SAISA is the South Atlantic conference of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and parts of Canada. SAISA encompasses Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Our member schools represent a diverse group of collegiate sailing programs, ranging from student-run club teams to varsity programs with full-time coaches. With great year-round sailing conditions and some of the top sailing venues in the country, SAISA hosts several regional and national championships each year.

This website contains information about SAISA for member schools, prospective sailors, colleges interested in starting sailing programs, and other visitors. If you have any questions about our site or conference, please visit our contacts page for the appropriate contact information.

The History of SAISA:

The first formal organizational meeting of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association was held April 25, 1964 at the  Citadel Yacht Club in Charleston, SC. The original meeting of the new conference included the eventual Charter Members, The Citadel, College of Charleston, Clemson University, Duke University, Old Dominion University, and The College of William and Mary. This meeting was the culmination of the efforts of Leonard Fowle, former Executive Vice President of the ICYRA/NA and ICSA Hall of Fame’s first member in 1969; Jack Taylor, UCLA ’56 and ICSA Hall of Fame inductee in 1973; Bruce Loring, URI ’55, former vice president of NEISA; and Ray Weir, Brown ’53, former commodore of the Brown University Yacht Club.

In the 1983 annual meeting, the ICYRA/NA approved a redistricting proposal by SAISA and SEISA which changed the geographical boundaries of the two conferences and MAISA. Virginia moved to MAISA, Florida was added to SAISA and the boundary line between SAISA and SEISA was established as the timeline through Alabama and Florida. SAISA reorganized as a conference at its annual meeting in January 1984. In 2000, the ICYRA/NA became the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA).