1 RULES
1.1 The regatta will be governed by:
1.1.1 the ‘rules’ as defined in the ISAF RRS 2005-2008 (1) , including Appendix D.
1.1.2 the VSK5 regatta simulator software (format and umpire decisions), combined with the VSK5 Adopted RRS (SI Appendix A) .
1.2 No national authority prescriptions will apply.
1.3 If there is a conflict between languages, the English text will take precedence.
2 REGISTRATIONS & IDENTIFICATION
2.1 While racing in TeamLeague 2008 ( from this point : TL08 ), all skippers shall use the boat names as listed in the official entry list.
2.2 All skippers shall use the team skins identified in the official entry list. Teams without a personalised skin or where there may be confusion during racing due to team skin colour, may use the VSKItalia WTRC08 Red/Blue skins.
2.3 A team will be considered correctly registered in TL08 if :
a) There is a request in opportune Forum ( Here ) with Team Name and a list of minimum 4 skipper ( Captain , Vice , two skippers in crew ).
b ) The Captain mailbox , Vice mailbox or an alias for the whole team are provided.
c) A list of maximum 10 skippers ( total ) is provided; a skipper can be added in any time along the event ( if actual number is less than 10 ) ; in the same way , a skipper can replace another skipper renouncing to race for that team. In any case every new entry mustn't have sailed official challenges in TL08 into other different teams.

3 NOTICES TO COMPETITORS
3.1 Notices to competitors will be posted on the front page of TL08, in the TL08 forum, or by e-mail. It is the responsibility of the participants to track these sources for information, in addition to the SI.
4 CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
4.1 The sailing instructions of the TL08 may be changed anytime without prior notice. A change log can be found at the VSKItalia/TL08 website for all changes made following the commencement of RR flight #1.
5 FORMAT OF RACING
5.1 The regatta will consist of an initial round robin, followed by a second Round Robin to culminate in a finals round for positions 1 to 3 ( 1 to 4 if agreed ).

