EVENT GUIDE Melanoma Ski-nZ 2018 Sunday 25 th February to 3 rd March 2018 Melanoma Ski-nZ is a fun-filled adrenalin packed adventure on personal water craft (PWC). Ski-nZ is staged by Melanoma New Zealand to raise funds to create excellence in the awareness, education, prevention, treatment and research of melanoma in New Zealand. The following event guide details PWC requirements, fundraising and associated costs, safety aspects, event rules and regulations and the Participants Code of Conduct. REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH PWC ENTRANT All persons participating in the event must be over the age of 18 The event is for single riders at any one time, although teams can interchange riders per leg. The Event Director may authorize the carriage of passengers when conditions allow on specific days. Your PWC must be a 2008 or later model, be of the sit-down style and capable of riding comfortably in two metre plus seas Each craft must have a minimum fuel capacity of 60 litres and each entrant will need to bring named approved 2x 20 Litre fuel drums (no taller than top of rear PWC seat) which will be used to top up at lunch breaks or will be carried on board your ski on days where a lunch meeting with the ground crew does not take place. Your craft must be in perfect sea worthy condition and proof of servicing in the 3 weeks prior to the event will need to be provided at registration. All craft must display a current registration number if registration is required by your home regional council or the regional council of an area which we will pass through. All craft must be covered by Third Party Public Liability and Property Damage as the minimum level of insurance. A scrutineering form will be sent to you a few weeks before the event so that you can tick off all the requirements. You must then bring the form with you to scrutineering where your compliance will be checked by officials.
All participants will be asked to select a number for their PWC on a first come, first served basis. This number will need to be displayed on the PWC for the event. Ski-nZ will provide transfers of these numbers to participants at or prior to registration. The number 1 will be reserved for the highest fundraiser at 8pm on the day preceding registration day. Participants will also need to save space on the nose of their PWCs for their number and other adequate space on their PWCs for event sponsor s logos. FUNDRAISING, COSTS AND ADMINISTRATION A $95 application fee is required with the application form Each PWC entrant is required to raise a minimum of $1600 which is tax deductible. This is a discounted donation for prompt entry and payment. A minimum of $600 must be paid by 31 st January 2018 and the remainder by the 20 th February 2018 to qualify for the discounted donation otherwise a donation of $2,000 will be required. Any funds raised on Givealittle can be used to offset the $1600 donation but cannot be used to offset other charges. A daily ride fee of $265 will be charged for riders wishing to ride on a casual day by day basis. Applications received after 31 st January 2018 will be required to pay the higher donation of $2,000 for the event. We encourage every participant to raise as much as they can. The more money that is raised throughout the event, the more Melanoma New Zealand will be able to achieve its goals. A provisions levy will be set which will cover dinners and lunches for the length of the Ski-nZ, entertainment and merchandise. This provisions levy is applicable to all PWC entrants and all road crew and will be payable by 18 th February 2018. Riders will need to fill out a Rider Application Form and Ground Crew, a Ground Crew Form. These forms provide Melanoma New Zealand with the necessary information to provide a fun and safe event for all. Both riders and crew will need to provide a photograph for an I/D card. Medical Information pertaining to participants is confidential and records are held by the Event Director. EVENT RULES AND REGULATIONS 1. In the interests of safety, insurance and event management, the requests and directions of all people designated by Melanoma New Zealand to be Officials will be observed at all times. 2. If you cause any damage to any property / environment on route you are required to report any such incident immediately to the Event Director. The same rule applies to anywhere marine life are injured / killed by your vessel. 3. Litter is not to be thrown from any vessel. Carry all litter with you and dispose of it carefully at the next appropriate spot (in a bin). 4. The Ski-nZ is not exempt from the normal road and boating rules. Infringements of speed limits and blood alcohol limits can be prosecuted by the police. 5. Participants must not interfere with other people s vehicles / vessels or personal property. 6. For safety reasons, riders must attend all nightly briefings. Failure to attend a briefing means forfeiting the right to ride the following day.
