Thanks Eric.

In all fairness, I'm sure the judges here are probably aware of Case 80 and would act accordingly. As you pointed out, it seems counterintuitive to give redress in this situation, because of the no fault of their own clause, but my sense is that ISAF acted that way to avoid RCs getting out of hand with these types of things.

When I read Case 80, I just said "Duh" and went on. I think that's because of all the experience (aka pain and suffering) that I went through for all those years trying to reel in the PROs around here as mentioned above. Again, the big problem here was usually the mid-course, closed, S/F lines (another pet peeve)...

As for protest time limits, you're again correct. We typically use 60 minutes from RC hitting the beach, but it's always important to watch this carefully. I make sure my boat hits the beach after all competitors. This is less of an issue with Hobies, much more of a concern with Optis or leadmines racing 2+ miles from the club, in light air, etc...

Every day is a learning experience, for all of us. I get asked rule questions all the time, especially about filing for redress, and I always tell them to file, within the time limit if possible (though not as important for redress). I think that's the fairest way to handle things.

The entire reason I started working RC (with PU) back in 1997 was because of all the things local RCs were doing wrong, mainly because they didn't know any better (and honestly, partially because of egos).

Mike