The UFO D-Tour
The D stands for Distance! A UFO D-Tour competition is a long-distance throwing competition, of course with the dog catching at the end. At all levels, unless explicitly allowed otherwise, men and women compete in separate divisions.
The DTour is sometimes contested at the UFO Finals, where men's and wemon's pro divisions will be run as qualifying events. The top 3 teams from each division,
A D-Tour competition will always have the "Classic Distance" event, but might be comprised of up to 3 different events. The final format is left to the competition host. They may choose to run 1, 2 or all 3 of the events, which are listed below.
Each D-Tour event utilizes the same start and catch marking procedure:
The Start is what is known as a "free start". This means that the dog can leave the line and start running down the field before the throw is released. It is important that the dog is in motion down the field when the throw is released. If the dog stops or comes back before the throw is released, and subsequently a throw is made, then that attempt is considered a miss. Any throw made where the thrower steps on or across the line during the throw will be called a miss. AFTER the throw leaves the thrower's hand, they may follow through or step across the line.
A Handler may call off a throw by simply calling the dog back to the throwing line. The dog must return all the way behind the throwing line, and the thrower should make it clear to the foot fault judge that they are calling the throw off.
The mark is made where the front feet of the dog touch the ground during the catch, or where the front feet touch upon landing if the catch is made "mid-air".
Here are the D-Tour event explanations:
This is event is simple and to the point. Which handler can make the longest throw to their dog.
Divisions: The DTour event must have a Men's Pro Division and and Women's Pro division. These are the divisions that qualify for the UFO Finals. The event host may choose to run additional, "lower" divisions at their discretion.
Format: Each team takes the field by themselves. They get 3 throws. each throw is marked after the catch. If the field is lined with yard marks or hashes, an approximate distance can be communicated to the announcer who will state it over the PA. When the team is done and leaving the field, the judging crew brings a measuring tape out and measures all marks for catches, and records these. All catches are measured and recorded for tie-breaking purposes.
DTour events will have 2 rounds. At DTour Qualifiers, there is a cut. In the final round, each team takes 3 more throws.
At Qualifiers, the longest single catch in the second round is the winner. 2nd longest is second, and so forth.
At the DTour Championship, there is no cut; all teams will do 2 rounds. The longest single catch from both rounds is the winner. 2nd longest is second, and so forth.
The Cut-who makes the Cut - After all Throwers in the division have made 3 throws, the 5 teams with the longest catches will return for a final round.
In the event that a handler has more than 1 dog that is going to make the cut to the top 5, one additional spot will be opened in the final round for the next longest catch (the 6th longest). For example:
In the Preliminary round, Jane has the longest catch with 1 dog, and the second longest catch with another dog. This gives her 2 dogs in the final round. In this situation, the team currently with the 6th longest catch will also be in the cut. This logic is applied until there are 5 human handlers in the final round.
This ONLY applies to the CUT. It does NOT AFFECT the top 3 final placements. It does NOT AFFECT which teams qualify for the DTour. There are no roll-down spots.
Qualifications-who qualifies: The top 3 teams in Men's Pro and top 3 teams in Women's Pro divisions Qualify for the Finals, where they will compete for the Championship. Teams that have already qualified for the finals may not compete in the "Last Chance", or "Final Qualifier" event at the finals.
In the event of a tie in the top 3 that must be broken at the event (via the tie-breaker criteria below), any team that is involved in a tie for the top 3 spots will earn a qualification. The tie-breaker is only for the Awards and the final rank at that event.
Awards: Top 3 in the division.
Tie-Breaker: The tie breaker for any award is the longest catch in the first round. Then the second longest in the final round, then the third longest catch in the final round. In the event that teams are still tied, a sudden-elimination "throw off" will be held where each team gets 1 throw, with the longest catch winning/advancing.
Judging: The Classic Distance event requires a minimum of 2 spotters in the field to mark the catch. A 3rd "safety" spotter is recommended, if there is enough staff. The Safety positions themselves 20 meters past the primary spotters to catch any "big arm" throws that catch the primary spotters by surprise. A foot fault judge, recording judge and announcer are also required. The Recording judge writes down each measured distance (and notates misses) for each team on the field. The recording judge may be a spotter as long as they don't lose their clipboard chasing a throw!