SAIL's Regional Championships Series (Tours)

Late-breaking Update

A meeting on March 29 made a number of recommendations to be considered at the SAIL meeting of Tuesday, April 1, 2008.  Participants considered the results of the survey on the subject and effects of fuel prices and time constraints.

Among the recommendations were:

1. Continue the SAIL Tours, consisting of series of open regattas by SAIL member clubs.
   • Eliminating the Tours would NOT eliminate any of the regattas.
   • The purpose of the Tours is to encourage sailors to sail at other lakes than their "home lakes" and promote camaraderie among sailors in the region. this is still a good objective.
      
2. Do not create a separate event for the SAIL Championship. It was felt the present Colorado Governor's Cup could serve this purpose, simply by adding scoring for an additional trophy.
    
3. Encourage clubs to more aggressively publicize their events and advertise Tour status as a means to encourage participation.
    
4. Publish Tour standings & scores throughout the season to create additional interest.
   • A more easily-understood scoring system is required (Rinderle B was suggested.) as well as timely receipt of regatta results.
      
5. Establish a minimum number of events and lakes sailed to qualify for the Championship.
   • If no boats meet the minimum, the trophy should not be awarded.
   • For the Keelboat Tour, 4 regattas and 3 lakes.
   • For the Dinghy & Junior Tours, 50% of the open regattas and two lakes.

Some of these recommendations will require changes to the Tour Rules, if adopted.

Notice of Series & Sailing Instructions

The information below constitutes both a notice of series and the sailing instructions for the championships series named above. It may be subject to change at the meeting held on April 1; please check back after April 15 for an updated version.

The Sailing Association of Intermountain Lakes (SAIL) is the organizing authority for the Tours. The series consists of designated regattas, held by member clubs of SAIL in each season. The dates & venues for the designated events are listed in the  SAIL Calendar.

Rules: The rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing shall apply. The notices of race & sailing instructions for each event will be unique and shall apply to that event.  "Tour Rules" below shall also apply.

Eligibility:  All members of SAIL in good standing are eligible. Skippers must be members of SAIL Only those under 19 years of age on January 1 of the year are eligible for the junior tour. Centerboard boats are eligible for the dinghy tour. Keelboats are eligible for the keelboat tour. SAIL PHRF members are eligible for the PHRF tour.

Entry: No separate entry form, registration or fee is required to enter any of the Championship Series. SAIL enters each member upon his or her participation in one or more of the designated events. Teams that race with different skippers or boats during the tour shall inform the series (tour) administrator, prior to October 1, of the series year , of their circumstances and team name to be scored as a team.

Event Selection: The SAIL Board will designate events to be included in the Championships Series before April 15 of each year. Organizing authorities may apply to SAIL  for inclusion of specific events in one or more series.  Criteria for designating an event to be in the Championship series include:

1. The event shall be open to entry by all members of SAIL. Entries may not be restricted to members of specific clubs or fleets.
2. The event shall be governed by the rules as defined in the current Racing Rules of Sailing.
3. The organizing authority shall have regatta liability insurance in force & shall be a current, paid member of SAIL.
4. The organizing authority shall demonstrate good race management practice.
5. The organizing authority shall provide full results to the series administrator, within one week following the event. Results not provided to the series administrator shall not be included in scoring of the Tours.
6. SAIL will attempt to include events in various parts of the region and separated in time from each other by at least two weeks.
7. Events in the Junior Series shall be specifically for, or have separate classes for, juniors as defined in "Eligibility". Subject to prior approval by the Series Administrator, events in which juniors compete against adults or in mixed junior/adult teams may be included in the Junior Tour. Races in which juniors race against adults or in mixed junior/adult teams shall not be included in Junior Tour scoring.

Schedule: The tours consist of the events listed in the table below. Check periodically for changes which might occur.

Qualification: To qualify for prizes, a yacht must compete in a minimum number of events. If no yacht qualifies, no prize will be awarded. The required minimum number of events are:

• Dinghy Tour -- 3 events
• Keelboat & PHRF Tours -- 4 events
• Junior Tour -- 2 events

Scoring: The series will be scored by the  Rinderle B Scoring system . {Subject to change} For details, see "Tour Rules".

Prizes:: Prizes will be awarded for first place in each tour. The winning skippers' names will be engraved on the perpetual trophies and published on this web site. The awards will be announced and presented at the SAIL Annual Meeting.

Previous Tour Champions: View the list of previous winners of these season-long awards for excellence.

Disclaimer of Liability: Competitors participate in the tours and events within them entirely at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. The organizing authority will not accept any liability for material damage or injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to or after the tour.

More Information: For further information, please contact Tom Downing, SAIL Race Chair.

Outside Help: SAIL observes that participating in a minimum of four (4) tour events is usually required to win. As this is unsolicited advice, it does not violate rule 41.