The primary role of judges in sailing is to ensure that the competition is governed by the racing rules of sailing and the policies of World Sailing as the international governing body. The role is unique in many ways. First, judges are required to determine disputes between competitors. To do this, and to be seen to be doing it fairly and according to the rules, judges must be thoroughly familiar with the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) and any other rules that govern the event, including class rules, World Sailing Codes, the IRPCAS or any national prescriptions.

Second, judges are often called upon to assist in many other critical aspects of an event, such as reviewing the notice of race and sailing instructions, deciding issues of measurement and rating rule compliance issues, watching for rule infringements, enforcing propulsion rules on the water, and much more.

In addition, judges are asked to make decisions concerning the fairness of the competition. To do these things well is a challenging and sometimes difficult task. 

People who work to acquire the necessary knowledge and experience to accept this responsibility make a large contribution to our sport.

This chapter begins with terminology and descriptions of the race officials who serve our sport, explaining the functions that they serve. The chapter then describes the World Sailing process for the appointment of International Judges.

Racing Rules of Sailing (the “rules” or “RRS”)
The rules used for racing under the jurisdiction of World Sailing.

World Sailing Codes
These World Sailing Regulations have the status of a rule:

They are not included in the Racing Rules of Sailing because they can be changed at any time. The most recent versions are published on the World Sailing website at www.sailing.org and and are announced through Member National Authorities.

Case Book (the “Cases”)
World Sailing publishes The Case Book as authoritative interpretations of the racing rules. They are based upon appeals and questions submitted to the Racing Rules Committee. They clarify the meaning of a rule or answer questions about conflicting interpretations. Judges are required to follow the RRS and Cases when interpreting the rules.

Question and Answer (Q&A)
The World Sailing Racing Rules Q&A are published on the World Sailing website as a joint responsibility of the Racing Rules Committee and Race Officials Committee.

Q&A is intended to provide a service to Race Officials, Member National Authorities and World Sailing class associations, who may submit questions through World Sailing concerning the RRS. The answers are not authoritative interpretations and explanations of the RRS but represent an important service by providing carefully considered opinions of experienced Race Officials.

These Q&As are further considered for inclusion in the World Sailing Case Book and the Call Books for Match Racing and Team Racing as part of the continual process of updating the rules every four years.

This service is not to be used as a substitute appeal process but is simply to provide considered opinions on questions on the RRS.

World Sailing
World Sailing is the world governing body for the sport of sailing, recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Its mission is to make sailing more exciting and accessible for everyone to participate or watch and use our reach and influence to create a sustainable future for our sport and the waters of the world. It comprises MNAs, class associations, and other affiliated organizations. Among the many responsibilities and programs of World Sailing is the training and certification of International Race Officials, which include International Judges, Umpires, Race Officers, Measurers, Classifiers and Technical Delegates.

Member National Authority (MNA)
The national authority has jurisdiction over the sport of Sailing in its country as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is organized on a national basis and capable of exercising its mandate wherever there is significant sailing activity. It is a member of World Sailing. Many national authorities have additional responsibilities, such as cruising and powerboat racing.

National authorities often prescribe additional rules to the RRS. These prescriptions are included as rules governing sailboat racing within its jurisdiction by the sailing instructions. They are rarely invoked for international events, although some national authorities prescribe that some of their prescriptions shall not be deleted.

Most national authorities appoint a committee to hear appeals by boats, race committees or technical committees against decisions of protest committees. Appeal procedures vary from country to country through their rules, policies and prescriptions. Members of their appeals committee might include qualified persons from other countries. A national authority might also delegate the appeal to the appeals committee in another country. The highest appeal authority is the national authority under whose jurisdiction the event is held. World Sailing does not hear appeals.

National authorities may submit appeals that they think clarify or help interpret a rule to the World Sailing Racing Rules Committee. If the Committee believes the appeal is beneficial to help understand the rules, it will accept the appeal as a
World Sailing Case.

Organizing Authority (OA)
The body that plans and runs the event is the organizing authority. It may be a club, a class association, a national authority, World Sailing itself, or a combination of any of these as specified in rule  89.1. The organizing authority appoints the race committee, protest committee, technical committee, umpires and classifiers.

Race Committee
The race committee conducts the races. It is responsible for publishing the sailing instructions and for scoring races. When the organizing authority has not appointed a protest committee or international jury, the race committee is responsible for appointing a protest committee to conduct hearings. Members of the race committee may sit on the protest committee. However, in the hearing of a request for redress alleging an improper action or omission of the race committee, the protest committee should be independent of the race committee because of potential conflicts of interest. If this is not possible, the protests committee shall consider the conflict of interest and follow the rules to determine how to proceed. A member of the race committee may not serve as part of an international jury constituted in accordance with Appendix N.