6   SCHEDULE OF RACES
6.1   Dates of Racing: ( red lines to be confirmed ) deadline registrations 31 Oct 2008

See flow chart HERE.
6.2 Number of races (Round Robin 1 & 2): each flight for the Round Robin shall consist of 3 races.
6.3 Number of races (Semi Final - Final): The Semi Finals and Finals shall consist of a “best of seven ” series.
6.4 Individual race scheduling shall be agreed between each team and posted in the TL08 forum boards for the round.
6.5 In the event of one team being short handed at an agreed race appointment, representatives of each team shall resolve the appointment in the following order of precedence:
6.5.1 teams agree to sailing at the appointed time using one or more reserve.
6.5.2 teams agree to re-schedule their appointment to a new agreed time;
6.5.3 teams agree to sail "2 vs 2", except in Round Robin 1 and 2 (not acceptable due to points system for ranking);
6.5.4 teams agree to start the appointment "short handed", with the short handed team scoring their missing skipper as an automatic 6th place (as per VSK5 scoring);
6.5.5 Walkovers.
a)A walkover to be scored against the short handed team if a resolution is not met in any of the previous points. Please note the Race Committee will require notification from BOTH TEAMS on this instance to confirm that the walkover has been agreed by both teams.
b)A walkover can be asked by a team versus an opponent team , if in response to a request for a meeting, the opposing team fails to act adequately to arrange the meeting. This team will be scored according with rule A4.3. No walkovers are allowed in RR2 : any walkover request validated by Committee , will cause desqualification of the investigated team and the cancellation of all its results.
6.5.6 In case of an unsailed flight by both teams :
a) No agreement attempts are shown in the appropriate forum , or no valid results are sent in correct timing. Result will be scored 0-0
b) The last appointment ( documented in the appropriate forum ) was failed by a team. This team will be scored according with rule A4.3. If there were previous partial results , those will be considered in the final score.
c)Only in Second Round Robin Pool ( cause X'mas presence and to give a little help to friends of different continents ) it will not be strictly required to respect the dates for each round; we suggest to respect this timetable , but teams will be allowed to advance or postpone meetings. The deadline for First RRP is confirmed as in 6.1].
7   THE COURSES
7.1 In TL08 home page , a link to the whole TL08 courses pack is available in download ( VSKITALIA download area).
7.2 Organisation Committee will show in the calendar the name of a couple of locations where teams must sail their flight ( Malmo , Vancouver , Napoli , Rio , QingDao , S.Francisco , Wight ). Team “A” will choose the wind and locations for the races 1-3(-5-7) , the team “B” will choose the wind and location for the race 2(-4-6) for each round. In each flight ALL the three wind forces must be used.
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SECTION B (RACE RULES, PROTEST MODE AND REFERENCES TO THE COMMITTEE)
8] RACE RULES
All ISAF rules are applied, appendix D of RRS (team fleet race) and other A appendix of this rules set included.
9] UMPIRE OF RACE
Races are to be performed in compliance with the automatic penalty infliction modality by the virtual judge VSK5. Penalties can be managed according to the following criteria (chapter 10)
10] PROTEST MODALITY DURING RACE
10.1] The infliction of a penalty by the virtual judge VSK5 means that there may be one or more than one boat who have broken the rules. However, the “non-infliction” of a penalty does not necessarily means that all rules have been respected.
10.2] The following interpretations of rules 15 and 16.1 are applied
- If VSK5 gives a penalty, the right-of-way boat broke rule 15 if she acquired right of way due to her own actions only, and the give-way boat immediately after did her best to keep clear.
-If VSK5 gives a penalty, the right-of-way boat broke rule 16.1 if she changed course, and the give-way boat immediately did her best to keep clear.
10.3] If a skipper considers that the virtual judge VSK5 didn't correctly interpreted a situation according to ISAF rules he has the possibility to protest during the race. All racers must understand and respect in the best way as possible all ISAF rules in order to avoid the intervention of the virtual judge. Any actions showing the non-fulfilment of this request, can be considered by the Committee as infringement of the general knowledge of the ISAF rules.
10.4] Any boat contact leads to a penalty (CONTACT=PENALTY).
The following situations are described under groups (A-B-C-D-E-F-G):
10.5] Penalties assigned by VSK which a participant considers incorrect, do not have to be taken. Such penalties should be requested to be cancelled.
10.5.1]Accepting asking for cancelling penalties is always compulsory. If a skipper does not cancel a penalty (if protested at the end of the race) this decision will be punished with a charge of 10 extra points to the team refuser.Moreover, protest related to this penalty will not be taken in account, and facts happened over water will not be eligible of protest from all boats involved
A) AMONG OPPONENT BOATS: the virtual umpire assigns penalty(ies)
10.6] A request for a penalty cancellation is considered as a valid hail for protest against the skipper of the boat that "gave the penalty" only typing “P” or “protest” in the race chat after the cancel request.
Please note that if there has been contact between two boats, then at least one of the boats involved in the situation has broken a rule. If there has been contact, and the protest committee is in doubt of which boat was responsible, the boat that initially got the penalty by the VSK umpire will be considered as the one breaking the rules.
A competitor receiving a request for penalty cancellation + “P” may:
a) agree with the hail and do “one turn penalty” after having approved the cancellation + protest request;
b) do not agree, and answer “P” after cancelling the request and simply go on with the race, with the possibility of submitting a protest a the end of the race.
c) agree with the “cancellation request” but not with protest hail (i.e. no contact), cancelling the penalty assigned and typing in the race chat “C”.
10.7]A competitor asking for a penalty cancellation + “P” (ref. Art. 10.6) may protest at the end of the race if the opponent didn’t solve a “penalty turn” after the penalty cancellation was approved.
10.8] If the VSK5 virtual umpire assigns a penalty and no boat is breaking rules in that moment, the boat that “received a penalty” is entitled for asking a cancellation (in this case it’s not necessary to write P after the cancel request).
The skipper who was requested to cancel a pen for “no pen” as described at Art 10.8 may disagree with that request, then he has to accept the “cancel request” and type “P” or “protest”, and is entitled to submit a protest to the committee at the end of the race. Please see also Art. 14.5 of this rules set.

