AWSA APPROVES TOWBOAT USE REIMBURSEMENT

[Horton]

By USA Water Ski & Wake Sports | April 09, 2021, 10 a.m. (ET)

 

The AWSA board of directors approved the following policy to reimburse all boat owners for towboat use in AWSA sanctioned events, effective for the 2021 season. A Local Organizing Committee (LOC) must reimburse a boat owner(s) for costs incurred due to use of a boat for any event (excluding Regionals and Nationals) on an hourly basis. This provision includes promo boats, individually owned boats, club boats, etc. The recommended minimum reimbursement rate is $25 (Twenty-Five dollars) per hour of use recorded from the boat’s hour meter. The boat must be an Approved Tournament Towboat with valid insurance as required by USA-WSWS. The boat owner has the option to decline reimbursement and/or make other arrangements.

 

All payments from the LOC to the boat owner are reimbursement for costs incurred and not compensation for tax purposes. Reimbursement by the LOC to the boat owner is separate from any consideration a towboat owner may receive from a manufacturer.

 

The board asked the Risk Management Committee and our USA-WSWS general liability insurer if a boat owner receives reimbursement as outlined above could the boat owner’s insurance be adversely affected? Our USA-WSWS general liability insurer believes that the $25.00/hour reimbursement for expenses should not create an insurance coverage issue, however they suggested that you confirm with your insurer that any reimbursement for expenses will not affect your insurance coverage. Separately, we confirmed with Global Marine that the Geico Policy which specifically provides coverage for boats used in AWSA sanctioned events is not impacted if compensation or remuneration is provided to the boat owner if the policy incudes USA-WSWS as an additional insured.

 

As a reminder, every boat owner providing a towboat for use in an AWSA sanctioned event must have a valid insurance policy as described below.

 

Insurance Requirements (for motorized boats used during USA Water Ski & Wake Sports sanctioned events):

 

Each boat owner shall provide and maintain, at the boat owner’s expense, the following insurance for claims arising out of the use and operation of the owner’s boat in connection with a USA-WSWS sanctioned event:

 

(i) Watercraft Liability insurance with limits of not less than $500,000 each accident for bodily injury and property damage arising out of the use and operation of the boat. Said policy shall include the following parties as Additional Insureds: USA-WSWS, its sponsors, directors, employees, volunteers, members, clubs, associations, sport disciplines & divisions.

(***see Note 1 below regarding excess watercraft liability insurance benefit for boat owners through USA-WSWS***)

 

(ii) Watercraft Physical Damage insurance covering the boat, motor(s), trailer and any additional equipment (such as electronics) on an agreed value basis in the event of theft, loss or physical damage. The boat owner may elect to self-insure this exposure at the boat owner’s sole risk and expense. (***see Note 2 below***)

 

All such insurance required above shall be (1) primary to and non-contributory with any insurance maintained by USA-WSWS for losses arising out of use and operation of the boat in connection with a USA-WSWS sanctioned event; and (2) shall be written by insurance companies with ratings of “A” or better in the latest edition of the A.M. Best key rating guide.

 

Certificate of Insurance

Prior to use of any motorized boat in connection with a USA-WSWS sanctioned event, the boat’s owner must provide a Certificate of Insurance to the Club (or Local Organizing Committee) and USA-WSWS certifying that the appropriate insurance is in place and that the policy meets the insurance requirements as set forth above. Certificates should include the following:

 

Certificate Holder:

USA Water Ski & Wake Sports, Inc.

2701 Lake Myrtle Park Road

Auburndale, FL 33823-9360

 

Additional Insureds:

USA Water Ski & Wake Sports, Inc., its sponsors, directors, employees, volunteers, members, clubs, associations, sport disciplines & divisions.

 

The boat owner shall provide at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to USA-WSWS if any of the required coverage is cancelled or materially changed.

[gjohnson]

It’s time to abandon the family ski pricing model.

[RAWSki]

We had heard rumors of this but it wasn't official until recently. AFTER most clubs had sanctioned 2021 events and set their prices.

[LeonL]

Key word in the above notice is "recommended". Perhaps the LOC could negotiate with the boat owner based on loads of mitigating factors. While I know that promo guys have always faced a deficit when providing boats for tournaments, this may cause some small tournaments fold. I know that when we formerly held tournaments we barely broke even. With an additional $200 or so that would have put us solidly in the red. With a small club already running on the edge with regard to expenses this may just be another problem facing tournament skiing.

