Protest, redress or neither
- Another boat broke a rule, and did not take a penalty: protest her (rule 60).
- Your score was made worse through no fault of yours by the race committee, the organizers, damage from a boat that broke a Part 2 rule, or by stopping to help someone: request redress (rule 61).
- You broke a rule yourself: take your penalty on the water (rule 44) or retire. If it was a [DP] rule, report it and the protest committee sets the penalty (rule 64).
- Someone behaved badly ashore or afloat: report it to the protest committee, which may act under rule 69. You cannot protest misconduct.
- The results look wrong: ask the scorer first. The race committee must correct its own errors (rule 90.3(c)). If it will not, request redress before the deadline.
On the water
Hail "Protest" at the first reasonable opportunity, which means immediately in almost every case. If your hull is 6 metres or longer, also show a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity and keep it up until you finish or retire. Under 6 metres, the hail is enough.
You do not need to hail or flag if the other boat was out of hailing distance, if the incident was a course error, or if you did not see it in the racing area; tell the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity instead, ideally in front of a witness. If someone was in danger or there was injury or serious damage, just try to tell the other boat within the time limit (rule 60.2).
Many events also ask you to tell the finish boat which boat you are protesting. That is a sailing instruction, not a racing rule; do it if they ask.
Writing it up
A valid protest only has to identify you, the boat you are protesting and the incident (rule 60.3). Help the committee with a little more:
- race number, where on the course and roughly when;
- wind direction and strength, and current if it mattered;
- a diagram, with the boats at three or four moments, each numbered, and the wind arrow;
- the rules you think were broken (the committee decides, so a wrong number does not matter);
- the names of witnesses.
Redress requests say what happened, who did it (a committee, the organizing authority, another boat), and how it made your score worse.
Filing on Saildex. For events hosted on Saildex, the event page has a
protests section at /regattas/<event>/protests, where you can file a
protest, a redress request or a request to reopen, see the hearing schedule, and read
decisions. Online filing is a valid delivery method when the sailing instructions say so;
check yours. Find your event in the regatta directory.
Time limits
| What | Default deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Protest about an incident in the racing area | 2 hours after the last boat in the race finishes | rule 60.3(b) |
| Other protests | 2 hours after you have the relevant information | rule 60.3(b) |
| Redress, incident in the racing area | The protest time limit or 2 hours after the incident, whichever is later | rule 61.2(b) |
| Redress, based on a protest decision on the last scheduled day | 30 minutes after the decision is posted | rule 61.2(b) |
| Other redress (scoring errors, for example) | As soon as reasonably possible after you have the information | rule 61.2(b) |
| Request to reopen | 24 hours after being told the decision. On the last scheduled day: the protest time limit if you were told the day before, 30 minutes if told that day. | rule 63.7(b) |
| Written decision | Ask in writing within 7 days of being told the decision | rule 63.6(b) |
Sailing instructions often change the protest time limit (90 minutes after the last boat finishes, or after the committee boat docks, are common). The protest committee extends a deadline only for a good reason. Late protests are the most common reason a hearing ends before it starts.
Before the hearing
- Check the notice board (or the event's online board) for the hearing schedule. You are entitled to be told the time and place and to see the protest (rule 63.1).
- Decide who will speak for your boat. In a Part 2, 3 or 4 protest, your representative must normally have been on board.
- Bring your witnesses, your diagram, and photos or video if you have them. Boat models help; most protest rooms have some.
- If you think a panel member has a conflict of interest, say so at the start (rule 63.3). Saying nothing until you have lost is too late.
In the hearing
- Validity. The panel checks the protest was signalled, delivered in time and identifies the parties and incident. If it is invalid the hearing closes there.
- The protestor's account, then the protestee's, each usually with a diagram. Keep it short and in order: positions, what each boat did, what was said, what happened.
- Questions. Each party may question the other and every witness. Ask about facts, not opinions.
- Witnesses come in one at a time and leave after giving evidence.
- Deliberation. The parties leave. The panel finds the facts on the balance of probabilities, applies the rules and decides by majority (rule 63.5).
- Decision. The parties are told the facts found, the rules applied, the decision and any penalty or redress (rule 63.6).
Where events use arbitration (Appendix T), a Part 2 protest may first go to a short meeting with an arbitrator, after which you can take a 30% post-race penalty instead of a hearing.
Redress decisions
If redress is due, the committee aims for the fairest result for every boat affected (rule 61.4(c)). Common outcomes are average points (all other races, or the races before), points for the position at the time of the incident (rule A9), adjusting finishing times, or abandoning the race. Redress usually does not move other boats' scores.
Reopening and appeals
A hearing can be reopened if a party was unavoidably absent, if the committee may have made a significant error, or if significant new evidence turns up within a reasonable time (rule 63.7). New evidence means something you could not reasonably have found before the hearing, not a witness you forgot to bring.
An appeal goes to the national authority and can challenge how the rules were applied or the procedure, never the facts found (rule 70). There is no appeal from an international jury, and the notice of race may deny appeals for some events. Follow Appendix R and your national authority's deadlines.