During our Spring Regatta, this May, Lightly Salted was sailing close-hauled on starboard. Still Gladiator, on port, was crossing, or at least trying to. Lightly Salted went head to wind and tacked to avoid a collision. She then protested.
The first step in any protest is to ascertain that the protest is valid. Did the protesting party do what is required of them to bring a protest? The boat being protested needs to be notified of the intent to protest, as required by rule 61, so she can do her turns if appropriate. The protesting boat must keep the flag up all race and on finishing notify the RC boat of her intent to protest. Then she must send a written protest to the race committee by the deadline, for SSSS races that is 72 hours after the start of the race in question.
Still Gladiator suggested that Lightly Salted had not done so, and therefore requested the protest be dismissed. They brought to the committee’s attention that a protest flag was not flown, as required by rule 61.1, claiming a ball cap is not a protest flag. So the committee heard the evidence as to whether or not a protest flag was flown before deciding whether or not to hear the protest.
The protest committee deliberated for about 45 minutes. We found: Lightly Salted hailed “protest” and this was acknowledged. Both boats tacked away to avoid collision. After 30 seconds, Lightly Salted waved a red cap and attached it to the backstay. The boats were then 200 feet apart. The two boats never came in proximity of each other for the rest of the race. At the end of the race, Lightly Salted informed the Race Committee of their intent to protest. Still Gladiator did not look for a protest flag until after the race.
The discussion of the word “flag” in Case 72 of the US Sailing Casebook was relied upon heavily. It tells us, “A flag must be seen primarily to be a flag.” An object best described as a “ball cap” is primarily seen as a cap, not a flag. The protest was ruled invalid because a protest flag was not displayed. Which means the protest was not heard and the incident on the water was not addressed.
This is at least the second time at a SSSS race that a protest was ruled invalid for using a cap as a flag. The best advice is for all boats racing is to carry a red protest flag of proportionate size on their boat. Better if is also quickly accessible to the cockpit crew.
Joe Downing, Star 6381