PART 5


‘However…if the other boat is beyond hailing distance, the protesting boat need not hail but she shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity;’


If a protesting boat has any doubt that her hail will have been heard, she should advise the protested boat when their paths next cross (which may be ashore). Protestees are notorious for failing to hear hails (or to see flags). While a hail at the time of the incident may not be required because of this rule, it does not change the requirement to display a protest flag at the time of the incident (if that requirement applies). Why should this be necessary? Because a protest flag is a notice to all boats of an intention to protest, and while it may not have been seen by the protestee at around the time of the incident, it may have been observed by other competitors, who may be requested to witness this if there is any dispute as to validity in the protest hearing.


‘If the hull length of the protesting boat is less than 6 metres, she need not display a red flag.’ The thinking behind this relaxation was that it was inconvenient for smaller boats to comply, but it has not stopped some classes (including single-handed dinghies) recommending the retention of the requirement for a protest flag. The difficulty of deciding that a protest is valid when there is only an unheard hail is discussed under rule 63.5, and having to display a protest flag at the time means that a competitor cannot be put under unfair after-race pressure by a parent or coach to lodge a protest, being coerced to claim untruly that a protest hail was made at the time of the incident1


.


Even when the size of boat removes the necessity to show a red flag, some competitors deliberately still display one, to enhance the prospects of a protest being found valid – if there was clearly a flag displayed at the time, it is much more likely that there was a hail, if that is contested.


‘If the incident was an error by the other boat in sailing the course, she need not hail or display a red flag but she shall inform the other boat either before that boat finishes or at the first reasonable


opportunity after the other boat finishes.’


This applies when it appears that a boat has left out a course mark, or left one on the wrong side. It gives considerable latitude to the timing of the notification. It is not clear whether a boat that could inform the other boat before the other finishes can in fact delay her notification until after the other finishes. This is important, since rule 28.2 precludes returning to correct the boat’s track once she has finished.


‘If as a result of the incident a member of either crew is in danger, or there is injury or serious damage that is obvious to the boat intending to protest, the requirements of this rule do not apply to her, but she shall attempt to inform the other boat within the time limit of rule 61.3.’


This (together with rule 60.3(a)(1)) removes the bizarre possibility of there having been a major accident, possibly even a sinking, and yet no valid protest, because no one thought to hail or flag at the time. Unlike the notification requirements of other parts of rule 61, this rule recognises that in a serious situation, it may be difficult to inform the other boat, so proof of an attempt to notify is sufficient, provided that the protest committee is satisfied that the damage or injury is obvious to the protested boat as well as to the protesting boat. As in all rules involving injury or damage, injury is bodily injury to a person and damage is limited to physical damage to a boat or her equipment2


. Damage and injury to feelings do not count, nor does harm to a finishing position. But the damage in rule 61.1(a)(4) need not be serious, and it need not be obvious to both boats, only to the boat intending to protest. I think it must be obvious at the time of the incident, since the rule’s purpose is to excuse a failure to hail and flag at the time of the incident.


There is a new sensible exception to immediate notification of a protest when a member of either crew is in danger – giving help has priority.


1 As well, or instead, there is sometimes a requirement in the sailing instructions for an intention to protest to be notified to the race committee


boat when finishing. 2 WS 110


182 RYA The Racing Rules Explained


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