The organizing authority for a race was a club that was not a member of, and had no connection or association with, the national authority of the venue. The notice of race and the sailing instructions stated that the race would be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing. Boat A protested boat B under a rule of Part 2. Later, under rule 70.1(a), A sent an appeal of the protest committee’s decision to the national authority of the venue.

Rule 89.1 specifies the types of organizations that are authorized to be the organizing authority for races governed by The Racing Rules of Sailing. The organizing authority for the race was a club, but that club was not affiliated to the national authority of the venue. Therefore, the club was not a valid organizing authority under rule 89.1(c), nor was it a valid organizing authority under any other part of rule 89.

Rule 70.3 required that A’s appeal be sent to ‘the national authority with which the organizing authority is associated under rule 89.1.’ No national authority existed that complied with this requirement of rule 70.3, and therefore decisions made by the protest committee for the race were not eligible under rule 70 to be appealed to the national authority of the venue, or, indeed, to any national authority.

For these reasons, the national authority for the venue declined to consider A’s appeal.

The following comments discuss issues that, while not directly related to the Decision in this case, are related to the issues raised in the case.

Rule 75.1 requires a person who enters a boat in a race to be either a member of a World Sailing member national authority or of a club or other organization affiliated to such a national authority. Also, if a boat is entered by a club or organization, that club or organization is required to be affiliated to such a national authority.

Rule 75.2 requires competitors to comply with World Sailing Regulation 19, Eligibility Code. Regulation 19.20(d) states that an event that does not comply with rule 89.1 is a ‘Prohibited Event’. When A entered the race organized by the unaffiliated club, she, perhaps unwittingly, participated in a Prohibited Event, as defined in Regulation 19.20. Competing in such an event could have serious consequences for a competitor’s eligibility to compete in other events (see Regulation 19.19(a)(ii)).

If sailors planning to compete in an event run by a club or organization discover that the club or organization is not affiliated with the national authority of the country in which it is located, they should urge the club or organization to join or otherwise affiliate itself with the national authority before the event, or at least to seek out an affiliated organization to serve as the organizing authority for the event.