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Title:Panathenaia Cup - Boat Race: The Official Rules! : (MDidia ) : eques of Rome: 7/19/2001,7:58:31< prev next >

PANATHENAIA BOAT RACE

RULES AND OTHER BORING EXCITING STUFF

1. THE MISSION

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to race around the island of Salamis. The race will be divided in to two sections over a five days and will be conducted by the Judges posting the race task on a public bulletin board especially created for the race. Teams have 36 hours within which to create a written "log entry" describing their race journey.

Race 1: Peiraeus harbour (start) to Megara.
Race 2: Megara back to Peiraeus harbour, via Eleusis.

The system will work like this:

Date Time (GMT) Event
Wednesday 25th 11:00am Course description for Race 1 posted by the Judges.
Thursday 26th 11:00pm - 12:00am Contestants must post their Race 1 logs. Judging starts.
Friday 27th 11:00am Judges announce winner of Race 1. Course description for Race 2 posted by the Judges. We stop off for the night for repairs, provisions and a party!!!
Saturday 28th 11:00pm - 12:00am Contestants must post their Race 2 logs. Judging starts.
Sunday 29th TBA Overall Winner announced and awards ceremony!

Each race will have certain tasks and obstacles set, and a set number of "standard issue" items that will be distributed to each crew. Failure to take account of these obstacles will cause you to lose time (points). Clever use of the distributed items will cause you to gain time (points). In extreme circumstances you will end up shipwrecked (disqualified for that stage of the race only). Disqualification in one stage will not affect your score in the other.

All registered entrants will be issued the following items:

  • one bronze mirror
  • one oxhide shield
  • one pair wax earplugs
  • one bronze mirror
  • one basket baklava
  • one amphora Chian wine
  • one amphora olive oil
  • one coil extra rope
  • one bow with quiverful of arrows
  • one skein of wool
  • one votive bronze figurine of patron deity
  • one bird (breed to be specified by individual skipper)

You do not have to use all of the items or even mention all of the obstacles, but failure to do so will affect your standing.

2. RULES:

  1. The Team
    There is no size limit on the teams, but we think three or four people is just about right. Before you can enter the race you need to inform the Judges of the following:

    • Your boat name (boat name is also the name of your team)
    • The name of each member of the crew
    • Your elected Captain's name

    Only your team members can post race entries for your boat. If for some reason no member of your team can post within the time limit, please inform a Judge.

  2. The Boat
    All boats must be sailing boats (yachts). The following boats are NOT allowed:

    • Motor-boats (we are NOT a James Bond movie)
    • Paddle steamers (we are NOT on the Mississippi River)
    • Ocean liners (this is a race, not a pleasure cruise)
    • Pedalows and kayaks (it's not recommended anyway...)
    • Magical boats (just don't even THINK about it!)
    • Solar powered boats (it may be environmentally friendly, but it's not allowed)
    • Large inflatable bananas (jagged rocks and inflatable bananas... a tragic tale)
    • Anything that isn't powered by wind (that's meteorlogical wind, not ANY "other" kind of wind!)
    • Triremes (awww... come on, big trireme vs. little yacht, is that fair?)
    • Anything that uses oars (oars are not allowed)

  3. Word Length
    All race logs will be limited to a maximum of 1000 words (approxmately 10 paragraphs). The minimum number of words allowed will be 250. An ideal length would be somewhere between 500 and 1000 words, but it's up to you, we only request that the entry is no longer than approximate 1000 words.

  4. What You Can and Can't Write About
    You will have a fairly free rein in your writing, but you must remember to take into account the obstacles we set for each race if you hope to win or place. Also, please remember the following rules:

    1. Other Teams. Do not harm other ships! While we don't mind you writing about a bit of playful jockeying for position, do NOT write about ramming or sinking other ships, or even that other ships rammed you!
      Examples:
      - "We rammed the Thersites from behind!" (NOT ALLOWED)
      - "We were creeping up on the Thersites as we rounded the corner." (ALLOWED)

    2. Magic. Do not use fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons) inspired magic to help you get out of sticky situation or help you win the race. While the mythological stories of Ancient Greece contain magical happenings, you are not a Demigod so don't use magic! Magic includes: spells, potions, magic shields/swords/helmets/sandals, and anything else unnatural. You may referer to historical Ancient Greek (i.e. not Xena) magic/superstition etc. as long as it fits in with race.
      Examples:
      - "With one wave of the magic wand, we avoided the sand bank" (NOT ALLOWED)
      - "We were accosted by Lotus-eaters who enticed my crew to feast with them, and they completely forgot all about our race..." (ALLOWED)

