, gaffs, knives (mandatory), depth gauges, watches and flash-lights;
• Individual floats (mandatory) with 6 (six) liters minimum volume, in colors orange, red or yellow;
• Drop weights systems, but only if recovered by own participant;
• Stringers on own float (forbidden on waist).

Art. 11
Meets will be disputed in individual fishermen’s boats, typical of the Cabo Frio region A CBCS will distribute, at the captain’s meeting, a list of pre-selected boats to be drawn for each athlete, for each meet day.

Art. 12
It’s strictly forbidden for each competitor and delegation member, punished by, firstly, a verbal warning if at the competition zone and/or elimination from the championship in case of recidivism or gravity (both depending on jury assessment):

• To give away or exchange fish between athletes.
• To disturb the normal out coming of the meet or to bother other competitors.
• To help other competitors, except in case of danger.
• To present at the weigh-in fish that in the moment of its capture weren’t free or were already dead.
• To dive outside the designated competition zones.
• To load spearguns out of the water or to have them loaded in the boat or onto the float.
• To be farther than 40 meters from own float.
• To use the boat driver or helper to recover or displace the float while the competitor is far from the boat; it’s allowed if diver is next or aboard the boat.
• To use stringers on waist.
• To not use floats on condition set in these rules.
• To not don knife while in the water;
• To use any kind of electronic device (depth-sounder, GPS, radios, cellular phones e etc...)
• in the competition day during the meet. Communication devices may be only use in case of an emergency.

Art. 13
• The catch must be put in individual stringers, bags or bins (supplied by the organizers) as soon as they’re boarded.
• In case of an exceptionally big fish, the latter can be put in a separated stringer, bag or bin.
• Fish not in stringers, bags or bins will not be weighed.

Art. 14
All fish presented to the weigh-in will become property of CBCS.

Art. 15
The weigh-in order will be drawn at the captain’s meeting and inverted on the second day. Only the team captain and the athlete whose fish is being weighed can stay in the weigh-in venue.

Art. 16
Scores will be attributed in the following manner:
• One (1) per gram of each valid fish.
• 500 (five hundred) points bonus for each valid fish.
• Fish with 10 (ten) or more kilograms will score only 10.500 (ten thousand and five hundred) points.
• Athletes who present in the weigh-in venue a number of fish higher than the maximum allowed for that species will receive a penalty of 500 (five hundred) points for each specimen of fish in excess.
• Athletes who present in the weigh-in venue a fish weighing 20% less than the minimum allowed for that species will receive a penalty of 500 (five hundred points) for each specimen presented.

Art. 17
• The minimum weigh as well as eligible species are shown on Anexo 1 of these rules.
• Each athlete can only present to the weigh-in per day a maximum number of three (3) specimens of the following species: dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), spadefish(Chaetodipterus faber), silver porgy (Diplodus argenteus), Bermuda chubs (Kyphosus spp), black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis).
• Other species are limited to five (5) specimens per athlete per day.
• In case of difficult recognition, the CBCS representative will have the last word.

Art. 18
Individual scores will be assessed by the sum of points of each athlete on both competition days. In case of a tie, the winner will be whoever had caught most fish. If the tie persists, the winner will be whoever had caught the largest fish.

Art. 19
Teams’ scores in each day will be assessed by the sum of the scores of its athletes. Final teams’ scores will be assessed by the sum of its athletes’ scores on both days. In case of ties, the process is the same as in individual scores stated in the previous article.

Art. 20
On April 6th, at 4PM, there will be a captain’s meeting to clear any doubts regarding these rules and
to elect the jury as set by Art. 6, item 3.

Art. 21
Only team captains may present protest to the jury if he/she verifies an infringement to these rules during the diving or weigh-in. To protest, he/she must make a deposit in reais equivalent of one hundred euros (100€), which will be returned if the protest is judged valid. All protests must be presented in writing until the end of the weigh-in of each day.

Art. 22
There will safety services with own boat(s) at competition zones with medical help and emergency divers aboard for fast intervention in case of accident.

Art. 23
All participants must present themselves with uniforms at all official ceremonies and the weigh-in.

Art. 24
Underwater images only can be taken with the verbal authorization of the competitor whose images
are being filmed or photographed.

Art. 25
The City of Cabo Frio, the International Skindiving Spearfishing Federation (FIPSA), the Brazilian Spearfishing Confederation (CBCS), as well as their representatives and collaborators shall not be liable for any material damages and/or accidents that may happen to competitors and participants, who, by the fact on their registration to the Mundial FIPSA, accept the inherent risks of sporting competitions, particularly to skindiving spearfishing’s.

Art. 26
Unforeseen cases shall be solved by the Organizing Committee. In case of interpretation doubts, the original rules in Portuguese shall always take precedence and prevalence.