PART 5


Many transgressions by support persons will fall short of being misconduct, for the purposes of rule 69, but rule 60.3(d) makes the control of support person behaviour more controllable. Serious incidents can, and should, be dealt with under rule 69.


Under definition Party (e), any boat that the support person supports is a party, and therefore entitled to notice of the hearing, to be present throughout, to give evidence, to call witnesses, and to question other parties and witnesses. It is most important that a supported boat is present at the hearing, since there is a risk that the boat will be penalized under rule 64.4(b) for the sins of the supporter.


Although the rules do not require it, better control might also be secured by adding to entry forms a requirement to list the entering boat’s support persons at the event, with a statement echoing rule 3, Acceptance of the Rules, to the effect that the competitor(s) agree, on behalf of their support persons, that those support persons are bound by the rules, and confirming that the competitor(s) have made their support persons aware of the rules, as defined.


60.4 A technical committee may


(a) protest a boat, but not as a result of information arising from a request for redress or an invalid protest, or from a report from a person with a conflict of interest other than the representative of the boat herself. However, it shall protest a boat if it decides that


(1) a boat has broken a rule of Part 4, but not rules 41, 42, 44 and 46, or (2) a boat or personal equipment does not comply with the class rules;


(b) request redress for a boat; or (c) report to the protest committee requesting action under rule 69.2(b).


A technical committee, if appointed under rule 89.2(c), is described in rule 92. It includes any other person or committee performing a technical committee function1


. As (like a protest committee) it may comprise only one


person, he, she or they now have a separate ability to seek a hearing. This comprises the same general right to protest, request redress for a boat or request the protest committee to call a hearing under rule 69, Misconduct. Those are discretionary rights, but in addition the technical committee is compelled to protest when it decides that a boat or personal equipment does not comply with the class rules (which include rules of rating systems.). It is also compelled to protest when it decides that there has been a breach of:


• Rule 40, Personal Flotation Devices – for instance if a wet suit or a dry suit is being used for buoyancy. However, most ‘PFD’ protests would be discretionary ones under rule 1.2 concerning the adequacy and quantity of life-saving equipment.


• Rule 43, Competitor Clothing and Equipment – which is less common today


• Rule 45, Hauling Out; Making Fast: Anchoring – which is curious, except possibly to form a judgement as to whether a hauled-out or made-fast boat is actually making repairs


• The ‘technical’ rules 47 to 54


• Rule 55, Trash Disposal, which is also curious, given that protesting under this rule is merely discretionary for race committees and protest committees.


When the Offshore Special Regulations are made to apply to an event, compliance with them will often be a major exercise for the technical committee, but protesting under them is discretionary.


None of these powers and duties to protest is the exclusive prerogative of the technical committee – any other committee or boat can protest under those rules. There is no obligation on an organizing authority or a race committee to appoint a technical committee.


60.5 However, neither a boat nor a committee may protest for an alleged breach of rule 5, 6, 7 or 69.


Rules 5, 6 and 7, which activate some World Sailing Codes, have their own processes. The right to act under rule 69, Misconduct is reserved to a protest committee, but it is explicitly not a protest. 1 Introduction: Terminology


178 RYA The Racing Rules Explained


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