Page 37 - Judge Manual 2017

should be within a few boat lengths of the action, and closer than for judging
for rule 42.

The judges will need whistles to signal their actions, VHF radios to
communicate within the judge team, and recording devices or notebooks to
detail all calls, penalties as well as non-penalties incidents.

Each judge boat will need the flags specified in the SIs and any Addendum,
or by the Class. These include a green and white flag to indicate no penalty,
a red flag to indicate a penalty to one or more boats and a black flag to
indicate that a boat is disqualified. For breaches of rule 42 under Appendix
P a yellow flag may be required; although Addendum Q uses red for all
breaches.
F.3.6 Debriefs

Debrief discussions with competitors should be done by the pair of judges
from each boat, taking into consideration emotions and allowing time to fully
discuss. Debriefs can take place on the water or in a separate session for all
competitors at the end of the day after racing.

Explain what the judges saw and what rules applied to their decision. It
should not become a heated debate or one party trying to convince the other
party of who is right. If the conversation moves in this direction, it is best to
limit the discussion and move on.

It is also important that when a judge team has made an error, they are
willing to tell the competitor, either in a debrief or when speaking just with
the competitor. No decision can be reversed, but all will realize that the goal
is to serve the sport and to make it better.
F.3.7 Summary

On-the-water judging systems can be beneficial to the competitors when
small fleets are involved. Most breaches of Part 2 rules are identified so
boats can take penalties. While breaches of other rules and requests for
redress will still go to hearings, sailors can finish a race knowing that what
took place on-the-water will stand as is.

On-the-water judging does require more resources in power boats,
equipment as well as a possible need for more judges and added fuel costs.

Discussions of incidents will offer new opportunities to understand the rules
in more depth and allow the competitors to increase their awareness of how
the rules can be a benefit to their racing results.