But I'm wondering where you would draw the line and why.  When do you think it becomes inappropriate to help.  Consider the possibility that perhaps a competitor would not have been able to file a valid protest were it not for the judge helping.  Is that fair to the respondent?

• give them a Hearing Request Form and a pen//lend a laptop/tablet/phone
• Tell them they need to
  • identify the protestee:  write sail number, name, on the HRF
  • Write the Race number
  • Write the time and place of the iincident
  • Identify the incident  Rule Number, Rule Heading that you think was broken (get them to say this:  do not tell them what rule to write)

 What if the judge corrects the description of the incident

such that the competitor realizes that they are incorrect in their analysis and instead decide not to file the request because they would be disqualified.  Is that fair to the respondent?  What if the judge coaches the competitor on how to present the case to the panel?

The point I'm making here is, where do you think the line should be drawn, if at all.

1. IMO, age restrictions of the fleet mathematically shift the level of competency we're looking for. A 10yo will not be at the same level as a 25yo.
2. same here, except I think the only difference between a 20yo and an adult is the level of athleticism expected... we should expect a high level of athleticism in racing where all sailors are college-aged
3. same again for me. If we limit boats to 2 people, then we must also force them to give each other extra room for a douse. Indeed, 2 people is BY DEFINITION appropriate for the boat, as no more are allowed in that event!!!! To say otherwise would be to force collisions at leeward marks!
4. Same. If you are required to have no more than two people, then you are only required to have two competent people, and room needs to account for that.
5. Trickier, but easy to handle. I wouldn't go to the group average, but I would definitely want at least a percentage of the participants to be capable of sailing within the definition of room... otherwise what are we doing?
6. Yeah. I think we need to hold championship sailors to a higher standard. If you're going to show up and compete for a high level national or world championship, then you're agreeing that you can sail above the level of "competent".
7. same as #6

• IMO it is appropriate within the statements from Case 103 to adjust "competent crew" to fit age and other crew restrictions as required by the event/fleet/SI's, etc. (statements 1-4)
• I also feel it makes sense to do so for statements 5-7, but I'm not sure that syncs up with Case 103.