Many (most?) sailors have a very strong aversion to protesting. Part of this I understand (being a sailor myself and preferring to spend my time outside the protest room) but mainly I disagree. Lots of people feel that protesting is an accusation cheating. They won't protest because they don't want to offend the other sailor(s) - i.e. "make enemies". Somehow, we need to overcome that mindset. A hail of "protest" does not mean "you're a filthy lying cheater"; it just means "you can't do that".

Not protesting creates problems too. A protest hearing does more than penalize boats for rules infractions. It allows the boats involved to tell their stories to an impartial authority. Even if people are unhappy with the outcome, at least they were heard out. That simple courtesy eliminates a lot of ill will. Think about how much grumbling the persons in question would have avoided by protesting. Also, if a boat breaks a rule and nobody protests, her crew will never learn. Whenever I hear sailors complain "watch out for boat X, she breaks rule Y all the time", I wonder "do you ever protest her?"


The preamble to the rules, titled "Basic Principle - Sportsmanship and the Rules", says:

The competitors themselves are primarily responsible for enforcing the rules. It is their job to protest, not race committee's. RC is permitted to protest, but is not obligated to. The experienced PROs I know feel that if the competitors don't protest, then they shouldn't either. They typically only protest infractions that nobody else is around to witness, or particularly egregious fouls.

Regards,
Eric