Protest Committee
The protest committee hears protests, requests for redress and reopening, allegations of misconduct and reports that a support person may have broken a rule. It may be independent of the race committee. It may, when meeting the requirements of Appendix N, qualify as an international jury.

International Jury
An international jury is a protest committee that meets the requirements of rules 91(b) and Appendix N. It is completely independent of, and has no members from, the race committee or the technical committee.

An international jury is composed of experienced sailors with excellent knowledge of the racing rules and extensive protest committee experience. Its membership is made up of people from different MNAs, the majority of whom shall be World Sailing International Judges. Provided that it conducts itself in accordance with the procedures described in Appendix N, rule 70.3 provides that there is no right to appeal its decisions.

The responsibilities of an international jury include hearing and deciding all protests, requests for redress, and other matters arising under the rules of Part 5. When asked by the organizing authority, the race committee or technical committee, it also advises and assists them on any matter directly affecting the fairness of the competition. It decides questions of eligibility, measurement or rating certificates, and authorizes the substitution of competitors, boats or equipment under the rules. The international jury also decides matters referred to it by the organizing authority, the race committee and the technical committee.

Technical Committee
The technical committee conducts equipment inspection and event measurement as directed by the organizing authority and as required by the rules. Its functions may include measuring boats and checking compliance to the class rules before the start of the competition and carrying out checks (such as sails set within black bands, distribution of ballast, weight of clothing) during the competition.

If during a hearing the protest committee is in doubt about the meaning of a measurement rule, it shall refer the question, together with the relevant facts, to an authority responsible for interpreting the rule, and be bound by the authority’s decision. The class rules authority is the body that provides final approval of the class rules, their changes and class rule interpretations.

Judge, National Judge, International Judge
A judge is a member of a protest committee. The title “National Judge” is given to suitably qualified persons by a national authority that runs a program to train them. The title “International Judge” is given by World Sailing to persons who meet the criteria set out in the World Sailing document Race Official Roles, Qualifications and Competences.

Umpire, National Umpire, International Umpire
Umpires decide the situations and rules on the water in real time during the event.

Training and certification of race officials for sailing and administrating the RRS are recognized as the core purposes of World Sailing.

World Sailing created the International Judges Program in 1981 to meet three perceived needs of competitors: first, the need to identify knowledgeable and experienced individuals to sit on protest committees at world championships and other high-profile events; second, the need to ensure that a protest committee at these international events reflects the diverse nationalities and sailing cultures of the competitors; and third, the need to determine the results by the end of the event.

World Sailing also has training and certification programs for measurers, umpires, race officers, technical delegates and classifiers.

World Sailing Regulation Race Officials describes the governance of race officials. Their programs are administered under the authority of the Race Officials Committee and through its subcommittee for each discipline. The International Judges program is administered through the International Judges Sub-committee.

The current World Sailing Regulations are published on the World Sailing website at www.sailing.org. (Search “regulations”, click submit, and select “Documents”.)

The requirements for appointment as an International Judge, along with the application procedure are presented in World Sailing Regulation Race Officials and in the current World Sailing publication Race Official Roles, Qualifications and Competences, the application document for World Sailing International Race Officials.

The document Race Official Roles, Qualifications and Competences explains which events are Principal Events.

Resource papers for becoming an International Judge, and the first application package, and for renewal as an International Judge are published on the World Sailing website, in the area Race Officials, International Judge.

World Sailing contacts International Judges during the year in which they are due to renew their certification, sending them the application package for renewal.

First-time applications must be supported by references from the International Judge who is the chair of the protest committee to describe the judge’s performance at an event. It is essential that the applicant request the chair to provide the reference through World Sailing prior to the event. The chair will complete the reference over the course of the event and submit it to World Sailing.

The International Judges Application Manual guides the application process. The International Judges Reference Form Guidelines document advises the protest committee chair on completing the IJ Reference Form. Both documents are available on the World Sailing website in the International Judge area.

Guidance for the Candidate and the Protest Committee Chair on References

During the event the protest committee chair may select other senior IJs on the jury to assist in the applicant’s performances assessment. The chair may discuss daily with other judges involved in the assessment process and the applicant to help identifying areas for further development to permit them to learn and improve during the event. After the event the chair completes the reference, discusses the assessment with the applicant, and submits it to World Sailing at raceofficials@sailing.org according to the timeline. The applicant is entitled to a copy of the form, which may be requested directly from the chair.