99.9% agree with everything Eric and Matt said. Except, RET is not a defined score. DNF is for a boat that breaks down and does not finish. RAF is for a boat that finishes, then decides to retire afterwards (normally to avoid a protest hearing after they realize they broke a rule).

Anyway, a boat cannot be scored DNF as a penalty for any infraction, per RRS 63.1. It simply means they did not FINISH, which has a clear definition in the RRS.

As the RRS are written, DNF cannot be used in place of a protest if a boat hits a mark, fails to sail the correct course, sails through a "closed" start/finish line, etc. (unless properly stated as a rule change in the SIs), per RRS A5. A protest is needed, which should be initiated by another competitor, or may be initiated by the RC. As a point of etiquette, the latter is normally only used if no competitor is around to witness the infraction.

Speaking to an individual boat brings up lots of questions in the area of "outside assistance." I've done a bunch of work with classes using VHF to communicate with the fleets, and we need to be very careful how to answer questions. Basically, we don't directly answer a question to an individual boat, we make announcements to the fleet. They may be based on an individual boat's question (such as, "Will there be another race?"). If a boat asked if they finished properly, we would inform them that we cannot answer that question. VHF or not, if a boat sails by and asks a question, we have to ignore them. If they persist, the PRO (no one else) tells them they cannot answer the question.

Unfortunately, both of these points (using DNF as a penalty and talking to individual boats) are abused somewhat frequently; normally by well-meaning RC volunteers who think they're "helping."

As the results were actually posted (per your original message), Boat B may have had a case to request redress for this and depending on the jury, may have been awarded 2nd place (I'm not a judge so I can't say for sure how this would turn out).

EDIT: After reviewing the RRS a little further, I have to disagree with Eric that this is "not grounds for redress." Per 89.3(a), the RC is responsible for scoring. Per 62.1(a), an error by the RC is grounds for redress. Per 62.2, Boat B may file for redress within two hours after the results are posted (the "relevant incident" is the posting of the results).

From the information given in the original post, without a protest hearing, the results should have been scored as follows:

Boat B - 8 pts + 1 2nd place
Boat A - 7 pts + DNF 3rd place

If Boat A was aware of the infraction (again, based on the original post, which does not say that Boat B did a circle), she could have filed for redress when the results were posted.

Hope this helps.

Mike