Proving non-conformance with a certificate lends weight to the notion that an incident of cheating is deliberate rather than accidental as it suggests that the owner has gone out of their way to produce an inaccurate certificate, but I don't believe that proving intentions is relevant.
Paul
The intent is that it is the responsability of each racer to make sure their boat is compliant to the rules.
Having a cert does some good in forcing each owner to make sure this is so.
I completely agree with Paul though, that any protest should be about confirming the boat measures within the rules and having a cert will do nothing to reduce protests, or make them easier to sort if lodged.
It is a very nice vehicle for the MAN to use to apply their taxes though. $75 dollar ISAF stickers,, fees for cert registration etc.
It is a big stretch of the imagination to try and equate any certification process to equality or fairness in racing - just bureacracy.