B) AMONG OPPONENT BOATS: the virtual umpire doesn’t assigns a penalty(ies)
10.9] It’s possible to hail a protest by typing “P + boat name” or “protest + boat name” in the race chat  against the skipper of the boat that broke a rule;
The protested skipper can:
-agree with the hail and answer “ok” in the race chat and do “one turn penalty” or;
-disagree by answering “no” and proceed racing; in this second case the protesting skipper is entitled to submit protest to the committee.
This procedure it’s eligible for any other case where a skipper wants to hail even in the absence of a contact, with the consciousness of Art 12.4 of these Sailing Instruction.
10.9.1]The answer to the hail protest must be given asap. The penalized boat can't obtain a wrong advantage by a late answer and if this happens, the other team can hail protest to the RC.

C) AMONG TEAMS’ BOAT: the server assigns penalty(ies)
10.10] Penalties in case of contact among members of the same team must be always solved as they can’t be cancelled upon request. These penalties can be protested only if they are the result of a 3rd boat action that is breaking rules in that situation. Damaged team can claim on the water by typing “P” in the race chat, and is entitled to submit a protest to the committee. There is no way for the protested boat to repair in the race, but an agreement can be found in compliance with the point 11 of this rules set.
D) HITTING MARKS
10.11] Penalties assigned by the VSK Virtual umpire after hitting a mark must be solved as soon as possible. Such penalties can be protested if they where caused by the action of a 2nd or 3rd boat breaking rules in that moment. There is no way for the protested boat to repair in the race, but an agreement can be found in compliance with the point 11 of this rules set.
APPLICATION OF OTHERS ISAF RULES

E)  10.12]RULE 19 ISAF: refer to appendix A1.1.

F)

G) 10.14] CROSSING THE FINISH LINE refer to appendix A.1.2

11] SOLVING A PROTEST AT THE END OF THE RACE
At the end of a race, or of a series of races, in case of not solved protests in races , teams or their captains must watch the replay together and analyze the happened episodes , in order to determine responsibility and infringements according to the art. 8, 10 and 12 of this regulation, and reach the consequent adjustment of the race final boats positions.
If a discussion it’s not possible at the end of races and/or teams wants to debate before officialising a result or a protest, a new topic in the proper forum can be opened so that the Protest Committee can evaluate if the teams are doing a good effort solving the case on their own before involving the protest committee.
12] APPEAL TO THE PROTEST COMMITTEE
The appeal to committee is to be considered as the last resource due to the fact it was impossible to find an agreement that is acceptable for both teams. In any case, an appeal may be considered by the committee only if the whole procedure described in paragraph 10, 11 and 12 of this rules set have been fulfilled.
12.1.0] The only way to submit a protest to the RC is to fill in the Protest Form. An incomplete or incorrect Protest Form will cause the dismission of the protest. Protests must be written in official language ( english).
12.1.1] The protest must be submitted via e-mail to the RC (protests_teamleague@vskitalia.com), within 24 hours after the receiving of the first email with the results of the race under protest (ref. Art. 15.2), placing in cc the address of captain of the opponent team involved in the protest ; announce in the appropriate forum that the protest has been forwarded to the protest committee is not compulsory.
12.1.2]It’s compulsory sending replay of the whole race and screenshots showing the repair requests along the race.
12.2] No protest will be examinated if rule 12.1. is not respected.

12.3] If the Committee will recognize the right of a protest, the faulty skipper will be charged of 6 or 10 penalty points in addition to his score in the race (according with ISAF Procedure, D-3.1b).
12.4] The Committee takes the commitment to formalize the outcome of a protest in a time not exceeding 5 days from the date of its receiving (the official time and date of the protest are those recorded in the email).
12.5] Every protest presented to the RC which is;

• clearly unfounded or;
• showing a complete ignorance of the Isaf RRS or;
• showing a complete ignorance of the TL rules or;
• showing a cunning attempt of the claimant to change reality;

