International Power Boat Association

Purpose
The purpose of the International Power Boat Association (IPBA) is to promote the safe piloting of pleasure boats and to sponsor and sanction predicted log racing contests to improve the piloting and seamanship abilities of contestants.

Organization
IPBA sanctions cruiser navigation contests in the Pacific Northwest, including Washington and Oregon as well as British Columbia, Canada. IPBA is composed of three sections: Puget Sound North and Puget Sound South (United States) and the Gulf of Georgia (Canada). Each section operates their contest programs utilizing a standard set of rules and procedures.

Membership consists of organized yacht or boating clubs that are accepted by the IPBA Board of Trustees and are known as "club" members. Club membership dues are based on the number of active members in the member clubs, except for set minimum and maximum amounts. Individuals who belong to a member club are "associate members" and pay no dues.

IPBA is governed by a Board of Trustees which consists of four officers (Commodore, Vice Commodore, Rear Commodore, and Fleet Captain) and four non-officer trustees. Officers are elected from the three sections at the annual meeting which is held each November.

IPBA Sponsored Contest Programs
IPBA annually sponsors the International Cruiser Race and the Century 21 International Challenge Contest. IPBA also sponsors the Alaska Contest. This event is generally held every other year.

International Cruiser Race (ICR)
The ICR is generally scheduled yearly in mid-July with the course near or crossing the international boundary between the US and Canada. All associate members and invited racers are eligible and welcome to compete.

The Pacific Northwest Champion is determined at the ICR. The five best skippers from each of the three IPBA sections are eligible to compete for Pacific Northwest Champion. Determination of the eligible skippers is based on their preceding year's performance.

Century 21 International Challenge
The Century 21 is an international team contest involving two teams -- US racers vs. Canadian racers. The Century 21 is conducted in conjunction with the ICR. The teams are selected based on the contestants' performance during the preceding year. The scores of the best four contestants on each team are used in determining the winning team.

Alaska Contest
The Alaska contest is a special event involving a competitive cruise from US waters to Juneau, Alaska. This historic contest was first run in 1928 as the Capital-to-Capital International Cruiser Race from Olympia, Washington, to Juneau, Alaska. The race is generally run every other year.

IPBA Sanctioned Contest Programs
In addition to the IPBA sponsored contests described above, the contest programs in each of the three sections include IPBA sanctioned, local yacht club sponsored contests. The contest committee of the sponsoring club, assisted by the applicable IPBA committee chairs, is responsible for contest planning, course layout, special rules, log publication, contest conduct, and scoring.

Race Requirements
The general requirements for IPBA sanctioning of a predicted log race are:

1. The contest course cannot be less than 12 miles nor more than 30 miles in length. IPBA sponsored contests (ICR, Century 21, and Alaska) may exceed 30 miles.
2. Contest courses include at least 4 but not more than 7 legs (control points). 
3. The race sponsor may limit minimum flat water speed to 7 knots.
4. A U.S. Coast Guard permit is required for contest in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. The sponsoring club is responsible for obtaining the permit.
5. A contest entry fee of $13 for each contestant shall be collected by the sponsoring club and forwarded to the IPBA treasurer after the contest. 6. All contests are scored for national points according to the scoring formula of the North America Cruiser Association (NACA). After recording IPBA scores, the Section Scoring Chair will forward the contest score to NACA for national points scoring.

National and Regional Contests

North American Invitational (NAI) Contest
The preceding year's champions from each of the three IPBA sections are eligible and invited to participate in the annual North American Invitational Contest which is sponsored by the North American Cruiser Association.

Pacific Coast Yachting Association (PCYA) Barusch Contest
The top two contestants from each of the three IPBA sections are eligible and invited to participate in the annual Barusch Contest (West Coast Championship).