Page 50 - World Sailing Misconduct Guidance

63.3 A protest under rule 2 must comply with the normal requirements for protests and be delivered in
time. If the protest committee is satisfied that it has been clearly established that a boat, or her
owner, has broken the recognised principles of sportsmanship, then the boat is to be penalised
by disqualification, which may or may not be excludable from the series score (DSQ or DNE). A
DNE is a serious penalty, but has no effect or consequences for the boats or competitors involved
beyond that of the race in question.

63.4 The requirement for the breach to be ‘clearly established’ means that the standard of proof
required is higher than the ‘balance of probabilities’ that applies to most boat v boat protests.

63.5 In the context of umpired racing, when the umpires are sure that a breach of sportsmanship has
taken place, they should penalise the boat concerned.

64 Rule 69

64.1 Rule 69 will normally apply to events that happen ashore, and, (as well as or instead of rule 2), to
more serious misconduct by individual competitors while racing. Typical rule 69 breaches are
included in Appendix A and see also World Sailing Case 138.

65 Which rule to use if there is a choice?

65.1 The outcome of a rule 69 hearing may be more severe than a rule 2 hearing. But it may also be
less severe, in the form of a warning. When a protest committee can clearly foresee from the
alleged facts that a warning might be more appropriate than a DSQ or DNE, it should choose rule
69 at the outset if it has the choice. It will have no choice if it upholds a protest under rule 2 other
than to disqualify the boat.

65.2 Conversely, if a serious or repeated breach of a rule may have occurred, it is recommended to
begin with a normal protest hearing if possible under rule 2 and any other appropriate rule and to
find facts and (if appropriate) to penalize a boat, before deciding to proceed to a new hearing
under rule 69 against an individual, based on those findings.

65.3 A rule 69 hearing can only be called by the protest committee – whether on a report by one of its
members or from a report by a competitor, race official or any other person.

49 World Sailing Misconduct Guidance