The amendment has been included in the Lipton Cup NoR  (By the way we are still looking for one judge for this prestigious and very competitive event in CT. Britt Hall is chief judge)   Thank you for all your input.

I noticed the amendment is not in the Viper North American Championship NOR, so I sent this email:

 Hello Tom,

I am a member of the Viper Technical Committee focused particularly on class rules and World Sailing.

Please consider including the following amendment to the NoR and sailing instructions.

The objective of Rule 60.4 (a) (2) is that a boat should only be able to protest another boat if they were either involved in the incident or saw the incident.

My view, and that of most other judges is that World Sailing made an unintentional mistake in the 2025 -2028 RRS, when they wrote:

  A protest is invalid
(2) if it is from a boat that alleges a breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31, but she was not involved in it "or" did not see the incident, or

This has the effect of preventing a boat protesting another boat for touching the mark .   A boat is rarely "involved" in another boat touching a mark but frequently sees it.  

The prior rule reads  :  

"A boat may

The draft rules for 2029 read

US Sailing recommends including the following amendment in all NORs

NOR 1.# Rule 60.4 (a) (2) is changed as follows: “(2) if it alleges a breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31 and is from a boat that was not involved in, and did not see, the incident, or”

Since the North American Championship is an international event, we recommend using the amended version from the 2029 draft rules to avoid any confusion.

This error has been pointed out to the WS rules committee and we hope it will be taken care of during this cycle, but in the meantime, US Sailing and the Viper Class recommend including an amendment in NoRs and Sis.   Your chief judge will doubtless weigh in.

Cheers....and lookin' forward to Pensacola!

Justin

Hi Kim. Always good to hear from you. I have some fun stories from the Naples Sabot Jr. Nat's to share with you next time we talk, or perhaps over email. 
I also thought about it tactically, since I coach high-school kids. But, as John said, that wasn't the question for this forum. We agree across the board on the answer to the rules issue. 
The question came up in out Sunfish fleet. Also, I was involved in one where I was driving a friend's Harbor 20 around the leeward mark during our Thursday Night Thing.  A Melges 15 tacked after rounding right in front of me. The owner of the Harbor was more animated in his response than I was.
In my discussion with the M15 sailor afterward (he is an aspiring judge), I covered the rules issues we discussed here and added that it's often not a smart decision if boats are approaching. 
I think I sit somewhere between you and John on what would constitute "unseamanlike" and it depends on the boats and conditions, of course. If Blue could avoid Yellow with a quick luff, turndown and back up around the mark, I think that would still fall under seamanlike (as drawn, I don't think that would be an option). But if Blue luffed up hard, had to gybe to get to the mark, then gybe again to round all that close to the mark, I don't think that Y gave him room to comply with rule 31 in a seamanlike manner. Adding all the boats you put in definitely makes it impossible for Blue to comply with part 2 rules in a seamanlike way.

As an aside, if you are using "SailReplay" there is an option to change the number of a boat in its start position. Your drawing is clear given the context of our discussion. But it confuses the times of each position
Look forward to working with you again soon.
Tony

John A .. ok .. let me try to understand the hand/foot argument. 

Take that crew holding the boat and standing on the bottom. They bend their legs at the knees and are now hanging-still holding onto the toe-rail. Is that person now breaking 42?  (How is a swimmer to return to the boat?)

If not, why?  
If so, are we then saying you can put your entire body in the water .. but not your hand?  Can't crew sit on the rail and have their feet touch the water?

Phil, How do you conclude that W was not required to act to avoid contact until it became clear that L was not keeping clear?

L was the right of way boat.  She was not  required to keep clear.

W was not entitled to room.

Niko: I like your "the RC should always work to have an appropriate level of management commensurate with the competition level/importance" comment.

There is one event that may partner and I run every year ... the Warneet Around French Island race. While Monica runs the briefing giving numerous examples of the flags used during the start sequence there is usually an America's Cup skipper sitting quietly and respectfully at the back of the room with his family or mates. At the other end of the spectrum we have some who have NEVER raced before or perhaps doing their second race since last year.

During this race I tend to be very chatty on the radio to be sure that even those with the least experience have a great day on the water.

One boat in his first year actually missed the starting line, but we considered him a starter. The next year his missed the finishing line but we gave him a finish regardless. He was so pleased that he got the start right the second year ;-)

That said, it is quite a different matter if I am running a one-design race.