[unksskis]

Now we just need to manufacturers to actually offer promo boats to use to be reimbursed for. Instead, I'll ensure my insurance is proper, and look forward to volunteering my boat to put loads of hours on so that we can host tournaments.

[dbutcher]

Many years ago I remember that sometimes there would be 4 or 5 promo boats at local tournaments. Mine was usually one of them. At that time we skiers didn't realize how good we had it boat wise. Promo boat owners always got their gas refilled or paid for. If memory serves me (and it might not perfectly) for a few years I had the option of selling my promo boat or turning it back in to the regional warehouse or dealer when I picked up a new one. There was a significant initial deposit, but no more cost if I turned the boat in and got a new one at the end of the season. It was a good deal for promo boat owner/operators as well as tournament hosts. The manufacturer bore the loss in value. Of course, there were no wake boats then. Three event tournament style tow boats were the manufacturers' bread and butter. They needed promo boats to get their products before the boat buying public. That is not so today. I could be wrong, but I perceive that three event boats are more of a nuisance than a profit center for manufacturers today - at least some of them. That's why promo boats are so scarce. Who can blame the manufacturers? As to payment to boat owners who allow their personal boat to pull tournaments, it is a necessity. The personal boat owner is bearing the loss in value, wear and tear etc. from the tournament hours. So, we tournament entrants are going to have to pay larger entry fees. Why shouldn't we? The cost of all other life activities goes up every day. Tournament water skiing can not expect to be any different.

[liquid d]

It's a win-win. Boat owner gets to ski free or maybe get some money if needed. It's nothing but adding options for us.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@liquid d and Betty Lou can be a serious money maker for you!

[lpskier]

@liquid d @Bruce_Butterfield Betty Lou is NOT that kind of girl.

[RAWSki]

Would promo owners expect an "either or" scenario or want both free skiing and payment?

[MISkier]

@RAWSki, I believe they will want the comped entry, fuel reimbursement/refill of the boat, and the compensation payment. This is the guidance that MWSA is providing to our LOCs. Some are looking at the reimbursement payments as compensation for towing vehicle fuel expenses, boat insurance, and other dealer fees they may pay to take delivery of the boat. Apparently, past promo programs actually paid the drivers to take boats to events and their out-of-pocket expenses were very low or nothing. I've heard the current programs are actually expenditures for the drivers and more so if they have to haul the boat a long distance.

 

Of course, some drivers may waive the compensation for an LOC with whom they have a specific relationship, etc. This is where the two may work on agreement that the driver approves.

[LeonL]

Some of the (few that are left) promo guys may chime in for correction, but the last I heard was concerning Ski Nautique. Their promo plan was a annual lease with a hour limit. Go over the hours and it costs more. Old days you got a discounted price to buy the boat, credits toward the purchase of the next year boat for taking it to tournaments, and then sell it on your own, hopefully garnering enough so that the next boat came with very little additional out of pocket. Good ol' days. Just info to show where we were before coming to this current status.

[Jody_Seal]

@lpskier have you ever skied behind Betty lou.? Truly a good working girl! Her and I have a lot of history. Don't tell Mrs. Jody though she might get jealous.

[lpskier]

@Jody_Seal You bet. I’ve taken her for a spin around the block.

[gjohnson]

Pass the expense onto the tournament participants. Seems like a great idea. I’m sure this will increase membership... not.

[Horton]

@gjohnson Not saying it is happy days but do you have a better solution?

[unksskis]

@Horton it's a great idea and solution, just seems too late. This is a great initiative to preserve and reward the promo programs, but they're already gone. This may entice some to offer their personal boat more, but that won't last long. I don't know a good solution, we were fat, happy, and ignorant with the promo programs, and are now watching them walk away from us.

[skierjp]

We still have our Promo Team at Nautique!

[ALPJr]

Make sense to me. A few bucks more per skier entry fee seems fair and it shouldn’t be the end of the world for tournaments.

[RAWSki]

@skierjp how many promos do you have across the country?

I don't really have a problem with this either seems similar to paying a cart fee in golf,

it's harder on the small tournaments and the weeknight 'ski leagues' I think.

I just don't like how AWSA announced this in April when many of the 2021 tournaments had already been posted with prices announced. I do believe a lot of LOC's had prior knowledge so hopefully they budgeted accordingly.

[lakeaustinskier]

Given the lack manufacturer support I agree with paying the $25. We are living in different times.

 

Concerning the cost of tournaments.

Maybe this is a different thread but I'm curious if free food is served at tournaments for officials. I understand why this might be done (to entice people to be officials), however, it also seems like an unnecessary cost. What do other clubs do?

