1. 2025-2028
  2. Fleet
  3. Rx: None
Section A
PROTESTS, REDRESS, RULE 69 ACTION
60. PROTESTS
60.1.
A boat or committee may protest a boat.
60.2. Intention to Protest
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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, rules60.2(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.
  4. A committee may inform a boat of its intention to protest by posting a notice on the official notice board.
60.3. Delivering a Protest
  1. When delivered, a protest shall be in writing and identify the protestor, the protestee, and the incident.
  2. 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.
60.4. Protest Validity
  1. 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.
  2. A protestis 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).
  3. 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.
60.5. Protest Decisions
  1. The protest committee shall conduct a hearing as required by rule 63 to decide a protest.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
61. REDRESS
61.1. Requesting or Considering Redress
  1. A boat may request redress.
  2. The race committee or the technical committee may request redress for a boat.
  3. The protest committee may call a hearing to consider redress for a boat.
61.2. Requests for Redress
  1. A request for redress shall be in writing and identify the reason for making it.
    1. A request shall be delivered to the race office (or by such other method as stated in the sailing instructions):
    2. 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),
    3. 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
    4. 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.
61.3. Invalid Requests
A request for redress is invalid if it does not comply with rule 61.2.
61.4. Redress Decisions
  1. The protest committee shall conduct a hearing as required by rule 63 to decide whether to grant redress.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
62. SUPPORT PERSONS
62.1.
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.
62.2.
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.
62.3.
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.
62.4.
In addition, if the protest committee decides that
  1. a 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 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.
Section B
HEARINGS AND ,MAKING DECISIONS
Rule 63 applies to all hearings conducted by the protest committee.
63. CONDUCT OF HEARINGS
   
63.1. Rights of Parties
(a)  All parties to a hearing shall be
  (1) informed of the time and place of the hearing,
  (2) given access to the protest, request for redress, or report to be considered at the hearing,
  (3) allowed reasonable time to prepare for the hearing, and
  (4) allowed to have a representative present throughout the hearing of the evidence but, in a protest involving a breach of a rule of Part 2, 3 or 4, representatives of boats shall have been on board at the time of the incident unless there is good reason for the protest committee to decide otherwise
(b)  If a party does not come to a hearing, the protest committee may proceed with the hearing in their absence.
63.2. Time and Place of the Hearing; Time for Parties to Prepare
(a) The protest committee shall hear each protest or request delivered unless it allows it to be withdrawn.
(b) The protest committee may combine hearings which arise from the same or very closely connected incidents into one hearing. However, a hearing under rule 69 shall not be combined with any other type of hearing.
(c) If the validity requirements are met, the protest committee may change the type of case if it is appropriate to do so having considered the information in the case, including any evidence given during a hearing.
(d) If the protest committee decides to protest a boat under rule 60.4(c)(2), it shall close the current hearing, deliver a protest in accordance with the rules, and then hear the original and new protests together.
(e)  A hearing involving parties in different events conducted by different organizing authorities shall be heard by a protest committee acceptable to those authorities.
63.3. Conflict of Interest
(a)  A protest committee member shall declare any possible conflict of interest as soon as he is aware of it.
(b)  A party to the hearing who believes a protest committee member has a conflict of interest shall object as soon as possible. 
(c) A protest committee member 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.
However, for World Sailing major events, or for other events as prescribed by the national authority of the venue, a person who has a conflict of interest shall not be a member of the protest committee.
(d)  When deciding whether a conflict of interest is significant, the protest committee shall consider
  (1) the views of the parties,
  (2) the level of the conflict,
  (3) the level of the event,
  (4) the importance to each party of the case, and 
  (5) the overall perception of fairness. 
(e) Any written information provided under rule <% rule_link('63.6') %>(b) shall included any conflict of interest declared by a protest committee member, and any decision by the protest committee under rule 63.3(c)(2).

 
 
63.4. Hearing Procedure
(a) The protest committee shall first consider validity. The hearing shall be closed if
  (1) a protest or request is invalid, or
  (2) a protest was made under rule 60.4(c)(1) and there was no injury or serious damage.
(b) The protest committee shall take the evidence of the parties present at the hearing, their witnesses, and any other evidence it considers necessary. Hearsay evidence is admissible. However, the protest committee may exclude evidence which is irrelevant or unduly repetitive.
(c)  A party present at the hearing may question any person who gives evidence.
(d)  A member of the protest committee who saw the incident shall, as soon as reasonably possible, declare this fact to the parties attending the hearing.
(e)  A witness shall be excluded from the hearing when not giving evidence, except for a witness who:
  (1) is also a party, or
  (2) is a member of the protest committee.
63.5. Decisions
(a) The protest committee shall consider the evidence and decide what weight to give it. It shall then find the facts based on the balance of probabilities (unless an applicable rule requires otherwise), and then apply the rules to those facts to make its conclusions and a decision.
(b) Decisions shall be made by simple majority vote. When there is an equal division of votes, the chair of the hearing may cast an additional vote.
(c) If there is a conflict between
  (1) two or more rules that must be resolved before a decision can be made, and
  (2) those rulesare 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, 
then the protest committee shall apply the rule that it believes will provide the fairest result for all boats affected.
(d) If 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 protest committee is bound by the authority’s reply.
63.6. Informing the Parties and Others
(a) The protest committee shall promptly inform the parties to the hearing of the facts found, the applicable rules, the decision, the reasons for it, any penalties imposed, and any redress given.
(b) If requested by a party in writing within seven days of being informed of the decision, the above information shall be provided promptly in writing and the protest committee may, if it considers it relevant to do so, prepare or endorse a diagram.
(c) The protest committee may publish the above information after any hearing, including a hearing under rule 69, unless it decides there is good reason not to do so.
(d) The protest committee may direct that the above information is to be confidential to the parties.
(e) If the protest committee penalizes a boat under a class rule, it shall send the above information to the relevant class rule authorities.
63.7. Reopening a Hearing
(a) The protest committee may reopen a hearing if it decides
  (1) a party was unavoidably absent from the hearing,
  (2) it may have made a significant error, or
  (3) significant new evidence has become available within a reasonable time.
However, a protest committee shall reopen a hearing when required to do so by the national authority under rule 71.3 or R5.
(b) A party to the hearing may request a reopening by delivering a written request to the race office (or by such other method as stated in the sailing instructions) no later than 24 hours after being informed of the decision. The request shall identify the reason for making it. 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.
A request that does not comply with this rule is invalid.
(c) The protest committee shall consider all requests to reopen a
hearing. When a request to reopen is being considered, or when
the hearing is reopened,
  (1) if based only on new evidence, a majority of the members of the protest committee shall, if practicable, be members of the original committee;
  (2) if based on a significant error, the protest committee shall, if practicable, have at least one new member.
64. DISCRETIONARY PENALTIES
When a boat reports within the protest time limit that she has broken a rule  which is subject to a discretionary penalty, the protest committee shall decide the appropriate penalty having first considered the evidence that it considers appropriate. There is no requirement to hold a hearing.
65. LEGAL LIABILITY AND COSTS
65.1.
Questions of legal liability arising from a breach of a rule, including any claims for monetary damages, shall be governed by prescriptions, if any, of the national authority.
65.2.
Any measurement costs arising from a protest involving a class rule shall be paid by the unsuccessful party unless the protest committee decides otherwise.
66.
There is no rule 66.
67.
There is no rule 67.
68.
There is no rule 68.
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