and , however , if in the opinion of the Protest Committee, the team which has submitted the protest has not made full effort to satisfy the requirements for a valid protest, a penalty of 2 points will be deduct to their ranking score.
13] PENALTIES
13.1] Penalties must be solved at the first reasonable opportunity without causing obstruction or penalty to the opponents before and during the “360 °”;
13.2] After the start, opponents should not change their course to intentionally inflict further penalty to skippers are solving it in a clear zone, unless it is "PROPER COURSE ."
13.3] During the pre-start, skipper charged by a penalty must solve it as soon as reasonably possible in a zone where he can’t create make troubles to any opponent, and all opponents should not deliberately interfere with a boat solving a pen, unless they are in proper course for starting or they are searching the best position near to the start line.
13.4] If a boat with penalties pending broke rule 13.1 of this rule sets , opponent team can elevate protest. If the virtual judge assigns additional penalty because the boat with penalty pending didn't solve the pen within allowed time ( 60 seconds) this new penalty will can’t be protested to the Committee.
13.5] Even where not explicitly specified any penalty solving must be done under conditions of Art. 13.1 of this rules set
14] THE ISAF COMMITTEE
14.1] The Committee will accept only protests that fully respect the Arts 10, 11, 12 and 13 this rules set.
14.2] There is no appeal option to the Protest Committee decisions.
14.3] The Committee subsequently to the judgment and after the approval of result will be available to explain to the team captains concerned the reasons have carried out its judgment.
14.4] It is shown that in some cases (very rare) a different delay time (lag) between RCs of racer can lead to different viewing situations. If , after a protest in water not solved in the race, the committee should identify, during the viewing and the processing of the replays , a real “synchrony difference” that could made impossible the reaching of a judgment, the Committee could consider the possibility of repeating the race.
14.5] In some cases, although the contact among the boats doesn't occur, the VSK5 virtual umpire assigns a penalty considering the contact not avoidable (i.e. in a striking cross between boats on different courses). The committee may consider the possibility to validate these penalties, withstanding to the content of Art. 10.3 / B;
14.6] Any case that this rules set has not taken into account will be solved by the committee with more impartial way as possible in terms of common sense, and all teams are required to respect the delicate job and the decisions of the committee.

15] RESULTS SENDING AT THE END OF THE RACE
15.1]At the end of disputed races , a team ( i.e. the winner team ) or both teams must send results by e-mail to the Committees (protests_teamleague@vskitalia.com) . If only a team will send result , the opponent team must be put in C.C. ; deadline time for results sending is the end of flight ( Sunday 24,00h ).
15.2]To send the results fill in the Results Form downloadable here and attach it to the email. An incomplete or incorrect Protest Form will cause the dismission of the protest.
15.3] Arrivals screenshots and races replays must be always attached to the message.
15.4] If rules 15.1, 15.2, 15.3 are not fully respected, the race (s) will be considered NOT played at all.
15.5] In case of a protest solved at the end of a match , and then in case of an upgrade of final results respect the screenshots , simply fill the body of the message with new resulting points and the redefined standings , and a note describing the causes of change.

SI APPENDIX A – VSK5 Adopted RRS Appendix “D” TEAM RACING RULES
Team races shall be sailed under The Racing Rules of Sailing as changed by this appendix.

A1 CHANGES TO THE RACING RULES

A1.1 Changes to the Rules of Part 2
(a) Rule 17.2 is changed to ‘Except on a beat to windward, while a boat is less than two of her hull lengths from a leeward boat, she shall not sail below her proper course unless she gybes.’
(b) The first sentence of rule 18.2(c) is changed to ‘If a boat was clear ahead at the time she reached the two-length zone, or she later became clear ahead when another boat passed head to wind, the boat clear astern shall thereafter keep clear.’
(c) Rule 18.4 is deleted.
(d) Rule 14 does not apply for a boat with right of way, or a boat entitled to room.
(e) Rule 19.1 is changed to ‘When approaching an obstruction, a boat sailing close-hauled or above may hail for room to tack (‘RTT’) and avoid another boat on the same tack. However, she shall not hail unless she is required to make a substantial course change to avoid the obstruction. Before tacking she shall give the hailed boat time to respond, which has to be documented by a screen shot. The hailed boat shall respond by either
(e.1) tacking as soon as possible, in which case the hailing boat shall also tack as soon as possible, or
(e.2) if she is able to, wait until the hailing boat begins her tacking maneuver, in which case the hailed boat shall give room, and rules 10 and 13 do not apply.’
(f) The sails,  boom and bow spirit of the boats should not be taken into account with regards to issues about keeping clear, overlap etc.


