Creating and Writing a Decision

Two Ways a Decision Is Created

When a hearing request is filed electronically on RRS.org, a decision record is created automatically and the Parties tab is pre-populated with the protestor and protestee information. In most cases the jury secretary or scribe only needs to review and confirm the information before the hearing begins.

When a paper protest is received, the jury secretary creates a new decision manually. Click Decisions on the Event Panel left menu, then click + Decision at the top of the page.

Parties Tab — Entering Protest Information

The Parties tab captures the basic information about the hearing request:

  • Protest No. — assigned automatically as the next number in sequence. You can edit it to include letters if needed.
  • Hearing type — required. Select all types that apply (Protest by Boat, Request for Redress, Request to Reopen, Other).
  • Race number — enter the race number for the incident.
  • Date — the date of the incident.
For the Protestor and Protestee, select the party type (Boat, Race Committee, Technical Committee, or Protest Committee). If competitors have been imported, use the search box to find the party by class, sail number, boat name, or competitor name — selecting a result will fill in all the details automatically. Always check that the phone number includes the country code, and check the SMS checkbox if the competitor consents to text messages.

You can add additional protestees with the + Add Protestee link, and add contacts (tacticians, owners, or others who should receive notifications) with the + Contact link.

Scheduling the Hearing

After saving the Parties information, click the Schedule tab to set the hearing time and room. Alternatively, schedule all pending hearings at once from the Schedule page on the Event Panel left menu. Once a hearing time is set, the parties are automatically notified by email and SMS.

Hearing Tab — During the Hearing

When the hearing begins, open the decision and set the status to Hearing in Progress using the status selector in the upper right corner of the page. This updates the public schedule so competitors know which hearing is active.

Click the Hearing tab to begin entering the body of the decision. The form captures:

  • Attachments — photos of the protest form, evidence, damage photos, or tracker data
  • Witnesses and interpreters — enter names and who called each witness (e.g., For Protestor: John Smith)
  • Validity — by default all requirements are shown as met. Change only the elements that caused the request to be invalid, and use the comments field to explain.

Facts Found and Conclusions

Enter the Facts Found as numbered statements in complete sentences. Remember the decision will most likely be published publicly.

Enter the applicable rule numbers in the Rules field. Then use Suggested Wording to populate the Conclusions field — click the button, select the items that apply for the relevant rules, and click Add Selected Wording. Edit the inserted text to fill in boat names and sail numbers, and choose among bracketed alternatives, removing the brackets from your choice.

Decision, Panel, and Publishing

Use Suggested Wording again for the Decision field. Select the applicable decision language, penalty, explanation, or redress award. Set the Scoring Change field if the decision requires a score correction — this notifies the scorer and places the decision on the Scoring Panel.

Select the Chair from the drop-down list and add the remaining panel members. Click the Now button to insert the current date and time as the hearing date.

Finally, set the Status to publish the decision:

  • Hearing Complete — hearing is done; nothing is published yet
  • Publish Abstract — only the Decision section appears on the public page
  • Publish Full Decision — the complete decision is visible on the public page
The parties are automatically notified when the decision is published. Use the Activity tab at any time to see a full audit trail of who edited the decision and when.

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