Port Edgar  Yacht Club

Protest and Redress Requests

Protests and Redresses

The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS 2005-2008) define rights & obligations to prevent collisions between boats while racing. Despite improved clarity, the rules can still be a bit overwhelming and we don’t always get them right! There can be genuine differences of opinion about the circumstances of an encounter or about the interpre-tation of a rule. We self-regulate our sport using Protest Committees, made up of experienced racing sailors inde-pendent of the incident or outcome, to hear the evidence & adjudicate.

Protest Log

A log of all protests since 2002 is available here.

Procedure

If you feel that you have been wronged, hail ‘Protest!’at the other boat involved. There is no need to quote the rule you believe has been broken & you shouldn’t tell the other boat to ‘Do your turns!’since that’s their decision. However, the other boat must be in no doubt about your protest & have the chance to acknowledge & exonerate an error by taking a penalty. To make the protest valid, you must use the word ‘Protest’and, if your boat is longer than 6m, you must fly a red protest flag promptly. That means having the protest flag close to hand; sending someone down below to look for it & displaying it 5 minutes later won’t count as prompt! If your protest is disputed or ignored, then you should formally protest so that the right interpretation of the situation is established for the benefit of all concerned. When you finish the race, tell the Officer of the Day (OOD) that you intend to protest. Your protest must be in writing, preferably on a standard RYA Protest Form available in the clubhouse, and lodged with the OOD or a Sailing Committee member within the time limit specified in the Sailing Instructions (Typically an hour after the last boat finishing in your class, although a Protest Committee may ex-tend the time limit if there are good reasons). The time limit provides all concerned an opportunity to review the incident soon after its occurrence and if possible, allows the hearing to take place on the same day.
 
Once the protest is lodged, one of the Fleet Captains will manage the process so that the OOD can complete the provisional race results. PEYC has RYA National & Regional Judges & other knowledgeable members to draw on for Protest Committees and the hearing will be scheduled as soon as possible. The Protest Committee establishes the facts based on evidence, decides what rules apply and adjudicates which boat if any was in the wrong. Although you may disagree with your fellow competitors about the incident, the hearing shouldn’t be an assault on their credibility, veracity or intelligence, but should strive to establish what really happened and im-prove our collective understanding of the rules. Once a decision is given, the Protest Manager is responsible for posting it on the Protests Board in the clubhouse and updating the race results if necessary.

If you believe that the Protest Committee has made an error or significant new evidence has become avail-able, then after being informed of the decision, you have 24 hours in which to request a reopening of the hearing by contacting the Protest Committee chair or the Sailing Secretary (E-mail: . You also have the right to appeal a Protest Committee’s decision or its procedures, but not the facts found, to the RYA. You must notify RYA Racing within 15 days of receiving the Protest Committee’s written decision or refusal to reopen the hearing. On receipt of the Appeal Form, you have a further 15 days in which to submit it along with a copy of the protest decision.

Form

A blank protest form may be downloaded and printed.