A1.2 Other Additional Rules
(a) There shall be no penalty for breaking a rule of Part 2 when the incident is between boats on the same team and there is no contact.
(b) Add to rule 41: ‘However, a boat may receive help from another member of her team.’
(c) If VSK assigns a penalty of which was a consequence of another boat on the same team breaking a rule, the boat that got the VSK penalty will be concidered as the one breaking a rule. She will not be exonerated under rule 64.1(b) unless the other boat on the same team is exonerated.
(d) A boat that has broken a rule just before or after crossing the finish line, and is unable to take a penalty turn due to being classified as finished by VSK, will have her finishing position adjusted as if she promptly would have taken one or more penalty turns.

A2 OTHER PROTESTS AND PENALTIES
(a) Rule 61.1 is changed to ‘A boat intending to protest shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity. When her protest concerns an incident in the racing area that she is involved in or sees, she shall refer to rule 10 of this rule set.
(b) If a boat is requesting additional penalty turns she must hail ‘PX’ in the VSK chat. The ‘PX’ hail is necessary in order to be able to utilize rule D3.1(c)(1)’
(c) A boat that, while racing, may have broken a rule of Part 2 may take a penalty complying with rule 44.2, except that only one turn is required.

A3 SCORING A RACE
A3.1
(a) Each boat finishing a race shall be scored points equal to her finishing place. All other boats shall be scored points equal to the number of boats entitled to race.
(b) After a hearing the protest committee may additionally penalize as follows:
-(1) When a boat has broken a rule and as a result her team has gained an advantage, it may increase that boat's points.
(c) The team with the lower total points wins the race. If the totals are equal, the team that did not have the first-place boat wins.
A3.2 When all boats on one team have finished, retired or failed to start, the race may be stopped. The other team’s boats racing at that time shall be scored the points they would have received had they finished in that order. However screenshot is needed.
A4 SCORING ROUNDS
A4.1 Round Robin 
In the Round Robin, race wins are used to rank teams. Where teams are equal in race wins, the tie will be broken by the following in order:
(a) the number of races won when the tied teams met;
(b) accrued points from finish places in whole Round Robin (lower score is better);
(c) the team with most 6 pt wins, then 7pt wins etc.;
(d) if sailed, the last race between them;
(e) a sail-off consisting of 1 race.
A4.2 Semifinal and final rounds
The first team wich win more than 50% of the races in each flight will be the winner. No further races need to be sailed after this occurs.
A4.3 Walkovers
Round Robin 1 -2: In the case of a walkover, the flight will be scored as 3-0 and average points (8-13) assigned to each race.
Semifinal and final rounds : The flight will be scored 4-0
A5 CHAMPIONSHIP STRUCTURE: 
See Art. 6
A6 DISCONNECTIONS
Prestart is a delicate and important race phase. Committee wants all skippers ( host too ) keep care in prestart , so wants to relieve the host by follows rules & starting procedures..
A6.1 A test prestart ( strongly recommended ) to check connections and lag presences; the host will write in game chat “test start”.
A6.2 Every skipper disconnected before the third minute before the start has the right to a restart. 5 minutes is the time available for the skipper to re-join the race.
A6.3 No restart are allowed for the second disconnection of the same skipper. He can try to re-join the race in the time allowed by the game.
A6.4 The host ( only the host ) can decide to ask however a restart ( “RST?” ), but the skippers in water have the veto right (“NO” in chat of the game ). A veto is sufficient to prevent the restart. NO RESTARTS ARE ALLOWED ANYWAY IN THE LAST MINUTE OF PRESTART.
A7 TEAM ALLOCATION
Teams listed first in the schedule shall be RED team during that flight.
SI Appendix C: GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL SKIPPERS
C1. Try to use locator files for skins, to reduce bandwidth lag to a minimum.
Ref: The loc-file guide made by Sandy/Camster.
However in the TL08 home page are linked the downloads for personal team skins and for the standard RED and BLUE skins.
C2. All participants should save replays of all races. The RC or RC may request a copy to resolve any incidents from each team member.
C3. It should be better each team have the ability to host a race, including a backup.
C4. Verify that the results published for a completed flight are correct.
C5: Hosting instructions
C5.1 Game Setup
• Game name: TL08 <flight>
• Password: tl08
• Password for spectator: pippo
• Max Players: 6 (note: this is the same as the number of spawn points designed in the courses)
• Max Spectators: 6+6 (Allows for one “spare” team member to view the race, who will have priority. Use the ban button if necessary.)
• Rules: Team Race
• Game Type: Tactical
• Ladder mode: No Ladder
• Allow race download: Yes
• Course selection: In accordance with SI7. Leave all settings to default.
• Penalty mode : complete , automatic

Change logs :

02.11.2008 = 1.1.1 from: the 'rules' as defined in the RRS, including Appendix D. to : the 'rules' as defined in the ISAF RRS 2005-2008, including Appendix D.

