Informing the Protestee

Excerpt from Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing
by Dave Perry, Illustrations by Brad Dellenbaugh
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Rule 61.1 - Informing the Protestee
(a) A boat intending to protest shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity. When her protest concerns an incident in the racing area that she is involved in or sees, she shall hail ‘Protest’ and conspicuously display a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity for each. She shall display the flag until she is no longer racing. 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 the hull length of the protesting boat is less than 6 metres, she need not display a red flag;
if the incident results in damage or injury that is obvious to the boats involved and one of them intends 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.

(b) A race committee or protest committee intending to protest a boat shall inform her as soon as reasonably possible. However, if the protest arises from an incident the committee observes in the racing area, it shall inform the boat after the race within the time limit of rule 61.3.

THE FLAG
Now, in the event you are required to fly a flag to protest, let’s look at the flag requirements (rule 61.1(a), Informing the Protestee). When you are aware of an incident as it occurs in the racing area and want to protest because of it, you must conspicuously display a red flag at the first reasonable opportunity. Again, the purpose of the requirement is to provide a visual signal to the other boat that you intend to protest her. The Appeals are loud and clear throughout that if you are required to fly a flag and do not, then the protest committee cannot accept your protest. Notice that even if the incident involves a breach of a class rule or sailing instructions, etc., you must display your flag. (See rule 63.5, Validity of the Protest or Request for Redress, ISAF Case 39 and US SAILING Appeal 67.)

On the other hand, if you intend to protest because of an incident that either occurred in the racing area without you being aware of it, or did not occur in the racing area, you do not need to display a flag. Remember that you do need to inform the competitor that you intend to protest at the first reasonable opportunity after becoming aware of the incident.

“Just how quickly do I need to get my flag up?”
Rule 61.1(a) requires that it be displayed “at the first reasonable opportunity.” My best advice is that the “first reasonable opportunity” is normally immediately after the incident. Remember that the purpose of the rule is to provide a visual signal to the other boat, and to any other boats in the incident or vicinity, that you intend to protest because of that incident. Any delay at all only raises the likelihood that the boat being protested won’t be aware of that fact, or that it won’t be clear for which incident your flag is being displayed.

The timeliness of the flag issue is the cause of some acrimony in our sport, generally arising when a boat’s protest is refused because the protest committee decides that her flag was not displayed soon enough after the incident. Often it is suggested that the flag requirement is less important when the other boat is fully aware of the protesting boat’s intent to protest, e.g. after a collision and an immediate hail of “Protest.” I agree that it is frustrating when a protest is refused on a technicality rather than resolving the rules issue contained in the protest. But the rules are carefully worded to provide safe and fair racing, and that would be undermined if protest and appeals committees were permitted to overlook the requirements in rules when they decide that the “intent” of the rule was satisfied.

With a little attention and preparation, each boat can prepare a flag that can be easily displayed (Velcro is wonderful), and find a reasonable and convenient place to store their flag during a race so that members of the crew know where it is and so it can be displayed very quickly after an incident with a minimum of hassle (when all else fails put it in your windsuit pocket or rolled up around your backstay). You may never use it, but if you do and you put it up immediately after an incident, you will not have your protest refused for that reason.

As for examples of when it might be reasonable to delay the display of the flag for a brief time, in my opinion it would be reasonable to delay the display of the flag after a big collision until just after you and your crew finish checking to be sure things were OK; or when setting the spinnaker, when all hands were no longer involved putting it up. However, if after the collision or during the spinnaker set, at least one crew member is not doing anything, it is reasonable to expect that he or she can display the flag. Delaying because the flag is in the ditty bag, which is up in the bow under the anchor, is not reasonable to me. (See US SAILING Appeal 67).

“Can I just fly anything red and call it a protest flag?”
Absolutely not. ISAF Case 72 reads, “QUESTION: What is the test of whether an object is a flag within the meaning of rule 61.1(a)? ANSWER: In the context of rule 61.1(a), a flag is used as a signal to communicate the message ‘I intend to protest’. Only if the object used as a flag communicates that message, with little or no possibility of causing confusion on the part of those on competing boats, will the object qualify as a flag. A flag must be seen primarily to be a flag.” The bottom line is that whatever you display must be RED, and it must be obvious that it’s a flag, and not a telltale, baseball-type cap or piece of clothing.

“Does the flag have to be flown on the starboard shroud or anywhere else in particular?”
No. The flag must simply be “conspicuously displayed.” There is no requirement in the rule that the flag need be put anywhere in particular. The test of “conspicuous” is whether the flag is initially highly visible to the protested boat. In many cases the starboard side of the boat may be the worst (least conspicuous) place to display it. Notice also, that the flag can be displayed simply by holding it up and waving it at the other boat, which you can do as you head for the location where you will attach it.

Note also that “conspicuous” applies not only to the location of the display but to the actual size of the flag. In US SAILING Appeal 66, the Appeals Committee decided that a 2” by 8” flag on a 40-foot boat was not of sufficient size or of suitable proportions to be “conspicuously displayed.”

Also notice that you must keep your flag displayed until you are no longer racing, i.e. until you have finished and cleared the finishing line and marks or retired. If your flag blows off your shroud while you are still racing, you can’t protest. My advice is to devise a good system and carry a spare. If your incident occurs so close to the finishing line that the first reasonable opportunity to display the flag doesn’t occur until after you are no longer racing, I’d say you still need to display your flag because the incident occurred “in the racing area;” and that it would be prudent, though not required, to ensure that the race committee sees that you have displayed your flag.