| RI-05-04 INITIALLY UNTAGGED SAILS (2005-04-25) |
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| Q1: | A class sail is purchased after October 1, 2001 and initially used for non-class racing. Is it permissible later to put a sail tag onto that sail and use it as a legal sail for class racing? If so, what is the “date of delivery” for purposes of class rule 6.9 and the sail certificate required by that rule? |
| A1: | Yes. It is permissible to put a sail tag onto a sail after initial delivery of the sail to the owner, provided the sail otherwise meets the requirements of part 6 of our rules (i.e. size, material etc) and the sail certificate required by Section 6.9 is delivered to the class secretary.
When our class rules refer to “delivery” of a sail, they refer to the delivery of a class legal, fully tagged sail. In addition, under the first sentence of the sail purchase limitations of class rule 6.8 (the “3/2/3” rule), sail purchase rights not used in a particular year are lost and cannot be carried forward. It should not be possible to evade that general rule by purchasing sails untagged and later tagging them “retroactively.” Hence, a sail counts as having been purchased in the year when it is tagged or the year when it is delivered to the owner, whichever is later. The “date of delivery” of an initially untagged sail is the date on which the sail is redelivered to an owner, after a sail tag is applied to it by a certified sailmaker. Note that such a sail is not class legal until the rule 6.9 sail certificate is received by the class secretary. |
| Q2: | Can an untagged sail be purchased as a “used” sail under the second sentence of section 6.8? |
| A2: | No. The second sentence of section 6.8 permits an owner of a new boat to purchase a set of “used” sails in addition to a set of new sails. The term “used” is defined as one full season of sailing use as the primary sail of that type. Section 6.8; RI 02-18. In this context, our rules must be read to refer to use for class racing. Racing that is not governed by our class rules (i.e. racing in regattas where the sails are not required to be tagged) should not count as “sailing use as the primary sail” of the boat. This means that a sail that is acquired without a tag is considered a new sail at the time of tagging. It cannot become a “used sail” except through use as the primary sail of a boat for class racing after the sail has been tagged and become a class legal sail. |