02.11.2008 = added new whole article : 10.9.1]The answer to the hail protest must be given asap. The penalized boat can't obtain a wrong advantage by a late answer and if this happens, the other team can hail protest to the RC.

03.11.2008 = added new whole article : 2.3 A team will be considered correctly registered in TL08 if :
a) There is a request in opportune Forum ( Here ) with Team Name and a list of minimum 4 skipper ( Captain , Vice , two skippers in crew ).
b ) The Captain mailbox , Vice mailbox or an alias for the whole team are provided.
c) A list of maximum 10 skippers ( total ) is provided; a skipper can be added in any time along the event ( if actual number is less than 10 ) ; in the same way , a skipper can replace another skipper renouncing to race for that team. In any case every new entry mustn't have sailed official challenges in TL08 into other different teams.

06.11.2008 = 15.1: Changes from "Organizing Committe" to "Committees" .

06.11.2008 = 15.1: Second part of the article becomes "If only a team will send result , the opponent team must be put in C.C. ; deadline time for results sending is the end of round ( Sunday 24,00h )."

06.11.2008 = 12.1.0 : added this part "Protests must be written in official language ( english)."

07.11.2008 = 15.1 : replaced "round" with "flight".

07.11.2008 = 15.2 : replaced "flight" with "Race".

08.11.2008 = Whole old article :

" Results are to be reported in the body of the message as follows:
GROUP X (If GROUP is present)
TEAM A vs TEAM B
Race1: Points TEAM A – Points TEAM B
Race2: Points TEAM A – Points TEAM B
Race3: Points TEAM A – Points TEAM B
Final Summary: Races won by the TEAM A - Races won by TEAM B
NOTES: any notes (protests and comments)"

Was replaced by the following :To send the results fill in the Results Form downloadable here and attach it to the email. An incomplete or incorrect Protest Form will cause the dismission of the protest.

This upgrade will be required from the RR1 second flight.

12.11.2008

Art. 12.5 = instead of "..may cause a charge of 5 extra point to the team claimant." , now is ".. may cause a charge of 2 extra point to the team claimant."

17.11.2008

Art. 12.5 = this article conclusion : "may cause a charge of 2 extra point to the team claimant. In this situation the RC will warn the Captain of the team. In case of a second warn the RC may ban the team." , is changed in : " and , however , if in the opinion of the Protest Committee, the team which has submitted the protest has not made full effort to satisfy the requirements for a valid protest, a penalty of 2 points will be deduct to their ranking score."

Art. 12.3 = Article is changed from: " If the Committee will recognize the right of a protest, the faulty skipper will be charged of 6 penalty points in addition to his score in the race ." into : If the Committee will recognize the right of a protest, the faulty skipper will be charged of 6 or 10 penalty points in addition to his score in the race (according with ISAF Procedure, D-3.1b)."

27.11.2008

Art. 10.5.1. = Article modified from "Every cancel request must be accepted: every cancel request not accepted..." to "". Added this item : Moreover, protest related to this penalty will not be taken in account, and facts happened over water will not be eligible of protest from all boats involved.

06.12.2008

Art. 12.1.1 Restored "not" omitted in the text.

06.12.2008

Art. 6.1 Updated Calendar

13.12.2008

Art 6.5.6 = Article modified from " a) No agreements are shown in the appropriate forum. Result will be scored 0-0" to " a) No agreement attempts are shown in the appropriate forum , or no valid results are sent in correct timing. Result will be scored 0-0"

13.12.2008

Art. 6.5.5 = Added this par. b)A walkover can be asked by a team versus an opponent team , if in response to a request for a meeting, the opposing team fails to act adequately to arrange the meeting. This team will be scored according with rule A4.3. No walkovers are allowed in RR2 : any walkover request validated by Committee , will cause desqualification of the investigated team and the cancellation of all its results.