60.2 A race committee may
60.3 A protest committee may
61 PROTEST REQUIREMENTS
61.2 Protest Contents
61.3 Protest Time Limit
62 REDRESS
62.2 The request shall be made in writing within the time limit of rule 61.3 or within two hours of the relevant incident, whichever is later. No protest flag is required.
63.2 Time and Place of the Hearing
63.3 Right to Be Present
63.4 Interested Party
63.5 Validity of the Protest
63.6 Taking Evidence and Finding Facts
63.7 Protests Between Boats in Different Races
64 PROTEST DECISIONS
64.2 Decisions on Redress
64.3 Decisions on Measurement Protests
65 INFORMING THE PARTIES AND OTHERS
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 within seven days of 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 When the protest committee penalizes a boat under a measurement rule, it shall send the above information to the relevant measurement authorities.
66 REOPENING A HEARING
67 RULE 42 AND HEARING REQUIREMENT
68 DAMAGES
69.2 Action by a National Authority
69.3 Action by the ISAF
70.2 A protest committee may request confirmation or correction of its decision.
70.3 A club or other organization affiliated to a national authority may request an interpretation of the rules, provided no protest that may be appealed is involved.
70.4 There shall be no appeal from the decisions of an international jury constituted in compliance with Appendix Q. Furthermore, if the notice of race and the sailing instructions so state, the right of appeal may be denied provided that
70.5 Appeals and requests shall conform to Appendix F.
71 APPEAL DECISIONS
71.2 The national authority may uphold, change or reverse a protest committee's decision, declare the protest invalid, or return the protest for a new hearing and decision by the same or a different protest committee.
71.3 When from the facts found by the protest committee the national authority decides that a boat that was a party to the hearing broke a rule, it shall penalize her, whether or not that boat or that rule was mentioned in the protest committee's decision.
71.4 The decision of the national authority shall be final. The national authority shall send its decision in writing to all parties to the hearing and the protest committee, who shall be bound by the decision.
(a) protest a boat, but not as a result of a report by a competitor from another boat or other interested party or of information in an invalid protest;
(b) request the protest committee to consider giving redress; or
(c) report to the protest committee requesting action under rule 69.1(a).
(a) protest a boat, but not as a result of a report by a competitor from another boat or other interested party, except under rule 61.1(c), nor as a result of information in an invalid protest;
(b) consider giving redress; or
(c) act under rule 69.1(a).
61.1 Informing the Protestee
(a) A boat intending to protest because of an incident occurring in the racing area that she is aware of shall hail 'Protest' and conspicuously display a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity for each. She shall display the flag either until she finishes or retires, or, if the incident occurs near the finishing line, until the race committee acknowledges seeing her flag. In all other cases she shall inform the other boat as soon as reasonably possible.
(b) A race committee or protest committee intending to protest a boat under rule 60.2(a) or rule 60.3(a) because of an incident it observes in the racing area shall inform her after the race within the time limit determined by rule 61.3. In all other cases it shall inform her as soon as reasonably possible.
(c) During the hearing of a valid protest, if the protest committee decides to protest a boat that was involved in the incident but is not a party to that hearing, it shall inform the boat as soon as reasonably possible of its intention and of the time and place of the hearing.
A protest shall be in writing and identify
(a) the protestor and protestee;
(b) the incident, including where and when it occurred;
(c) any rule the protestor believes was broken; and
(d) the name of the protestor's representative.
Provided the written protest identifies the incident, other details may be corrected before or during the hearing.
A protest by a boat, or by the race committee or protest committee about an incident the committee observes in the racing area, shall be delivered to the race office no later than 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 race committee or protest committee protests shall be delivered to the race office within two hours after the committee receives the relevant information. The protest committee shall extend the time if there is good reason to do so.
62.1 A request for redress shall be based on a claim that a boat's finishing place in a race or series has, through no fault of her own, been made significantly worse by
(a) an improper action or omission of the race committee or protest committee,
(b) physical damage because of the action of a boat that was breaking a rule of Part 2 or of a vessel not racing that was required to keep clear,
(c) giving help (except to herself or her crew) in compliance with rule 1.1, or
(d) a boat against which a penalty has been imposed under rule 2 or disciplinary action has been taken under rule 69.1(b). Section B - Hearings and Decisions
63 HEARINGS
63.1 Requirement for a Hearing
A boat or competitor shall not be penalized without a hearing, except as provided in rules 30.2, 30.3, 67 and A1.1. A decision on redress shall not be made without a hearing. The protest committee shall hear all protests that have been delivered to the race office unless it approves a protestor's request to withdraw the protest.
All parties to the hearing shall be notified of the time and place of the hearing, the protest or redress information shall be made available to them, and they shall be allowed reasonable time to prepare for the hearing.
(a) The parties to the hearing, or a representative of each, have the right to be present throughout the hearing of all the evidence. When the protest claims a breach of a rule of Part 2, Part 3 or Part 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.
(b) If a party to the hearing does not come to the hearing, the protest committee may nevertheless decide the protest. If the party was unavoidably absent, the committee may reopen the hearing.
A member of a protest committee who is an interested party shall not take any further part in the hearing but may appear as a witness. A party to the hearing who believes a member of the protest committee is an interested party shall object as soon as possible.
