At most events a protest desk is established for receiving hearing requests, scheduling hearings and handling enquiries from competitors and support people. This desk is overseen by an assigned jury member, together with a jury secretary, if appointed.

A secretary may be appointed to assist with the administrative tasks of the protest committee. The person is most frequently referred to as the jury secretary, and that term is used throughout this section. This person could be a local judge in training. A person with strong organizational skills who speaks the local language and has some understanding of the jury processes is also an asset to the committee.

Many events now use event management systems which have a section for jury hearings and notices. All protest committee members and the jury secretary need to be familiar with the capabilities of the system and be able to use it.

Ideally the protest desk should be situated next to the jury room(s), easily accessible by competitors, and taking into consideration that at some events they might come in wet. Those who manage the protest desk should check that:

The protest committee might set up an event folder using Dropbox or Drive. It could include all relevant rules and documents, an inventory of arrivals and departures of the protest committee members and their dietary requirements and food restrictions. It could also include a folder to save the case files for after the event.

Unless these can be found on an online notice board, the protest desk should be able to provide the protest committee with the daily protest time limit(s) and the daily list of alternative penalties taken, if prescribed in sailing instructions.

Each day, each member of the protest committee needs to be informed of any changes to the sailing instructions or other rules. The section of the official notice board for notices from the protest committee must be kept up to date.

Although most applications for crew substitutions and haul-out requests are processed by the race committee, sailing instructions might specify that these require approval of the protest committee.

Check the results to confirm that score changes from the protest committee have
been included.

The protest committee should have fully established the procedures to be followed when hearing requests are received on paper, online, or both.

The protest desk must always accept, and never reject any request for a hearing, whatever form it takes, and even if it is received after the protest time limit. Only the protest committee may decide on the validity of the request in a hearing.

When a hearing request is received on paper, it should be given a number, date, time, the protest time limit, and the initials of the person who received it. Record this information on the request form and in the log of requests received. If an online system is used and a paper form submitted is then entered into that system, the case number will be allocated by that system, so that number should be written on the paper when the online case is published.

Hearing requests received through an online event management system will automatically be date-stamped and time-stamped. Check whether the system has assigned it a case number, and if not, then add it.

Check on the alternative penalty list whether either party to the hearing took a penalty and if so, add this paper to the hearing request.

Check the scoring enquiries of that day to see if any match a hearing request. If so, add it to the hearing request.

Any report alleging misconduct of either a competitor or a support person, presented either verbally or in writing, must be given to the chair immediately. It must also be recorded with the time of receipt.

The papers for each hearing should be kept in a Case envelope, either a transparent folder or a paper envelope with the protest details written on its front. Using a transparent folder is quicker as it eliminates the need to transcribe the information to a cover sheet and the possibility of making transcription errors.

Copies of each request form are made for each member of the hearing panel, and one for each of the parties. Keep the original on file.

Post the hearing schedule on the official notice board as soon as possible to inform all parties of the hearing request. Include the class, race number, the protestor and protestee or the requester and committee named in the redress request. The time and place of the hearing may be added and updated as the schedule develops, and the hearings are completed.

Electronic event management systems have a wide range of capabilities that may be in use. It is important to be fully aware of how your system works for receiving hearing requests, publishing them on the official notice board, and notifying the parties of the hearing request and the time and place of the hearing.

Hearing requests may be completed online. Some systems permit attachments like video evidence to be uploaded along with the hearing request. Hearing requests completed online are automatically date-stamped and time-stamped. The system might assign a case number, while other systems will need the case number to be assigned manually. The system might publish the hearing request automatically, or it might request approval for publication online.

Check the online official notice board frequently to confirm that what is intended to be published is in fact published properly. If possible, have a TV screen displaying the online official notice board, visible to the judge at the protest desk and competitors waiting for hearings.

Some systems notify the parties to the hearing of the hearing request as soon as they are received. They also notify the parties of the time and place of the hearing. They also make the hearing request available to each party.

Even if the event has an online system to submit hearing requests, it is normal to receive some hearing requests on paper. Process these requests like any other paper request, stamping with the time of receipt. Enter the details (class, race number, protestor or requester and protestee or requestee, time of receipt) in the on-line system so that it gets the next case number in the sequence. Scan the hearing request form and attach it as a document to the hearing request in the event management system.

The chapter on Arbitration in this Manual explains the procedures when a protest is considered for arbitration. When a protest between boats is delivered to the protest desk, it will be processed and passed to the arbitrating judge, who will determine if the protest meets the requirements for arbitration. If so, the arbitrator will follow the procedures for Arbitration (Appendix T). The notice of hearing should be posted on the official notice board right away. This ensures that the arbitration and hearing, if necessary, may proceed as soon as possible.