[Horton]

@skierjp how many boats nationally?

[skierjp]

@Horton at this time 19 official Promo Team Members.

[lpskier]

@lakeaustinskier So you’d prefer that your officials take the time to become an official and then maintain his or her rating so that they can go to a tournament and run it so that you can ski, and you don’t want to give them lunch? Don’t ask me to help run your tournament.

[Jody_Seal]

@lpskier

McCormick's had doughnuts this last weekend!

I had 4! Along with great big deli platters.

Great tournament. Thank you @skierjp for bringing that great driving Ski Nautique.

[skibug]

So....if you drag a boat 200 miles to a tournament and it gets used for 4 hours, you get $100. Is there mileage compensation too? Is there a "show up" fee or credit? IDK, seems like someone could get screwed.

[Horton]

@skibug that is for the boat on owner to negotiate.

[ski6jones]

I see this as recognition that the promo program ain't what it used to be and a suggestion that clubs should help offset some of the costs incurred by the boat owners. Is the amount enough? No. Could the club pay/do more? Absolutely. Do we want USAWS mandating in detail how it should be done? H-E-double toothpicks NO!!

[RAWSki]

I don't think any of us that were or are promo owners/drivers did this to make money.

(I do believe many years ago people were promo owners for the wrong reasons and abused the system/intent)

The promo people I know and respect do this for the love of the sport. I think the new compensation is completely reasonable because there is no compensation from the MFGs any longer, further compensation needs to be determined between the LOC and the drivers on a case by case basis.

[Jody_Seal]

Or better yet you drag your boat 200 miles and the chief driver deems your boat is not acceptable and keeps it on the trailer.

 

Many of you believe that just because a boat is qualified for competition that it is competent to actually be utilized.

Since the big cut back of promo boats or the fact that manufacturers have pulled back in this sport many of these boats being provided and utilized are not being set up for tournaments to the extent they did just a few seasons ago..

Those that write some of the rules, especially the new boat monitoring rules live in A bubble world of their own and really don't have any clue of some of the new boats that are being provided at tournaments that are poorly set up for competition.

I think the consistency of these new boats just is not there because manufacturers are just putting them out the door with really no evaluating as to its competency for utilization in tournaments.

 

It is good that we can now utilize older boats that have proven track records. Finally thinking about the handle end of the rope and not the pylon end.

 

[dave2ball]

Unfortunately the MFG’s have put 3 event skiing so far in the review mirror I believe that is the right thing to do to compensate the people who give there weekends up for the love of the sport. With fewer and fewer boat available that forces the promo person to drive further then normal. No more are the days of expected to be on site. Im not sure what the going rate is I’ve heard 25/hr. Between the extra truck fuel and insurance necessary to get these boats to tournaments it seems that 25.00 is a bit low. Not quite sure what would be fair. But 25/hr may not cut it as time goes by.

[Horton]

I believe $25 is the suggested minimum. I believe the dollar amount needs to be at least $50 per hour to cover depreciation. If the LOC charges $8 or $10 more per ride and gives it straight back to the boat owner that covers depreciation.

[gjohnson]

You want all the tournament participants to pay for the depreciation of an overpriced boat? Get out of here.

[dave2ball]

@gjohnson its pay to play. The free boat ride as far as promos go is over in most areas. If you feel that it wrong for the skiers to help off set the cost of having an up to date boat there for your benefit then by all means it is your right not to ski in the tournaments.

[gjohnson]

Yeah, that’s why tournament skiing is on it’s last leg.

[skierjp]

Lol, 3 event waterskiing is alive and well here in the South. Maybe gJohnson would like to offer his boat for tournament use! Most skiers do not understand the time and money it takes to be a Promo Boat Owner.

[skierjp]

I think it should have been a flat daily rate instead of hourly. I’m waiting for the LOC to use the the hourly rate against my hotel room and entry fee that I’m normally given.

[Horton]

@gjohnson okay factory support is dwindling so what is your solution?

[gjohnson]

So taxing all tournament entries will solve that? Except families, they get discount and don’t pay their fair share of the tax.

[Horton]

@gjohnson your solution?

[klindy]

@gjohnson you both hit it on the head. All the officials, home owners/site owners, and others who would have typically skied for free, either they still ski free and don’t pay anything or get a new “up charge” to compensate for the boat reimbursement. Note this is for ALL towboats and not just promo boats.

