RYA Case RYA1999-01
Rule 61.1(a), Protest Requirements: Informing the Protestee
A protest flag must be kept close at hand. A boat that waits to see whether another boat will take a penalty before displaying a protest flag has not acted at the first reasonable opportunity. A protest committee need not investigate the promptness of the display of a protest flag when no question of delay arises in the written protest, and when the protestee, when asked, makes no objection. When a boat that is already displaying a protest flag wishes to protest again, only a hail is required.
QUESTION 1
When the rules require a boat to display a protest flag in order for a protest to be valid, should the protest committee expect a competitor to have the protest flag ready to use, or is it reasonable in a larger boat to keep it below or in a locker, and fetch it when needed?
If not, how many seconds does a boat have before the first reasonable opportunity may be said to have passed?
ANSWER 1
A protest committee should expect a competitor to have a protest flag close at hand. Where it is kept is not important, but if its location delays its display significantly, as it is likely to do if kept below, and there was some other more quickly accessible place where it could have been kept, then it will not have been displayed at the first reasonable opportunity. No particular time for displaying the protest flag can be specified. The longer the time between the incident and the display of the protest flag, the more closely the protest committee should examine the circumstances to see if the first reasonable opportunity had clearly passed.
QUESTION 2
Has a protestor acted at the first reasonable opportunity when: the protestor has hailed immediately, and has then waited to see whether the other boat takes a two-turns penalty before displaying a protest flag?
ANSWER 2
No.
QUESTION 3
Should a protest committee investigate the promptness of the hail and (when applicable) the flag in all cases, or only when the protestee makes an objection?
ANSWER 3
The purpose of the flag and hail is to do as much as is practical afloat to make the protestee aware of a potential protest. If the protest form claims that the flag and hail were prompt, and when the protestee does not, when asked, dispute this, the objective of the rule has been achieved, and there is no need to investigate further. When the protest form is ambiguous or silent, or when the protestee objects on this point, the protest committee must investigate.
QUESTION 4
What should a protestor do when he wishes to protest, but is already displaying his own protest flag in respect of a previous incident?
ANSWER 4
It will be sufficient to hail, a second flag is not required 

Questions from the Bristol Corinthian YC
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