I think the jury did the right thing... just toss the whole mess back to the class to clean up.

My question is about the rules... Since the equipment rule is in the section on ENTRY and Qualifications. Does this mean anything with respect to the timing of a protest?

I was also under the impression that you could file your protest at any time (but within a reasonable time from when you discover the violation). So my understanding would be that just because the rule is organized in the entry and qualification section that this does not impose any time constraints.

It looks to me that the jury said... Hey you get one opportunity to take a bite of the apple.... Since you discussed this on Monday and did nothing official, ie. no protest filed... You (the class and technical Committee) can't come back on Thursday and say please... may I take my bite of the apple now!

Now had Niewhouse filed the protest (not an inquiry???), the jury might have decided differently if they "believed" that he just discovered the violations (a hem).

I am very cynical about this tempest in a tea cup... none of these guys are babes in the woods...they know how to play these rules like a fiddle... The max upset was generated just this way. (Who would have cared if some equipment was tossed in the measurement stage... chances are the sailors would have gotten a street legal sail before the first race). However, had the class started down this hunt for technical rules violations at the measurement stage, Pandora's box would be opened and I suspect the "screw you to" blizzard would have sunk the whole regatta.

It sure looks like a well done smack down over an issue that has bubbled along for 2 years.
What a mess!