Part 5 - Protests, Redress, Hearings, Misconduct and Appeals

A boat or committee may protest a boat.

• (a) If a protest concerns an incident observed by the protestor in the racing area:

  • (1) If the protestor is a boat, she shall hail ‘Protest’ and, if her hull length is longer than 6 metres, conspicuously display a red flag, at the first reasonable opportunity for each. She shall display the flag until she is no longer racing.
  • (2) If the protestor is a committee, it shall inform the boat after the race within the protest time limit of its intention to protest her.

• (b) However, if

  • (1) the protestee is not within hailing distance at the time of the incident,
  • (2) the incident was an error in sailing the course,
  • (3) the incident was not observed by the protestor in the racing area, or
  • (4) a protest committee decides to protest a boat under rule 60.4(c),

  then the only requirement for the protestor is to inform the protestee of its intention to protest at the first reasonable opportunity.

• (c) If at the time of the incident it is obvious to a protesting boat that a member of either crew is in danger, or that injury or serious damage has resulted, rules 60.2(a) and 60.2(b) do not apply to her, but she shall attempt to inform the other boat within the protest time limit of her intention to protest.

• (d) A committee may inform a boat of its intention to protest by posting a notice on the official notice board.

• (a) All parties to a hearing shall be
  • (1) informed of the time and place of the hearing,
  • (2) given access to the protest, request for redress, or report to be considered at the hearing,
  • (3) allowed reasonable time to prepare for the hearing, and
  • (4) allowed to have a representative present throughout the hearing of the evidence but, in a protest involving a breach of a rule of Part 2, 3 or 4, representatives of boats shall have been on board at the time of the incident unless there is good reason for the protest committee to decide otherwise.
• (b) If a party does not come to a hearing, the protest committee may proceed with the hearing in their absence.

• (a) A competitor, boat owner or support person shall not commit an act of misconduct.
• (b) Misconduct is:
  • (1) conduct that is a breach of good manners, a breach of good sportsmanship, or unethical behaviour; or
  • (2) conduct that may bring, or has brought, the sport into disrepute.
• (c) An allegation of a breach of rule 69.1(a) shall be resolved in accordance with the provisions of rule 69. It shall not be grounds for a protest.

• (a) A protest committee acting under this rule shall have at least three members.

• (b) When a protest committee, from its own observation or from information received from any source, including evidence taken during a hearing, believes a person may have broken rule 69.1(a), it shall decide whether or not to call a hearing.

• (c) When the protest committee needs more information to make the decision to call a hearing, it shall consider appointing a person or persons to conduct an investigation. These investigators shall not be members of the protest committee that will decide the matter.

• (d) When an investigator is appointed, all relevant information gathered by the investigator, favourable or unfavourable, shall be disclosed to the protest committee, and if the protest committee decides to call a hearing, to the parties.

• (e) If the protest committee decides to call a hearing, it shall promptly inform the person in writing of the alleged breach and of the time and place of the hearing and follow the procedures in rule 63, except that:

  • (1) unless a person has been appointed by World Sailing, a person may be appointed by the protest committee to present the allegation.
  • (2) a person against whom an allegation has been made under this rule shall be entitled to attend the hearing with an advisor and a representative who may act on the person’s behalf.

• (f) If a party

  • (1) provides good reason for being unable to come to the hearing at the scheduled time, the protest committee shall reschedule it; or
  • (2) does not provide good reason and does not come to the hearing, the protest committee may conduct it without that party present.

• (g) The standard of proof to be applied is the test of the comfortable satisfaction of the protest committee, bearing in mind the seriousness of the alleged misconduct. However, if the standard of proof in this rule conflicts with the laws of a country, the national authority may, with the approval of World Sailing, change it with a prescription to this rule.

• (h) When the protest committee decides that a competitor or boat owner has broken rule 69.1(a), it may take one or more of the following actions

  • (1) issue a warning;
  • (2) change their boat’s score in one or more races, including disqualification(s) that may or may not be excluded from her series score;
  • (3) exclude the person from the event or venue or remove any privileges or benefits; and
  • (4) take any other action within its jurisdiction as provided by the rules.

