No I win because I chose the jury. If I'm going to change the rules in my hypothetical regatta I'm going to make sure the jury will go along with it. Basically this regatta would not be held under US Sailing rules.
If you want to run a regatta outside of the jurisdiction of ISAF and US SAILING, you need to write your own complete set of rules. I'm sure it's possible, but you may find it more difficult than expected to author rules that are complete (cover all actions of boats and race operations), consistent (no rules contradict any others), and coherent (don't lead to any unexpected consequences - such as one boat forcing another to break a rule without breaking one herself).
An organizing authority cannot use the Racing Rules of Sailing and then make changes prohibited by those rules. An honest jury will overturn those changes. If the OA forms a dishonest jury, then their decision will be overturned on appeal. If the OA refuses to follow the instructions of the appeals committee, they may be subject to sanctions levied by US SAILING or ISAF (including, as has been pointed out, being banned from running regattas). If a banned OA runs an event anyway, they may have difficulty getting competitors, as the sailors may face disciplinary action themselves for attending.
But let's back off from the threats. The preamble to the rules states:
Basic Principle / Sportsmanship and the Rules Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce.
I would argue that the Organizing Authority is also expected to follow them. Sportsmanship is a basic principle. Why is it so difficult to abide by the rules of our sport?
This may sound kind of crazy but it has happened. Back many years ago I sailed some races under an experimental simplified set of rules.
There are provisions for developing and testing experimental new rules. See rule 86.3. If you want to try out experimental rules, you may need US SAILING's permission.
If there is enough consensus and the behavior of a majority of sailors does not conform to the rules, then eventually the rules will be changed to conform to the behavior.
I don't see a "consensus and behavior of a majority of sailors not conforming to the rules". I think the opposite is true. I believe the majority of sailors think we should follow the rules. Civil disobedience (in my opinion), isn't really a viable or necessary action here.
Sincerely,
Eric