PARTICIPANTS CODE OF CONDUCT 1. Entrants are to be aware that they will be seen as representatives of Melanoma New Zealand and must behave accordingly. 2. Entrants will be instantly ejected from the Event without warning, in the following circumstances: Actions that will compromise safety of the Event participants and the general public Detection by the police for driving / riding while under the influence of alcohol (over.05) For road crew: Detection by the police for excessive speed (a speed at which instant loss of licence occurs) Offensive behaviour detected by police (not limited to legal definition) Assault 3. Entrants may be ejected from Melanoma Ski-nZ for continuing transgressions or refused entry to the next Event, after being given one warning, in the following circumstances: Bringing the name of Melanoma New Zealand into disrepute Excessive drunkenness Offensive behaviour (not detected by police) on a continuous basis Tampering with other people s PWC s or possessions Altering the Melanoma New Zealand or sponsors signs Vandalism Refusing to obey reasonable directions of officials or organisers Any participant ejected from Melanoma Ski-nZ will be automatically excluded from any future Melanoma events. These provisions apply to all crew members and any transgression by individual crew members will result in the exclusion of the team as provided above. Melanoma New Zealand will not be responsible for costs incurred by early exclusion from the Ski-nZ. 4. Participants will be asked to sign a form at registration that states that they have read and understood the event rules and regulations and agree to abide by them. This is not meant to be taken as a matter of distrust by the event officials of any participant, but is more to cover the small minority who may choose to break the rules. SAFETY With all Melanoma New Zealand events, safety is our number one priority. To ensure everyone s safety, on the water, guidelines have been developed and must be adhered to. Ski-nZ riders will be broken into two or more main groups, with each rider branded by colour for their group (i.e. Blue/Red/Yellow/Green). These groups are required to ensure the field is split, as the wash created by front running PWC s on the water makes riding difficult at the back of the field. The groups also allow for the different riding speeds of riders. A 5-10 minute break between the groups (or longer if required) will be used to allow the water to return normal for the rear group to follow. Under normal circumstances the slowest
group will leave first and the fastest group will leave last. Within each group, a team leader and a sweep are appointed. All riders should choose buddies and it is your responsibility to look out for each other on the water. If your buddy breaks down you may be required to tow them to the next stop or wait until water support arrives. Preferences for groupings and buddies should be advised on your application for entry to the event. When navigating any section of water that is controlled by navigation aids i.e. Starboard and Port lateral markers, all PWC s must proceed through such waters in a single file format and to the starboard side or bank of the channel or waterway. The single file format is the most effective way to prevent round conditions for those following up the groups. The team leaders will ensure all within the group remain in sight at all times during each leg of the journey. Each Team Leader will be provided with a hand held VHF marine radio throughout the event. Any leg of the journey may be cancelled in the event of a strong wind warning or adverse conditions or as advised by the New Zealand Coast Guard. In this case we will trailer all entrants to the overnight stop or to alternative water regions along the coastline for skiing / water sport activities. Alternate activities have been pre-planned by our crews in the event of this occurring. The decision whether to ride on any particular day will be made by a Safety Committee consisting of the event director and 3 nominated senior riders. This decision will be final and riders who choose to still ride will not be riding as part of the event but as individuals. All riders are encouraged to be realistic about their riding capabilities and even if the group still goes out in challenging conditions, individual riders should not hesitate to stay ashore if they have doubts. As a result of an incident that occurred on the 2017 event, there is now a requirement for riders to prove their ability to re-board their ski in rough water after falling of the ski. This needs to be demonstrated in full Ski-nZ riding gear with 2 x 20L Fuel drums (full) on the back. The only practical way to achieve this is for riders to first practice in shallow water and calm conditions then find some rougher deep water and get a riding buddy to video your re-boarding. This video can be brought to scrutineering on day one, or sent in, in advance. This applies to all new riders for 2018 and beyond. It also applies to any previous rider that the director considers to be at risk. Riders should see this as essential for safety and an opportunity to practice a useful and critical skill. Riders should also use this as an opportunity to practice refueling at sea in rough conditions which can be difficult. Further to this, the tops of the 20L fuel drums must not sit higher than the top of the rear seat on the ski. Each night, briefings will discuss the following day s leg and identify team leaders and sweeps and changes to groups as required. Attendance of briefings is compulsory. Road crews will be provided with maps showing points at which they may be required as well as necessary information pertaining to ramps, where hotels are located and where meals will be held. There is a possibility for a number of reasons that road crew may be required to assist their rider/s at other than the pre- planned stopping points for the day. In this case Team Leaders will contact the Road Crew Leader by telephone or VHF radio. The affected road crew will then be directed to their proposed new meeting point. Briefings will be held each night with power point presentations outlining charts/maps and required knowledge for the next day s event leg.
MINIMUM SAFETY GEAR REQUIREMENTS Full face helmet Good quality eye protection Boots or water shoes and gloves Full body wet suit or rash suit (As representatives of Melanoma New Zealand, the above gear is mandatory) A warm, waterproof, windproof jacket must be carried PFD type NZ 403 or 405 buoyancy vest with no buoyancy collar Sufficient anchor with at least 17m of rope Tow rope at least 17m long, with snap shackle at each end which can also double as an anchor One fixed or portable compass Drinking water PLB s: Search and Rescue operations for PWC s are made more complicated due to the relative smaller size of the vessel compared to a large boat or aluminium boat. Melanoma New Zealand strongly recommends that all PWC entrants carry a Personal Locator Beacon with satellite/ 406 MHz capability throughout the event in case of an emergency. You must register your 406 MHz beacon with your local Maritime Safety Authority in the country of your residence. BANNED ITEMS The following items are prohibited on the Ski-nZ: Weapons of any kind (including sling shots) Smoke generating devices (or the unauthorised release of flares) Water Balloons and/or other irretrievable plastic waste