Instructions for Protest Committee Chairs & Members

First, a big thank you for agreeing to sit on a protest committee; the success and integrity of our racing program depends on having competent protest committees to resolve disputes.

The protest coordinator will have reserved the Sailing Room for you, if the protest is to be heard at NSC; if the protest is to be heard at BYC, it will likely be in BYC’s board room. Protests are generally heard one week after the incident, so typically the parties, their witnesses and most PC members will be racing that night. We normally advise parties that the protest will be heard as soon as everyone can get to the club at which the protest is being heard, and in the event that racing is cancelled that night, the protest will not begin before 7:00 p.m.

The protest coordinators should have provided you and all parties with an electronic copy of the protest form(s). Please print copies as required and bring them to the hearing.

NSC owns a set of model boats that are useful when the parties are describing what happened. If you need to borrow these for the hearing, please advise the protest coordinator(s) in advance.

The hearing should be conducted in accordance with Appendix M of the Racing Rules of Sailing. PC Chairs may find this precis/checklist of Appendix M useful.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the PC should record the Facts Found, the Conclusions and Rules that Apply, and their Decision. This should then be presented verbally to the Parties to the Protest.

The Parties to the protest are entitled to a copy of the protest committee’s decision, and it is recommended that this be provided through the Protest Coordinator(s). Many protest committee chairs choose to type their decisions using the MS Word Version of the protest form. Certainly a typed decision gives a more professional appearance for a document that might get forwarded to an insurance company, and that could potentially become evidence in a court case. For those who prefer to write the decision by hand, please use the PDF Version of the form, which provides a little more room to write.

If the decision is completed electronically, it should be printed and signed. The form should then be scanned and e-mailed to the Protest Coordinator, who will in turn forward it to the Parties, and notify the appropriate scorers of any scoring changes, if required. We ask that this be done within 24 hours of the protest hearing. If you do not have the capability to scan the form, it may be left at the club office, but in that case, please contact the Protest Coordinator(s) so that they know the form is ready.

If any questions arise before or after the hearing, please do not hesitate to contact the Protest Coordinators.

In 2022, Elizabeth Pattey (mobile: 613-979-3006) is the primary Protest Coordinator, backed up by Hugh Morrin (mobile: 613-302-0318). E-mail to protests at nsc dot ca is forwarded to both Elizabeth and Hugh.

Hugh Morrin

Page updated: 2022-08-06.