A protest is an allegation that a boat broke a rule. Boats protest boats; the race, technical and protest committees can protest boats too. Nobody "protests" a committee: if a committee got something wrong and it cost you, the remedy is redress under rule 61.
The steps are simple and strict. Signal your intention at the time, deliver a written protest within the time limit, and make sure it identifies who is protesting, who is being protested and the incident. Get any of those wrong and the protest committee closes the hearing as invalid without looking at what happened.
60.1 Right to Protest
A boat or a committee may protest a boat. Since 2025 the technical committee is no longer obliged to protest a boat it finds out of class; it may.
60.2 Intention to Protest
For an incident you saw in the racing area, hail "Protest" at the first reasonable opportunity. If your hull is 6 metres or longer, also show a red flag conspicuously at the first reasonable opportunity and keep it up until you are no longer racing. "First reasonable opportunity" means as soon as you can, usually seconds, not after the next mark.
You only have to inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity (no hail, no flag) when she was out of hailing distance at the time, when the incident was an error in sailing the course, when you did not see it in the racing area, or when the protest committee is protesting under 60.4(c). If someone was in danger or there was injury or serious damage and that was obvious at the time, you need only try to tell the other boat within the time limit.
A committee protesting for an incident it saw in the racing area tells the boat after the race, within the time limit. A notice on the official notice board is enough.
60.3 Delivering a Protest
In writing, identifying the protestor, the protestee and the incident. Nothing else is required, though a short description, a diagram and the rules you think were broken all help. Deliver it to the race office, or by whatever method the sailing instructions say (many events, including those on Saildex, accept online filing).
The default time limit is two hours after the last boat in the race finishes for incidents in the racing area, or two hours after you have the relevant information for anything else. Sailing instructions often change this; read them. The protest committee extends the time only for a good reason.
60.4 Protest Validity
A protest is invalid if it fails the definition, 60.2 or 60.3; if a boat protests a Part 2 or rule 31 incident she was not involved in and did not see; or as far as it alleges misconduct under rule 69 or a breach of a Regulation that does not permit protests.
A committee's protest is invalid if it is based on a request for redress, on an invalid protest, or on a report from someone with a conflict of interest (a boat's own representative excepted). Three exceptions: the protest committee learns of an incident that may have caused injury or serious damage; it learns during a valid hearing that another boat was involved and may have broken a rule; or the technical committee has inspected a boat or equipment and found it does not comply with class rules or rule 50.
60.5 Protest Decisions
A boat is penalized only at a hearing she is a party to, under rule 62.4, rule 64 or rule 69, or under a rule that expressly allows a penalty without a hearing (for example rule 30.3, rule 30.4 or a sailing instruction that says so).
If the committee finds a rule was broken, it disqualifies the boat whether or not the protest named the right rule, unless she is exonerated, another penalty applies, she already took the applicable penalty, or the race is resailed. Class-rule breaches caused only by damage or wear that gave no advantage are not penalized, but must be fixed before she races again.
Common situations
You were fouled and you are a 4.5 m dinghy
Hail "Protest" straight away. No flag is required under 6 m. Write it up ashore and deliver it inside the time limit. If the other boat took a penalty turn, there is usually nothing to protest.
You see a foul between two other boats
For a Part 2 or rule 31 incident you must have been involved or have seen it, which you did, so you may protest. Hail and flag as for any incident.
You find out after the race that a boat was under weight
The incident was not seen in the racing area, so you need only inform the boat at the first reasonable opportunity and deliver within two hours of having the information.
Common misreadings
"I can protest the race committee"
Committees are not protested. Request redress (rule 61) and say what the committee did or failed to do and how it made your score worse.
"The protest named the wrong rule, so it fails"
The rule number is not a validity requirement. The committee decides what rules apply to the facts it finds.
Changed in 2025
Part 5 was rewritten and renumbered for 2025. Old 60 (right to protest), 61 (protest requirements) and parts of 63 are now rule 60. A boat out of hailing distance no longer needs a red flag; a protest now need only identify the protestor, protestee and incident; and the technical committee is no longer required to protest.