PART 5
There is a right to an official interpretation under rule 70.4. Published cases in a question and answer format usually originate from such questions. Only clubs and organizations affiliated to the national authority can ask such questions, and the rule makes clear that these are academic questions only1
.
Some appeals, references and questions raise no significant issues, but many do. The capacity of the racing rules to reveal unexpected wrinkles never fails to surprise and intrigue. The cases referred to and quoted in this book are derived from cases selected for publication by the national authorities concerned.
Suppose that a British club organizes a race to France, with a return race back to the south coast. There is an incident in the outward race, resulting in a protest which is heard in France during the stop-over, and the protest committee is provided by a French club. Where should any appeal be sent? To the RYA? To the FFV? Rule 70.3 now requires this problem to be considered from the outset2 national authority is self-evident3
. In most situations however, the appropriate .
Except under rule 70.1(b), it is only a party to the hearing that can appeal a decision in that hearing. If a non-party is aggrieved (usually because redress granted to a party is deemed over-generous or inappropriate), her only option is to request redress, showing both that the decision was improper and that it significantly affected her score. Specifically, redress granted to Daffodil that may make Iris’s finishing position worse does not make Iris a penalised boat4 remains unsatisfied5
. If further redress is then refused, a boat may then appeal the decision of that hearing if she .
The facts found cannot be appealed. However, if they can be shown to be perverse or inadequate, the national authority can, under rule 71.2, order a fresh hearing or a reopening of the original hearing. The ‘decision’ can be appealed. The decision is the conclusion derived from the facts found, and the application of the rules to the facts and conclusion. As discussed under rule 63.6, WS 104 admits that the distinction between a fact and a conclusion is often imprecise, and that a national authority is able to change on appeal any finding that is not exclusively factual in nature. In addition, the national authority may apply logic to derive additional facts from the protest committee’s facts and diagram (the diagram being ‘facts found’, having equal status with the written facts, and requiring clarification when the diagram and written facts are in conflict).
The procedures of a protest committee can be appealed, but appeals on technicalities or on issues of validity are unlikely to be upheld unless the appellant party made an overruled objection at the time6 circumstances that would have justified an objection7
, or was not aware of .
Rule 86.1 says that rule 70 cannot be changed, and rule 70 places strict limits on the denial of the right of appeal. So a sailing instruction that says that ‘the decisions of the protest committee will be final’ is invalid8
, as is a sailing
instruction that says that, when a decision is appealed, the results of an event will not be changed by the appeal decision – it has the same purported effect as denying the right of appeal9
.
Rule 70.1(b) now allows a boat to appeal when she has been denied a hearing of her protest or request for redress.
1 The RYA offers an informal Racing Rules Advisory Service to individuals, details on the RYA website. Answers are from a team of experts but are non-authoritative. The questions can (and usually do) relate to live issues, and answers are given in days, sometimes in hours, as opposed to the weeks or months involved in answering questions under rule 70.4. World Sailing officials and authorities also have access to the World
Sailing Question and Answer service, via the World Sailing website. 2 See also rule 88.1 as concerns applicable prescriptions in foreign waters. Both these rules attempt to ensure prior clarification on questions of jurisdiction in the further issue of an event from (say) Germany that will pass through Dutch and Belgian waters before arriving in the UK,
particularly if there are stop-overs. 3 Except perhaps in Northern Ireland, where some clubs have cross-border affiliations. 4 RYA 1995/3 5 WS 55, RYA 1974/1, SC 44 6 RYA 1981/5 7 RYA 2007/1 8 US 22 9 WS 61, US 56
228 RYA The Racing Rules Explained
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256