• (i) When the protest committee decides that a support person has broken rule 69.1(a), rules 62.3 and 62.4 apply. (j) If the protest committee

  • (1) imposes a penalty greater than one DNE;
  • (2) excludes the person from the event or venue; or
  • (3) in any other case if it considers it appropriate,

  it shall report its findings, including the facts found, its conclusions and decision to the national authority of the person or, for major international events listed in the World Sailing Code of Ethics, to World Sailing. If the protest committee has acted under rule 69.2(f)(2), the report shall also include that fact and the reasons for it.

• (k) If the protest committee decides not to conduct the hearing without a party present, or if the protest committee has left the event and a report alleging a breach of rule 69.1(a) is received, the race committee or organizing authority may appoint the same or a new protest committee to proceed under this rule. If the protest committee decides it is impractical to conduct a hearing, it shall collect all available information and, if the allegation seems justified, make a report to the national authority of the person or, for major international events listed in the World Sailing Code of Ethics, to World Sailing.

Unless rule 70.3 applies, a party to a hearing has the right to appeal the protest committee’s decision or its procedures, but not the facts found, to the national authority. In addition, a party may appeal when the protest committee has failed to hold a hearing or to make a decision.

A protest committee may request confirmation or correction of its decision by the national authority.

There is no right to appeal decisions:

• (a) of an international jury properly constituted under Appendix N,
• (b) that are essential to promptly determine the result of a race that will qualify a boat to compete in a later stage of an event or a subsequent event (and the national authority may prescribe that its approval is required for the use of this rule),
• (c) made at an event open only to boats entered by
  • (1) an organization affiliated to the national authority, or a member of such an organization, or
  • (2) a personal member of the national authority, provided the national authority has granted its approval for the use of this rule, or
• (d) made at an event by a protest committee constituted as required by Appendix N, except that only two members of the protest committee need be International Judges, and provided that the national authority has granted its approval to the use of this rule after consultation with World Sailing.

However, (b), (c) and (d) shall only apply if specified in the notice of race or sailing instructions.

In rules 70 to 72, the national authority means the one to which the organizing authority is associated under rule 89.1. However, if boats will pass through the waters of more than one national authority while racing, an appeal or request shall be sent to the national authority where the finishing line is located, unless the sailing instructions identify another national authority.

Appeals and requests shall conform to Appendix R.

• (a) A boat may request redress.
• (b) The race committee or the technical committee may request redress for a boat.
• (c) The protest committee may call a hearing to consider redress for a boat.

• (a) A request for redress shall be in writing and identify the reason for making it.

• (b) A request shall be delivered to the race office (or by such other method as stated in the sailing instructions):

  • (1) if it is based on an incident in the racing area, within the protest time limit or two hours after the incident (whichever is later),
  • (2) if it is based on a protest committee decision on the last scheduled day of racing, no later than 30 minutes after the decision was posted, or
  • (3) for all other requests, as soon as reasonably possible after the relevant information is available.

  However, the protest committee shall extend the time if there is good reason to do so.

A request for redress is invalid if it does not comply with rule 61.2.

• (a) The protest committee shall conduct a hearing as required by rule 63 to decide whether to grant redress.
• (b) A boat is entitled to redress if her score or place in a race or series has been made, or may be made, significantly worse through no fault of her own by
  • (1) an improper action or improper omission of a committee or the organizing authority, but not by a protest committee decision when the boat was a party to the hearing,
  • (2) injury or physical damage because of the action of a boat that was breaking a rule of Part 2 and took an appropriate penalty or was penalized,
  • (3) injury or physical damage because of the action of a vessel not racing that was required to keep clear or is determined to be at fault under the IRPCAS or a government right-of-way rule,
  • (4) giving help (except to herself or her crew) in compliance with rule 1.1, or
  • (5) an action of another boat, or a crew member or support person of that boat, that resulted in a penalty under rule 2 or a penalty or warning under rule 69.
• (c) If a boat is entitled to redress, the protest committee shall make as fair an arrangement as possible for all boats affected, whether or not they asked for redress. This may be to adjust the scoring (see rule A9 for examples) or finishing times of boats, to abandon the race, to let the results stand or to make some other arrangement.
• (d) If there is doubt about the facts or probable results of any arrangement for the race or series, especially before abandoning the race, the protest committee shall take evidence from appropriate sources.