At the beginning of the hearing the protest committee shall decide whether all requirements for the protest have been met, after first taking any evidence it considers necessary. If all requirements have been met, the protest is valid and the hearing shall be continued. If not, it shall be closed.
The protest committee shall take the evidence of the parties to the hearing and of their witnesses and other evidence it considers necessary. A member of the protest committee who saw the incident may give evidence. A party to the hearing may question any person who gives evidence. The committee shall then find the facts and base its decision on them.
A protest between boats sailing in different races conducted by different organizing authorities shall be heard by a protest committee acceptable to those authorities.
64.1 Penalties and Exoneration
(a) When the protest committee decides that a boat that is a party to the hearing has broken a rule, she shall be disqualified unless some other penalty applies. A penalty shall be imposed whether or not the applicable rule was mentioned in the protest.
(b) When as a consequence of breaking a rule a boat has compelled another boat to break a rule, rule 64.1(a) does not apply to the other boat and she shall be exonerated.
(c) 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.
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 A4 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.
(a) 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.
(b) When the protest committee is in doubt about the meaning of a measurement 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.
(c) When a boat disqualified under a measurement rule states in writing that she intends to appeal, she may compete in subsequent races without changes to the boat, but will be disqualified if she fails to appeal or the appeal is decided against her.
(d) Measurement costs arising from a protest involving a measurement rule shall be paid by the unsuccessful party unless the protest committee decides otherwise.
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.
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 F5. A party to the hearing may ask for a reopening no later than 24 hours after being informed of the decision. When a hearing is reopened, a majority of the members of the protest committee shall, if possible, be members of the original protest committee.
When so stated in the sailing instructions, the protest committee may penalize without a hearing a boat that has broken rule 42, provided that a member of the committee or its designated observer has seen the incident. A boat so penalized shall be informed by notification in the race results.
The question of damages arising from a breach of any rule shall be governed by the prescriptions, if any, of the national authority.
Section C - Gross Misconduct
69 ALLEGATIONS OF GROSS MISCONDUCT
69.1 Action by a Protest Committee
(a) When a protest committee, from its own observation or a report received, believes that a competitor may have committed a gross breach of a rule or of good manners or sportsmanship, or may have brought the sport into disrepute, it may call a hearing. The protest committee shall promptly inform the competitor in writing of the alleged misconduct and of the time and place of the hearing.
(b) A protest committee of at least three members shall conduct the hearing, following rules 63.2, 63.3, 63.4 and 63.6. If it decides that the competitor committed the alleged misconduct it shall either
(1) warn the competitor or
(2) impose a penalty by excluding the competitor, and a boat when appropriate, from a race, or the remaining races of a series or the entire series, or by taking other action within its jurisdiction.
(c) The protest committee shall promptly report a penalty, but not a warning, to the national authorities of the venue, of the competitor and of the boat owner.
(d) If the competitor has left the venue and cannot be notified or fails to attend the hearing, the protest committee shall collect all available evidence and, when the allegation seems justified, make a report to the relevant national authorities.
(e) When the protest committee has left the event and a report alleging misconduct is received, the race committee or organizing authority may appoint a new protest committee to proceed under this rule.
(a) When a national authority receives a report required in rule 69.1(c) or rule 69.1(d), or a report alleging a gross breach of a rule or of good manners or sportsmanship or conduct that brought the sport into disrepute, it may conduct an investigation and, when appropriate, shall conduct a hearing. It may then take any disciplinary action within its jurisdiction it considers appropriate against the competitor or boat, or other person involved, including suspending eligibility, permanently or for a specified period of time, to compete in any event held within its jurisdiction, and suspending ISAF eligibility under rule K3.1(a).
(b) The national authority of a competitor shall also suspend the ISAF eligibility of the competitor as required in rule K3.1(a).
(c) The national authority shall promptly report a suspension of eligibility under rule 69.2(a) to the ISAF, and to the national authorities of the person or the owner of the boat suspended if they are not members of the suspending national authority.
Upon receipt of a report required by rules 69.2(c) and K4.1, the ISAF shall inform all national authorities, which may also suspend eligibility for events held within their jurisdiction. The ISAF Executive Committee shall suspend the competitor's ISAF eligibility as required in rule K3.1(a) if the competitor's national authority does not do so.
Section D - Appeals
70 RIGHT OF APPEAL AND REQUESTS FOR INTERPRETATIONS
70.1 Provided that the right of appeal has not been denied under rule 70.4, a protest committee's interpretation of a rule or its procedures, but not the facts in its decision, may be appealed to the national authority of the venue by
(a) a boat or competitor that is a party to a hearing, or
(b) a race committee that is a party to a hearing, provided the protest committee is a jury.
(a) it is essential to determine promptly the result of a race that will qualify a boat to compete in a later stage of an event or a subsequent event (a national authority may prescribe that its approval is required for such a procedure),
(b) a national authority so approves for a particular event open only to entrants under its own jurisdiction, or
(c) a national authority after consultation with the ISAF so approves for a particular event, provided the jury is constituted as required by Appendix Q, except that only two members of the jury need be International Judges.
71.1 No interested party or member of the protest committee shall take any part in the discussion or decision on an appeal or a request for confirmation or correction.