    3. Gods and Goddesses. Deities can not be used indiscriminately or unreasonably. If you discover that one of the stages of the race happens to pass through Poseidon's living room (the Judges will tell you if it does), then he may be a help or a hindrance to you. Poseidon can not directly influence proceedings to make you win, nor can he hold back or sabotage the other teams. You could of course, trick Poseidon into telling you how to get past an obstacle because he won't be using his divine abilities to help you win; it will be your knowledge really!
      Examples:
      - "Poseidon helped us, his favourite mortals, by attaching a tow rope to our boat and pulling us all the way to the finish line miles ahead of of the other teams." (NOT ALLOWED)
      - "We sneakily told Poseidon that his wife Amphitrite had told the other team exactly how to get past the Persians at Artemesum. Enraged, Poseidon told us how to form the kuklos formation, which helped the Athenians win the day at Artemesum." (ALLOWED)

    4. Obstacles and Standard Issue Items. If you prefer not to deal with one or more of the obstacles placed along the route, you are free to sail clear. Keep in mind, however, that sailing clear will require you to tack around to avoid the obstacle and thus will cause you to lose time. Extra time can be gained depending on how you deal with obstacles (these will be shown on the race maps!).

    5. Sanity of the Judges. For all our sakes, please stick to the task in hand. No going off on tangents describing somebody's "eyes as deep as the ocean, with a twinkle that glitters like sunlight on the tops of the waves, betraying the wicked thoughts behind his otherwise passive features." YUUUUUUCK!!!!! Please!!! The Judges are not interested in who loves whom, or who has the most bronzed skin and biggest muscles. Basically, we don't want a soap opera or romance. But don't be afraid to make your entry fun to read though... or informative!

3. JUDGING:

The Judges will not be judging you on how much you know about sailing, because to be totally honest the Judges know very little about sailing themselves! They're just along for the perks. What the Judges are interested in is how well you know Ancient Greek mythology and history and how well you cope with the obstacles in each race. It will also help if you make your entries interesting and fun! Here are some handy hints for what the judges are looking for:

  • Knowledge of the ancient Greek world, history, culture and mythology.
  • Originality and effectiveness of problem-solving.
  • The ability to recognise that boats can not sail on sand banks, or survive being dashed against a rock!
  • While you don't have to be a grammarian, an attempt at accurate spelling and grammar will help (just by making it easier for the judges to read your entry!). At least try and spell historical and mythological words correctly.

Remember: THE JUDGE'S WORD IS FINAL! NO ARGUMENT!!!

The Scoring System

All you need to know about the scoring system is that points are awarded with most points for first place, least for last place. Also, points mean time, the more points you have the faster your time (ie, more minutes taken off the estimated time to complete the distance for an average sailing ship. Each point represents two minutes off your time).

What you really need to be aware of is that it is possible to be penalised for breaking the rules! A penalty means that minutes are added to your total time. The table below shows the offences and the penalties:

Penalty Box
OffencePenalty
Ramming another team's ship5 minutes
Damaging another team's ship10 minutes
Sinking another team's shipDisqualification for that race!
Destroying an obstacle altogetherDisqualification for that race!
Using magic to make you win5 minutes
Invoking gods to make you win5 minutes
Not taking into account weather conditions2 - 5 minutes, depending on severity
Not taking into account obstacles5 - 10 minutes per obstacle.
Not taking into account dangerous obstaclesDisqualification for that race on the grounds that your boat sunk!

Potential Gain Box
ActionAward
Using one or more issued item to get past an obstacle2 minutes per item
Using an issued item in another creative way1 minute
Defeating an obstacle as described in history or myth5 minutes
Defeating an obstacle in a way not described in history or myth5 - 10 minutes, depending on creativity level
Defeating an obstacle by brute force0 minutes (neutral)
Using weather conditions to your advantage2 - 5 minutes, depending on creativity level
Using one obstacle to defeat another2 - 5 minutes, depending on creativity

NOTE: With this system it is possible to come last in the first race, but still catch up in the second and be the overall winner. The reverse is, of course, true also; so if you win the first race, don't get too complacent or you may be in for a nasty surprise!!!