We had a port-starboard protest in a championship regatta using RRS Appendix V. The PC offered the respondent a 20% scoring penalty in lieu of the hearing, which they accepted. But RRS V2b states: "A Post-Race Penalty is a 30% Scoring Penalty calculated as stated in rule 44.3(c)." So why a 20% penalty?
I think the PC logic was as follows:
RRS 44.3(c) states: "A boat that takes a Scoring Penalty shall be ... made worse by the number of places stated [in the NOR or SI]. When the number of places is not stated, the penalty shall be 20%..."
Well, no 'number of places' was stated anywhere in the NOR or SI. So perhaps we should have included in a race document the phrase:
A Post-Race Penalty will be 3 places or 30% ... which ever is greater.
Seems that the straight language of it says it's a 30% penalty as calculated. Appears incongruent to combine V2 and 44.3(b) as if V2(b) said ...
"(b) A Post-Race Penalty is a 30% Scoring Penalty calculated as
stated in rule 44.3(c)[20% of the score for Did Not Finish, rounded to the nearest tenth of a point (0.05 rounded upward)]"That said, Appx V2 could just state the calc language and not reference 44.3(c) at all.
The boat was not eligible to take a RRS 44.3 SCP of 20% after the race. Assuming that the NOR/SI that RRS 44.3 SCP applied, the boat was required to display a yellow flag at the first reasonable opportunity after the incident, keep the flag displayed until she finished and inform the race committee. Apparently she did none of these things.
The 30% is fixed in Appendix V/T, which is a rule.
There's no need to do anything with your SI/NOR once you have switched on Appendix V/T.
So then we would have THREE rules about calculation of a percentage scoring change:
I think that would be a bad idea.
44.3 is used where the RC does not want boats doing a one or two-turn penalty.
V2(b) is a higher penalty than if accepted at the incident time. It must be accepted before the hearing starts. (And if you have a hearing, the penalty is likely a DSQ.)
The penalty increases based on when you decide to take the penalty. So Appendix V and rule 44.3 do not conflict.