A protest enforces the rules when no penalty was taken afloat; redress repairs a score spoiled through no fault of yours.
1 · Protesting
Hail, flag, inform
How do I protest another boat during a race: what must I hail and show?
Hail "Protest", that very word, at the first reasonable opportunity; with a hull longer than 6 m, also show a red flag until you are no longer racing. One without the other, or both late, and the protest is invalid.
To protest under a Part 2 rule or rule 31 you must have been involved in the incident or seen it. Misconduct (rule 69) is reported, not protested.
Hail "Protest", that very word, at the first reasonable opportunity. With a hull longer than 6 m also show a red flag and keep it up until you are no longer racing. One without the other, or both a leg late, and the protest is invalid.
Out of hailing distance, a course not sailed, a breach learned of later: just inform her at the first reasonable opportunity.
Injury, serious damage or crew in danger: no hail or flag; try to inform her within the protest time limit.
A committee informs the boat after the race, within that limit, even by a notice on the board. The protest committee may protest over reported injury or serious damage; without either, its hearing is closed.
2 · The written protest
On paper, on time
What is the time limit for lodging a written protest after a race?
Unless the sailing instructions set another, the protest time limit is two hours after the last boat finishes. The protest must be in writing, identify the protestor, protestee and incident, and reach the race office in time.
A protest is in writing and identifies the protestor, the protestee and the incident; no rule need be named. It must reach the race office within the protest time limit: two hours after the last boat finishes, unless the sailing instructions set another.
4 stepsA valid protest
1 Hail "Protest" at once
2 Red flag if the hull is over 6 m
3 Write: who, against whom, what incident
4 Race office, within the time limit
The committee may extend the limit for good reason, such as helping a boat in trouble; for a breach learned of later, the two hours run from then.
3 · The hearing
Validity first, then the facts
What happens at a protest hearing, and who are the parties?
The parties are the protestor and the protestee, never the protest committee. The hearing first decides whether the protest is valid, then hears the parties and witnesses, finds the facts on the balance of probabilities and applies the rules.
The parties are the protestor and the protestee, never the protest committee. Each is told the time and place, may read the protest and gets time to prepare. For a Part 2 incident the representative must have been on board. If a notified party stays away, the hearing goes on without her.
Rule 63Order of a hearing
1 Is the protest valid? If not, closed
2 Evidence: the parties, then witnesses
3 Facts, on the balance of probabilities
4 Rules applied, decision announced
Witnesses are present only while giving evidence, and any party may question them. Hearsay is admissible; irrelevant or repetitive evidence may be refused. A member who saw the incident, or has a conflict of interest, says so. Decisions are by simple majority, the chairman having a casting vote; a written decision must be requested within seven days.
Only a party can be penalised: if the evidence points at a third boat, the committee protests her and hears both together. Protests about one incident may be heard together; withdrawing one needs the committee's consent.
4 · Decisions
What the committee can decide
Can I be disqualified in a protest I lodged myself?
Yes: the protestor is a party, and a boat found to have broken a rule is disqualified, whether or not the protest named that rule, unless she is exonerated or already took the right penalty.
A boat found to have broken a rule is disqualified, whether or not the protest named that rule, unless she is exonerated, another penalty applies or she already took the right one. The protestor is a party and can be the one penalised.
Finding
Outcome
Rule 2: a deliberate foul
DSQ, not excludable (DNE)
Breach while not racing
Penalty in the nearest race
[DP] rule, self-reported
Discretionary penalty, no hearing
An ordinary DSQ may be discarded. A support person may be warned or excluded, and his boat penalised if she may have gained. You owe a penalty whether or not anyone protests.
5 · Redress
When the fault was not yours
When can I ask for redress because the race committee made a mistake?
When an improper action or omission of the committee made your score significantly worse through no fault of yours: request redress in writing within the protest time limit or two hours after the incident, whichever is later.
Redress corrects a score made significantly worse, through no fault of your own, by a cause listed in rule 61.4(b). A dying breeze or your own gear failure is not on the list.
Ground
But not
A committee's improper action or omission
A hearing you were party to
Injury or damage by a boat penalised under Part 2, or by a vessel not racing that had to keep clear
Places lost without damage
Giving help (rule 1.1)
To your own crew
Another boat's act penalised under rule 2 or 69
—
Request it in writing, with the reason, within the protest time limit or two hours after the incident, whichever is later; against a decision posted on the last scheduled day, within 30 minutes. The race committee may request it for a boat, and simply corrects its own scoring errors. Redress is often the average of your other races (3, 5, 2, 4, 6 give 4.0); other boats keep their scores.
6 · Reopening, appeal, arbitration
If you disagree
Can I appeal a protest committee's decision, and to whom?
Yes, to the national authority: an appeal can challenge the decision or the procedure, never the facts found. An international jury's decisions cannot be appealed; for significant new evidence, ask in writing for a reopening.
Ask in writing for a reopening if the committee may have made a significant error or significant new evidence appears: within 24 hours of being informed of the decision, 30 minutes on the last scheduled day.
An appeal goes to the national authority: against the decision or the procedure, never the facts found. An international jury's decisions cannot be appealed, and a club cannot simply write "no appeal".