 

In the south I think we generally had/have a good system already. Surely somewhere someone will feel slighted but generally speaking sites had boats and they did they needed to do to entice people to offer their boat. This new mandate doesn’t completely take away options but it sets an expectation that will certainly disappoint someone on both sides of the equation.

 

The southern region voted against this policy change. Not because we felt that taking care of the boat owners wasn’t important but because we didn’t think we had a problem regionally. Here we frequently use dual boats in jump or multiple trick boats or even head to head events where the meter runs faster even tho you only have one skier on the water.

[Horton]

@klindy so you guys in the South do not vote for the general good of the sport or the needs of the entire association? Says a lot.

[Jody_Seal]

Here is how I look at it as a was quasi promo boat owner.

It is up to each LOC to decide how and what they want to do to obtain a boat for their competition.

Money, entry, fuel,insurance, tow costs, hotel or whatever should be between the LOC and that boat owner. If it gets reflected back into the entry fee again that is the LOC decision and if you as a skier do not want to participate then don't.

 

Here in the southern region yes it was voted not to accept the mandate. However the southern region did accept a regional decision to utilize sure path for all rel tournaments starting now.

Sites are scrambling to get it to be able to use the system so those cost are being reflected back into entrys.

 

I do see a near future time where a three event rel multi round entry will cost $400 or more.

 

 

 

[Jody_Seal]

Thought I would share this .

Here is a typical entry cost to go boat racing.

Yea and they are on public water with far more liability cost incurred then any awsa event.

 

[skierjp]

So in my situation I’m a Promo Boat owner also a Senior Driver and Senior Judge and my wife is a Senior Scorer. I typically get my entry and hotel given to me like any other invited official because we are invited officials. I just happen to have the boat also. I’m very curious on how LOCs will manage my compensation.

[Chad_Scott]

@skierjp I am in the same boat as you and have been fortunate to be a senior driver and most placed comp my entry and hotel for the event. I such case, I wouldn't ask or expect additional compensation. But that is not the case at all sites, I had one of our Malibu Promo guys who was asked to bring a boat to an event in the southern region. The guy traveled 3 hrs each way to get the boat too and from the tournament. The LOC wanted to charge him and entry and my understanding was that they told him he gets credit to bring the boat. The credits he is referrring to don't even cover the cost of fuel to get the boat to the event. Boats are more expensive and the guys that are willing to purchase and provide the boats should have a way of being compensated. Although most places I go to that was just the normal, it is not the case everywhere. This new policy in place actually protects the interest of the promo boat owner that is willing to continued to fork out the cost to stay in the program. My guess is most of the people in the southern region that voted against the policy are not promo boat owners and have not forked out the cash to provide the boats for the use of the organization. As a promo boat owner, I would prioritize the LOC that were appreciative for me providing the boat. Fortunately I have always been treated great by the places I usually take my boat.

[skierjp]

@Chad_Scott I totally agree. I have been treated awesome by most sites. Just wondering if some sites will try and do the math and leverage the amount of boat hours against a hotel and entry and pay the lower amount.

Funny thing is when looking for Promo guys it’s hard to find anyone. Not many understand what all is involved. On a 2 day tournament you could possibly use a vacation day on Friday and maybe Monday not to mention a number of hours cleaning the boat once you get home. So your probably not skiing on those days either.

What would suck is the promo guy that took the boat 3 hours to the event and they only put a couple hours on it and he drives back home with $50!

[dbutcher]

Keeping it simple is usually better. How about this: Give the tow boat provider $5 per pull that his/her boat tows (per pull, not per skier) plus free tournament entry for one skier. The comp'd entry fee is not cash out of pocket to the tournament sponsor. Travel and hotel, if any, can be negotiated as necessary. Many clubs can put up a promo operator in a member's home. Most personal boats used in tournaments will be local. Promo boat operators likely will have travel expense that SHOULD be considered, especially if the promo person would NOT have attended the tournament anyway. The hardest part of this plan is keeping track of the number of pulls for each boat. $5 per pull is not a magic number - it could be another number - but $5 seems reasonable for all. Efficiency and common sense can keep tournament costs reasonable for skiers, boat owners, and sponsors.

[Broussard]

@dbutcher Engine hours are a lot easier to track than pulls.

Keeping it simple is usually better

[dbutcher]

True, but number of pulls is arguably a more accurate measure of actual boat useage and wear and tear. A boat could pull 12 skiers in an hour. $25 per hour doesn't seem like enough for that. $5 per pull could result in $60 to the boat owner. No arguments about idling or shutting off the engine either. Nothing is perfect.