Reduction of riding area

Comments about this discussion:

Started 28 May 11:49

Right now at a lot of competitions it is difficult to meet the minimum requirements for the area. If the area from the rulebook is used it is usually to bit which leads to a worse viewing experience and a worse vibe. Its kinda just the flatland vibe to be in tighter space and it enhances battling.

Comment 10 Jun 13:30

Personally not a fan - because it will significantly impact my riding (big on coasts). Yes, I can do coasts in a circle - but only the ones I fully control. It takes away the opportunity to try something that is not fully secure yet because there is no safety space anymore in case I fall (and I already felt like I was going to crash into the screen at EUC this year).

I didn't like the competition space at the last UNICON either. It lost the vibe, but that was because it was in a way too big hall with a high ceiling. I thought Grenoble was a good atmosphere and it was packed and already felt quite small from my perspective.

Comment 14 Jun 09:37

I've thought a little more about it and I would like to hear what you think about it. First of all In think not having a rectangular space would be better. Maybe if you take a circle or an elongated circle people could move in closer without cutting in on the effective riding area. Also it might make sense to define a range of riding areas in the rulebook so organizers dont have to get an exception if they only have a smaller area available. The recommendation could be to take the biggest space possible and one could define a range where the smallest would be an area where you can barely do a flatland competition and the largest being a similiar area to how it is now.

Comment 23 Jun 12:10

After thinking about it for a while and deleting everything I've typed, I think we can combine both your needs.

If we keep the dimensions as they are (or just change them slightly) but allow or even encourage the area to be rounded (elongated circle/ellipse), we can keep a long axis for coasts while still reducing the overall area and getting the audience closer.

I do like the idea of offering a range of sizes though, to make it easier for smaller events to follow iuf rules.

For example:

Currently:
A 11 x 14 meter area is required. Judges will be situated along one of the longer sides.
The audience may be as close to the boundaries as desired provided that they do not
impede or obstruct the judges.

Possibly:
The riding area should follow these guidelines:
minimum area: 6 x 10 meter
maximum area :12 x 15 meter
recommended area 10 x 12 meter
The riding area may be a rectangular or an elongated circle with the major and minor axis following the stated dimensions.
The audience may be as close to the boundaries as desired provided that they do not
impede or obstruct the judges.

Comment 23 Jun 15:50

Thanks for thinking about a solution Ian.

I would like to point out that the diagonal in the riding area is currently ~17.8m - so significantly bigger than what you are suggesting at the moment. Therefore, I am not really happy with the current proposal. However, I do recognise that for smaller competitions it might be good to have the option of a smaller riding area and would like to see that reflected in the rulebook.

I am not really onboard with the "vibe" argument. I think we had previous Unicons where that was definitely a really good vibe. Bemidji has been more of an exception because the hall was way too big and had a very high ceiling as well. If I remember correctly, in Grenoble, some spectators were even struggling to see because there were so many people. So I don't think it's necessary to make it smaller for UNICON.

Similarly to the junior category regulation, I'd therefore propose something like this:

Proposal:

A 11 x 14 meter area is required for UNICON and nationals. For smaller competitions, organizers can choose to provide a smaller area if less space is available. At a minimum a space of 6 x 10m should be provided. Organizers might choose to opt to round off the edges of the riding area to allow spectators to view the area better. This should not infringe on the minimum riding space.

Judges will be situated along one of the longer sides. The audience may be as close to the boundaries as desired provided that they do not impede or obstruct the judges.

Comment 25 Jun 09:18

@Marie how would you feel about something like this: Organizers might choose to opt to round off the edges of the riding area to allow spectators to view the area better. This should not make the longest diagonal in the riding area be smaller as in the recomended riding area or make the width smaller than 6m.

Comment 25 Jun 10:46

Hi Ben,

if it's for smaller comps where organisers struggle to find space - I think that's a good solution. It might mean that we end up with a really shallow oval though. But hopefully organisers would see that does not help with spectating.

I wouldn't like to see it for bigger comps though as I regard safety and available riding space as much more important and usually there are enough spectators to create a vibe around it.

But maybe something for the next UNICON organisers to think about not having Pair Freestyle and Flatland finals at different locations at the same time...

Comment 20 Jul 02:03

If you want to create a proposal out of this discussion, please remember that today (20.07.) is the last day to do so!
The wording of the proposal can still be adjusted in the coming days, but the proposal must be created today.