1. 2021-2024
  2. Fleet
  3. Rx: None
Section A
PROTESTS, REDRESS, RULE 69 ACTION
60. RIGHT TO PROTEST; RIGHT TO REQUEST REDRESS OR RULE 69 ACTION
60.1.
A boat may 
  1. protest another boat, but not for an alleged breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31 unless she was involved in or saw the incident;
  2. request redress
  3. report to the protest committee requesting action under rule 60.3(d) or 69.2(b).
60.2.
A race committee may
  1. protest a boat, but not as a result of information arising from a request for redress or an invalid protest, or from a report from a person with a conflict of interest other than the representative of the boat herself;
  2. request redress for a boat; or
  3. report to the protest committee requesting action under rule 60.3(d) or  69.2(b).
60.3.
A protest committee may 
  1. protest a boat, but not as a result of information arising from a request for redress or an invalid protest, or from a report from a person with a conflict of interest other than the representative of the boat herself. However, it may protest a boat 
    1. if it learns of an incident involving her that may have resulted in injury or serious damage, or
    2. if during the hearing of a valid protest it learns that the boat, although not a party to the hearing, was involved in the incident and may have broken a rule;
  2. call a hearing to consider redress;
  3. act under rule 69.2(b); or
  4. call a hearing to consider whether a support person has broken a rule, based on its own observation or information received from any source, including evidence taken during a hearing.
60.4.
A technical committee may
  1. protest a boat, but not as a result of information arising from a request for redress or an invalid protest, or from a report from a person with a conflict of interest other than the representative of the boat herself. However, it shall protest a boat if it decides that a boat or personal equipment does not comply with the class rules or with rule 50.
  2. request redress for a boat; or
  3. report to the protest committee requesting action under rule 60.3(d) or 69.2(b). 
60.5.
However, neither a boat nor a committee may protest for an alleged breach of rule 69 or a Regulation referred to in rule 6, unless permitted by the Regulation concerned.
61. PROTEST REQUIREMENTS
61.1. Informing the Protestee
a. The protesting boat shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity. When her protest will concern an incident in the racing area she shall hail ‘Protest’ and conspicuously display a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity for each. She shall display the flag until she is no longer racing.  However, 
    1. if the other boat is beyond hailing distance, the protesting boat need not hail but she shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity;
    2. if the hull length of the protesting boat is less than 6 metres, she need not display a red flag;
    3. if the incident was an error by the other boat in sailing the course, she need not hail or display a red flag but she shall inform the other boat either before or at the first reasonable opportunity after the other boat finishes;
    4. if at the time of the incident it is obvious to the protesting boat that a member of either crew is in danger, or that injury or serious damage resulted, the requirements of this rule do not apply to her, but she shall attempt to inform the other boat within the time limit of rule 61.3.
b. If the race committee, technical committee or protest committee intends to protest a boat concerning an incident the committee observed in the racing area, it shall inform her after the race within the time limit of rule 61.3. In other cases the committee shall inform the boat of its intention to protest as soon as reasonably possible. A notice posted on the official notice board within the appropriate time limit satisfies this requirement.
c. If the protest committee decides to protest a boat under rule 60.3(a)(2), it shall inform her as soon as reasonably possible, close the current hearing, proceed as required by rules 61.2 and 63, and hear the original and the new protests together.
61.2. Protest Contents
A protest shall be in writing and identify
  1. the protestor and protestee;
  2. the incident;
  3. where and when the incident occurred;
  4. any rule the protestor believes was broken; and
  5. the name of the protestor's representative.
However, if requirement (b) is met, requirement (a) may be met at any time before the hearing, and requirements (d) and (e) may be met before or during the hearing. Requirement (c) may also be met before or during the hearing, provided the protestee is allowed reasonable time to prepare for the hearing.  
61.3. Protest Time Limit
A protest by a boat, or by the race committee, technical committee or protest committee about an incident observed in the racing area, shall be delivered to the race office within the time limit stated in the sailing instructions. If none is stated, the time limit is two hours after the last boat in the race finishes. Other protests shall be delivered to the race office no later than two hours after the protestor receives the relevant information. The protest committee shall extend the time if there is good reason to do so. 
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62. REDRESS
 
