• A keen volunteer with a conflict of interest
  22 Comments
  Benjamin Harding Today 11:09
• Should "Basic Principles" be added to RRS 4 & 5?
  6 Comments
  Angelo Guarino Yesterday 13:40
• Judges walking the Dock
  12 Comments
  Robert Stewart Yesterday 04:13
• Language language language
  19 Comments
  Michael Moradzadeh Sat 06:09
• Why is the "red flag" needed?
  43 Comments
  Angelo Guarino Fri 21:38

• A keen volunteer with a conflict of interest
  The "facts" state that was a hot day and that the life jacket was removed a few hundred meters away..  How far away is this?  Is this sailor the only one who removed their PFD early.  How many races were sailed that day before returning to shore?  What is maximum penalty  possible?  What is the level of the regatta and the ages of the competitors?  All of these pieces of information are missing.
  
  These decisions are not cut and dry.  There are huge grey areas.
  
  If filing a protest is the only means to bring this situation to the PRO and RC's attention, such is a reasonable course of action.
  
  Let's assume it is a U10 opti sailor who has been on the water for 5+ hours having sailed 5 races.  What would be an appropriate handling of the situation?  In the cases that I could envision, we would chat with the youngster and his coach, remind them of the importance of PFD's and staying safe.  If this was the first day of a regatta, we would make sure to emphasize that PFD's must be worn at all times when on the water including on floats and walkways.
  
  What are the possible penalties for a competitor?
  Robert Thomas Today 19:27
• Language language language
  Samuel Clemens: "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between "lightning" and "lightning-bug."
  Joseph Owens Today 17:55
• Should "Basic Principles" be added to RRS 4 & 5?
  PS: Let's not forget that the BP's also include Environmental principles along with Sportsmanship .. so for the environment (along with Sportsmanship), it would be nice to have everyone "agree to accept" them both as principles.
  Angelo Guarino Today 16:30
• Why is the "red flag" needed?
  Its something tbat puzzles me. How did notification of an intent to protest, basically, in my opinion, a secondary concept that doesn't affect how boats manouver and avoid each other, come to be this sacred cow of a rule that overides the basic principle and natural justice? Go back far enough and it wasn't even considered necessary.
  Jim Champ Today 09:15
• Judges walking the Dock
  From a game theoretic point of view, this is not strange at all. We have ended up in an equilibrium where all the sailors use a trigger strategy. This means that they don't protest unless the infringer has protested them earlier. This is, if all the other sailors also use this strategy, individually rational for every sailor. There doesn't need to be any explicit agreement on this, it can emerge naturally. Of course I'm not saying this is good, neither am I telling the sailors who I coach to use this strategy, but that's how it is. I think the most important is to have the RC protest every single contact with a mark, if no penalty is taken, and a proper rule 42 enforcement from the judges.
  Jaakko Haataja Yesterday 18:07

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