DOKUMENTE/DOCUMENTS

IV. European Championship NAVIGA - NS
Poland, Głowno, 19th - 26th August 2006

Location: Głowno 

Location Details: The races were held at a natural lake. Even though there had been prior concerns about the effects of wind, conditions throughout the races were within norm.

Technical Equipment: Unfortunately, we must note that the equipment set up for registering competitors (PCs, information databases) malfunctioned. These malfuncions lead to delays in the races we were hard-pressed to make up for. We also must note that this is undoubtedly where NAVIGA general and sectional rules were being broken (the time of publishing of the results). As Chief Referee, I'd like to commend all competitors for their sportsmanly behavior and for their patience. Other equipment, such as lanes, docks and frequency checks, functioned properly. Referees' accomodation and overall organization of the races were also mostly good.

Protests: We received one protest throughout the races. The protest was submitted by the Russian team and it alleged that competitors weren't properly informed about the new 2004 Rules, Version 2006. Due to this lack of information, a Russian competitor was supposedly disadvantaged during the NSS Class and B Class races. We rejected this protest. NAVIGA leadership sent the Rules to all federations in timely manner. The specific rule that was alleged to cause our Russian colleague's disadvantage had first been implemented during the 2004 European Championship in Moscow, and it had therefore been part of the Rules for some time, and had not been introduced in the Version 2006 as had been challenged. 

Closing Remarks: From the get-go, the Championship had been plagued with difficulties related to generating and processing data necessary for the timely and orderly start of the races. We succeeded in overcoming this handicap, with difficulties, over the course of the entire European Championship in Glowno. Participants of the European Championship won't also likely forget that several flags were stolen from the Championship's main flagpole, including the NAVIGA flag. Moreover, NAVIGA leadership should pay close attention to the debate on how NAVIGA rules are being publicized. Publishing the full text of these rules at www.NAVIGA.org is, in my opinion, the only feasible solution going forward. Unfortunately, I must also say that I still haven't received the Section NS share of the registration fees, and I haven't been informed whether this share had been transferred to any other NAVIGA representative. 

Mgr. Martin Tomášek, Ph.D
NAVIGA Section NS Chairperson
20. 9. 2006