Appendix TArbitration
Only if the NoR or SI say so
One person per boat, who was on board
No witnesses
Opinion, then: penalty, withdrawal or hearing
Under Appendix T, where it applies, a boat may take a 30% Post-Race Penalty before the hearing begins, or after the arbitrator's opinion.
7 · Scoring
How the points add up
How does the Low Point System score a race series?
In the Low Point System your place is your score; a boat that did not start, did not finish, retired or was disqualified scores boats entered plus one.
In the Low Point System your place is your score. A boat that did not start, finish or sail the course (NSC), retired or was disqualified scores boats entered plus one. One boat finishing within the time limit is enough for a race to count.
Case
Result
Tie for 3rd on the finishing line
(3 + 4) ÷ 2 = 3.5 each
The boat in 2nd is disqualified
Boats behind move up a place
Flag Z, 34 boats, you finish 3rd
3 + 20% of 35 = 10
Two equal worst scores, one discard
The earlier race goes
Series ties: compare each boat's counting scores from best to worst (1-1-5-8 beats 1-2-6-6); if they match, the last race decides.
Practice questions
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
Valid?Ashore after the race
Red crossed Grey on port, first beat
You were two legs away, saw nothing
Grey's crew tells you at the bar
You want to protest Red
Wednesday evening club race on the lake. Ashore, Grey's crew tells you that Red crossed her on port far too close on the first beat; you were two legs away and saw nothing. You want to protest Red yourself. Can you?
No — for a Part 2 incident only a boat that was involved in it or saw it may protest; Grey herself can
Yes, but only as a joint protest signed by you and Grey together
Yes — any boat in the race may protest any other boat for any rule she hears about
Only if the race committee countersigns your protest form
Show the answer
A. No — for a Part 2 incident only a boat that was involved in it or saw it may protest; Grey herself can
Rule 60.4(a)(2): a boat's protest about a Part 2 or rule 31 breach is invalid unless she was involved in or saw the incident.
At the dock after a club race you tell the race officer loudly that Blue tacked right in front of you at the windward mark and that you protest her. Then you go home. Has a protest been made?
Yes — your hail on the water was already the protest; the dock conversation only confirmed it
No — only the race officer may write a protest form, and he did not
Yes — telling the race officer within the protest time limit is enough at club level
No — a protest must be in writing, identifying the protestor, the protestee and the incident, and be delivered to the race office within the time limit
Show the answer
D. No — a protest must be in writing, identifying the protestor, the protestee and the incident, and be delivered to the race office within the time limit
Rule 60.3(a)–(b): a protest is written, identifies protestor, protestee and incident, and is delivered to the race office within the protest time limit.
In a hearing between you and Red about a leeward-mark incident, the evidence shows that Green — outside, not protested, present as a witness — forced Red down onto you. Can the protest committee penalise Green in this hearing?
Yes, but only if you or Red amend your protest form to name Green
Yes — any boat shown by the evidence to have broken a rule can be penalised at once
Not in this hearing — it must close it, protest Green itself, then hear both protests together with Green as a party
No — a boat not named in the original protest can never be penalised for that incident
Show the answer
C. Not in this hearing — it must close it, protest Green itself, then hear both protests together with Green as a party
Rules 60.4(c)(2), 60.5(b) and 63.2(d): a boat is penalised only as a party; the PC protests her, closes the hearing and hears both protests together.
The sailing instructions forbid using the engine inside the race area. At 13:00, in the lunch break between race 2 (finished 12:00) and race 3 (started 14:30), Grey is seen motoring through the course. The protest committee finds a breach. To which race is her penalty applied?
Race 2 — a penalty for a breach when not racing is applied to the race sailed nearest in time to the incident
No race — a boat cannot be penalised for anything done when she is not racing
Race 3 — penalties always apply to the next race sailed
Both races 2 and 3
Show the answer
A. Race 2 — a penalty for a breach when not racing is applied to the race sailed nearest in time to the incident
Rule 60.5(c): if a boat broke a rule when not racing, her penalty applies to the race sailed nearest in time to the incident.
At the start the committee boat dragged its anchor downwind, swinging the line. At the signal you were behind the line as laid, but the race committee, sighting from its new position, scored you OCS. Do you have grounds for redress?
Yes, but only if at least two other boats were affected by the same error
No — a boat is always responsible for judging the starting line herself, whatever the committee boat does
Yes — an improper action or omission of the race committee that made your score significantly worse through no fault of your own
No — redress is available only for injury or physical damage, not for starting errors
Show the answer
C. Yes — an improper action or omission of the race committee that made your score significantly worse through no fault of your own
Rule 61.4(b)(1): redress for a score made significantly worse, through no fault of the boat, by an improper action or omission of a committee.
You lost a hearing at 18:00 on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning the fleet's tracking data is published and shows you were clearly outside the zone, contradicting the facts found. What can you do, and by when?
Nothing — once the facts are found they cannot be challenged in any way
Lodge a fresh protest against the same boat for the same incident
Request that the hearing be reopened on new significant evidence — in writing, within 24 hours of being informed of the decision
Appeal to the national authority on the facts within 24 hours
Show the answer
C. Request that the hearing be reopened on new significant evidence — in writing, within 24 hours of being informed of the decision
Rule 63.7(a)(3) and (b): a party requests a reopening in writing within 24 hours of being informed of the decision; new significant evidence is a ground.
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