Racing Rules of Sailing

Section: Section A - Protests; Redress; Support Persons

A hearing request form and a hearing decision form are available on the World Sailing website at www.sailing.org/racingrules

The Racing Rules of Sailing does not require a particular hearing request form to be used.

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) When delivered, a protest shall be in writing and identify the protestor, the protestee, and the incident.
(b) A protest shall be delivered to the race office (or by such other method as stated in the sailing instructions) within the protest time limit unless the protest committee decides there is good reason to extend the time. The protest time limit is
- (1) for protests about an incident observed in the racing area, two hours after the last boat in the race finishes, or
- (2) for other protests, two hours after the relevant information is available to the protestor.
However, if the sailing instructions state a different protest time limit, then that time limit applies instead.

(a) A protest is invalid
- (1) if it does not comply with the definition Protest or rule 60.2 or 60.3,
- (2) if it is from a boat that alleges a breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31, but she was not involved in it or did not see the incident, or
- (3) as far as it alleges a breach of rule 69 or a Regulation referred to in rule 6, unless permitted by the Regulation concerned.
(b) A protest is invalid also if it is from a committee and is based on information from
- (1) a request for redress,
- (2) an invalid protest, or
- (3) a report from a person with a conflict of interest (other than a representative of the boat herself).
(c) However, rule 60.4(b) does not apply to a protest from
- (1) the protest committee if it learns of an incident involving a boat that may have resulted in injury or serious damage,
- (2) the protest committee if it learns during the hearing of a valid protest that the boat, although not a party to the hearing, was involved in the incident and may have broken a rule, or
- (3) the technical committee if it has first conducted an inspection and decided a boat or personal equipment does not comply with the class rules or rule 50.

(a) The protest committee shall conduct a hearing as required by rule 63 to decide a protest.
(b) A boat shall only be penalized
- (1) at a protest hearing to which she is a party,
- (2) under rule 62.4, 64 or 69, or
- (3) under a rule which expressly states that a penalty may be applied without a hearing.
(c) If the protest committee decides that a boat has broken a rule it shall disqualify her whether or not the applicable rule was mentioned in the protest. However, the boat shall not be disqualified if
- (1) she is exonerated or some other penalty applies,
- (2) the boat has already taken an applicable penalty, in which case she shall not be penalized further unless the penalty for a rule she broke is disqualification that is not excludable,
- (3) the race is restarted or resailed, in which case rule 36 applies, or
- (4) she broke a class rule and rule 60.5(d)(1) applies.
If a boat has broken a rule when not racing, her penalty shall apply to the race sailed nearest in time to the incident.
(d) If the protest committee decides that a boat has broken a class rule:
- (1) the boat shall not be penalized if any deviations in excess of tolerances specified in the class rules were caused by damage or normal wear and they did not improve the performance of the boat,
- (2) the boat shall not race again until any such deviations have been corrected unless the protest committee decides there is, or has been, no reasonable opportunity to do so,
- (3) any breach of the same rule in earlier races in the same event may have the same penalty imposed for all such races without further protest, and
- (4) the boat may compete in subsequent races without changes to the boat, but only if she states in writing that she intends to appeal. If she fails to appeal, or the appeal is not successful, she shall be disqualified without a hearing from all subsequent races in which she competed.

(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.

Upon receipt of a report from a boat or a committee, or based on its own observation or information from any source, including evidence taken during a hearing, the protest committee may call a hearing to consider whether a support person has broken a rule.

If the protest committee decides to call a hearing, it shall conduct a hearing as required by rule 63 and may appoint a person to present the allegations.

If the protest committee decides that a support person who is a party to the hearing has broken a rule, it may

(a) issue a warning,
(b) exclude the person from the event or venue or remove any privileges or benefits, or
(c) take other action within its jurisdiction as provided by the rules.

In addition, if the protest committee decides that

(a) a boat may have gained a competitive advantage as the result of the breach by the support person, or
(b) the support person committed a further breach after the protest committee warned a boat in writing, following a previous hearing, that a penalty may be imposed,

then the protest committee may also penalize a boat that is a party to the hearing for the breach of a rule by a support person by changing the boat’s score in a single race, up to and including disqualification.

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.

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

Section A - Protests; Redress; Support Persons

60: PROTESTS

61: REDRESS

62: SUPPORT PERSONS

60.1: Right to Protest

60.2: Intention to Protest

60.3: Delivering a Protest

60.4: Protest Validity

60.5: Protest Decisions

61.1: Requesting or Considering Redress

61.2: Requests for Redress

62.1:

62.2:

62.3:

62.4:

61.3: Invalid Requests

61.4: Redress Decisions