If none of the parties are present at the time the hearing is scheduled, it is at the discretion of the protest committee to decide if they want to reschedule the hearing or continue the hearing with none of the parties present, under RRS 63.3(b).
Rule 44.1, Taking a Penalty Rule 60.3, Right to Protest; Right to Request Redress or Rule 69 Action
The protest committee may call a hearing if it believes that an incident occurred which may have resulted in injury or serious damage. It is not required that the incident is between two boats.
A boat may take a Scoring Penalty under RRS 44.1 when she may have broken a rule, and this applies to each individual incident, similarly to the One-Turn Penalty.