You'll find active events listed on the home page under File a Protest. You can also click on the Protest Form on the Home Page...
How to File a New Protest
You can file a protest electronically for any event that is using the RRS.org jury management system. Note that you do not need to be signed in to RRS.org to create a protest. However, if you sign in, your protest will be avialable on your protest page.
Or you can click on File a Protest on the Protest Decisions page (or any other public page) of your event.
When you start a new Protest, you'll see this form.
- Fill in the date of the incident [not necessarily today's date]. This important.
- Fill in the Race Number. Get this right. It's important.
- Then select as many of the Hearing Types as apply. Most commonly, you'll want to select both Protest and Request for Redress if you are seeking redress.
Fill in your information. Make sure that you enter the email address and phone number where you want to receive notices concerning the protest. Email is automatically sent, but make sure you check the SMS? checkbox if you want to receive text messages at the phone number.
Fill in the information about who you are protesting. If you are seeking redress from the Race Committee or Protest Committee, just check the checkbox and leave the rest blank. Make sure that you enter the email address and phone number of the boat you are protesting if you know it. This information helps greatly as the protestee is immediately notified of the protest and a hearing can be scheduled much more quickly.
- Fill in the the time and place of the incident. Be specific. The protested boat must be able to understand where and when this incident happened just based on the information in this answer. Best response is to put the date, time, race number, leg of the race and location on the leg. Pro Tip! If you fail to get the proper time and place on the form before the hearing starts, the protest is invalid. You must have this right before the hearing starts.
- Identify the rule[s] you believe were broken. A best guess is good enough. The jury is not limited by what you write here and will decide what rules they believe were broken (or not).
- Identify any witnesses you intend to call at the hearing. This is optional. You can always call (most) any witness you want during the hearing, but you must have your witness ready. You won't be allowed to run around and try to find them during the hearing.
Indicate how you notified the protestee you intended to protest.
- Did you hail? If so, what did you say?
- Did you display a red flag?
- Did you inform the party in some other fashion?
Describe the incident. Keep it concise. "I was on a starboard approaching the windward mark, he was on port. He tacked in front of me and we collided. I injured my thumb and had to retire." Just write enough to get a general idea what happened. You'll get a chance to fully describe the incident during the hearing. Pro Tip! Be sure to indicate if there was contact, damage and/or injury in this description. The jury deals with the protest differently depending on these facts.
Attach a diagram of the incident. [Optional] Draw the inident on a piece of paper and take a photo, than attach that photo to the protest. Or attach photos of damage. Or attach other documents, like tracking data, results or whatever you think will help your case. You must of course bring those documents to the hearing, but the jury will already have reviewed any thing you have attached prior to the hearing, which will make the hearing shorter.
When ready, click Create Protest. Your protest will be checked for errors, and if ready, submitted.
If your protest is ready to be submitted, you will see this warning. You cannot withdraw a protest that is electronically submitted during an event without the permission of the jury or protest committee. If you don't see this warning, it is not being submitted electronically and you must submit it via email.
After saving your protest, you will be forwarded to your My Protests page if you are signed in. You can edit your protest (up until the time the hearing starts) or print the protest to a pdf for purposes of emailing to your protest committee.