I agree with Ben's deduction. If you reduce the RC down to one person, and that person is a parent of a child, then all information and records are nullified as being a "report" from a support-person with a COI.
That doesn't seem to be the point of the rule and I submit that it's an unworkable outcome.
Also, I don't see this parent acting in their capacity as a "support person" to their child as they stand on the shore tagging kids in/out of the water as a member of the RC and watching for PFDs for all their safety.
Many of us wear many hats.
- For many years, I was simultaneously the RC Chair and a competitor (with a COI) in the races for which I was chair.
- For the previous 10 yrs, in each and every race in which I competed (except for North American Champs), I've been a competitor with a COI and simultaneously a one-person Technical Committee (as Fleet Measurer I was the TC by the Bylaws of our local fleet and the J105 Class ByLaws).
I saw the information I generated in those capacities as the information and record of the RC/TC, and not a report to myself from a person/competitor with a COI.
- Put that same parent on the signal boat calling the line. If they call a boat (not their child) OCS, are we calling that a report from a support-person with a COI? or,
- Put them on the signal boat and they see/log a boat touched the stern offset-buoy and the RC protests that boat, are we calling that a report from a support-person with a COI?, or
- Put them on the mark-boat and they log a boat missing the offset mark and they are scored NSC ... are we calling that a report from a support-person with a COI?
I'd suggest... no we are not. Those are classified as the RC's "own observations and records" (see RRS 90.3(c)).
Also note that RRS 60.4(b)(3) applies to "committee" not just "race committee". It has to work for tech comms as well.
For instance, if as the TC/Measurer I received a report from a competitor that a boat is breaking a class rule, I would not use the information in that report as the basis of a TC protest. I would investigate the issue myself and generate the TC's "own observation and record" and decide how to proceed.
Here again, I want to underline, the bylaws of both the J105 class and our local fleet require that the Fleet Measurer be a member of the J105 class and member of the fleet. The fleet bylaws make the Measurer the TechComm. This is true for many of the OD classes out there. Those TC's/Measurers are all persons with competitor COI.
Therefore, we must be able to distinguish between a committee's self-generated observations/information/record, by people acting as a member of that committee, and reports received from outside-persons.
I think the analogy here is if another parent was out in a rib (not a volunteer) and gave a report to the this same RC-parent ... then that would be definitely invalid. .. as based on a report from a person with a COI.