While you are technically correct, of course Matt, I think Jake's sharp eye indicated that the absence of a sound signal when a horn was held aloft for his first finish was significant. In this case, without crawling inside the committee's head, I think they were indeed looking for a J-hook, improper as it was. Jake, you'll have to let us know how the hearing comes out. Can o' worms, for sure.
I did have a conversation with the RC afterwards (we are friends...heck, we're all friends) and discussed it - I wasn't sure at the time myself. The protest was held and it was determined that the proper finish was straight through the line from the direction of the last mark (not rounding C). The race committee had recorded times for everyone that finished each way and recorded who finished in what direction (which was pretty smart). While maybe not technically correct, the decision was made to finish everyone at the time that they crossed the line and I thought I heard that they made a slight adjustment in the time for the guys that rounded C before finishing (I may have heard that wrong). Everyone seemed pleased with the solution.