62.1.
A request for redress or a protest committee’s decision to consider redress shall be based on a claim or possibility that a boat’s score or place in a race or series has been or may be, through no fault of her own, made significantly worse by
  1. an improper action or omission of the race committee, protest committee, organizing authority, equipment inspection committee or measurement committee for the event, 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 or 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;
  3. giving help (except to herself or her crew) in compliance with rule 1.1; or
  4. 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.
62.2.
A request shall be in writing and identify the reason for making it. If the request is based on an incident in the racing area, it shall be delivered to the race office within the protest time limit or two hours after the incident, whichever is later. Other requests shall be delivered as soon as reasonably possible after learning of the reasons for making the request. The protest committee shall extend the time if there is good reason to do so. No red flag is required. 
  1. However, on the last scheduled day of racing a request for redress based on a protest committee decision shall be delivered no later than 30 minutes after the decision was posted.
Section B
HEARINGS AND DECISIONS
63. HEARINGS
63.1. Requirement for a Hearing
A boat or competitor shall not be penalized without a protest hearing, except as provided in rules 30.2, 30.3, 30.4, 64.4(d), 64.5(b), 64.6, 69, 78.2, A5.1 and P2. A decision on redress shall not be made without a hearing. The protest committee shall hear all protests and requests for redress that have been delivered to the race office unless it allows a protest or request to be withdrawn. 

63.2. Time and Place of the Hearing; Time for Parties to Prepare
All parties to the hearing shall be notified of the time and place of the hearing, the protest or redress information or the allegations shall be made available to them, and they shall be allowed reasonable time to prepare for the hearing.  When two or more hearings arise from the same incident, or from very closely connected incidents, they may be heard together in one hearing. However, a hearing conducted under rule 69 shall not be combined with any other type of hearing.
 
 
63.3. Right to Be Present
  1. A representative of each party to the hearing has the right to be present throughout the hearing of all the evidence. When a protest claims a breach of a rule of Part 2, 3 or 4, the representatives of boats shall have been on board at the time of the incident, unless there is good reason for the protest committee to rule otherwise. Any witness, other than a member of the protest committee, shall be excluded except when giving evidence.
  2. If a party to a hearing does not come to the hearing, the protest committee may nevertheless proceed with the hearing.. If the party was unavoidably absent, the committee may reopen the hearing.
63.4. Conflict of Interest
  1. A protest committee member shall declare any possible conflict of interest as soon as he is aware of it. A party to the hearing who believes a member of the protest committee has a conflict of interest shall object as soon as possible. A conflict of interest declared by a protest committee member shall be included in the written information provided under rule 65.2. 
  2. A member of a protest committee with a conflict of interest shall not be a member of the committee for the hearing, unless 
    1. all parties consent, or
    2. the protest committee decides that the conflict of interest is not significant.
  3. When deciding whether a conflict of interest is significant, the protest committee shall consider the views of the parties, the level of the conflict, the level of the event, the importance to each party, and the overall perception of fairness. 
  4. However, for World Sailing major events, or for other events as prescribed by the national authority of the venue, rule 63.4(b) does not apply and a person who has a conflict of interest shall not be a member of the protest committee.
 
 
63.5. Validity of the Protest or Request for Redress
At the beginning of the hearing the protest committee shall take any evidence it considers necessary to decide whether all requirements for the protest or request for redress have been met. If they have been met, the protest or request is valid and the hearing shall be continued. If not, the committee shall declare the protest or request invalid and close the hearing. If the protest has been made under rule 60.3(a)(1), the committee shall also determine whether or not injury or serious damage resulted from the incident in question. If not, the hearing shall be closed. 
63.6. Taking Evidence and Finding Facts
  1. The protest committee shall take the evidence, including hearsay evidence, of the parties present at the hearing and of their witnesses and other evidence it considers necessary.  However, the committee may exclude evidence which it considers to be irrelevant or unduly repetitive.
  2. A member of the protest committee who saw the incident shall, while the parties are present, state that fact and may give evidence. 
  3. A party present at the hearing may question any person who gives evidence. 
  4. The committee shall then give the weight it considers appropriate to the evidence presented, find the facts and base its decision on them. 

63.7. Conflict Between Rules
If there is a conflict between two or more rules that must be resolved before the protest committee makes a decision, the committee shall apply the rule that it believes will provide the fairest result for all boats affected. Rule 63.7 applies only if the conflict is between rules in the notice of race, the sailing instructions, or any of the other documents that govern the event under item (g) of the definition Rule.
63.8. Hearings Involving Parties in Different Events
A hearing involving parties in different events conducted by different organizing authorities shall be heard by a protest committee acceptable to those authorities.
63.9. Hearings under Rule 60.3(d) – Support Persons
If the protest committee decides to call a hearing under rule 60.3(d), it shall promptly follow the procedures in rules 63.2, 63.3, 63.4 and 63.6, except that the information given to the parties shall be details of the alleged breach and a person may be appointed by the protest committee to present the allegation.
64. DECISIONS
64.1. Standard of Proof, Majority Decisions and Reclassifying Requests
  1. A protest committee shall make its decision based on a balance of probabilities, unless provided for otherwise in the rule alleged to have been broken.
  2. Decisions of the protest committee shall be by simple majority vote of all members. When there is equal division of votes cast, the chairman may cast an additional vote.
  3. The protest committee shall proceed with each case, as a protest, request for redress or other type of request, based on the information in the written request or allegation and testimony during the hearing. This permits the type of case to be changed if appropriate.
64.2. Penalties
When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to a protest hearing has broken a rule and is not exonerated, it shall disqualify her unless some other penalty applies. A penalty shall be imposed whether or not the applicable rule was mentioned in the protest. If a boat has broken a rule when not racing, her penalty shall apply to the race sailed nearest in time to that of the incident. However,
  1. if a boat has taken an applicable penalty, she shall not be further penalized under this rule unless the penalty for a rule she broke is a disqualification that is not excludable from her series score.
  2. if the race is restarted or resailed, rule 36 applies.
 
