2023 will see the resumption of physical rather than the virtual seminars of the last three years. While the on-line seminars have been successful with good levels of attendance the Waterski Council believes that meeting together to discuss and update ourselves on all the developing issues in the sport that impacts the work of Officials is important and achieves more that just an on-line session.

The 2023 Seminar is being hosted by BWSW in the UK and will take place at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Stansted Airport from 24th to 26th March.

Bulletin 1 containing all the registration and booking information can be downloaded here:

We are not planning to hold a separate Seminar for British Officials and therefore hope that all British Officials, whether National or International, will consider attending. It is a great opportunity to meet and network with like minded people in our sport……… and is also a pretty good social event.

The November 2022 200 Club Draw has taken place in Florida with Mark Beard assisted by Kelly Atkins and Philippa Shedd. The results are:

1st  Nick McGarry No. 23 £650.00

2nd Andy Fearn No. 102 £487.50

3rd Nick McGarry No. 8 £325.00

4th  Jean-Paul No. 145 £162.50

Clearly Nick McGarry carries the lucky gene.

Almost £275,000 has been raised since FoT began with over £202,000 net of lottery prizes.

Of this £134,000 has been spent supporting our skiers participation in World and European Championships as well as Development activities such as Squad Training and Lectures, Development Days, Provision of loan kit etc.

We have a projected spend of over £64,000 in 2023.

Thank you to all the FoT supporters who make this happen.

The FoT End of Season Ball took place at the Hilton Northampton on Saturday. As well as a chance to present Record Certificates, and acknowledge our skiers who represented GB at European and World Championships a number of awards were presented. Two young skiers Georgia Fearn and Harley Coster received £300 cheques provided by Jack Critchley from his 2021 World Championships FoT Participation Grant. Harley as the most improved Youth Jump skier in 2022 and Georgia for the grit and determination that she showed in the European U21 Championships 2022 jump final. The Andy Mapple Award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Will Asher who has had a phenomenal year. Ending the season at the top of the ProTour and IWWF Slalom Ranking List and setting a new European Slalom Record with 2 buoys at 9.75m. Will couldn’t be there but send an acceptance video that was shown during the evening.The fund raising Auction together with the Raffle raised a total of £7,936. A big thank you to all those that donated Auction and Raffle prizes and to those that generously bid for them.The October 200 Club Draw also took place. The draw can be seen via this link: https://www.facebook.com/100063587380602/videos/821315775764009

This was the 70th Prize draw and so far FoT has raised over £256,000 and after 200 Club prizes £187,000 to support our elite skiers and grass roots development. The winners this month were:

1st £650.00 Rob & Val Spavin No. 94

2nd £487.50 John Philips No. 174

3rd £325.00 Vince Turp No. 3

4th £162.50 Owen McGarry No. 114

Congratulations to the winners. If you would like to join the 200 Club a sign up form can be found on the Resources page at www.tournamentwaterskiing.org.uk.

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Last month we had the maximum 200 balls in the bag for the draw for the first time.This month we have achieved another milestone of over £250,000 raised before lottery prizes have been paid. So over £184,000 to support competitive Waterskiing at the elite and grassroots level.

Full details about Friends of Tournament can be found in our monthly newsletter which can be downloaded here:

http://www.tournamentwaterskiing.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/FoT-Newsletter-No-7-October-2022.docx

The winners of the September Prize Draw are:

1st The Woodgate Foundation No. 141 £650.00
2nd Gavin Kelly No. 155 £487.50
3rd Tim Hazelwood No. 5 £325.00
4th Rob & Val Spavin No. 92 £162.50

Friends of Tournament End of Season Fund Raising and Awards Ball

Hilton, Northampton – Saturday 19^th November 2022

Dear Waterski Friends,           

It’s time to book your tickets for this years FoT Ball. We are returning once again to the Hilton Northampton which has proved to be a popular venue for recent events.

Tickets for the Ball and a link to the Hilton Website for booking your hotel rooms can be found here:

https://www.bwsw.org.uk/events-and-results/fot-end-of-season-ball/

The booking system will as usual, ask you to make menu choices for the dinner.

The hotel booking can also be done by following this link.

