6 Sanctioned Competition

The NAR Contest Board will sanction competition, which is conducted in accordance with the rules set forth in this United States Model Rocket Sporting Code. See Rule 6.8.

6.2 Contest Year

The Contest Year shall begin on July 1, end on June 30 of the following year, and include the National Meet immediately following.

6.3 Sanctions

Competition sanctioned by the NAR shall be classified as follows:

6.3.1 Section Meet: This is a competition among the members and guests of a chartered section of the NAR. Competition points awarded at a Section Meet may not be credited to a chartered section other than the section sponsoring the meet. Section Meets have a Contest Factor of 1.

6.3.2 Local Meet: This is a competition in which either:
a) Two or more chartered NAR sections compete against one another; or
b) Participation is open to all NAR members in a geographical area determined by the sponsor.
A Local Meet may be sponsored by either a chartered section of the NAR, or by an individual member of the NAR. Local Meets have a Contest Factor of 1.

6.3.3 Open Meet: This is a competition in which either:
a) Two or more chartered NAR sections compete against one another; or
b) Participation is open to all NAR members in a geographical area determined by the sponsor.
An Open Meet may be sponsored by either a chartered section of the NAR, or by an individual member of the NAR. No fewer than five contestants must be present. No more than 3/4 of the contestants may enter as members of the same chartered section of the NAR. Open Meets have a Contest Factor of 2.

6.3.4 Regional Meet: This is a competition that is both open to and attended by NAR members from a wide geographic region. A Regional Meet must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:
    a) The contestants represent two or more states;
    b) One or more contestants are represented from a distance of at least 50 miles from the site of the meet; or
    c) One or more contestants are represented from an area that is sufficiently large that the National Contest Board gives a Contest Director explicit approval to hold a Regional Meet.
A Regional Meet may be sponsored by either an NAR chartered section, or by an individual NAR member. No fewer than ten contestants, including proxy-flown contestants, must be represented. No more than 2/3 of the contestants may enter as members of the same chartered section of the NAR. The Contest Director may set a maximum number of contestants that are to be allowed at a Regional Meet. If such a limit is imposed, it must be stated on the Application for a Contest Sanction. Applicants shall not be denied the right to compete on any other basis, with the exception of previous misconduct as specified in Rule 11.4. Regional Meets have a Contest Factor of 3.

6.3.5 National Meet: Only one National Meet (NARAM) shall be held each year. The National Meet will be held at such time and place and with such entry requirements as shall be determined by the NAR Contest Board. The National Meet shall have a Contest Factor of 8.

6.3.6 Record Trial: This type of meet is conducted for the purpose of providing an opportunity and facilities for attempts to establish or surpass official United States and FAI model rocket performance records. No NAR contest points shall be awarded. Events to be flown must be indicated on the application for sanction. Any number or combination of events may be flown. In a Record Trial, an NAR member duly entered in the meet may have as many opportunities as time and weather permit to make a record flight. Record Trials have no Contest Factor.

6.4 Time

All contests other than the National Meet must be scheduled on and completed within no more than three consecutive days, except as stated in Rule 6.5.

6.5 Suspending Competition

The Contest Director may suspend competition with the concurrence of a majority of the participating competitors present and a may set a new date acceptable to a majority for the completion of the contest. The Contest Director shall advise the Regional Contest Board regarding the rescheduling of the contest, and the reasons therefore.

6.6 Weighting Factor

Each competition event has a Weighting Factor that shall also be used in determining the maximum number of competition events that can be sanctioned for a particular contest. Any number of competition events may be sanctioned for a contest, provided that the sum of the Weighting Factors of all the competition events sanctioned for the contest does not exceed the Total Weighting Factor allowed for its contest classification. The schedule of Total Weighting Factors permitted for each contest classification is as follows:

Event Type	Total Weighting Factors
Section Meet	40
Local Meet	40
Open Meet	60
Regional Meet	80
National Meet	Set by NAR Contest Board
Record Trial	No Limit

6.7 Contest Factor

Each competition classification (Rule 6.3) has a Contest Factor which shall be used in determining the maximum number of sanctioned contests in which an NAR member, team, or chartered NAR section may enter and compete during the Contest Year. No member, team, or section may officially enter a sanctioned contest and be awarded competition points if the Contest Factor of that contest, when summed with the Contest Factors of all the contests previously entered in the current Contest Year by the member, team, or section, would exceed 12 (twelve). The National Meet shall not be included in this total. A contestant, team, or section may withdraw from a meet at any time prior to its conclusion, upon presenting valid cause to the Contest Director, and that meet shall not count towards their Contest Factor sum for the Contest Year. In addition, a chartered NAR section may not sponsor more than five section and/or local meets during a Contest Year. A contestant, team, or section may not withdraw from a meet after its conclusion, or prior to its conclusion based on poor score as the valid cause.

6.8 Sanction

Application for sanction of a model rocket competition shall be made to the NAR Regional Contest Board at least thirty days in advance of the date of the competition, on the standard form Application for a Contest Sanction, which is available from the NAR Regional Contest Board. If necessary, a reproduction of the form may be used when none can be secured from the NAR.

The thirty-day advance notice requirement may be waived at the discretion of the NAR Regional Contest Board. The Senior Member of the NAR who will serve as the Contest Director must sign the application. The correct sanction fee must be included with the form mailed to the NAR Regional Contest Board. Contest Directors must obtain an adequate supply of contest forms, flight cards, etc. in advance of any competition, since this material will not be sent with the sanction for competition.

6.9 Results

The NAR Senior Member who serves as the Contest Director for a sanctioned competition must report the competition results to the NAR Contest Board on the standard forms, and must include all the competition entry blanks, flight cards, and other contest record materials used.* The report must be postmarked within fourteen days following the completion of the competition, but this requirement may be waived at the discretion of the NAR Regional Contest Board. If an unusual question arises, the Contest Director may request a ruling on the matter from the NAR Contest Board. In this case, the Contest Director should make every effort to include complete and impartial details on the situation. The NAR Contest Board may refuse to accept the results of a competition if all the contest record materials are not included, if the data is not legible or accurate, or if there has been an unreasonable delay in reporting results. All competition results shall be compiled and reported by the Regional Contest Board Chairman at least monthly. The National Contest Board Chairman shall compile and report current standings to the NAR webmaster at least monthly during the contest year. The NAR webmaster should post the current US Point Standings at least once a month during the contest year. Final official results for the year should be posted to the website no later than one month following the conclusion of NARAM.

6.10 Rejection

The NAR Contest Board may refuse to accept the results of a competition if evidence is presented that the competition was not conducted within the scope or intent of this United States Model Rocket Sporting Code.

6.11 Deadline

In all cases, contest results must be in the hands of the NAR Contest Board at least fourteen days prior to the opening day of the National Meet

6.12 Advisory Rulings

In cases where a modeler is uncertain of the application of a rule contained in the United States Model Rocket Sporting Code, he/she may ask for a ruling by the Regional Contest Board Chairman. The Regional Contest Board Chairman may rule or pass the request to the National Contest Board Chairman. This process should proceed in a timely manner so as to allow modelers time to react to the ruling.

* Contest results may be submitted electronically in ContestManager format, or other formats as approved by the Contest Board. Competition entry blanks must still be sent to the Contest Board. Flight cards for any new United States Model Rocket Performance Records should also be submitted.

Return to the NAR home page | Join the NAR