64.3. Decisions on Redress
When the protest committee decides that a boat is entitled to redress under rule 62, it 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 some examples) or finishing times of boats, to abandon the race, to let the results stand or to make some other arrangement. When in 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.

 
64.4. Decisions on Protests Concerning Class Rules
  1. When the protest committee finds that deviations in excess of tolerances specified in the class rules were caused by damage or normal wear and do not improve the performance of the boat, it shall not penalize her. However, the boat shall not race again until the deviations have been corrected, except when the protest committee decides there is or has been no reasonable opportunity to do so.
  2. When the protest committee is in doubt about the meaning of a class rule, it shall refer its questions, together with the relevant facts, to an authority responsible for interpreting the rule. In making its decision, the committee shall be bound by the reply of the authority.
  3. When a boat is penalized under a class rule and the protest committee decides that the boat also broke the same rule in earlier races in the same event, the penalty may be imposed for all such races. No further protest is necessary.
  4. When a boat penalized under a class rule states in writing that she intends to appeal, she may compete in subsequent races without changes to the boat. However, if she fails to appeal or the appeal is decided against her, she shall be disqualified without a further hearing from all subsequent races in which she competed.
  5. Measurement costs arising from a protest involving a class rule shall be paid by the unsuccessful party unless the protest committee decides otherwise.  
64.5. Decisions Concerning Support Persons
  1. When the protest committee decides that a support person who is a party to a hearing under rule 60.3(d) or 69 has broken a rule, it may 
    1. issue a warning,
    2. exclude the person from the event or venue or remove any privileges or benefits, or
    3. take other action within its jurisdiction as provided by the rules.
  2. (b) The protest committee may also penalize a boat that is a party to a hearing under 60.3(d) or 69 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, when the protest committee decides that 
    1. the boat may have gained a competitive advantage as the result of the breach by the support person, or
    2. the support person committed a further breach after the protest committee warned the boat in writing, following a previous hearing, that a penalty may be imposed.
64.6. Discretionary Penalties
When a boat reports within the protest time limit that she has broken a rule subject to a discretionary penalty, the protest committee shall decide the appropriate penalty after taking evidence from the boat and any witnesses it decides are appropriate.
65. INFORMING THE PARTIES AND OTHERS
65.1.
After making its decision, the protest committee shall promptly inform the parties to the hearing of the facts found, the applicable rules, the decision, the reasons for it, and any penalties imposed or redress given.
65.2.
A party to the hearing is entitled to receive the above information in writing, provided she asks for it in writing from the protest committee no later than seven days after being informed of the decision. The committee shall then promptly provide the information, including, when relevant, a diagram of the incident prepared or endorsed by the committee.
65.3.
Unless there is good reason not to do so, after any hearing, including a hearing under rule 69, the protest committee may publish the information set out in rule 65.1. The protest committee may direct that the information is to be confidential to the parties.
65.4.
When the protest committee penalizes a boat under a class rule, it shall send the above information to the relevant class rule authorities.
66. REOPENING A HEARING
66.1.
The protest committee may reopen a hearing when it decides that it may have made a significant error, or when significant new evidence becomes available within a reasonable time. It shall reopen a hearing when required by the national authority under rule 71.2 or R5. 
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66.2.
A party to the hearing may request a reopening in writing no later than 24 hours after being informed of the decision. 
  1. However, on the last scheduled day of racing the request shall be delivered 
    1. within the protest time limit if the requesting party was informed of the decision on the previous day;
    2. no later than 30 minutes after the party was informed of the decision on that day. 
66.3.
The protest committee shall consider all requests to reopen. When a request to reopen is being considered or the hearing is reopened,
  1. when based only on new evidence, a majority of the members of the protest committee shall, if practicable, be members of the original committee;
  2. when based on a significant error, the protest committee shall, if practicable, have at least one new member.
67. DAMAGES
The question of damages arising from a breach of any rule shall be governed by the prescriptions, if any, of the national authority.
68.
There is no rule 68.
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