Available Rooms – Hilton Northampton

Ticket prices are £60 for adults and £35 for Under 14’s

The evening will start at 6.00pm with a drink’s reception in the hotel bar with dinner commencing at 7.00pm.

If you are putting a group together, you can book a table for 10 people and submit menu choices at a later date.

If anyone would like to provide a prize for our 200 Club Raffle, please contact Gavin Kelly at gvnkelly@aol.com.

Last year we had a great event…….let’s make this one even better.

Best Regards,

Mark, Gavin and Dusko

FoT Committee

October 2022

In the last few years physical licence books have been used less and less. As all individual results are stored in the Athletes profiles in the IWWF Event Management System (EMS) the Waterski Committee has decided to stop issuing and using licence booklets with immediate effect. To be clear Competition Licences, both British and IWWF, are still required for participation in any Ranking List events.

The 68th draw of the Friends of Tournament 200 Club for August 2022, and the first time with 200 Balls in the Bag has taken place at JB Ski. To date FoT has raised over £245,000 to support competitive waterskiing in the UK. After lottery prizes over £179,000. This has only been possible by the generosity of everyone that supports FoT.This months winners are:

1st Colin Slater No. 106 £650.00

2nd Pete and Eileen Davies No. 99 £487.50

3rd Kelly Atkins No. 129 £325.00

4th The Doherty’s No.147 £162.50

Congratulations to them and good luck to everyone in future draws.

The 2022 Championships took place over four days at Oxford Wake and Ski last week. Steve Glanfield and his team once again put on an awesome event. Including all Age Divisions, an Adaptive Category and the RAF. A new innovation was the inclusion of a cash prize night slalom event with11 skiers showing what could be done in the dark and under floodlights.

CJ, Clair Hoile and her team of Officials worked tirelessly in the extreme heat to ensure the event went smoothly.

As many will know, our friend Jill Howard, Official, Skier, Volunteer, Trainer, sadly died last year. Jill was a great supporter of what FoT was trying to achieve and she decided to leave some money for FoT which we anticipate will be in excess of £200,000.

In her memory an annual “Jill Howard Memorial Award” will be given to a worthy recipient participating in any capacity at the National Championships. The choice will be made jointly by the FoT Committee Chair and the Chief Judge in consultation with the panel of officials.

The first recipient of the 2022 award is Clair Ellis. Clair participated at this years Championships in both Adaptive and Age Division events as well as being one of the Judges and was a great friend of Jill’s. A well deserved choice for this first award.

The 200 Club reached 200 members during the Combined British Waterski Championships held at Oxford Wake & Ski this last week. A huge thank you to everyone who takes part and especially to all the new signups. The August Draw will be very special with 200 Balls in the Bag for the first time.

So the 67th Draw of the 200 Club took place during the Championships. Helped by Charlie Campbell and Will Newby-Ricci, Mark Beard managed the draw which can be viewed via the QR code below or via this link: https://www.facebook.com/100063587380602/videos/1107336506870301

The lucky winners this month are:

1st Phil Mitchell No. 52 £575.25

2nd Phil Kinman No. 162 £431.44

3rd James Timothy No. 67 £287.63

4th Lesley Shanahan No. 132 £143.81

Congratulations to them and let’s look forward to our 68th draw with 200 balls in the bag.

The World Waterski Council has issued version 2 of the 2022 Rulebook. There are two changes that require some explanation.

Rule 8.15 Revision – This update has been necessary because we are dealing with the introduction and adoption of new technology in the form of Boat Path Measurement Systems (BPMS), specifically SurePath which is now providing detailed data on Boat Path performance which has simply not been available before.

It is clear from this data and the recent practical experience in competitions that a further modification to the rule was necessary. Data will continue to be monitored throughout this season and if any further changes are considered necessary these will be done as part of the annual Rules review process at the end of the year.

Rule 10.11 Revision – The use of Surepath has again provided significant data on boat path during jumping. With the current rule stipulating a “straight path” it doesn’t allow the driver to compensate for the skiers pull to the ramp thus creating a potentially unsafe scenario. Many knowledgeable Drivers do make the desired adjustment with minimal deviation from the “straight path” but the adjustment to the Rule will allow a better understanding of what is required. It is not intended that the Driver will “help” the skier with the landing.