Page 83 - Judge Manual 2017

If the protest is late, rule 61.3 requires the protest committee to decide whether
there is an acceptable reason for it being delivered after the protest time limit.
When there is a good reason, the protest committee shall extend the time limit
and record its action.

K.8.3 Identification of the Protestee

The protest must identify the protestee. In almost all cases, this will be by sail
number or boat's name. When there is an error in identification, the error may
be corrected before the hearing starts.

K.8.4 Description of the Incident
The protest shall identify the incident. This is ‘requirement (b)’ of the five
requirements for a protest listed in rule 61.2, and the only one of the five that
cannot be corrected after the protest is delivered. When the incident is not
identified, the protest will be found invalid. There must be adequate information
from which the protestee can identify the incident and understand the
allegation. Other details required by rule 61.2 may be corrected before or during
the hearing.
K.8.5 Protestor's Representative

The protestor is technically the boat that protests, and the boat’s representative
is normally one of the crew. When a protest claims a breach of a rule of Part 2,
3 or 4, the boat’s representative shall have been on board at the time of the
incident, unless there is good reason for the protest committee to rule
otherwise.
K.8.6 The Hail

One issue that World Sailing’s Racing Rules Committee has not yet addressed
in a Case is the interpretation of ‘reasonable’ in rule 61.1(a), ‘… she shall hail
“Protest” and conspicuously display a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity
for each.’ Judges must use their own common sense to interpret the
requirement, but it does not take long to make a hail.

K.8.7 The Protest Flag
A red flag must be conspicuously displayed at the first reasonable opportunity
after the incident and the flag must be displayed until the boat is no longer
racing. A protest flag must be seen primarily to be a flag (World Sailing Case
72). No protest flag is required from boats less than six metres unless
specifically stated in the Sailing Instructions or in the Class rules as allowed by
rule 87.

K.8.8 Protests not in the Racing Area
In the racing area, when the protestor has hailed ‘protest’ loudly and displayed
the protest flag correctly, the protestee has been adequately informed and
nothing else is required under rule 61.1. When the protest involves an incident
that is not in the racing area, the protestor must inform the protestee that she
is that she is protesting as soon as reasonably possible. This might be the next
time they come close on the race course. If the boats had not come close to
each other on the water, it would be as soon as reasonably possible after
coming ashore.