If one or both parties to the arbitration meeting decide to take a post-race penalty, that information needs to be recorded on the official notice board and the score change reported to the scorer. If the arbitrating judge permits the protest to be withdrawn, then the notice of hearing will be changed to show that the protest is withdrawn, so no hearing will occur.

If the arbitration meeting does not proceed or the protest is not withdrawn, then the hearing will proceed as scheduled.

Whether or not she was protested, a boat may report within the protest time limit that she has broken a rule which is subject to a discretionary penalty. In this case, no hearing is required. The protest committee will take the evidence it considers appropriate and decide the appropriate penalty.

When a protest has been delivered, a party may accept a penalty prior to a hearing. A judge will ask whether the incident resulted in any damage to any boat or injury to a competitor. If there was no injury or serious damage, the boat may take any alternative penalty available in the sailing instructions or retire from the race. If there was serious damage or injury, the only penalty available is to retire from the race. The judge will ask the boat’s representative to write and sign an acceptance of the penalty.

In all cases of acknowledgment, the protest must be presented to the protest committee. If possible, alert the protestor and verify if they wish to withdraw the protest.

A hearing request may be withdrawn before a hearing, with the permission of the protest committee. When Appendix T Arbitration applies, the arbitrating judge may act on behalf of the protest committee to allow the withdrawal. Otherwise, the protest committee must decide the request. The sailing instructions may change rule 63.2 to permit the protest committee to delegate this task to one member.

Hearings should be scheduled on the official notice board as soon as possible. Postings could begin before the protest time limit. Hearing requests that are submitted later could be posted after the time limit for posting notifications of hearings.

Inform the race committee and technical committee promptly of any requests for redress. This allows them as much time as possible to investigate the requests before the hearing. When a request for redress is actually a scoring enquiry, schedule the hearing, and consult with the race committee to arrange a meeting between the race officer and the boat’s representative prior to the hearing.

Inform the parties as soon as possible of their scheduled hearing time. If the first hearing is scheduled before the end of protest time, the protest committee will confirm whether the parties have had enough time to prepare. The first few hearings are best scheduled at 20-minute intervals, and then at half-hour intervals for each hearing panel. Thus, if the first one or two requests are invalid, there is little delay. Should the first hearings take much longer, the remaining hearings can be rescheduled.

The protest desk should decide the most efficient order of the hearings. Schedule first any hearings where the race committee or the technical committee is a party once they are ashore, so they can be heard consecutively. On the last day of the event, schedule first any hearings involving boats that may possibly be prize winners, so the prize giving can commence as soon as possible. When there is a protest and a counterprotest, or protests or requests for redress from different boats about the same incident, they should be scheduled to be heard in one hearing.

Some event management systems send messages to parties to hearings via email, or txt, or chat systems (WhatsApp, Telegram etc.) to inform them of the requests and of the hearing schedule and any changes. This can markedly improve communication with competitors if it is working and if email addresses, phone numbers etc. are correct.

While not a requirement in the rules, it is good practice for the protest desk to have all competitors’ contact information included in the registration information. When there is doubt about whether a party knows about a hearing request, attempt to call them, or to broadcast a message on the event general information chat group.

The objective is to keep the protest committee working until all hearings are complete. Keep the competitors waiting for as short a time as possible. If hearings get behind schedule, post an amended schedule so that parties to the hearings may get changed or go for a meal.

When the protest committee is ready to proceed, call in the parties, usually one from each boat, and interpreters if necessary.

Before the hearing begins, the chair will ask if the parties intend to call witnesses and whether they are standing by outside the room. Check that they cannot hear the proceedings before they come in to give their evidence. If observers are allowed, remind them of the rules for observers and have them record their names.

Check whether any party took a penalty in the incident. Ask also whether any party wishes to withdraw the hearing request.

For paper-based events, after each hearing, record the decision, and file the original protest form, protest committee members’ notes, and any other papers received during the hearing. The protest desk should communicate results of hearings and score changes to the scorer immediately after each hearing. Post the result of the hearing on the official notice board.

For events with event management systems decisions are usually automatically posted online, and scoring changes automatically communicated to the scorer. Consider how much detail is given, given the large audience for posted decisions. Often there are options for short and full decisions.

On the last day of the event, there is a 30-minute time limit after a hearing decision was posted to request a reopening or redress based on a protest committee’s decision from a hearing. Post the hearing decisions and the individual time limits for reopening and redress promptly on the official notice board, stamped with the date and time of posting.

The protest desk should ensure that a full written decision is made available for any party to the hearing who requests the decision. For events using paper, the decision would be available the next day, except on the last day of the event. When an event management system is in use, full decisions are usually published automatically online. If only short decisions are published, the full decision could be e-mailed to the party, upon request.

The protest desk, in consultation with the chair, should ensure that all protests and papers are filed with the organizing club, for reference. They should be kept for at least six months after the event. Alternatively, the case files could be scanned and submitted electronically.