User blog:Bouexic/Tourville Cup

The AFOH Surface Fleet has been organizing an annual race among its frontline ships on which can go the fastest to and from a given point. Year in and year out, all competitors have been bested by the heavy cruiser Tourville and it came to be known as the Tourville Cup. Usually held in the Inland Sea, it has also been held in other locations, like the South Atlantic (off the Angolan Coast) or the South Pacific (off Oceania), and in recent years has evolved into a challenge race, wherein aspirants engage in a long knockout stage before the final race against the champion. The last challenger remaining receives the Beachy Head Pennant (named after the greatest victory of the cruiser's namesake, the French admiral Ann Hilarion de Tourville) and the right to contest and lay claim to the Tourville Cup.

With the coming of peace, the High Command has deemed it time to open the competition to other countries or private corporations, and make it a showcase of surface warship technology. The following are the rules set down for the latest running of the Cup:

1. There will be no size, engine, hull or power restrictions.

2. The ship must be able to maneuver and must not capsize during turns. However, the race is a straight run to maximum speed, so turning performance during the race is not a prerequisite.

3. The ship must be armed and armored as a warship should be, with the Tourville's toughness and firepower (strength) as a minimum.

4. As Tourville is no longer a frontline warship, having been replaced by larger, more powerful heavy cruisers, her stats and parts of her design have been declassified and are allowed for viewing and scrutiny by challengers (OOC: dock view but may mask critical design elements). Challengers will also do the same.

5. Competitors start off one at a time, although they may arrange a common start time among themselves. The Race Committee also has the right to allow or disallow a multiple start.

6. Competing teams will field only 1 ship at a time. Teams are allowed to upgrade their initial ship or substitute a new one at any point during the knock-out stage.

''OOC:

This is supposed to get us all building SURFACE SHIPS again. I know there are faster ships out there, so I'm doing this with the expectation that somebody will win the Cup sooner rather than later. The winner (if it's not Tourville) may continue to run the competition, add/make his own rules or even change its name. The current RP rules have been purposely made ambiguous in order for us to have fun and not make this a straight-up IG technical competition, so feel free to stretch their limits or exploit loopholes (please don't make me point them out).''