The Racing Rules of Sailing
Rule 60.4 (a) 2 Can a competitor protest another competitor for "touching a mark"
As we draft an NOR for an event, we have noticed that Rule 60.4 (a) 2 states that :
A protest is invalid
(2) if it is from a boat that alleges a breach of .... rule 31, but she was not involved in it "or" did not see the incident,
If Boat A hits a mark and Boat C was not in any way involved in causing Boat A to touch the mark , nor hindered by Boat A touching the mark, but clearly sees the incident. If Boat C protests Boat A, is that protest valid or invalid?
A protest is invalid
(2) if it is from a boat that alleges a breach of .... rule 31, but she was not involved in it "or" did not see the incident,
If Boat A hits a mark and Boat C was not in any way involved in causing Boat A to touch the mark , nor hindered by Boat A touching the mark, but clearly sees the incident. If Boat C protests Boat A, is that protest valid or invalid?
Created: Today 15:22
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(...) rules that they are expected to follow and enforce.
The way of enforcing for a boat is to protest a boat that breaks a rule and does not take the appropriate penalty.
I understand it, in your case, not as an opportunity but an obligation.
Even if I know that most breaches at not protested nor a penalty is taken.
Loïc
"A boat may
The Draft rules for 2029 state:
A protest is invalid
According to Angelo, US Sailing recommends including an NOR:
The outcome of all three is the same. A boat may only protest another boat if it was involved in the incident or saw the incident. But the current rules (without the amendment in the NOR) require that a boat is involved in the incident. So I guess my question now is "Why has World Sailing not published a correction to the 2024-2028 Rules?"
The last set of corrections were effective from 20 April 2026, and this error must have been known about for some time....as it is fundamental to finding whether a protest is valid or not. We cannot rely on OAs spotting this. I recently sailed in a Championship and looking at the NOR, it did not have this amendment in the NOR.
That is a mystery and extremely frustrating. This problem was ID'd and communicated BEFORE the final rules were published for the current quad (still with time to correct) .. and reiterated in time for a correction in 2026.
I wish someone would give us an idea why it wasn't corrected.
I would like US Sailing to fix it in the US with a Prescription...
Meanwhile, as Angelo has said, US Sailing's rules committee has provided an NOR that we should be including, to wit:
NOR 1.# Rule 60.4 (a) (2) is changed as follows: “(2) if it alleges a breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31 and is from a boat that was not involved in, and did not see, the incident, or”
I would add that the first two commas in that sentence are unnecessary and create dependent clauses that are also confusing, but it's an improvement. When I write NORs, I use it (and frequently "forget" to add those commas), and I'm undecided about whether to stop if and when the case is published.
A protest is invalid
I shall use that wording going forward in international event NORs BUT why in heck have WS not published a correction so that all events and all judges at all events are on the same playing field?
Because you know with a degree of certainty that a rule 31 protest will come up before the end of 2028 and a wise guy is going to request that the protest is invalid.
I noticed the amendment is not in the Viper North American Championship NOR, so I sent this email:
Hello Tom,
(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