Colin,
Your general interepretation regarding skipping a mark of the course is
correct (as far as I am aware). Missing a starting or finishing mark is
obviously a seperate issue.
My logic is that the RO (doing 1000 other things) may not have seen the
offender correct themselves & so the offender is entitled to a hearing in
case the RO got it wrong.
In club racing, scoring an offender DNF does not seem to be as much a
problem, but I always follow the same approach whether it is a club or
National event i.e
I go to the sailor in the boat park & "suggest" that he retires (RAF) if he
agrees that he has missed a mark. If we still disagree I will protest
(amicably, without confrontation!) & like you, have a drink with him in the
bar after, whatever the outcome.
Don't know what the RYA/USSA App A advice says in relation to CANNOT protest
but suspect that this may be because it is not easy for an RO to spot the
correction. Rule 60.2 is pretty clear to me.
The secret is to TALK to the sailor rather than treat him as an UNTOUCHABLE,
this works more often than not, saves time avoiding a protest hearing &
usually does not create antagonism for the rest of the regatta.
So many race management issues e.g results queries/errors, starting &
finishing penalties can be resolved outside the protest room, as long as the
RO does not try to play GOD!!
Some RO's refuse to even speak to sailors in case their words are quoted as
evidence in the protest room. Working WITH the competitors rather than
AGAINST works for me & even got me out of a hole when my team made a
"technical" error & the sailor accepted the apology & chose not to go for
redress as I had been "human" in the way the I dealt with it (& also he was
down the fleet anyway!).
Ralph Tingle
Ogston & Rutland SC's (UK)
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