Page 14 - World Sailing Misconduct Guidance

20.2 In addition, rule P2.3 requires the protest committee to consider calling a rule 69 hearing when a
boat fails to retire after a third ‘yellow flag’ penalty under rule 42. It is also an option in the event
of a breach of the World Sailing Advertising Code.

20.3 However, neither a hearing under rule 69 nor a protest under rule 2 (see below) may be the best
way to deal with every problem, particularly for:

20.3.1 non-malicious excess aggression arising from youth or inexperience of the sport (see
Appendix L), or for other justifiable reasons; or

20.3.2 an isolated instance of knowingly having broken a rule without intent to do so, but not
then taking a penalty.

20.4 A protest committee can ask a competitor to appear before it, make it clear to the competitor that
his behaviour is unacceptable, noting the Basic Principle, Sportsmanship and the Rules and rule
2, Fair Sailing. This is not a hearing under rule 69, even though the effect may be to give an
informal warning as to future conduct that, if repeated, might give rise to a hearing under rule 69.
For youth and juniors, see Appendix L.

20.5 In normal cases it will be in the interests of the sport to call a hearing and have protest committee
make a decision on the allegations. This is particularly the case with allegations of serious
misconduct, where there has been an impact on the event or other competitors, or where the
potential culpability of the competitor is high.

21 Interaction between rule 2 and rule 69

21.1 The protest committee must be aware of the interaction between rule 2 and rule 69. For detailed
guidance on this topic please see Appendix G.

22 Composition of a protest committee for rule 69 hearings

22.1 Under rule 69.2(a), the protest committee must consist of at least three people, to be appointed
by the organizing authority or the race committee in the normal manner under rules 89.2(b) and
91.
22.2 If the protest committee has appointed an investigator to conduct an investigation, this person
cannot be a member of the protest committee (rule 69.2(c)) considering the matter from that point
onwards. This includes considering whether or not to call a hearing based on the investigator’s
findings. The investigator can take part in other hearings as normal.

22.3 From the moment the investigator is appointed, the protest committee should only meet with him
to discuss the case in a formal meeting with all members of the protest committee considering the
matter present.

22.4 If the matter that is the subject of the hearing is potentially controversial within a club, or if it is
difficult finding members ready to serve, it may be sensible to seek at least one member
(particularly the person who is to chair the hearing) from outside the club.

23 Protest committee witnesses

23.1 It is common for the person seeing the alleged conduct to be a member of the protest committee
already. This can lead to the question of whether the person should sit on the protest committee
dealing with the rule 69 report.

13 World Sailing Misconduct Guidance