Robi, I guess it comes down to where the line is drawn and how matters are handled at the time of the issue arrising rather than afterwards.

I will give an example that is quite recent: At the F18 Worlds in Nigran it was noted that quite a number of boats did not comply with a rule that was introduced after the last Europeans. The rule was safety related and was there for a very good reason. Essentialy a minimum size of window was specified for both mainsail and jib yet many sails did not comply.

Now, would it be fair to tell those boats to either get their sails fixed or dont race?

The sailmakers who made the offending sails were all present at the meeting when the rule was agreed upon.

So how do you deal with it? Stick to the rule and tell them to sit on the beach? or work out a way to keep the event rolling?

In the interests of the event and good sailing a deal was struck that allowed the offending boats to race, but it could have very easily gone the other way and we would have seen a LOT of boats not sailing.

Essentially, it comes down to people being resonable on both sides. If in your example, a request was made and approved then I see very little avenue for someone to make a big deal out of it. But I do see your point about it being an informal fun event.

But I thought the bigger issue here was to do with the potential to change config for an Alter cup qualifier? That would appear to be a much bigger problem.